RABKE, TEXAS. Rabke, nine miles southeast of Yorktown and ten miles southwest of Cuero in southwest DeWitt County, was settled by a group of German families, five of whom were named Rabke. German Methodists organized a congregation in 1890 and built a church in 1894 on land donated by W. C. Gohlke. From 1896 to 1916 Ed T. Rabke ran a grocery store with a meeting place for the Woodmen of the World upstairs. The post office, which operated from 1898 to 1905, was also in this store. The Twelve Mile school nearby served the community until 1921, when pupils went to the Ratcliffe school, where they attended until it was discontinued in 1954. The Ratcliffe school also served Five Mile. The Texas State Department of Highways has not designated Rabke on maps since at least 1936.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Nellie Murphree, A History of DeWitt County (Victoria, Texas, 1962).

Nellie Murphree