The Gazette-Enterprise

GUADALUPE COUNTY — A lot has changed in 150 years.

Neighborhoods, stores and highways have divided up what was once the land of the county’s farming families.

But the Altwein Ranch has managed to withstand all of that change. Just as their relatives did more than a century ago, Kermit and Marilyn Altwein still use the family ranch along FM 725 to grow crops and raise cattle.

Recently, the Altwein Ranch was among 78 farms in ranches in the state to be recognized in the Family Land Heritage ceremony in Austin. The couple’s daughter, Susan Thibodeaux and granddaughter Nicole Thibodeaux received the award for the family.

Marilyn said that the Altweins sought the recognition for their ranch, hoping to help bring attention to the importance of agriculture.

“The strength of Texas is based on the basics of agriculture,” she said.

State Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples recognizes landowners each year who have kept family farms and ranches in continuous agricultural practice for more than 100 years.

“Today, these families are the breath of life for their ancestors’ dreams,” Staples said in a release. “The land they have nurtured, loved and cared for will forever be a part of the past, present and future of this great state.”

To date, TDA has recognized more than 4,300 properties in 235 counties across Texas.

This year, a 200-year recognition was given to a family ranch in Duval County, while 10 other family operations — including the Altweins’ — were recognized for 150 years of agricultural service in Austin, Burnet, Fannin, Guadalupe, Henderson, Hopkins, Mason, Navarro and Red River counties.

For FLH applicants, the road to recognition is paved with plenty of paperwork, family research and documentation.

Marilyn and Susan originally gathered all the information on the family’s land and history in the early ’80s, when completing the application for the 100-year recognition — which the ranch received in 1982. When the ranch’s 150th anniversary rolled around, the family decided to continue the research and application process again.

The story of the Altwein Ranch began in 1853, when Johann Gotthulf Altwein — who had emigrated from Bremen, Germany in 1851 — purchased 740 acres in the Schumannsville area in Guadalupe County, near present-day New Braunfels.

Marilyn said that, while looking back, she and Susan were interested to learn how different the world was when the Altwein family arrived in America.

“Johann came to Guadalupe County 17 years after the Battle of the Alamo and eight years before the Civil War,” she said. “It is amazing to think about how long ago that was — Texas had just become a state.”

Johann donated some of his land for a community school, called the Altwein School and later moved closer to New Braunfels and named the Unionwein School.

“Johann was very education-minded,” Marilyn said. “He was a very talented and giving man.”

Johann set about clearing and improving his vast acreage, but wouldn’t live to see his plans carried out. He died the same year he purchased the land while working in the summer heat.

His son, Wilhelm Altwein, inherited 190 acres, including the 40-acre homestead along the Guadalupe River. Wilhelm then passed the acreage to his son Arthur, who left 138 acres to his son, Kermit.

Kermit carried on the Altwein’s agricultural tradition — first by working the land with horses and mules. In 1945, he switched to a tractor and farm equipment.

Over the years, Kermit and Marilyn have grown corn, maize and wheat — but currently the ranch produces hay and cattle along 1,400 feet of Guadalupe River frontage. Today, the family is concerned about plans for a New Braunfels Outer Loop project, which is plotted to go through the Altwein Ranch property, taking the river frontage.

“What would our forefathers, who struggled and worked so hard, think of this?” she asked.

While not every family can claim more than a century of farming tradition, even the most urban Texans can take the time to learn about and appreciate agriculture, Marilyn said.

“Some people have no comprehension of agriculture,” she said. “They don’t realize that everything we own and buy and use comes in some way from the land — clothing, building materials and food. And it’s also an important part of our state’s history and traditions.”

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