Comfort Heritage Foundation

640 High St., Comfort, Texas 830-995-2641

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Kendalia Community Church - Marker in/near Kendalia

Photo Credit: Col. Bettie Edmonds

Kendalia Community Church

Marker #2919 - 1979 In 1882 Boerne newspaper editor Carl Gustav Vogel and his wife Ettie began buying land in this area. After Kendalia Methodist Episcopal Church, South, organized in 1886, the Vogels deeded this site to the congregation. Community residents built this meetinghouse. The fellowship merged with First Methodist Church of Boerne in 1966. A new congregation, "Kendalia Community Church", acquired this building and continues to serve the area. (Jones and Arthurs Streets, Kendalia - two blocks N of SH 473)

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Staffel Family and the Staffel Store - Marker in/near Boerne

Photo Credit: Dietert Historical Archives -
Patrick Heath Public Library (Boerne)

Marker #12546 - 2001   334 S. Main in Boerne
German immigrant August Staffel arrived in Texas in 1852 and in due course made his way to Boerne, where he purchased property at this site in 1854. When Boerne was granted a postal station in 1856, Staffel served as first postmaster and housed the post office on his property. Staffel's other businesses included the Staffel store, stagecoach office, saloon, livery stable and wagon yard. After August's death in 1870, his wife, Bertha, operated the post office out of the Staffel store until 1881 and sold the property in 1905. Reminders of early economic development in Boerne, the Staffel store and the Staffel family played a significant role in that heritage. (2001)

The Staffel Building stands on Lot #30 of the divisions of the original survey No. 180 in the town of Boerne. On 27 April 1854 Gustav Theisen sold 1/2 interest in Lot #30 to August Staffel. Also on that date John James sold his half interest in Lot #30 to August Staffel. The property was bequeathed to his wife, Kunigunda Bertha Staffel, daughter of Joseph Dienger.

This building served as an office for the Staffel livery stable and probably for the postoffice which August Staffel kept. He was appointed Boerne's first postmaster in June 18, 1856 and served for ten years. His wife, Bertha, was postmaster after his death from 1870 until 1881 and sold the property in 1905. This was Boerne's first telegraph office in 1875. In the rear with the stable there was a stagecoach office.

Mrs. Edna Miller, a widow, purchased the building in 1916. In 1936 its ownership went to Radcliff Spencer. In the latter half of the twentieth century, the building was occupied by Malner Shumard as a law office and title company. The property passed to the heirs of Mr. Radcliff Spencer. These two, Dorothy Spencer Traylor and George Spencer, obtained the Historical Marker in 2002 for the building known as the Staffel Building.

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Meyer Hotel Complex - Marker in/near Comfort

Photo Credit: Dietert Historical Archives -
Patrick Heath Public Library (Boerne)

Marker #3356 - 1981   German native Frederich Christian Meyer (1828-89) came to Comfort in 1862. A wheelwright, Meyer also ran a stage stop and weight station at this site. He later purchased the property, which included a small log cabin he enlarged by adding a second story. In 1869 he constructed a two-story stone residence here for his wife Ernestine (Mueller) (d. 1910), a midwife. A separate wooden structure was built for her work, south of the original log cabin in 1872. The building housed maternity rooms for use by the women of the surrounding area ranches. In 1887, when rail lines were completed through the area, Comfort began showing promise as a resort community. That same year, the Meyers constructed a two-story frame building south of their residence to serve as a hotel. The upper floor of the structure was used for guests and the ground floor housed a large kitchen and a dining room. With the help of their 8 children, Ernestine continued to operate the hotel after her husband's death in 1889, despite a fire which damaged the family home. A second guest house was added east of the first hotel in 1920 by a daughter Julia (Meyer) Ellenberger, who operated the business until her death in 1956.

 Frederich Christian Meyer, a native of Germany, came to Comfort only three years after the founding of the town. He and his wife bought property along Cypress Creek and on the old road to San Antonio. They enlarged their home in 1869 and this became an obvious place for a stage stop. A second house was built for Mrs. Meyer to use as a maternity hospital as she was a midwife to her neighbors. Yet another building was added to house overnight travelers.

In 1887 the railroad came to Comfort. This increased the need for housing. That year the Meyer Hotel was built. This was a two-story frame building south of their residence. The upper floor of the structure was used for guests and the ground floor housed a large kitchen and a dining room.

Again in 1920 a second guest house was added east of the first hotel. The hotel was being oprated by Julia Meyer Ellenberger at that time. She operated the business until her death in 1956.

