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Comfort, Texas

Everything Comfort is known for

2 songs mention this city

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Music in Comfort

Songs About Comfort

Comfort, Texas
Buppy.
55%
gadalupe days
gary p. nunn
10%

Artists From Comfort

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Rivers & Roads in Song near Comfort

Songs written about the waterways and highways that run near Comfort.

Interstate 10 36 songs Guadalupe River 18 songs Blanco River 4 songs Pedernales River 6 songs US Route 90 9 songs San Antonio River 2 songs

History of Comfort

Loyalty To The Union, In Stone RoadyGoat

On High Street here in Comfort, Texas, stands a limestone monument you would not expect to find anywhere in the old Confederacy. It is called Treue der Union, German for loyalty to the Union, and it marks the hardest chapter in this town's past. When the Civil War came, many of Comfort's German settlers stayed loyal to the United States. In August of eighteen sixty-two, a group of them trying to leave the state was overtaken near the Nueces River, and dozens were killed, some of them after being taken prisoner. Four years later, in eighteen sixty-six, the community gathered the remains, brought them home, and raised this monument over them. It is often described as the only monument to the Union built on former Confederate soil, and an antique thirty-six star American flag flies beside it, kept at half-staff. Whatever brought you through Comfort today, that gray stone is the reason the town's easygoing name carries a quiet undertow beneath it.

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A Town Named For A Feeling RoadyGoat

Here's a town whose name is really a translation. Comfort, Texas, sits along Cypress Creek in the Hill Country, and it was laid out in eighteen fifty-four by a young German surveyor named Ernst Hermann Altgelt. German freethinkers coming out of New Braunfels settled in around him, and before long some of them took to calling the place Gemuetlichkeit, a German word for coziness, belonging, and the warm feeling of being at ease among friends. That was a mouthful, so the story goes that they trimmed it down to the nearest plain English word that carried the same spirit, and landed on Comfort. So the name is not about a comfortable inn or a soft bed. It is a settlers' word for a whole way of living, boiled down to seven letters. Pull on that one quiet word and you get German idealists, a Union monument standing in old Confederate country, and a man once crowned king of the goats.

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The Surveyor Who Named Two Places RoadyGoat

The man who drew the town of Comfort deserves a closer look. Ernst Hermann Altgelt was born in eighteen thirty-two in Dusseldorf, into a prominent Rhineland family, and he crossed to America at age twenty. Right here in the Hill Country he tried to make Comfort pay with a lumber mill and a grist mill, and both ventures failed, so he switched to practicing law. Here's the part that surprises people. After he moved to San Antonio in eighteen sixty-six, Altgelt laid out a new street, built what is said to be the first house on it, and named the street himself. He called it King William Street, after Wilhelm the First of Prussia. That neighborhood, the King William district, is today one of San Antonio's most celebrated historic quarters, a row of grand German mansions. So the very same man gave the Hill Country a town named for a gentle feeling and gave a big city a boulevard named for a king. He died in eighteen seventy-eight at his family ranch. And the town he plotted along Cypress Creek is the Comfort you are rolling through right now.

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Comfort - Treue der Union Monument

1862

Only monument to Union sympathizers on former Confederate soil. Commemorates German Texans massacred at the Nueces in 1862 while trying to flee to Mexico.

Caradja, Catherine Olympia

1943

Princess Catherine Caradja (Caragea in Romanian), a celebrated Romanian expatriate who spent much of her later life in the Hill Country of Texas, daughter of Princess Irene Cantacuzene and Prince Radu Kretzulescu, was born in Bucharest, Romania, on January 28, 1893. A pawn in a financial struggle between her father and her mother's family, the princess was abducted at the age of three by her father and hidden in England. With her identity obscured, she did not return to Romania until 1908. By then her parents had divorced and her mother, subsequently remarried to Prince Nicolae Ghica, had died. After the courts awarded custody of the young princess to the Cantacuzene family, she was reared by her maternal grandmother, the daughter of the last duke of Oltenea, and her maternal grandfather, Prince George Cantacuzene. This prince was a former prime minister of Romania and prominent oilman who developed the major oilfield at Ploesti, as well as the chief of a powerful dynasty that extended back to the Phanariot rulers of imperial Byzantium, when a Cantacuzene had been emperor. The princess was educated in England, France, Romania, and Belgium and conversant in five languages. She married Prince Constantin Caragea, a military officer, in 1914 and thereafter devoted herself to social work, to running wartime hospitals, and to St. Catherine's Crib, a complex of orphanages started by her mother after the princess was abducted. At their height, before the Communist takeover of Romania, the orphanages had a capacity of more than 3,000 children and were considered among the best in that part of Europe. The princess first became known internationally as a result of her opposition to Nazi occupation of Romania during World War II . When the oilfields at Ploesti were bombed by the Allies in 1943, she personally took custody of surviving Allied crews, saw that they were cared for in her hospitals, and facilitated their escape to Italy. These activities earned her the sobriquet "Angel of Ploesti." Her rank, demeanor, and connections, which had fortified her against most Nazi reprisals, were of little use against the Communists, however. Her orphanages and foundation were nationalized in 1949, and in the winter of 1951-52 the princess was forced to flee. After eight weeks in the hull of a Danube tanker, Princess Catherine, by then divorced and with only one surviving daughter, emerged in Vienna to a new life as an itinerant public servant and publicist. She directed relief efforts for children in Algiers after the severe 1954 earthquake, and she spoke widely throughout western Europe, Great Britain, and northwestern Africa against Communism. In 1955 she brought her message to North America about the "captive nations" of central and eastern Europe. For the next thirty-five years she traveled the United States and Canada as a public speaker and as a visitor in the homes of the aviators she had saved. She spent part of every year in the Texas Hill Country town of Comfort, which became one of her three places of residence in the United States, the other two having been Baltimore and Kansas City. In 1973 she began an autobiography of her remarkable life. In mid-1991, a year and a half after the overthrow of the Communist government in Romania, she returned to her native country, took up residence in her old orphanage, and inspired much public admiration and media coverage. Nearly two years later, at the age of 100, she died, on May 26, 1993. She was buried in the family tomb in Bucharest, and memorial services were held in the historic Kretzulescu Church in the heart of the city. She was survived by one daughter, in Paris, by a granddaughter who resided in Bucharest and Paris, and by two great-grandsons. Two daughters and her former husband preceded her in death.

