St. Martin & Hortontown Cemetery
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of St. Martin
And
Hortontown Cemetery
History
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of St Martin, commonly called St. Martin’s is the oldest Lutheran Church building in Texas, built in 1850.
The church was formed by Pastor Kleis, a German pastor who arrived in Texas through the community of Indianola.
The church was built to serve the residents of Hortontown and Neighborville located on
the north side of the Guadalupe across the river from New Braunfels. There were no bridges built
across the river at that time. The original location was on what is now Church Hill Drive on CISD
property. A one room school still stands next to the original location.
The Camino Real, or Kings Highway is only a few yards away from the original site. This is
a trail or road which was used a century before by Catholic priests to travel from Natchitoches,
Louisiana, and Nacogdoches, Texas, to the missions in San Antonio and on to Laredo. The trail
crosses the Guadalupe River near the location of what is now the Faust Street Bridge. Crossing
the river at this point was desirable because the river is wide, normally shallow with a hard rock
bottom. Other travelers over this area were the cowboys and herds of cattle on this branch of the
Chisholm Trail. The location was well suited to serve travelers and residents of the area.
The Church Was Moved To The Current Location
In 1968 the church was deeded to St. Paul Lutheran Church in New Braunfels. It was
moved to its current location on Loop 337 on the property of the Hortontown Cemetery, also
deeded to St. Paul Lutheran Church.
