Bethlehem Lutheran Church

The oldest Lutheran sanctuary in Texas, Bethlehem Lutheran Church has been a community pillar in Round Top for over 150 years. The building was designed by Carl Siegismund Bauer, a German Texan who also served as the head mason. The church was built from May 6 to October 28, 1866. Bauer's sons and family, as well as local citizens at the time, contributed the labor to construct the church. The sandstone was quarried from Cummins Creek, which bounds the church site on the west. Eastern Red Cedar from the creek bottom was harvested and hand hewn into beams for the framing timber. The side walls are reinforced by iron tie rods that were added in 1873 across the church's interior and are additionally supported by four exterior stone buttresses on the south side.