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A little History...

StarHill Farms is a rolling 300+ acre setting nestled between Mill Creek and Sandy Creek in Austin County, Texas.

It is located 81 miles from Houston, 96 miles from Austin and 147 miles from San Antonio. This area of Austin County was the original part of Stephen F. Austin’s land grant from the Mexican Government and was settled primarily with Germans and Czechs.

Friedrich and Julia Sternenberg left Germany in 1849 and arrived in Houston, Texas in January 1850. They had 7 sons and 2 daughters. From Houston, the Sternenberg’s landed in Austin County and bought the present day StarHill Farms property from Bryant Daughtrey, who had moved to Texas in 1822 and was given one league (approx. 4605 acres) from the Mexican Government as part of Stephen F. Austin’s Second Colony. His wife Anna Daughtrey, who died in 1847, is buried in Star Hill Cemetery as are many of the Sternenberg decedents.

Carl Otto Sternenberg, the third son of Friedrich, purchased the property in 1877 and after marrying Elizabeth Meissner in 1878, raised 12 children here. The homestead still stands on its original site. Carl, like several of his siblings, was born in Germany and immigrated to Texas when he was 11 years old. In 1861 Carl joined the Confederate Army. His company was organized at Shelby. It is said that he was a member of the Austin County Boys, who joined Captain Von Hoebel’s Company.

Carl Otto and his family made this area in the Star Hill Community (which translates to Sternberg in German) their home until it was sold in 1966 to the Beach family. Over the years, two other families have owned the farmland, including the current owners: the Frappier family. The Frappier family purchased the homestead in 1996 and has since been restoring this area of Austin County back to its original roots, calling it StarHill Farms.