Albert, Texas: The Ghost Town That Went on eBay

Albert, Texas is a partially restored Hill Country ghost town in southeastern Gillespie County, 16 miles southeast of Fredericksburg. It began as a stagecoach stop called Martinsburg in 1877, became Albert in 1892 when a postmaster named it after her husband, declined slowly through the twentieth century, and then got a second life as a Texas Hill Country dance hall destination.

01Why Was Albert Founded?

The town started in 1877 when German settlers from Fredericksburg sought better grazing land south of town. The stage line running between Blanco and Fredericksburg needed a waypoint where drivers could change horses. Martinsburg — as the settlement was first called — became that stop.

The name changed on May 24, 1892, when Wilhelmina Sophie "Minnie" Luckenbach opened a post office at the settlement. She named the new office for her husband, Carl Albert Luckenbach. The Luckenbach surname would later become far more famous when another member of the family gave it to the nearby town that Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings would sing about.

02The Dance Hall Era

In the 1920s, a local named Max Beckman built a dance hall that became the heart of community life in Albert. The structure was wood-beamed with a tin roof, featuring hinged side flaps that opened in summer to catch the Hill Country breezes. German brass bands played there. The Albert Echo Singing Society — founded in 1898 and still performing German folk music — used it as their home hall.

Albert's population peaked at about 50 residents in 1925. That was the high water mark.

03What Happened to Albert?

Albert declined the way most Texas Hill Country crossroads declined. Better roads meant fewer stops. Automobiles eliminated the stagecoach economy that had justified the town's existence. Young people left for jobs in San Antonio, Austin, and Fredericksburg.

By 1964, only four people lived in Albert. The population crept back up to 25 by 1972, but the dance hall closed in the 1980s, followed by the general store famous for its ice-cold beer. Albert became a quiet set of empty buildings sitting on Ranch Road 1623, the kind of place you drove through without realizing you'd been somewhere.

04Can You Visit Albert Today?

Yes — and you can dance there. Bobby Cave purchased Albert in 2004 and restored the old buildings. He reopened the dance hall and built an icehouse where the general store used to be. The whole operation now runs as "Albert Dancehall and Icehouse," hosting live music weekends and community events.

In 2007, Cave famously listed the entire town on eBay for $2.5 million. The listing became a news curiosity and drove tourism to Albert. The town remains privately owned but publicly accessible as a live music venue and Texas Hill Country destination.

05What Remains of Albert Today

The restored dance hall. The icehouse. The old post office site. The quiet rural feel that made Albert a stage stop in 1877 has been partially rebuilt for twenty-first century visitors. Albert is one of the rare Texas ghost towns where a single private owner pulled off a genuine restoration rather than just mothballing the buildings.