Homes of

Henri Castro’s dream of a circle of villages had begun to materialize when, with Castroville flourishing and Quihi and Vandenburg established, he founded D’Hanis 25 miles from the first colony. In 1846-47, a surveying party led by the noted artist Theodore Gentilz staked the family lots for the future settlers of D’Hanis. John Batot and his 9-year-old son Christian were among the first to arrive. The village site was a high prairie about two miles east of Rio Seco on the banks of a running stream now known as Parkers Creek. That spring, other groups continued to arrive until they numbered 29 families – far short of Castro’s expectations. 

When a stage line was established between San Antonio and the Mexican border, D’Hanis became a stage stop in 1881. As a result, D’Hanis soon had an inn with a large horse corral and other establishments, including mercantile stores, saloons and a grain mill. With the railroad came a loading station more than a mile west of Old D’Hanis. The station became the nucleus of a new settlement and eventually became the business center of a transplanted town.

Family names known in Old D’Hanis from its earliest days include Batot, Biell, Deckert, Echtle, Esser, Finger, French, Grossenbacer, Hagemueller, Karrer, Kaufmann, Ludwig, Marrell, McWood, Nehr, Nester, Ney, Riedemann, Rissmann, Robert, Rudinger, Schreiber, Schumacher, Schweitzer, Strausser, Weber, Weynand, Wipff, Woeler Zerr and Zuercher.

– Finger, Josie R. “Communities: Old D’Hanis.” The History of Medina County, Texas, Rev. ed., vol. 1, Castro Colonies Heritage Association, Castroville, TX, 1994, pp. 92-93.