Kerr County Stories by Lanza Teague

HCAF: An Artist's Dream Lives On Published in the Kerrville Daily Times on August 15, 2025 Hill Country Arts Foundation as it looked prior to the July 2025 Flood We all have dreams, things we want to accomplish during our lifetime. Today I am going to tell you the story of a woman who wasn’t just a dreamer — she was a “do-er” who made a beautiful, durable imprint on Kerr County. Almost from birth, Edith loved to draw. The extra hours of light provided by her father’s electric plant gave her plenty of time to develop her artistic skills and dream of going art school one day. Unfortunately, in those days, young ladies of her class were expected to be a debutante and sew items for her hope chest. Her dreams of taking “real art classes” were put on hold for more womanly pursuits until she was 20. The First Point Theater Stage, circa 1959 Edith Fuller was born in 1896 in Calvert. She was one of nine children born to Louis and Mary Josephine Fuller. Her father owned the electricity plant...

The little house that survived Published in the Kerrville Daily Times August 1, 2025 The House at Sherman's Mill after the 1932 Flood Since my last column, I’ve been struggling with a subject for this week. When so many around me are struggling to cope with the aftermath of a cataclysmic event, all of my ideas for a column this week just seemed silly. I have avoided the western part of the county over the last few weeks, mostly to stay out of the way of recovery and rebuilding efforts, but also because so much of my life was formed along the banks of the Guadalupe between Ingram and Hunt. I wasn’t sure my heart could take the devastation of landmarks and buildings I thought would always be there. It wasn’t until I saw a post by Mercy Gate Ministries on social media that I got my idea for this week’s column. When my great-grandparents came to Kerr County, they settled at the confluence of the Guadalupe and Kelly Creek, close to where the Waltonia Crossing is today. I try not to weav...

  Tragic events bring our community closer Published in the Kerrville Daily Times on July 18, 2025 The Worthington Lodge Near Kerrville, destroyed in the 1932 Flood. The Worthington Lodge was located between Kerrville and Ingram, not far from where the intersection of Junction Highway and Methodist Encampment is today Witnessing an historic event during your life time can be either exhilarating or tragic. Over the past two weeks, our community, and many others across the Hill Country, have experienced living through a tragic historic event. It is a harrowing experience we wouldn’t wish on anyone or have to live through in the first place. Flooding is part of life in the Texas Hill Country, a natural part of the ebb and flow of our ecosystem. Floods are important to maintain the “health” of our river and usually come after a long dry spell when the river is mucky. While I have seen many floods in Kerr County, some of them destructive, the devastation caused by this year’s flood went...

  Note: This column was written three days before the tragic flood that hit Kerr County on July 4, 2025. I was writing it for publication on July 5 and the press deadline was early, due to the holiday. In the back of my mind I knew it was probably a bad idea to write about an event, Kerrville's July 4th Celebration on the River, if it hadn't happened yet.  Unfortunately, the Guadalupe River, Mother Nature and the course of history had other plans for the Fourth of July, 2025 in Kerrville. Thousands turn out for big July 4 celebration in 1902 Published in the Kerrville Daily Times on July 5, 2025 Dressed in suits and dresses, Kerrville locals attend the July 4 picnic at the West Texas Fairgrounds. By the time this column is published, Kerrville’s Fourth of July celebration will be over. I hope everyone had fun celebrating our nation’s birth at the Fourth on The River celebration in Louise Hays Park, or wherever you happened to be.  The hard working folks at the Arcadi...

  The search for buried treasure Published in the Kerrville Daily Times on June 21, 2025 1821 Gold Coin, Similar to the coin found in 1933 by Lawrence Norris on Webster Street Buried treasure — those two words inspire mental images of Indiana Jones discovering the Ark of the Covenant or those guys on a TV reality show, endlessly digging for treasure on Oak Island in Nova Scotia.  Did you know Kerr County and the surrounding area has its own lore and legend involving hidden treasure? Before you go digging up random places around town, I need to caution you: People have been looking for these treasures for more than a century, and nothing has ever been found. It is also illegal to use metal detectors or dig holes in the ground of Kerrville area parks. Get permission before journeying across or digging into someone’s property, or you might find yourself in trouble. “Legends and Lore of the Texas Hill Country” is a small book of fun local stories written by William Campion de...

We’re all wild about Harry: From cars to a senior center, a look at the Dietert legacy Published in the Kerrville Daily Times on June 7, 2025 Harry Dietert parks his 1915 Harry Mobile in Downtown Kerrville An incredibly bright and determined teenager, born and raised in Kerrville, had two big ambitions in in life: To own his own motorcar and to get a college education. Neither were easy to obtain in Kerrville in 1915. Harry Walter Dietert was born Oct. 30, 1896, in Kerrville. His grandfather, Christian Dietert, was a German master miller and millwright who is considered one of the founders of Kerrville. The Dietert family came to Kerr County in 1857 to establish a mill. Located on the Guadalupe River, near where the One Schreiner Center now stands, the Dietert Mill was Kerrville’s first water-powered grist and sawmill.   The Dietert Mill and the Schreiner General Store are credited with giving Kerrville it’s “mercantile backbone” and bringing growth to the area....