On December 15, 1847, a petition was submitted to create Gillespie County. In 1848, the legislature formed Gillespie County from
Bexar and
Travis counties. While the signers were overwhelmingly German immigrants, names also on the petition were Castillo, Pena, Munos, and a handful of non-German Anglo names. The community was originally settled by
German immigrants Dietrich Rode, a director of the original
Zion Lutheran Church in Fredericksburg, and William Kothe in 1852. Rode also served as a Lutheran lay minister in his home at Cherry Springs, leading to the establishment of Christ Lutheran Church. The still active church has some 200 members. Mr. Rode's original home still stands near the church. The 1860 Census of Gillespie County listed 117 people in Cherry Spring. John O. Meusebach brokered the
Meusebach-Comanche Treaty in 1847, making area settlers safe from Comanche raids. However,
Kiowa, and
Apache depredations were still committed against the settlers. The most famous white captive of the area was
Herman Lehmann. Lehmann later ran the cattle drive stop that became the
Cherry Springs Dance Hall. ==Cherry Spring School==