Highsmith, Carol M. A small, centrally located community building in the old German-immigrant settlement of Gruene, now part of New Braunfels, Texas. 2014. Photograph. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. https://www.loc.gov/item/2014632392/.
Students will begin by looking closely at the photo of the community building in Gruene, Texas. The teacher will guide a short discussion asking students what they see, where they think the building is, and what it might have been used for. The teacher will share a short story about Gruene’s beginnings as a town started by German families. Students will be expected to talk about why a building like this might have been important in a small farming town.
Gruene, Texas, was started in the 1800s by German families who moved to the area to farm cotton and build a small town near the Guadalupe River. They built stores, a dance hall, and community buildings like the one in the photo so people could work, meet, and celebrate together.
Source: https://texashighways.com/issue-archives/the-scene-in-gruene/
- What does this building tell us about how people in small, rural towns worked and lived together?
- Why would people in Gruene need a building like this?
- What buildings are important in your own town or neighborhood? What do they tell us about the people who live there?
ELA Standard
AL.5.31. Include multimedia components and visual displays in presentations to enhance the development of main ideas or themes when appropriate. (Examples: graphics, sounds)
Social Studies Standard
D2.His.2.3-5. Compare life in specific historical time periods to life today.
Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information).
- Students view the photo of the Gruene community building. The teacher leads a short discussion using guiding questions such as: What do you notice? What do you think this building was for? Students then complete a Look–Think–Wonder graphic organizer with a partner, encouraging curiosity and evidence-based thinking.
- The teacher shares a short story (oral or read aloud) about the German families who started Gruene. The story highlights that they were farmers who built small businesses, shared spaces, and celebrated together in places like the building in the photo. Students will discuss how the building might have been used—for meetings, dances, or town gatherings.
- Next, students will compare Gruene to their own community by drawing a picture or making a simple poster of an important building in their town (like a school, community center, library, or store). They will answer three questions on their poster: What is this place? Why is it important? What does it say about our town?
- To close the lesson, the class will create a “Community Connections” wall with Gruene and their own town side by side, showing that rural towns—then and now—are built by people who work together and create spaces to meet, help, and celebrate.
Highsmith, Carol M. Built by Christian Herry in 1878, Gruene Hall in New Braunfels is one of the oldest dance halls in Texas. Gruene was a communal farming community. The one-story structure features a false-front entryway with asymmetrical window and door arrangements. 2014. Photograph. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. https://www.loc.gov/item/2014632381/.