LUECKE?
OK, this writing is ridiculously big, I mean, look how zoomed out we are! That’s some dedication there.
Thanks DDA.
Google Sightseeing takes you on tour of the world as seen from satellite, using the free Google Earth program, or Google Maps in your web browser. Each weekday your guides James and Alex present new weird and wonderful sights as suggested by readers.
85 Responses to 'LUECKE?' 
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David Luecke, you say you own the land, well who is Jimmie Luecke then??? He is paying the taxes.
I often fly my sailplane over this area about 1/2 way between Giddings and Smithville. It is always fun to look at LUECKE. Typical altitude flying over this area is 4,000 to 6,000 AGL so I can always get a good look and marvel at the work involved. Since I am of German ancestry and a lot of this area of Texas had German settlers, Luecke is probably a distant cousin.
ASW27 BV
Hey, Mr. Luecke, I say, a tip of the hat to you! And, when you get the golf course finished, I hope you’ll let me come out and shoot a few rounds with ya. You’ll whup me bad, however - I am such a lousy golfer! A good day for me, is finding more balls than I lose. Take care! Steve Vise
This is supposed to be VERY NEAR George Bush’s Ranch in Texas.
Everyone thought I did a photoshop job on this. Obviously my last name is Luecke and everyone is getting a kick out of this. The greatest thing for our family name is that of all the words in the world to be the biggest it ended up being LUECKE? What are the chances. I am doing everything in my power to get some money together to get to Texas and get a private pilot to take me over the site. Yes, it is sad but it now has become my #1 goal of something I want to do before I die. Whoever created this my hat is off to you my friend! Thank you! I’ll be in Dallas, TX in December. Just have to figure out how I can get down there and find someone willing to take me up in the air. If anyone knows of a private pilot in the region that I can hire please contact me and the price. Thanks.
Its just a pity its been constructed by cutting down so many trees.
Unless it was constructed by growing so many trees…
What a waste of trees. This is an ecologically unique area; the Lost Pines is a rare occurrance of Loblolly pines and mixed hardwoods left over from the last ice age. Surely NASA could have found some existing feature to calibrate their cameras. Shame on you Mr Luecke, your name will live in infamy!
What an absolute disgrace. In these days of known global warning dangers - this idiot chooses to carry out this barbarianism.
Isn’t it typically American!!! No wonder that stupid idiot is still your elected president
From an environmentally aware Australian
MC, Allan, and Cleary couldn’t be more wrong (on every point). Mr. Luecke, THANK YOU for giving us all something cool to look at online and in person. This aughtta be right up there with the Alamo and Cadillac Ranch on “things to see in Texas” With the mountain bike course, state park, and hopefully a golf course right there, Smithville can be a big outdoor sports draw for the area.
Here’s what it looked like on January 28, 2007 from 4500 feet altitude:
http://www.davemorris.com/Photos/Mooney%20N6030X%20Mustang%20Beach/IMG_2320.jpg
This landowner is an only child. Why does he have nephews and/or nieces named Luecke? Can’t be.
What he did is just great. If that is what he wanted.
I am his niece by marriage. The only other Luecke’s I know of in his family are his daughter and son. I have never heard of any other nieces or nephews but that is not to say there aren’t any. His wife is my mother’s sister (all from Giddings). They have been married for several years. My mother and sister are two of seven children, all of which have children and granchildren.
The only reason I am addressing this blog is to say that this is a wonderful man with a kind and generous soul. Anyone who has been blessed with meeting him would attest to the same. He did this because he wanted to - obviously, but he is also an environmentalist and undertook this feat while considering and respecting the effects on the land and the wildlife.
Very good job Jimmie. I enjoy the various comments made by people from all walks of life. Sure got relatives out there that make claim to owning this property and you pay the taxes. Don’t add up.
No environmentalist would clear cut 6,000 acres of irreplaceable Lost Pines. Since most of Texas is relatively barren, wouldn’t a land swap have been a better way to secure golf course or grazing land?
Ownership of land is a temporal thing, Mr. Luecke. Long after we both are gone, your environmental destruction will remain. You have been a poor steward.
