Schertz and the Railroad
Schertz railroad depot
Schertz is a community on the border between Guadalupe and Bexar counties, between Marion and Converse on HWY 78. The area's first settlers arrived around 1843. In 1875 the Galveston, Harrisburg & San Antonio railroad passed trough while building towards San Antonio from Houston. A community first called Cibolo Pit, then Cutoff, was created, like so many in the area, around the railroad's water well. The new community's first post office opened in 1884. In 1899 the town took the name of local store owner, Sebastian Schertz, who came from one of the oldest families in the area. It is most likely the town did not gain a full depot until the early 1900s. The stop is not mentioned in the earliest timetables posted by the GH &SA. The style of the building is more in keeping with those built in this era by the Southern Pacific, which by then had acquired the original company. It was also probably one of the first local depots to be closed in the 1950s. It's proximity to San Antonio on the much improved Highway 78, and better bus service, meant that it would have ceased to attract much business by then.
