We Can't Wait to
See You!
Our History
Henry Troell – (October 5, 1838 – December 19, 1921) A native of Wichmannshausen, Germany, Henry Troell moved to this area some time prior to 1860. He served in the Confederate Army and in 1872 married area native Johanna Woehler. A successful freighting business enabled him to invest in several local properties and enterprises, including an innovative dam/grist mill operation at this site. He expanded the mill’s water and hydroelectric generation capabilities and in the 1890s provided the city its first water and electric utility systems. His entrepreneurial and business legacy represent an important part of the city’s development. (1994)
Saffold Dam
Named for William Saffold, who owned land here in the mid-1800s, Saffold Dam is typical of many mill dams built during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Originally a natural rock outcropping, the dam was first improved by Henry Troell in the late 1800s when he added rock to the dam to raise the water level to power a cotton gin. The city of Seguin bought Troell’s property in 1907 to further develop the river’s hydroelectricity, and subsequent improvements have led to the establishment of a hydroelectric plant on the dam’s south side. (1991)
Located on one of the earliest explored rivers in Texas named for Our Lady of Guadalupe by Spaniard Alonso de Leon in 1689. During 1691-1693, Domingo Teran de Los Rios, Spanish Governor of Texas, maintained a colony on the Guadalupe. In the early Anglo-American settlement, 30 or 40 families located along its bank, which formed a boundary of the Power-Hewetson Irish Colony. Near the mouth of the river, historic Victoria was founded, and 60 miles above was Gonzales, where the first shot for Texas freedom was fired, Oct. 2, 1835. The Guadalupe is 250 miles long. (1969)