Kendall County, Texas

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: [unknown]
Surnames/tags: kendall_county, texas us_history

United States Project - State of Texas Page

• The current leader of this project is: Mary Richardson.
  • Coordinator Stuart Awbrey

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Welcome to Kendall County, Texas Project!

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Contents 1 History/Timeline 1.1 History 1.2 Timeline 1.3 Government Offices 2 Geography 3 Adjacent Counties 4 Protected areas 5 Emigrants 6 Demographics 7 Census 8 Notables 9 Land Grants 10 Cemeteries 11 Sources

History/Timeline

1870 Kendall Co. Courthouse

History

Kendall County was established 1862 from Kerr, Blanco counties. Historically, most of the Kendall County area was part of the Bexar County, which was established by the Republic of Texas in 1836. Later Kendall County became part of Kerr County, which was separated from Bexar in 1856. It is named for journalist George Wilkins Kendall.

The county encompasses the cities of Boerne, a portion of Fair Oaks Ranch, and the communities of Alamo Springs, Bergheim, Comfort, Kendalia, Sisterdale, Waring, and Welfare. Nearly 53,000 people call this county their home^[1]. It is known as the "Gem of the Texas Hill Country."

Kendall County is located about 30 miles northwest of San Antonio on IH-10. It is an easy commute to San Antonio.

The city of Boerne is the county seat.

Comfort served as county seat of Kerr County for two years before Kendall County was formed.

Timeline

Prior to 1700 Early Native American : Kiowa, Comanche and Lipan Apache.

1700s Lipan Apaches discover Cascade Caverns

1840’s -

1842, April 20 - The Adelsverein were organized in Germany to promote German emigration to Texas.

1842, June 7 - Fisher-Miller Land Grant set aside 3,000,000 acres of Texas land to settle 600 families and single men of German, Dutch, Swiss, Danish, Swedish, and Norwegian ancestry in Texas. (too far from the coast.)

1844, June 26 - Henry Francis Fisher sold his interest in land grant to Adelsverein.

1845 - Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels secured title to 1,265 acres (5.12 km2) of the Veramendi grant, including the Comal Springs and River, for the Adelsverein.

1846, Feb- Thousands of German immigrants are stranded at the Indianola (port of disembarkation) on Matagorda Bay due to teamsters were offered more money to haul army supplies for Mexican -American war. With no food or shelters, they lived in holes dug into the ground, an estimated 50% died from disease or starvation. The living begin to walk to their destinations hundreds of miles away.

1847, Dec 2 - Henry Francis Fisher and Burchard Miller sell their rights in the land grant to Adelsverein.

1847 - Meusebach–Comanche Treaty. Sisterdale was established.

1849 - Freethinkers, Bettina colonists from Llano County settle Tusculum. The initial community banned churches from being erected. The town was later re-named Boerne, for German-Jewish writer Ludwig Börne

1850"s -

1850’s - George W. Kendall introduces sheep ranching to the County.

1854 - John O. Meusebach receives an appointment as commissioner from Governor Elisha M. Pease

1854 - Comfort is founded by German immigrant Freethinkers and abolitionists.

1854, May 14–15 - San Antonio - Texas State Convention of Germans adopt a political, social and religious platform, including: 1) Equal pay for equal work; 2) Direct election of the President of the U.S.; 3) Abolition of capital punishment; 4) "Abolition of Slavery -; 5) Free schools – including universities - supported by state, without religious influence. 6) Total separation of church and state.

1860’s -

1861-65 - Texas secedes from union

1861 - Unionists from Kerr, Gillespie, and Kendall counties participate in the formation of the Union League, (secret organization to support President Abraham Lincoln’s policies).

1862 - Kendall County established 1862 from Kerr, Blanco counties. It is named for journalist, George Wilkins Kendall. Boerne is the county seat.

1862 - The Union League forms companies to protect the frontier against Indians and their families against local Confederate forces. Conscientious objectors to the military draft are primarily Tejanos and Germans.^[2]

1862, May 30 - Confederate authorities impose martial law on Central Texas.

