BURELL, TEXAS. Burell, also known as French Settlement because most of its settlers spoke French, was three miles northwest of Castroville in northeastern Medina County. Many of the original settlers in Castro's colony^qv settled in French Settlement between 1844 and 1846. The community was probably named for Louis Burell, cattleman and the first Medina county sheriff. Burell helped to establish the Burell school, which in 1906 had twenty-one students and one teacher. Box-supper parties were held at the school in the 1920s. The school was closed in the 1930s, and the building was purchased by Cora Burell for use as a restaurant, Cora's Place. By 1947 Burell had been abandoned.

Bibliography: Castro Colonies Heritage Association, The History of Medina County, Texas (Dallas: National Share Graphics, 1983). Houston B. Eggen, History of Public Education in Medina County, Texas, 1848-1928 (M.A. thesis, University of Texas, 1950).