Heart of Art, Texas

The Making of Art

Art is located deep in the heart of the Texas Hill Country 7.5 miles east of Mason and 27 miles west of Llano on E. Hwy 29 on the famed wildflower loop of Mason County. Don't blink...this tiny Texas town once found, will be easy to miss & impossible to forget. This scenic town is steeped in a goodly heritage and history. This community was settled in 1856 by German settlers who relocated from Fredericksburg to Upper Willow Creek.

These settlers began to build the solid foundations and framework of their new community. In 1858 a log building was erected east of Willow Creek serving as both a church and school house. In 1875 the building was replaced with a stone structure. The new structure was used for the same purposes until when in 1945 the one room school house was consolidated with the Mason schools.

In 1893 the Methodist Churches erected two buildings one stone and one wooden. The two were later consolidated and continues services today.

In 1883 a general merchandise store was opened by J.A. Hoerster. In 1885 the property was sold to Otto Plehwe who added a post office and renamed the community Plehweville. In 1897 the property was purchased by my great great grandfather Ernest Dannheim who remained the postmaster and only merchant in Plehweville selling to Eli Dechert in 1918. It was during this time the community name was changed from Plehweville to Art. The decision to change the community name was made because the town was often misspelled and confused with the town of Pfluegerville and the mail often never reached its owners.

In 1921 Dan Hoerster purchased the property selling to Caleb Hoerster in 1928 and then to O.A. Toeppich in 1938 remaining in the Toeppich family after his passing. I leased the property from the family operating as a General Store and Feed House from 1991 to 1996. The Post Office located once inside the General Store has since changed locations and is located next door.

In 2019, I acquired this property which is steeped in family heritage and history, of which its former stewards utilized this land to serve the community for over 137 years. Continuing the settler’s legacy of stewardship of this land as means to our mission, pouring it forward to serve our community, friends, and guests with our vision of…

…Making the heart of Art great again!