1862, August 10 - Nueces massacre in Kinney County. Jacob Kuechler was guide for 61 conscientious objectors who tried to flee to Mexico. Scottish born Confederate irregular James Duff and his Duff’s Partisan Rangers pursue and overtake them at the Nueces River, 34 are killed, some executed after being taken prisoner. Jacob Kuechler survives the battle. 2,000 people take to the hills to escape Duff's reign of terror.^[2]

Spring Creek Cemetery near Harper in Gillespie County has a singular grave with the names Sebird Henderson, Hiram Nelson, Gus Tegener and Frank Scott. The inscription reads "Hanged and thrown in Spring Creek by Col. James Duff’s Confederate Regiment."

1866, August 10 - Treue der Union Monument ("Loyalty to the Union") in Comfort dedicated to the German Texans slain at the Nueces massacre. It is the only monument to the Union outside of the National Cemeteries on Confederate territory. It is one of only six sites allowed to fly the United States flag at half-mast in perpetuity. ^[3][2]

Treue der Union Monument.

1870-80’s -

1870 - The original Kendall County limestone courthouse was built about 1870. The architecture is Italianate. The Courthouse was designed by architects Philip Zoeller and J. F. Stendebach.

1887 - San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway begins, linking Boerne to San Antonio route.

1900’s -

1900 - Kendall County has 542 farms. Area has risen from 153,921 acres in 1880 to 339,653 acres. Stock raising is the principal industry.

1905 - Citizens of Boerne share agricultural information, recipes, and news of events. This later became the annual Kendall County Fair.

1913 - The Kendall County Fair Association was organized and was awarded a nonprofit corporate charter from the State of Texas.

1914 - Fredericksburg and Northern Railway connects Fredericksburg with the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway track just east of Comfort.

1917-1918 - World War I begins.

1918 - Hygieostatic Bat Roost house built in Comfort to attract bats to eradicate mosquitoes and reduce spread of malaria. Designed for former San Antonio Mayor Albert Steves Sr., by bat authority Dr. Charles A. R. Campbell.

1930’s -The Great Depression brings increase in tenant farming.

- Commercial development of Cascade Caverns begins.

World War II - American Military bases in the San Antonio area provide jobs for Kendall County residents, such as Kelly AFB, Lackland AFB, and Fort Sam Houston.

1983 - The Guadalupe River State Park opened to the public.

1991 - Texas legislature adopted a resolution which recognized the Boerne Village Band for "keeping alive German music" as a part of our heritage

1998 - The current Kendall County courthouse is composed of limestone, steel and concrete. It was built in Boerne, across the street from the original 1870 courthouse. Architects were Rehler Vaughn & Koone, Inc.

2000’s -

2005 - Kendall County celebrates its 100th anniversary of the Kendall County Fair. The Kendall County Fair Association continues to produce privately funded county fairs in the state of Texas.

2013 - The Kendall County Fair Association, Inc. celebrates its 100th year of existence.

2015 - Kendall County declared a State of Emergency from May flooding.

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Darmstadt Society of Forty

Count Castell of the Adelsverein (in Germany) negotiated with a separate Darmstadt Society of Forty to colonize 200 families on the "ill fated" Fisher-Miller Land Grant territory in Texas. This territory was up in West Texas. In return, they were to be provided $12,000 in money, livestock, equipment and provisions for a year. Then they we're to be self-supporting. The attempted colonies were Castell, Leiningen, Bettina, Schoenburg and Meerholz in Llano County; Darmstädler Farm in Comal County; and Tusculum in Kendall County. Only Castell survived. The colonies failed after the Adelsverein funding expired due to structure and management conflicts. Some members moved to other Adelsverein settlements in Texas. (This was not as strong group as the one Prince Solms founded.^[4]

Most of the Kendall County area was part of the Bexar County which was established by the Republic of Texas in 1836. Later Kendall became part of Kerr County, which was separated from Bexar in 1856. Comfort served as county seat of Kerr County for two years before Kendall County was formed.

