Population (2000): 3COL Index (2008):
Elevation: 1,564 ftArea: 10 acCounty: Gillespie
Zip Code: 78624Area Code: 830-997Time Zone: CST
Coordinates: 30 10' 53.47" N, 98 45' 25.96"
Location: 13 mi SE of Fredericksburg, a few miles S of US 290
Highways: FM 1376
Creeks: S Grape CreekRivers: NoneLakes: NoneParks: None

REFERENCES

CITY: Unincorporated

CHAMBER and TOURISM: None other than by the private businesses listed below.

PRINCIPAL BUSINESS: Entertainment, ranching

MAJOR ATTRACTIONS: The entertainment venue at Luckenbach, including the dance hall, post office, historic general store, outdoor music venue, food stands, camping areas and more.

NEARBY & HILL COUNTRY-WIDE ATTRACTIONS: See Attractions.

Some of the very nearby attractions include:

PARKS: There are many parks in the greater area as profiled on the Parks page. These nearby parks include:

BLANCO: BLANCO STATE PARK

FREDERICKSBURG: ADMIRAL NIMITZ STATE HISTORIC SITE & NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE PACIFIC WAR; ENCHANTED ROCK STATE NATURAL AREA; LADY BIRD MUNICIPAL PARK

JOHNSON CITY: PEDERNALES FALLS STATE PARK; LCRA PEDERNALES RIVER NATURE PARK; LBJ NATIONAL PARK

SPRING BRANCH: GAUDALUPE RIVER STATE PARK; HONEY CREEK STATE NATURAL AREA

STONEWALL: LBJ STATE & NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARKS

Local city parks include: None

EVENT CALENDAR: For full details on each event see Luckenbach web site below and
Festivals & Events

March: Mud Dauber Fest

May: Hill Country Run; Motorcycle Rally

June: Waylon's Birthday Bash

WEATHER: Weather Underground

MEDIA COVERAGE: Latest News (Google)

MAPS: Google, GeoHack

PRINCIPAL BUSINESS: Ranching, entertainment, tourism

HISTORY: Handbook of Texas Online: "Luckenbach is a scenic community in southeastern Gillespie County with strong musical associations. The site was settled in the late 1840s and early 1850s by German farmers, among them the brothers Jacob Luckenbach and August Luckenbach. Jacob was a veteran of the Texas Revolution. The pleasant setting is a mixture of caliche hills and bottomlands on Grape Creek, a tributary of the Pedernales River.

The first post office opened in 1854 under the name of South Grape Creek. Mrs. Albert Luckenbach, nee Minnie Engel, established a store and saloon. A dance hall, a cotton gin, and a blacksmith shop were in existence by the late 1800s. A number of family cemeteries and a Catholic cemetery were also established. The growing population supported a primary school and a Methodist church. Residents in addition to Methodists included in roughly equal numbers Lutherans and Catholics. One local schoolmaster, Jacob F. Brodbeck, designed and tested an airplane in this community, but a major demonstration flight in 1865 terminated in a crash.

Sometime in the later 1800s the post office closed. When it reopened in 1886, August Engel served as postmaster and renamed the town Luckenbach. William Engel became the next postmaster and opened the general store, which remains today in its original building. In 1896 the population was 150. It increased to a high of 492 in 1904 but declined dramatically in the first half of the twentieth century. From the 1920s to the 1950s Luckenbach had a population of twenty.

The dance hall was rebuilt by the early 1930s, and the new structure included a maple dance floor. During dances, William's wife, Anna Schupp Engel, often served homemade dishes on her own china plates. When William died in 1935, his sons assumed control of the family businesses, including the saloon and dance hall. One son, Benno Engel, served as the new postmaster. The town's population was sixty in 1960 but shrank during the following decades to twenty-five. By 1967 the seven-grade school was consolidated with the Fredericksburg schools.

In 1971 Benno Engel sold Luckenbach to John Russell (Hondo) Crouch, from nearby Comfort. Kathy Morgan and Guich Koock also bought into the town as Crouch's partners. Styling himself the "mayor" and "Clown Prince of Luckenbach," Crouch, a former swimming champion, actor, and columnist, declared Luckenbach "a free state...of mind" and successfully turned the small community into a foil of the nearby "Texas White House" - Lyndon Johnson's place down the Pedernales at the LBJ Ranch. In 1973 singer-songwriter Jerry Jeff Walker recorded his best-selling album Viva Terlingua in Luckenbach. Frequent festivals-including an annual Mud Daubers' Day, an annual Hug-In, a women's chili cook-off, the Luckenbach Great World's Fair, and the Non-Buy Centennial Celebration (a take-off from the Republic of Texas Bicentennial in 1986), to which the Prince of Wales and Elizabeth Taylor were invited-brought tens of thousands of people to the pastoral setting.

