Castell Adelsverein Fisher-Miller Pioneer Strongbox — Llano County

Castell was established in 1847 on the north bank of the Llano River by German immigrants under the Adelsverein, led from Fredericksburg by Count Emil von Kriewitz to land John O. Meusebach selected under the Fisher-Miller land grant. The town was named for Count Carl Frederick Castell-Castell, business manager of the Adelsverein. Frontier-settlement folklore places settler specie along the upper Llano where Comanche bands still ranged the Edwards Plateau after Meusebach's 1847 treaty. Castell remains the oldest surviving settlement in Llano County; sister colonies Bettina, Leiningen, and Schoenburg failed nearby. Coordinates mark Castell at the intersection of Farm roads 2768 and 152 on the south bank of the Llano River in extreme western Llano County.