Government Offices

Current Kendall Co. Courthouse

Boerne began as an offshoot of the Texas Hill Country Free Thinker Latin Settlements, resulting from the Revolutions of 1848 in the German states.

Geography

Hill country of Texas

Hill Country View

• Cascade Caverns -of the Glen Rose Formation, a shallow marine to shoreline geological formation from the lower Cretaceous period. This formation has been exposed in a large area which begins in South Central Texas, and extends North through most of the Texas Hill Country, ending up in North Central Texas.

Karst topography results in porous formation of underground caverns.

Adjacent Counties

Gillespie County (north)

Blanco County (northeast)

Comal County (southeast)

Bexar County (south)

Bandera County (southwest)

Kerr County (west)

Adjacent Counties

Protected areas

• Cascade Caverns
• Treue der Union Monument
• Inner Space Caverns
• Natural Bridge Caverns
• Bracken Cave
• Longhorn Cavern State Park
• Caverns of Sonora
• Cave Without a Name.

• (Old Tunnel State Park is a railroad tunnel of the Fredericksburg and Northern Railway, which ceased operations in 1942. The property came under the care of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and was officially made a state park in 2012. It is located halfway between Fredericksburg and Comfort on the Old San Antonio Road. Since the shut down of the railway, the tunnel has become a bat cave, hosting over 3 million Mexican free-tailed bats and 3,000 Cave myotis bats. The bats emerge at sunset May- Oct.^[5]

Old Tunnel Cave

Emigrants

Settlers:

1. Spanish
2. Mexican
3. American
4. German

Other

Of note: from The handbook of Texas: The 1990 United States census revealed that 1,175,888 Texans claimed pure and 1,775,838 claim partial German ancestry. This equals to 2,951,726 Texans with German ancestry (17½% of the state's total population). This gives a result that Germans rank behind Hispanics, and are the 3rd largest national origin group. ^[6] Most of the emigrant German's tended to settle in a broad, yet fragmented belt. This is evident in Galveston, Houston, Kerrville, Boerne, Fredericksburg, Mason county, Hondo, Lindsay in Cooke County, Waka in Ochiltree County, Hurnville in Clay County, Russian German Baptist; and Lockett in Wilbarger County into the very heavily settled Hill County north and near San Antonio, Austin, Texas. ^[6]

A majority settled in a broad, fragmented belt across the south central part of the state. This belt stretched from Galveston and Houston on the east to Kerrville, Mason, and Hondo in the west; from the fertile, humid Coastal Plain to the semiarid Hill Country and even Muenster, in North Texas. ^[6]

Contributions are Chester W. Nimitz (military), Robert J. Kleberg (ranching), Gustav Schleicher (politics), and Charles A. Schreiner of Kerrville (retail business) German settlements contributed to architecture, food, customs, rock fences, Gothic churches, sausage and sauerkraut and beer-- Texas German beers as Pearl and Shiner (see PEARL BREWING COMPANY, and SPOETZL BREWERY) ^[6]

Demographics

Kendall county is classified as having climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters

Hill Country Mile is a 1.1 mile long walking path following River Road Park and historic Main Street. The path was created as a catalyst to unify and preserve the rich cultural identity of downtown Boerne. It was also created to increase and foster economic growth through downtown shopping and culture centers.

Only 2% of population in this county are unemployed

Highways:

I-10 Interstate 10

US 87 Highway 87 (Old Spanish Trail)

US Highway 87 Business (Old Spanish Trail)

Texas State Highway 27 (Old Spanish Trail)

TexasState Highway 46

Texas Farm to Market Road 289 (Old Spanish Trail)

Texas Farm to Market Road 1621

Texas Farm to Market Road 3351

Texas Ranch to Market Road 473

Texas Ranch to Market Road 474

Texas Ranch to Market Road 1376

Texas Ranch to Market Road 3160 (Formerly part of FM 3351)

Creeks:

