Live Oak Hill

Live Oak Hill, also known as the Live Oak community, was a farming community of German settlers located a mile north of Ellinger near the eastern border of Fayette County. A Catholic church, established there about 1856, served as the focal point for community life. There was also a store, a gin, and a blacksmith shop operated by Charles Erlinger. In 1883 a tap-line railroad (which connected the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway at Columbus with the Missouri, Kansas and Texas line in La Grange) passed south of Live Oak Hill, and the business portion of the community moved to be near the tap line and established Ellinger. The church, however, remained at the original townsite, and during the 1980s was still an important part of Live Oak Hill community life.