West TX is barren, of course, but east TX looks just like the rest of the South (pine and oak forest, although not like it used to be), central TX is wooded hills (cedar and small oaks), and the prairie belts are typical midwestern, with mostly grassland but some scattered woodlands. West TX is southwestern desert.
I write this because it gets so tiring to hear people stereotype the state’s landscape. On the other hand, it’s always fun to see people’s reactions when they travel to east and central TX and act so surprised at what they see.
Hi folks,
I’m a reporter for the local newspaper here in Smithville. I’m trying to get in touch with Jim Luecke, but he’s unlisted. Anyone have any contact info, or want to contribute a quote for a feature story I’m doing? Don’t forget to give your full name and where you’re from/what your affiliation to the topic is if you wnat to submit a quote.
I welcome any contribution to the article, and once again, if anyone knows how to get in touch with Mr. Luecke, please let me know. (I’m hesitant to go tromping around looking for a door to knock on, and get lost in an “L” or an “E”)
Thanks,
Erin
eboyd@smithvilletimes.com
I work on that ranch, The ranch is 5000ac the name is 1500ac it is 3/4 of a mile tall and 4 miles long, it was all brush very little pine, we run cattle on it. He and another guy surveyed it and he was on a bulldozer from sun up to sun down clearing the brush on it. He is one of the nicest men you will ever meet. he drives and old truck and wears jeans and a t shirt, works cattle and drives a tractor everyday. will never buy a new truck.
By using Google Earth and zeroing in on the area, you can see that the lettering is surrounded by thick forest. It was obviously clear-cut to do the lettering. Clear-cutting is never a good thing. Period.
Much of central and east TX was naturally forested until the farmers and ranchers came in over the last century and ruined a great deal of the land, as is the case all over the U.S. There’s still a lot of forest left in TX, but it will never be like it was.
Im a Luecke in Illinois and i was searching my name and this came up, well im gettin a kick out of it, most of my family is in florida so i dont know if relation is a possibility but either way gotta thank you for that, thats awesome
To the environmentalists…..shut up already. Maybe the wood was used to make houses for stray dogs. Likely it was used to make a fence to keep you idiots away before you found some “rare” salamander or frog to take the guys land away. To the owner…..very cool.
“In Smithville” you are an idiot. “Maybe the wood was used to build houses for stray dogs” ??? What the hell does that nonsensical fantasy have to do with anything? Would you even recognize a salamander if you saw one?
To the owner, shame on you for clearing Lost Pines for your personal vanity.
THats so tipycally american. Selfish rich idiot
Now, I’m not a Luecke…but, I do have to agree with my cousing Kathryn…he is our uncle by marriage. He is an only child….funny how someone else said they were opening a golf course…..maybe he would like for that guy to pay the taxes on that property. Mr. Luecke did what he did because he wanted to. Because he can do that!! It’s an awesome thing…to be able to do whatever you want…and do 90% of the work yourself. Maybe you guys just don’t understand how things are done down here in TEXAS!!! NASA liked it, as they got pics of this from the space shuttle!
Jimmie Luecke is my brother-in-law and yes he owns the property, although there are other Lueckes who make claim to it. He is married to my youngest sister. I don’t write this for the heck of it. I have known him for in excess of 45 years.
Some of your people need to get a life and leave Jimmie’s business to Jimmie. Hard to believe there are people claiming they own this. That is ludicrous.
I saw this out of the plane Monday flying to San Antonio from Orlando. Had to google to see the sotry behind it.
I was surprised the Southwest pilot didn’t alert the passengers to take a look. I just happened to be looking at the window at the time we flew over. Amazing how large this had to be as I knew we were at a very high altitude.
As a commercial pilot this has become an established landmark for us, I agree with the other pilots it lies near “PUFER” intersection. My compliments to Mr. Luecke and all the hard work involved. A great statement - his property, his option - it’s that simple.
