Ernst Gruene and his bride Antoinette came to New Braunfels in 1845. In 1872 when acreage was no longer available in New Braunfels, Ernst and his sons bought land in the community of Goodwin. The second son, Henry D. Gruene, Built his home , a one story stuccoed brick residence, and planted his land in cotton. Henry D. Gruene was to become the founding father of what was soon to be called GRUENE, TEXAS. In 1886, Gruene enlarged his house adding a second floor encircled by Victorian galleries on three sides.

The earliest home (30) still standing in GRUENE is an early fachwerk house begun in the 1850's and with 1898 additions. Ernst Gruene moved into this house after the additions were completed.

Cotton had been introduced into the area in 1852, and by 1870 it was recognized as the number one cash crop. H.D. Gruene had visions of cotton fields spanning the countryside and advertised his need for share croppers. Within months, 20 to 30 families occupied GRUENE's lands.

In 1878 Gruene established the first mercantile store (10) in this white frame building which at one time was on the main stage road from San Antonio to Austin. Gruene also constructed a cotton gin (24) powered by water from the Guadalupe River. The gin processed raw
cotton raised by Gruene's tenants until the wooden structure was burned in 1922. After the original cotton gin burned in 1922, a new electric gin (27) was constructed. The remaining brick boiler house is now the Gristmill Restaurant and Bar (24).

In addition, Gruene built a dance hall (20) and saloon in the 1880's. Providing entertainment for the tenants and surrounding farmers, Gruene Hall was the center of the community's social life.

Business in the mercantile store was so good that in 1907 H.D. Gruene built his new Mercantile Building (12). He added on one-story wings within a few years to house a bank and post office.

Gruene built this frame house (5) for the foreman of his farms in the 1870's. Additions in the Victorian style were made in the 1890's.

Houses in various styles - an 1890 Victorian cottage (8), two one-story frame homes, and a large brick home (17) - were built for the growing Gruene family. The 1920's style home was originally constructed in the 1894 where the large brick home (17) is today. It moved in 1925 to its present site and remodeled with a facade popular in the 1920's.

Death came to H.D. Gruene in 1920 and marked an end to the period of GRUENE's development. In 1925 and 1929, economic disaster stuck with the coming of the boll weevil and the Depression. The Gruene family kept the mercantile store open and continued extending credit to the area farmers. Eventually even this became impossible. The mercantile store closed, and GRUENE became virtually a ghost town.

Life once again came to GRUENE during the winter of 1974-75 when much of the GRUENE estate was sold. The new owners, West-Leach and Associates, realizing the value of the historic structures, found purchasers for these old buildings. Businesses were established as unique as the town and all of GRUENE was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.