This hotel has been called "Das Gast House" in more recent times.

This building was designated as Texas Historical Landmark in 1981.

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August Ebers House - Marker in/near Fredericksburg

Photo Credit: Dietert Historical Archives -
Patrick Heath Public Library (Boerne)

Marker #236 - 1983   Grapetown, TX

In 1860 August Ebers, a German immigrant, built the east portion of this stone house. It included a kitchen, a "big room", and an upstairs loft bedroom. Before 1880 he added the west wing. Ebers was killed in a well accident in 1884, and his family continued operating the farm. The home became a social center where community dances were held, and served as a polling place during elections. The home remained in the family until 1962. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1983 (from Comfort take Old State Road 9 fourteen miles to house in Bankersmith)

Two story rock, attached to an earlier 1 1/2 story rock with shallower roof pitch; end chimneys.

August Ebers, German immigrant, built the east portion of this large stone house. It included a kitchen, a "big room" and the upstairs loft bedroom. Before 1880 the west wing was added. Ebers was killed in a well accident in 1884 and his family continued operating the farm. The home became a social center where community dances were held and served as a polling place during elections. The home remained in the Ebers family until 1962 and from that time until 1980 when Stanley and Barbara Hammer bought it, it was unoccupied and unattended. It was sadly delapidated, but the Hammer's saw the beauty in the fine old building and have completely renovated and restored it to its former grandeur. In 1983 this house was designated as a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark.

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Treue Der Union (Loyalty to the Union) - Marker in/near Comfort

Photo Credit: Dietert Historical Archives -
Patrick Heath Public Library (Boerne)

Marker #15 - 1968   This German language monument, erected 1866, honors the memory of 68 men (mostly Germans) from this region who were loyal to the Union during the Civil War. Trying desperately to reach U.S. Federal troops by way of Mexico, about 40 of the men were killed by vengeful Confederates bent on annihilating them, in the Battle of the Nueces (on Aug. 10, 1862) and a later fight (Oct. 18). The bodies of the slain and those who drowned swimming the Rio Grande were left unburied. A group of Germans gathered the bones of their friends and buried them at this site in 1865.(between 2nd and 3rd Streets, High Street, between 2nd and 3rd, Comfort)

This monument in Comfort, Texas honors the memory of the sixty-eight men from this region who were loyal to the Union during the Civil War. They tried to escape into Mexico so that they could join the Union Army. They were ambushed and killed near the Nueces River. Their bones were recovered, except for those who drowned in the Rio Grande River, and buried at this site in 1865.

KILLED 18 October 1862 at the RIO GRANDE RIVER:
Joseph Elstner
Edward Felsing
H Herrmann
V. Hohmann
Moritz Weiss
Peter Bonnet, Comfort
Frank Weiss
Fritz Lange, Comfort


KILLED 10 August 1862 at the NUECES RIVER:
Ludwig Bauer
F. Behrens
Ernst Beseler
Louis Boerner, Comfort
Albert Bruns
Hugo Degener
Hilmar Degener
Pablo Diaz
F. Vater
Emil Schreiner, Kerrville
J.H.Kallenberg, Fredericksburg
H. Markwardt, Sisterdale
C. Schaefer
Louis Schierholz
Heinrich Steves, Comfort
Wilhelm Telgmann
M Weyrich
H. Weyershausen
A. Vater
CAPTURED AND MURDERED
H. Flick
C. Bock
F. Tays
Theo. Bruckisch
Wilhelm Boerner, Comfort
A. Luckenbach, Fredericksburg
A. Ruebsamen
L. Ruebsamen
Heinrich Stieler, Comfort

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Ye Kendall Inn - Marker in/near Boerne

Photo Credit: Dietert Historical Archives -
Patrick Heath Public Library (Boerne)

Marker #5925 - 1962   The center section of this vernacular Greek revival structure was built in 1859 as a home for Erastus and Sarah Reed, who had come to Boerne from Georgia. Under later occupants, the home often served as lodging for those traveling through the area. In 1878 owners C. J. Roundtree and W. L. Wadsworth expanded the building, which they named the Boerne Hotel, to accommodate visitors attracted to the area by its healthful climate. A later owner, Dr. H.J. Barnitz, adopted the name "Ye Kendall Inn" in 1909. The inn features a 2-story gallery and a wide symmetrical facade.
 Situated a block off main street in Boerne is the charming old Kendall Inn that has been visited through the years by stagecoach passengers and twentieth-century celebrities. Its history began April 23, 1859, when John James and Gus Theissen sold the land on which it stands to Erastus and Sarah Reed for the sum of only $200. The Reeds had come to Boerne from Georgia, and with them they brought the Southern Colonial style of architecture and built the center section of the inn.

