0tto Locke
(1859-1927)
In 1856, Johann Joseph Locke, a native
of Prussia, purchased two ten-acre plots of land bordering on
the Comal River in New Braunfels. In this "garden spot in the
wilderness," he saw the need for fruit, shade, and ornamental
trees, not just for the ever increasing number of homes in town,
but also for homes on farms and ranches spreading out in all directions
from New Braunfels. Here, with a crystal-clear water spring he
began Locke Nurseries.
Thirty years later, in 1886, his son, Otto
Locke, continued the nursery business, naming it Comal Springs
Nursery. He issued annual catalogs describing and often illustrating
his constantly increasing variety of fruit, nut, and shade trees,
as well as improved roses, flowers, berries, and vegetables.
Included among his introductions were the Bonita
arborvitae, Heidemeyer apple, Strington apple, Ferguson fig, Comal
cling peach, Dixie peach, November peach, Daisy pecan, Fall City
tomato, Germania rose, Locke's Pride pear, Perfection pear, Summer
Beauty pear, Honey nectarine, Old Favorite pomegranate, McCartney
plum, and Guadalupe dewberry.
At the 1904 Word's Fair in St. Louis, Otto
Locke's Daisy pecans were the only pecans entered, and according
to his 1904-05 catalog, the display was "the admiration of all
who saw it." He also supplied a great many roses for display and
took home a silver medal for his exhibit of fruits.
In 1911 he wrote: "We take great pleasure in
handing you our Twenty-fifth Annual Nursery Catalog. A period
of twenty-five years is a long time devoted exclusively to one
business, and you all know the work and patience it took to test
and introduce the best varieties of nursery stock."
"Today Comal Springs Nursery enjoys a
reputation all over the Southern States and Mexico. Profitable
orchards of trees furnished by us are found everywhere and for
many popular city parks we furnished the plants."
"Today ours is the oldest nursery in the Southwest;
built up from a very small scale, it is built on a sound foundation.
In the future we will conduct our nursery in the same prompt and
reliable way and hope to see many of our first customers patronizing
us twenty-five years hence, even if the writer is not able to
serve his customers anymore; as he is growing, in connection with
the best nursery stock, strong ambitious sons, who will in the
future endeavor to please you and furnish the South with high
grade nursery stock."
In addition to numerous varieties of fruit
and nut trees, by 1917 Comal Springs Nursery carried an extensive
assortment of ornamental plants including sixteen types of grafted
altheas, several buddleias, four different honeysuckles, seven
different arborvitaes, four different trumpet creepers, and over
one hundred different roses. The 1917-18 catalog stated "we are
one of the largest rose growers in Texas and have this year 40,000
extra strong plants to offer." In addition to his own introductions,
the nursery carried items introduced by Luther Burbank, the United
States Department of Agriculture, the famous Fruitlands Nursery
in Georgia, Rosedale Nursery in Brenham, and Pearfield Nursery
in Frelsburg.
Otto's four sons, Emil, Herman, Walter, and
Otto, Jr., all followed their father in the nursery business and
established themselves in New Braunfels, San Antonio, and Poteet.
In 1927, Comal Springs Nursery passed to Otto
M. Locke, Jr. who in 1928 moved it two its present location on
San Antonio Road (along I-35 just south of New Braunfels). Mr.
Locke ran the nursery along with his wife Etelka until her death
in 1990 and continued on his own until his death in 1994. At that
time with no children to inherit the nursery it was left to Tandra
Lyles who had been helping Mr. Locke since Etelka's death.
Otto Locke, Jr. became as famous for his animal
menagerie as his plants. He collected animals of all kinds
that he sold to zoos and circuses all over the world. He even
supplied many animals that were used in making movies for theaters
and television. The nursery itself once displayed cougars, monkeys,
iguanas, snakes, birds, a forty-three year old snapping turtle,
and a collection of prairie dogs. To this day the nursery still
sports its own prairie dog town.
Today, the struggling Locke Nursery is run
by Tandra and her father Joe Ed Lyles who hope to return "The
Oldest Nursery in Texas" to its former glory.
Reference:
Haas, Oscar. "J.J. Locke Saw Need for Nursery in 1856", Southern
Florist
and Nurseryman, July 16, 1965. |
Otto
Locke (1856-1927)
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