Venture out any Northampton exit in any direction - north, south, east or west - soon you will discover traces of the rich German heritage of Northwest Harris County.

German names adorn signs on the streets, roads and highways, schools built on land often donated and formerly owned by descendants of German settlers, modern stores and other businesses still serving our community. Rural mail boxes front homes which are still occupied by family members of these early settlers.

Farms overflowing with bountiful vegetables of many types dot the sandy countryside around Northampton. The Strack farms and Hasslers along with others turn crop after crop from the rich soil. Their produce often winds up in local food markets. In nearby Tomball the Klein family continues to serve our community with a modern supermarket featuring local products and old-fashion courtesy. A funeral home and memorial park also are part of the family business. Tomball's Klein Bank advertises 'deeps roots and strong branches'.

Forerunners of today's businesses tracing their colorful past to early German settlers include Juergen's General Store, once a landmark in Cypress. At one time Rosehill, just down FM 2920 from Tomball, boosted of its seven cotton gins owned by settlers Hirsch, Hoffman, Bauer, Kleb, Scherer, Mueschke and Krug. Like all gins in this part of Texas, they have long ago disappeared.

One of the oldest stores, which has recently disappeared, was Froehlich Hardware in Rosehill. Two other old-time businesses, now gone, were Brautigam's Grocery and Hoffman's General Store in Tomball.

Still operating today and a favorite watering hole for locals and tourist alike is Wunsche's Café and Saloon near the tracks in Old Town Spring. Just down the I-45 freeway toward downtown Houston and across from Spring High School lies the Wunsche Family Cemetery. It is nestled beneath a stand of trees between the freeway and frontage road.

Kriegel Sawmill, one of the first in the community, operated from the 1850's to the 1870's. It was loacted near the present Mittelstadt Elementary School.†
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Other family businesses that have disappeared through the years include Holderrieth General Store in Hufsmith, Stuebner's Store between Willow and Spring Creeks, and Hildebrandt's Sawmill adjacent to Northampton. In the early days this and other nearby sawmills transformed the towering pine trees in the area into lumber which helped build homes and businesses in Harris County as well as being railroaded north and west to barren parts of Texas.

It was in the middle 1830s that German immigrants started arriving in Southeast Texas. Almost all came through the thriving port of Indianola or the smaller port of Galveston. After two major hurricanes wiped out the town of Indianola a few years after immigration began, Galveston then became the major Texas port for ships bringing these newcomers to Texas. Many were fleeing the chaos of a fractured Germany, often following the footsteps of earlier family members already here. They came from Hesse in west Germany, Hamburg in northeast Germany, Prussia, Liechtenstein, Saxony, Waldeck, Westphalia, Wurttenberg, Pomerania and other areas and cities of central Europe.

J.W. Blackmon Blacksmith in Spring.†
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Although they spoke a variety of Teutonic dialects representing the different regions of their motherland, the close knit group kept their heritage bonds as they faced new challenges in Texas. The various families intermarried through the years, and even today many of their descendants maintain close ties when marriage vows are exchanged.
The ways of their motherland continued to influence their lives even as they found new freedom. For example, the two major religions in Germany were protestant Lutherans and the Catholic Church. Intermarriages between the two faiths frequently brought disfavor to the newly weds from both sides of the family.

In one incident a German immigrant who came through this area and then ventured farther north changed his name. Even with a thick German accent, he chose to hide his origin by dropping an 'n' from his name, Litzmann. Once he became Louis Litzman, he had to prove he was a Lutheran and not Jewish before the family of Josephine Maas gave their blessing. His bride entered the U.S. through Galveston as a five-year-old in 1873.

Although nearby Tomball today is the largest town remaining of the original communities near Northampton, others still reflected on area maps include Rosehill, Klein, Cypress, Spring, Hufsmith, Stuebner, Willow, Kohrville and Louetta. Many original family names can be found in the listings of these communities. Some spellings of proper names changed through the years, but many descendants still reside in the vicinity of Northampton. This is indicated by the following schools in the school district that derived its name from the Klein family.

ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS: Ehrhardt Elementary, Hassler Elementary, Haude Elementary, Klenk Elementary, Krahn Elementary, Kuehnle Elementary, Lemm Elementary, Mittelstadt Elementary, Nitsch Elementary, Roth Elementary, Schultz Elementary and Theiss Elementary.

INTERMEDIATE SCHOOLS: Hildebrandt Intermediate, Kleb Intermediate, Strack Intermediate and Wunderlich Intermediate.

HIGH SCHOOLS: Klein High, Klein Oak High and Klein Forest High, and Klein Collins, named after Northampton resident Don Collins for his contribution to our community through his long and dedicated service as superintendant of Klein ISD.

Old records, documents and census data from 1850 through the remainder of the century and into the 1900s reveal the following names of families who have been and many still are residents of Northwest Harris County. It is certain you will recognize some as current friends and neighbors. No doubt there are others who are unintentionally missing from the list.

The families: Bahr, Froehlich, Hillegeist, Ehrardt, Lemm, Wunsche, Wunderlich, Theiss, Brill, Strack, Klein, Klenk, Zahn, Schneider, Kaiser, Krimmel, Benfers, Bernhausen, Mittelstadt, Haudes, Litzmann, Holzworth, Hirsch, Hoffman, Maas, Bauer, Kleb, Krug, Scherer, Mueschke, Metzler, Brautigam, Roth, Hildebrandt, Rudel, Seidel, Roesel, Kohrmann, Stecil.

Also: Tautenhahns, Bammel, Kuehnle, Ehrhardt, Meyers, Schultze, Richey, Boettcher, Eppes, Duer, Frelek, Kruger, Mettler, Oeft, Raths, Schmidt, Struck, Beckendorf, Thaisz, Wincher, Winkler, Quades, Krahns, Fenskes, Matzkes, Holderrieth, Bernhausen. There are others.

†Photo and information provided by the Klein Texas Historical Foundation.

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