Karl Itz (ca. 1838-1908), a native of Westerburg, Germany, arrived in Texas in 1852 and settled in Gillespie County. He married Henrietta Evers (1839-1923) in 1856. At the outbreak of the Civil War Itz joined a group of German immigrants in support of the Union. Marching toward Mexico in August 1862, the men encountered Confederate forces at the Battle of the Nueces. Though many of the Germans were killed, Itz was not injured and lived in hiding until the war ended. He moved his family to this site and built a stone home in 1875. A log house was later added. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836-1987