Things to do in Gruene Texas
The Gruene Historic District was on our list of must-visits while in the Texas Hill Country and has to be on yours as well! There are so many things to do in Gruene Texas.
This beautiful and fun little historic town is on the outskirts of New Braunfels right on the Guadalupe River. It’s definitely a popular attraction as I think we had to park in the back 40. Suggest you get there reasonably early to avoid the biggest of crowds.
Table of contents
Where is the Gruene Historic District?
The Gruene Historic District is located 4.4 miles North North-East from the Faust Hotel in the New Braunfels Historic District. It only takes about 15 minutes to get there but plan to stay for a few hours at a minimum.
Note that Gruene is not a town but a historical district of New Braunfels, TX. So, it each of the buildings have a New Braunfels address.
The District is full of interesting and historical buildings, restaurants, and shops all contained in a fairly dense area. The map shows you where to go from the parking lot.
Gruene is for sure a tourist attraction seeing lots of visitors year around. It is so busy that they even have law enforcement directing traffic so pedestrians can safely cross the road.
We had to park pretty far back even in the late morning.
Gruene History
The Gruene Historic District in New Braunfels, Texas was founded in 1878 by German settler Henry Gruene. German cotton farmers settled the area before the Civil War.
Gruene built a mercantile store and stagecoach stop along the Guadalupe River to serve the few dozen families living in the community. The General Store became the foundation of the economy. Gruene also built a cotton gin and dance hall.
Gruene remained a banking, ginning, and shipping center until the boll weevil migrated into the area in the 1920’s devastating the cotton harvest. After the Great Depression, only about 75 people still lived there. By the 1950s, the town was virtually abandoned.
You can see the remaining buildings from that historical era here in the Gruene Historical District.
Historical Recognition
Gruene itself has been added to the National Register of Historic Places, and many of the buildings have been awarded a Texas medallion from the Texas Historical Commission. It has also been recognized by the Texas travel industry as a premiere attraction for visitors, which is no surprise to its merchants and guests.
Attractions
The gristmill River Restaurant & Bar (Cotton Gin)
The Gruene cotton gin was built in 1878 by H.D. Gruene on the site of an earlier grist mill. The Guadalupe River powered the steam-operated gin and processed cotton grown in the area. The cotton gin burned down in 1922. It was replaced by a more modern electric gin. The remaining fireplace from the gin is now in the Grist Mill Restaurant. The Gristmill River Restaurant opened in 1977 in the broiler room of the old cotton gin. It is now a flourishing restaurant and a great place to go while in Gruene!
The gristmill River Restaurant & Bar turned out to be good choice for eating lunch.
Waiting Area
They had a really nice waiting area with live music and cold beverages to occupy your time to get to your table.
Tableside
Food was good and beverages were cold! Even though it was quite hot, we enjoyed our table and could here everyone talking and people down below tubing on the Guadalupe River.
Old Cotton Gin Structure
You can still see much of the structure of the old gin in the pictures below.
The Gruene Dance Hall
The Gruene Hall, built in 1878, is Texas’ oldest continually operating and most famous dance hall. It has a 6,000 square foot dance hall with a high pitched tin roof still. It still has the original layout with side flaps for open air dancing and a bar in the front.
The Gruene Mansion Inn
The Henry Gruene Family Home was one of the first buildings in Gruene constructed in 1872. This home was built to be Henry Gruene’s historic Eastlake Victorian home and cotton plantation. The Gruene Mansion Inn currently operates inside of the old historic home.
Houses were built in various styles — a Victorian cottage (now Lone Star), a large brick home, and a frame house (now Gruene Haus) for the foreman of the cotton farm.
The General Store
Henry Gruene built the Gruene General Store in Gruene, Texas in 1878 to serve the families working in his cotton fields. The store supplied food, clothing, and household goods, as well as farming implements and feed. The store was established so his sharecroppers could purchase farm implements, hardware, and supplies.
Today, the store is still standing with its unique history and antique flair, along with a variety of Texas Hill Country favorites, such as souvenirs and even ice cream.
The Water Tower
The Gruene Water Tower in the Gruene Historic District was built in the early 1920s to meet the water supply demands of irrigation and local industries. The original tower was made of cypress and served the locals until it was destroyed by fire in 1922. This was the same fire that destroyed the cotton gin mill in 1922.
The current steel tower was erected as a replacement in 1924. It is an icon standing tall, that you can see for miles, that represents the once-booming cotton industry town.
The Gruene Olive Tasting Room
Nice shop of many infused olive oils and balsamic vinegars.
Caylor Forge & Leatherworking – The Blacksmith Shop
Upper Gruene
Tubing on the Guadalupe River
If you like this content, check out our posts on the Faust Hotel and Brew Company in New Braunfels, Canyon Lake Dam, downtown in the New Braunfels Historic District, Landa Park, and other posts covering destinations in the New Braunfels and Texas Hill Country area. Check out these posts on the Beautiful Pedernales Falls State Park and Lyndon B. Johnson’s National Park and Ranch in the Johnson City, TX area.
In addition, you will want to check out our Texas Hill Country videos on our YouTube Channel at Travel with D and E.