Environmentalist get a life. If y’all had let others clear brush in California, the fires wouldn’t have been so bad. When the Sierra club publishes a calander with a symetrically beautiful forrest, it’s because it’s not natural, its a clear cut that has grown back, duh, the trees are all the same size, so that’s why it looked so pretty. We have more acreage of trees today than a hundred years ago because we protect against fires better. Even the Sequoyas need a fire to clean the under brush and the new sprouts then have a chance to grow. Take a reality check and look it up before you go hug a tree. We need to conserve, yes, but give me a break, the debate is far from over. Don’t be gore’d by all the inserted lies, don’t just watch the movie, find out the truth, you’ll find it is inconviencing you!
I live near San Antonio, Texas and there are studies that have been written in Texas Monthly about ten years ago how a man cleared 60 acres of cedar, leaving trees and low and behold, springs came back and there’s more wildlife than before, when the water guzzeling cedar were there.
Take a reality check before you blame this man for anything.
This land is actually about 2 miles from my house. I’ve been told that the letter are exactly a mile from top to bottom and also that NASA uses them to calibrate their instuments because of their precision.
Everyone please stop attacking Mr. Luecke just because he did with his own land what he wanted to do and has every right to do under our economic system and form of government which many of our young men have sacrificed their lives for in order to protect. Like “Matt” stated, “his property, his option - it’s that simple”! If the self-righteous radical types want to accuse anyone of anything they can start by first enumerating and then apologizing for all of the environmental “damage” they and their ancestors have caused. Only then should the rest of us be considered fair game… Mr. Luecke, my hat’s off to you sir; You’ve certainly made a name for yourself!
i know this man..he married my aunt. very very nice and quite man, hard working texan…from what i understand he did this for wind breaks for the cattle. and if you are gonna make wind breaks why not put your name in it, texas size…
Yes, it’s his property and he can do with it what he wants. However, I wanted to respond to Cody’s comment comparing this to thinning cedar. This is not the same situation as that. Cedar (ashe juniper) are native to the areas west of the Balcones Escarpment, but they exist in unnaturally high numbers these days because we started controlling wildfires and killing buffalo in the 1800’s and we started eating fewer deer in the 1900’s (deer prefer to munch on the tender hardwood chutes, so their overpopulation gives cedar an advantage.) David Bamberger, the undisputed pioneer in Hill Country land restoration, spent a lot of time and money restoring his 5000-acre ranch near Johnson City to a pre-colonial proportion of cedar, hardwood, and grassland. And yes, springs did start to pop up on his property, because his property sits right on top of the Edwards limestone. Other Hill Country land owners followed suit and discovered much the same thing.
Mr. Luecke’s property, on the other hand, is not in the Hill Country. It’s in the middle of the “Lost Pines” region, an area of sandy loam between Bastrop and Smithville that hosts a relic population of loblolly pines similar to those found in East Texas. These trees, if allowed to grow to maturity, form a naturally fire-retardant canopy free of underbrush. You can look at the adjacent Rocky Hill Ranch property to the East or Buescher State Park to the West to see that the trees in this area are naturally dense.
Anyway, I totally agree that it’s his right to do with his land whatever he pleases. But it’s definitely not the same thing as clearing cedar. When you thin cedar, you’re undoing ecological damage that mankind caused, restoring a prairie where there once was a prairie. This is creating a prairie that didn’t exist there naturally.
I actually had the fortune of run across (fly across?) this in my flight from Houston to Las Vegas just a few days after I read this blog entry.
Anyways, I took some more pictures, although I’m not sure from what altitude they are.
http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v2090/26/95/7902415/n7902415_50250002_196.jpg
http://photos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v2090/26/95/7902415/n7902415_50249757_5738.jpg
Please email me if you want higher resolution copies.
Using the Google Maps scale for measurements, the letters are approx. 950 meters (0.6 miles) high and 630 meters (0.4 miles) wide. The whole name is approx. 4900 meters (3 miles) wide.
I love it…let me help some of you fools.
This is AMERICAN and better still it’s TEXAS…where a person is free to do what they want with the property (and money) they own !
you tree huggers wanna do something to “counter” this…plant your own trees or better still OFFER the man fair market value and BUY the land (that you think he’s ruined)….yeah that’s what i thought you don’t want to spend YOUR money…you just want to CONTROL what some one else can do w/ their property & money !