A lot from the German settlers
Fredericksburg was founded by German immigrants in 1846, and its town lots were handed out through the German Emigration Company. Town Lot 257, where Blue Thistle now stands, was first granted to Conrad Kolmeier. The company later conveyed it to Ernst Dannheim, who had agreed to buy it from Kolmeier, but that sale was apparently never completed.
In 1856 the two men deeded the lot to Louis Martin for $60. Martin held it for only a few months before selling it to Christian Kraus for $67. In 1865 Kraus sold it to William (Wilhelm) Crenwelge. William and his father, Peter Crenwelge, ran a wheelwright business down the street, where the family also owned a large two-story rock house.
The blacksmith’s home
On April 18, 1871, a young blacksmith named Johann Schlaudt, later known as John, decided this stretch of Main Street was the right place for his trade. He bought the northwest half of Town Lot 257 from Wilhelm Crenwelge and his wife, Sophie, for $340. He paid $100 in cash and owed another $100 by Christmas 1871, with the balance due by Christmas 1872 at eight percent interest. Business must have been good, because he paid off the debt before it was due.
The deed came with a charming condition. The Crenwelges had already planted that spring, so they kept the rights to “the crop which is already planted out for this year.”
The price suggests the lot already had improvements, probably a small log house that stood in front of the rock house. That rock house is the heart of the building you visit today, and the reason the house became known as the Schlaudt home and early blacksmith shop.
The Schlaudt family
John Schlaudt was born in Fredericksburg on August 25, 1847, and liked to tell his family he was the first boy born in the town. He married Sophie Honig, who was born in Germany on November 17, 1852. Sophie was still living, at 97, when the local paper featured the house in its “Old Homes of Fredericksburg” series.
A house that hides its age
Decades later the house belonged to Erwin Kraus and was rented to the Hilmar Lang family. An addition and a modern face-lift had given the old rock walls a finish that, from the street, looked like concrete block. The newspaper writer was surprised to find it was actually the third old rock house in a row on this block of Main Street. Next door, 419 West Main is another early rock house.
A new chapter
On October 18, 2026, Blue Thistle Tea Haus opens here, bringing tea, food and good company back to a house that has sheltered Fredericksburg families for more than 150 years. We like to think the Schlaudts would approve of a German-spelled tea haus pouring under their roof.
Sources: the “Old Homes of Fredericksburg” newspaper series, “Early Blacksmith Shop at Schlaudt Home,” and a published history of Fredericksburg’s early homes.
