About this tour
Not every colony Henri Castro planted survived. This driving trail runs west across Medina County to the satellite settlements that grew up — and, in Vandenburg's case, nearly vanished — around Castroville's original Alsatian colony. You'll see a hotel built for a new rail line in La Coste, the drought- and cholera-struck remains of Vandenburg, and a general store that moved towns twice before landing in Hondo, where the trail ends at the museum that keeps the whole colony's story in one place. It's the lesser-known half of Castro's empresario grant — the towns that didn't become postcard-famous, but still carry the same Alsatian roots.