As the town had been founded only ten years previously, there was no regular establishment for the shelter of the traveler. However,the hearts of the few home owners were large and it became the custom for any home owner with a spare room to care for the transient guest, sometimes for pay, sometimes not. Whether or not the Reeds offered their hospitality for pay is not known, but is is believed that they did. Eventually, the place was designated as the Reed House.

The Reeds later leased the property to Henry W. Chipman. On a paying basis, he accommodated horsemen and occasional stagecoach passengers. He then opened the grounds as a wagon yard for the convenience of the surrounding ranchers who penned their cattle in what is now the city park, awaiting other cattle for a big drive up the trail.

On May 4, 1869, Colonel Henry C. King and his wife Jean Adams King, purchased the inn from the Reeds. Colonel King was a jovial man who made a host of friends. Campaigning successfully for the office of State Senator, he covered his district on horseback. While on these campaign trips, which sometimes lasted for weeks, the operation of the King Place was left to his wife. After serving one term as senator, at which time the present state constitution was written and adopted, he ran for the office of Governor, but was defeated. Later, motivated by the urge to venture into newspaper work, Henry King returned to San Antonio.

By 1878, Boerne had become famous as a resort. In that year, C.J.Rountree and W. L. Wadsworth of Dallas purchased the "King Place" and renamed it the Boerne Hotel. As visitors began flocking to the town to take advantage of the hearlthful dry climate, the hotel expanded. So great was the demand for accommodations, two long wings were added on either side of the portion built by the Reeds. It is believed that at this time the present kitchen wing was also added.

Six years later, James T. Clarke became the proprietor of the inn. For a while he was the agent for the state line that came through Boerne. It was at this time that the Boerne Hotel was truly an authentic Stagecoach Inn.

In 1882, Mr. Edmund King and his wife, Selina L. King, and children came to Boerne from England and leased the Boerne Hotel. Mr. King was killed in a hunting accident in back of the hotel on September 26,1882.

In 1909, Dr. H. J. Barnitz, a prominent San Antonio physician, adopted the name "Ye Kendall Inn" [for the hotel]The name was a tribute to George W. Kendall, eminent journalist, who was ressponsible for bringing the first sheep to the Hill Country and for whom Kendall County was named.

From 1922 to 1943, Kendall Inn was owned by Robert L. and Maude M.Hickman. It was during their ownership that many steps toward modernization took placed athe famous old inn. One of the most important was the installation of privatebaths.

Hickman had learned the hotel business while working for his father at the popular old Southern Hotel in San Antonio. Along with the Prince Solms colonists, he was civic minded; for it was during his term as mayor that the city installed the swimming pool that is immediately adjacent to the dining porch of the inn.

Through the years Kendall Inn has served as a gathering place for frontier lawmen, army personnel, cattle drovers, and many celebrities.

Mrs. William T. Grinnan purchased Kendall Inn in 1960 and lived there with her three sons. The property was sold to Ed and Vicki Schleyer in April 1982. Two years of extensive restoration brought back the historic beauty of the hardwood floor, original fireplaces,molding mantels and the 200 foot front porch with railing and columns."

More info and Map Link

Early Boerne Schoolhouses - Marker in/near Boerne

Photo Credit: Dietert Historical Archives -
Patrick Heath Public Library (Boerne)

Marker #1337 - 1986   The origins of public schools in Boerne date to 1873, when the Boerne Gesangenverein donated land on which to erect a schoolhouse. A two-room stone building was completed in 1874 and served children in all grades. A small frame building was added to the property around the turn of the century, and the upper and lower grades were separated. In 1910 a new two-story stone school was built. It served students of all ages until a high school was built on Johns Road in 1929. The 1910 building was sold to the City of Boerne Utilities in 1951. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836-1986 (At city hall 402 E. Blanco)

On September 15, 1871, the Boerne Gesangenverein purchased Boerne Lots 119 and 120 of the Kuhlmann and Ryan Addition. On Jun 17, 1873, the Gesangenverein, at a regular meeting, resolved that they donate lots 119 and 120 to the Boerne School Society provided and on the condition that the Boerne School Society will within one year build a schoolhouse with at least two rooms. On August 18, 1874, the Gesangenverein resolved that whereas the Boerne School Society had completed a two room schoolhouse on Lots 119 and 120 by June 17, 1874, that they be granted the deed to the two lots, "in consideration of the benefit accruing to us and our children from the establishment of an institute of learning in the Town of Boerne." This, then, was the beginning of the first official public school in Boerne. This building was used as classrooms, a lunch room, exercise room at various times while a school. It became a workshop and storage area, then finally, offices for the city after the property was purchased for the City Utilities.

