The area where the valley and creek are located was settled back in the 1830s according to historical records, but the city of Saint Hedwig dates back to 1852. It was founded by John Demmer, a Roman Catholic who emigrated from his native Silesia (now Poland). Demmer and four of his Silesian countrymen built the Church of the Annunciation in the area in 1856, and so the area was called Saint Hedwig, after the patron saint of Silesia.

When I started researching and reading about Woman Hollering Creek, I thought for sure there must be a definitive story that spawned the creepy and colorful name of this place.

Alas, I was disappointed; there are actually many stories surrounding the name of this creek.

First, we have the version that Docia Schultz Williams wrote about in her book When Darkness Falls: Tales of San Antonio Ghosts and Hauntings (1997). In this version, Woman Hollering Creek is named for a pioneer woman whose family allegedly settled on the banks of the creek in the early settler days. In this account, the woman’s family was attacked by Native Americans, and in an effort to spare her children a fate worse than death, she drowned her children herself. The story goes on to say that when the Native Americans found this woman in the creek, her incessant, terrifying screaming drove them away.

This account of the Hollering Woman in Woman Hollering Creek maintains that the woman is still grieving and searching for her murdered family along the banks of the creek, screaming out her agony for eternity.