| Official Name: | Crabapple, Texas |
| Settlement Type: | Unincorporated community |
| Pushpin Map: | Texas#USA |
| Pushpin Image: | Relief map of Texas.png |
| Pushpin Label: | Crabapple |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location within the state of Texas |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | United States |
| Subdivision Type1: | State |
| Subdivision Name1: | Texas |
| Subdivision Type2: | County |
| Subdivision Name2: | Gillespie |
| Unit Pref: | Imperial |
| Population As Of: | 2000 |
| Timezone: | Central (CST) |
| Utc Offset: | -6 |
| Timezone Dst: | CDT |
| Utc Offset Dst: | -5 |
| Elevation M: | 541 |
| Coordinates: | 30.4431°N -98.8375°W |
| Postal Code Type: | ZIP code |
| Area Code: | 830 |
| Blank Name: | FIPS code |
| Blank Info: | [1] |
| Blank1 Name: | GNIS feature ID |
| Blank1 Info: | 1379606 |
Crabapple is an unincorporated farming and ranching community north of Fredericksburg in Gillespie County, Texas, United States, located on Crabapple Creek,[2] about halfway between Fredericksburg and Enchanted Rock State Park[3] at an elevation of 1,775 feet.[4] Crabapple School was designated a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 1994,[5] and added to the National Register of Historic Places in Texas on May 6, 2005.
The initial non-indigenous settlers in Crabapple were German immigrants Friedrich Welgehausen, Jacob Land, Adam Pehl, Mathias Schmidt,[6] Nicolaus Rusche,[7] James Riley, Heinrich Kneese, and Jacob[8] and Adam Fries[9] in the mid 19th Century.[10]
On December 15, 1847, a petition was submitted to create Gillespie County. In 1848, the legislature formed Gillespie County from Bexar and Travis counties. While the signers were overwhelmingly German immigrants, names also on the petition were Castillo, Pena, Munos, and a handful of non-German Anglo names.
The original schoolhouse also served as a post office from 1887–1910.
Balanced Rock[11] [12] was a famous local landmark that perched atop Bear Mountain in the Crabapple Community.[13] The natural stone pillar, about the size of a small elephant, precariously balanced on its small tip. It fell prey to vandals[14] who dynamited it off its base in April 1986.
The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Crabapple has a humid subtropical climate, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.[15]