A forgotten post office. That’s where our story of Dessau begins. Dessau Texas. A small unincorporated community in Travis County. It’s named after Dessau in Germany a fact many overlook. Imagine a time before the bustling city of Austin sprawled outwards. A time when Dessau was a quiet haven. A place with its own post office operating from 1886 to 1890. It reopened briefly in 1897 before closing permanently in 1901.
Dessau’s history is woven into the fabric of the area. It was a place of German heritage. The community had a school with a single teacher and forty students in 1907. A testament to the strong community spirit. A spirit that persevered even after the school merged with the Pflugerville Independent School District in 1920.
The population of Dessau fluctuated throughout the years. Reaching an estimated thirty people in the late 1890s. It dipped to a mere ten during the Great Depression. After World War II it rose again to fifty. This number remained relatively stable until the 1960s. Then the area’s population was no longer tracked.
The Dessau Lutheran Cemetery stands as a silent sentinel. A testament to the community’s rich German heritage. Many headstones bear German inscriptions. This is a poignant reminder of the settlers who sought a new life in Texas. Yet they clung to the familiarity of their mother tongue. The cemetery predates the church by at least a couple of years. Families worshipped in their homes until the church was constructed in 1876. The church conducted services in German until the mid-1900s. This gradually transitioned to English reflecting the assimilation of the community into American society.
Today Dessau is part of the greater Austin metropolitan area. Its story is not just about numbers. It’s about people. About resilience. About the legacy of a community that once had its own post office and school. It is a story etched into the landscape. A story whispered by the old headstones. The story of Dessau. A little piece of Germany in the heart of Texas. A story that continues to unfold. A story that deserves to be remembered.