August Warnecke Farm South Main St.

[Highrise Tower]

This week I learned about August Warnecke.  He had hundreds of acres a long South Main Street that Rice Institute eventually bought and developed.

In some of the old 1910 and 1920 maps you can see August Warnecke as the parcel owner.

I searched around HAIF for this guy but didn't see anything mentioned. Thought I would go a head and create a thread. 

Newspaper article from The Houston Post. dated June 2, 1914.

Death Resulted From Infection
August Warnecke, wealthy land owner, died Monday.

Anthrax poisoning, thought to have been contracted whole he was skinny a cow given a cause.

From anthrax poisoning, believed to have been contracted about two weeks ago while skinning a cow, a August Warnecke, aged 69 years old, a wealthy land owner, who resided on the Main street road, died at 8:30 o'clock Monday evening at a local sanitarium.  His wife, who was stricken while nursing him, is at the sanitarium suffering from the same disease.

About two weeks ago a cow belonging to Mr. Warnecke was shot by some small boys who were hunting in his pasture--

The day later, June 3, 1914:

August Warnecke.
The funeral of August Warnecke, who died at a local sanitarium Monday evening of anthrax poisoning, will be held from the First Lutheran church Wednesday morning at 10 o'clock, with Rev. P. V. Dyck officiating. Interment will be made in German cemetery.

The following active pallbearers have been selected: George Ramin, Ed Ramin, Ernest Schelling August Schelling, Henry Schelling and William Schelling. The honorary pallbearers will be: G.H. Hermann, George Kuhlmann, Simeon Priester, J. Hahn, L. Hilldendahl, Charles Moerer, J.J. Settegast Sr., Jim KcKee, J. Remmel and Henry Tuffly. The pall--

[Highrise Tower]

If I'm reading this 1920 map correctly, Aug. Warnecke owned 63.79 acres right in the middle of the Rice Institute.

[Optimist]

Hi - August Warnecke was my great-great-grandfather and I've done a little research - he was quite the character!
My understanding is his father immigrated to Texas in the 1840s and bought 300 acres along Brays Bayou. In the early 1900s, some was used for the Rice Institute, some was sold to a developer and is now Southgate subdivision and the rest was sold to the Hogg brothers and became the site of the current Texas Medical Center.
Here's a bit more info re. Rice Institute - https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-houston-post-warnecke-tract-184-ac/20736689/

And here's an interesting story about how the family came to Texas - 

Immigrant Houstonian Heinrich Warneke.pdf

Hope you find this helpful - let me know if you want more info -

Cheers!

Bonnie McMillian

Edited June 4 by Optimist
forgot to add signature!