Captain William Frels and his brother John founded Frelsburg around 1837. The brothers emigrated from Germany to Texas in 1834 on the ship Congress. William Frels served in the Texian Army and donated the land for the town, school, and the Protestant church, cemetery, and parsonage. Germans from the regions of Holstein and Oldenburg settled Frelsburg so that the community merited a post office in 1847. More Germans from the Rhineland arrived and established Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church. By 1852, the community included general stores, a cotton gin, blacksmiths, harness-makers, and small farms. After the American Civil War, cotton farming became the predominant use of agricultural land, thanks to the efforts of Frank Walls, sr. who invented an automatic distributor and cleaner for cotton gins.
In 1870, an attempt to open Hermann University failed and the building was sold to the local school district instead. During the 1870s, the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railroad passed through Columbus, 12 mi (19 km) to the south of Frelsburg and the Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad passed to the north. Despite missing the railroads, Frelsburg had one sawmill, three churches, four gristmills, five cotton gins, and a population of 300 in 1884. The post office closed in 1908. By the 1950s, land use changed from small farms to cattle ranching. Discovery of the Frelsburg gas field took some land out of agricultural production. From 1933 to 2000, the population of Frelsburg was reported to be 75.
Texas State Historical Marker at Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church
Texas State Historical Marker at Trinity Lutheran Church
Texas State Historical Marker at Trinity Lutheran Cemetery