Popularized in regional culture as the place where "Everybody is Somebody," Luckenbach achieved legendary proportions in 1977, the year after Hondo's death, when the Waylon Jennings hit song "Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love)" became a national favorite. The town attracted both professional and amateur musicians who enjoyed the laid-back, historic atmosphere. State historical markers for the Luckenbach school and town of Luckenbach were erected in 1982 and 1986, respectively. At the beginning of the new millennium the Texas Almanac gave the population of Luckenbach as twenty-five, even though the marker for tourists at the entrance to "old" Luckenbach gave the population as three. A Luckenbach Club continued to meet seasonally at the old school to maintain the grounds and to support what remained of a sense of community.

Luckenbach was the site of Willie Nelson's Fourth of July Picnic from 1995 through 1999. In December 2002 Texas Monthly listed the town in the "Top 25 Unusual Treasures of Texas." The dance hall continued to be a popular gathering place for area and visiting musicians. Although most road signs directing travelers to Luckenbach have been stolen as souvenirs, the determined visitor still can find the historic hamlet just a few miles east of Fredericksburg, on Farm Road 1376 south of U.S. 290."

Area settled in 1840's. The community was named for Mrs. Albert Luckenbach, who established a post office here.

Humorist Hondo Crouch bought Luckenback in 1971 after seeing it advertised in a newspaper.

PRIOR NAMES: South Grape Creek (until 1886)

NATIONAL REGISTRY SITES:

CEMETERIES: yes

AVAILABLE SERVICES: Gas: no; Convenience Stores: no; Restaurants: yes; Lodging: yes; Grocery Stores: no; Banks: no; Vehicle Repair: no; Hospital: no; Med Clinic: no; Post Office: no; Public Schools: no; Cemetery:

OTHER PROFILES: Wikipedia; ePodunk; City Data (not available); Texas Escapes, Travel Texas

NOTES:

Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson memorialized Luckenbach with the song "Luckenbach Texas" (Back to the Basics of Love). Luckenbach is a very popular motorcycle destination, where visitors enjoy live music, the dance hall, and cold beer.

Jacob F. Brodbeck, a local schoolmaster, designed and tested an airplane here in 1865, but the test flight resulted in a crash.

(We welcome submission of updates, additions, corrections & digital photos, without compensation.)

BUSINESS AND ORGANIZATION DIRECTORY

See web sites shown above. Partial list below:

LODGING/MOTELS/ACCOMMODATIONS/GUEST HOUSES/B&B'S

Click: Luckenbach Lodging Listings and Reservation Services

MISCELLANEOUS GOODS & SERVICES

BEHRENDS FEED AND FERTILIZER: 830-997-3410; 3599 RR 1376, Luckenbach, TX 78624

(THE) FULL MOON INN: 800-997-1124; 830-997-2205; 3234 Luickenbach Rd, Luckenbach, TX 78624. B&B. Breakfast. Cabins, cottages, rooms. One-stop, turn-key wedding service, 400 people wedding capacity, rural setting. Co-located with Willie's Steakhouse and entertainment venue. Half miles from Luchkenbach Dance Hall. Capt. Matthew Carinhas, Owner-Innkeeper. www.fullmooninn.com; info@fullmooninn.com.

WILLIE'S BBQ & STEAKHOUSE: 830-997-0444; co-located with Full Moon Inn above. Texas Style Smoked BBQ. Wine, beer. Live entertainment Fri nights. Dine-in, take-out, Catering, weddings, parties, meeting facilities. Outdoor patio dining. Thur 4-10p, Fri-Sun 11a-2p, Bar menu after 10:30. Owner: Willie Castleschouldt. williesbbqandsteakhouse.com; williesbbq@yahoo.com

LUCKENBACH TEXAS: 830-997-3224; 1-888-311-8990; 412 Luckenbach Town Loop, Stonewall, TX 78624. The web site tells the history of Luckenbach along with events that are happening and their favorite pickers, including Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, and many more. "Everybody's somebody in Luckenbach". Historic General Store, Post Office, dance hall, outdoor music venue, food stands, camping areas. Meet the cool cat Miz Kitty, the "boss" of the General Store. Web: www.luckenbachtexas.com