• Guadalupe River
• Boerne Lake
• Browns Creek
• Block Creek
• Spring Creek
• Flat Rock Creek
• West Sister Creek
• East Sister Creek
• Sister Creek
• Wemer Creek
• Jacobs Creek
• Curry Creek
• First Coffee Hollow
• Dry Creek
• Sheps Creek
• Ralls Creek
• Ross Creek
• Black Creek
• Pleasant Valley Creek
• Polecat Spring Creek
• Joshua Creek
• Zinke Creek
• Holliday Creek
• Lake Oz
• Postroak Creek
• Deep Hollow Creek
• Menger Creek
• Masters Lake
• Goss Creek

Crops:
Hay, oats, wheat, and sorghum were the primary crops, accounting for 90 percent of the 12,000 acres harvested; other crops included peaches and pecans. More than 90 percent of agricultural receipts came from livestock and livestock products, the most important ones being cattle, milk, sheep, wool, angora goats, mohair, and hogs. Agricultural products accounted for 10 to 15 percent of the county's annual income in the 1980s; the rest came from industries, tourism.

Resources

• Hill country
• Berges Fest in June,
• Kendall County Fair

Queen's Throne, Cave Without a Name

Cities
Boerne County Seat

• Alamo Springs
• Nelson City (pop. 50)
• Sisterdale (pop. 25) (no post office)
• Waring (pop. 56
• Walnut Grove
• Lindendale
• Kreutzberg
• Oberly Crossing
• Pleasant Valley

Census

1870 -- 1,536 —

1880 -- 2,763 79.9%

1890 -- 3,826 38.5%

1900 -- 4,103 7.2%

1910 -- 4,517 10.1%

1920 -- 4,779 5.8%

1930 -- 4,970 4.0%

1940 -- 5,080 2.2%

1950 -- 5,423 6.8%

1960 -- 5,889 8.6%

1970 -- 6,964 18.3%

1980 -- 10,635 52.7%

1990 -- 14,589 37.2%

2000 -- 23,743 62.7%

2010 -- 33,410 40.7%

2020 -- 49,259

2022* -- 52,915

• Est. 2022^[7]

Notables

Michelle Beadle- TV sports personality

Andreas Engel - Bergheim founder

Jacob Kuechler

Cheryl Ladd - actress

Maggie Lindemann - singer/songwriter, social media star

Grace Phipps – actress; Fright Night (2011),

Land Grants

• Andreas Engel, an Austrian immigrant to Texas in 1885 is credited with founding Bergheim, which translates into English as Mountain Home. Engel married and became a storekeeper, opening Bergheim’s first store in 1900. A post office was applied for and was granted in 1901, with Engel serving as postmaster. Permanent building of limestone was built 1903 and is still the post office, run by descendants of Andreas Engel.^[8]

Bergheim became a center for cedar fence posts. The store would barter cedar posts for groceries and necessities, providing an income for cedar choppers. These were itinerant workers whose work cleared land while providing fence posts, usually camping out on the properties they worked and then moving on.The Bergheim store and post office received a state historical marker in the 1980s.^[9]

Cemeteries

• Boerne Cemetery
• Holy Angels

• Kendall cemeteries, by Gloria Mayfield
• Cemeteries in Kendall county, Texas
• FindaGrave Cemeteries
• FindaGrave Cemeteries2
• Cemeteries, Texas

Sources

1. ↑ World Population Review - Kendall County, Texas Population 2022
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} TSHA Handbook of Texas - First Calvary of Texas, USA
3. ↑ http://www.civilwar.org/civil-war-discovery-trail/sites/treue-der-union-monument.html
4. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Darmstadt_Society_of_Forty_members
5. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Tunnel_State_Park
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3} https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/png02
7. ↑ [https://worldpopulationreview.com/us-counties/tx/kendall-county-population}
8. ↑ http://www.texasescapes.com/TexasHillCountryTowns/Bergheim-Texas.htm
9. ↑ http://www.texasescapes.com/TexasHillCountryTowns/Bergheim-Texas.htm

• http://www.civilwar.org/civil-war-discovery-trail/sites/treue-der-union-monument.html
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treue_der_Union_Monument
• https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hck03
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kendall_County,_Texas
• https://gov.propertyinfo.com/TX-Kendall/
• First Texas Calvary