Hermann Hill Three Mile Walk
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HISTORY OF HERMANN
Hermann
was founded in 1836 by the German Settlement Society of
Philadelphia. Concerned because of the English influence on
their children and the loss of their German traditions and
customs, the society had a grand vision of founding a city where
German culture could flourish in the New World. In early spring
of 1837, the settlement society sent a scouting committee to
visit locations in the Midwest for their new city, which was the
first planned community west of the Mississippi River.
They
deputized George Bayer, a teacher, to lay claim to the land that
is now Hermann because the geography reminded them of the
Rhineland in Germany. Bayer purchased over 11,300 acres at a
cost of about $15,600. The town was bordered by hills on three
sides and the Missouri River to the north. Bayer was later
appointed as General Agent for the new city at a salary of $600
per year.
The
first group of settlers, nine adults and eight children, arrived
in Hermann in December of 1837 on the last steamboat of the
season from St. Charles, Missouri. Bayer started with the 17
settlers, but he became ill and was delayed many weeks in
Pittsburgh. His delay in arriving caused problems because he was
the only person with the authority to lay out and assign lots to
people. Another group of colony members planned better. Instead
of showing up in the wilderness in the middle of winter, they
came as far as St. Louis, looked for temporary work, and waited
for Bayer. They moved to Hermann in the spring of 1838, along
with Bayer.
Developing their town was more difficult than the organizers had
expected, in part because they asked too much from Bayer. He was
to survey all the land, assign property to the colonists,
furnish food for all the settlers, arrange for sawmills and
gristmills to be built, and deal with complaints. And the
settlers had many complaints. In fact, they complained so much
that the Society lost confidence in Bayer and released him from
his duties. His health had suffered under the demands placed on
him, and Bayer died (some say of a broken heart) in March 1839
at the age of 39. He was buried in the remotest part of the
Hermann Cemetery on East Hill, and it was declared that no one
could be buried within 75 feet of his grave.
During
Hermann's sesquicentennial celebration in 1986, a court of
inquiry was formed to hear Bayer's case. It was determined that
all the tasks that were assigned to him were impossible to carry
out, and, therefore, he was exonerated.
Today,
Hermann is a thriving community, although the Germans had hoped
to build a city that could rival Philadelphia. We do have one
claim to fame, however, and that is that our Market Street is 10
feet wider than Market Street in Philadelphia.
Hermann has two official historic districts, the area
surrounding Stone Hill Winery and the part of town near the
Missouri River. We have more than 100 buildings on the National
Register of Historic Places. Hermann's population is
approximately 2,750. Its main industries are tourism and
agriculture.
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History of Hermann - How Hermann Got Its Name
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