Esser's Crossing at Wesson

IN THE MID-1800s, A WAGON TRAIL CALLED FREDERICKSBURG ROAD RAN 19 MILES NORTHWEST OF NEW BRAUNFELS TO ONE OF THE FIRST SAFE GUADALUPE RIVER ROAD CROSSINGS. ESSER’S CROSSING AT SPRING BRANCH SERVED ALMOST ONE HUNDRED FIFTY YEARS AS A PLACE DESIGNATED FOR SECURE PASSAGE INTO THE NORTHWEST PORTION OF THE STATE FROM NEW BRAUNFELS AND SAN ANTONIO TO JOHNSON CITY AND FREDERICKSBURG. THE CROSSING PROVIDED A SAFE, SHALLOW SOLID ROCK RIVER BOTTOM CROSSING FOR PIONEERS AND THEIR OX-DRAWN WAGONS AND HORSE-DRAWN CARRIAGES. AS EARLY AS 1850, THIS CROSSING ON THE GUADALUPE RIVER WAS KNOWN AS HENDERSON CROSSING. A GERMAN IMMIGRANT, CHARLES ESSER, SR. (1827-1902), SETTLED IN THE AREA IN 1858 AND PROVIDED A PUBLIC WAY-STATION ALONG THE ROUTE. ESSER WAS A JUDGE, JUSTICE OF THE PEACE, AND SCHOOL TEACHER, AND WAS INSTRUMENTAL IN GETTING A POSTAL STATION, CALLED WESSON, IN THE AREA. CHARLES BEIERLE, SR. WAS THE POSTMASTER BETWEEN 1893 AND 1907. WHEN THE CROSSING WAS FLOODED, TEAMSTERS DROVE TO FISCHER’S STORE, DEVIL’S BACKBONE OR PURGATORY ROAD TO CROSS OVER THE 1887 FAUST STREET BRIDGE IN NEW BRAUNFELS.

BY 1903, THE PUBLIC AND COMAL COUNTY OFFICIALS BEGAN DISCUSSIONS TO BUILD A SECOND BRIDGE TO PROVIDE HIGH WATER CROSSING OVER THE GUADALUPE RIVER. IN 1904, THE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS COURT SELECTED ESSER’S CROSSING TO RECEIVE THE BRIDGE. AFTER ITS CONSTRUCTION, AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS WERE BROUGHT TO THE NEW BRAUNFELS AREA FROM AS FAR AWAY AS JOHNSON CITY. THE WROUGHT IRON WHIPPLE TRUSS BRIDGE, A POPULAR STYLE OF THE TIME, WAS COMPLETED IN 1904. THE BRIDGE DESIGNED FOR ONE-WAY TRAFFIC DISPLAYED A SIGN FORBIDDING FAST DRIVING OR RIDING OR DRIVING MORE THAN TEN HEAD OF LIVESTOCK ON THE BRIDGE AT ANY ONE TIME. ESSER’S CROSSING BRIDGE WAS DESIGNATED AN OFFICIAL UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL STATION IN 1923. AREA RESIDENTS SERVED AS GAUGE ATTENDANTS TO RECORD ANNUAL DATA. THE 1904 BRIDGE WAS LATER CONDEMNED AND REMOVED IN 1979.

(2012)