 One story stone rubble, symmetrical with porch across front, chimneys at both ends, 2 over 2 windows, two doors at front and back, large stone lintels, no sills.

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Waring Schoolhouse - Marker in/near Waring

Photo Credit: Janis and Ted Maxymof

Marker #5719 - 1986   Anglo pioneers in a predominantly German-settled area built the west wing of this building in 1891. Land for this first public school was given by Robert Percival Maxwell Waring, a native of Ireland for whom the town had been named in 1888. Citizens volunteered labor, funds, and materials for the building, and paid their children's tuition of $1 to $1.50 per month. The east wing was added in 1903, and exterior braces were applied in the 1930s. The school closed in 1954. (108 Avenue, Waring - from Comfort take IH-10 2 miles S, then FM 1621 5 miles E to Waring)

Some years there was a shortage of money to pay the teachers, so a tuition fee was paid for each pupil. some years it was one dollar a month, or some $1.50, and that was hard on large families at times. Teachers' pay varied, too, from maybe $50.00 to $100.00 a month or more. Some years there were two teachers, depending on the number of pupils.<BR.
New settlers were coming to Waring, and that brought more children. The railroad had its section hands headquartered in Waring so there were always some Mexican children in school. At times there were as many as 60 or 70 pupils attending school.<BR.
Some of the early families were: Zoeller, Treiber, Waring, Nowlin, Manning, Stribling, Haufler, Geisler, Willie, Offer, Nichol, Bierschwale, Insall, Quigley, Safford, Cravey, Stanfield, Uecker, Fischer, Edwards, Rust, Meckel, Wray, Domeier, Marshall, McAlpine, McNutt, Dart, Brown, Jess, Hennings, Leidl, Voight, Wollschlaeger, Strube, Tomlinson, Grullimund, Blaschke, Poehnert and others.<BR.
Listed below are some of the teachers that taught in the Waring School through the years 1891 to 1955 when the school was consolidated with the Comfort Independent School District.

TEACHERS:Miss Agnes Robinson, later Mrs. R.P.M.
Waring,
was the first teacher
and taught for several years.
      Mr. and Mrs. William Lee, 1903.  He passed away later that year and is buried in the
Bend Cemetery.
      L.A. Koenig and Mary Norris, 1903.
      M.C.F. Schmidt and Ethel Weld, 1907.
      Prof. Wertheim and daughter, Rosie, 1908, 1909.
      Emil Hopf and Miss Tiner, 1912.
      Henry Hopf and Frankie Flack, 1915.
      Rose Thompson and Frankie Flack, 1916.
      Miss dilly Rumsey and Ruth Newton, 1915.
      Augusta Gaines and Ella Zoeller, 1916.
      Marguerite McFarland and Ella Esser, 1917.
      Mr. and Mrs. Ashmore Cowles had a private school at this time, but he taught in the
Waring school at another time also.  They had 29 pupils in their private school in 1918.
      Danny Ramft (Vogt) and Mrs. Welch, 1921
      Miss Willhelm and Mrs. Jake Insall, 1922.
      J.H. Armstrong and Danny Ramft Vogt, 1923.
      J.H. Armstrong and Mrs. Baughman, 1924.
      J.H. Armstrong and Sophie Wenzel, 1925.
      Morris Goforth and Norma George, 1926.
      R.E. Cottingham and Helen Kutz, 1927.
      H.K. Clump and Mrs. Paul Wendler, 1928.
      Noel Browning and Eva Rechenthin, 1929.
      James Seay and Eva Rechenthin, 1930.
      Anita Elsik and Mrs. Paul Wendler, 1932.
      Mrs. Mina Adams and Mrs. Paul Wendler, 1933.
      Mrs. Mina Adams and Mrs. Truitt, 1934-1935.
      Harold Ranzau and Nanny Maud Sommerville, 1936.
      Mrs. Buena Lea Sutton, 1939-1944.
      Beulah White, 1946.
      Lucille Dills, 1947.
      Mrs. Walker, 1948.
      Odis Strube Hohmann, 1949-1954, the last teacher.
      The building is still used as a community center.

More info and Map Link