Tsha Handbook →

Comfort, TX

1862

Comfort, the second largest town in Kendall County, is located at the junction of State Highway 27, U.S. Highway 87, and Interstate Highway 10, sixteen miles northwest of Boerne on the county's western edge. The town was laid out near the site of an Indian village in 1854 by Ernst Hermann Altgelt , though its history goes back to a group of Germans from New Braunfels that settled in 1852 along the banks of the Cypress Creek above its confluence with the Guadalupe River. Freemasons, freethinkers, and political activists, middle-class German families, and liberals from Bettina and Sisterdale settled the area. Townsmen organized the community along cooperative lines and steadfastly opposed formal local government. Comfort opened a school shortly after its founding, but not until 1892 was a church built. The town was a center of Union sentiment during the Civil War and lost many young men at the battle of the Nueces in 1862. The Treue der Union monument on High Street across from the middle school campus honors these dead. From 1856 until Kendall County was organized in 1862, Comfort competed with Kerrville to become the county seat of Kerr County; Kerrville won. Early agriculture and commerce in the area depended on sheep and goats, grains, lime burning ( see LIMEKILNS ), masonry, building rock, lumber, and shingles. In the 1940s and 1950s, when the Hill Country was an international wool and mohair center, Adolf Stieler of Comfort reigned as "Angora Goat King of the World." In the 1980s agribusiness continued to dominate the local economy, but hunting, fishing, sightseeing, and youth camps drew increasing numbers of tourists. Much of the original townsite is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Significant architectural sites include Bolshevik Hall, Turner Hall, a theater, and numerous half-timber and Victorian structures that survived a disastrous flood in 1978. A tradition of secular funerals was still widely observed in the twentieth century, and German turner ( see TURNVEREIN MOVEMENT ) activities and modern Volksmarsch celebrations continued. A local museum, volunteer and mutual aid organizations, and service and literary clubs provided informal governance. The population of the unincorporated town was over 1,400 in 1980, when the post office, established in 1856, still existed. In 1990 the population was 1,477, and in 2000 it increased to 2,358.

Tsha Handbook →

Kendall County

1861

Kendall County is in south central Texas, 170 miles inland from the Gulf of Mexico, and is bordered by Gillespie, Blanco, Comal, Bexar, Bandera, and Kerr counties. Boerne, the county seat, is on Cibolo Creek at the intersection of U.S. Highway 87 and Farm Road 475, thirty miles northwest of San Antonio. The county's center lies eleven miles north of Boerne at 29°57' north latitude and 98°43' west longitude. Kendall County comprises roughly 663 square miles of rolling to hilly terrain in the Edwards Plateau region, with elevations ranging from 1,000 to 2,000 feet above sea level. Vegetation native to the alkaline soils of the region consists primarily of tall grasses, live oak, juniper, and mesquite . Most of the area is drained by the Guadalupe River, which crosses the county from west to east. Two other important water courses rise in Kendall County: the Blanco River in the north and Cibolo Creek in the south. Wildlife in the area includes deer, javelina , coyote, bobcat, beaver, badger, fox, raccoon, weasel, squirrel, and a variety of small birds, fish, and reptiles. Among the county's mineral resources are dolomite and limestone. The climate is subtropical subhumid with an average minimum temperature of 35° F in January and an average high of 94° in July. The growing season averages 231 days annually, and the rainfall averages thirty-two inches. The Central Texas region, including Kendall County, has supported human habitation for several thousand years. Archeological evidence suggests that hunting and gathering peoples established themselves in the area as early as 10,000 years ago. Lipan Apaches, Kiowas, and Comanches became the dominant tribes in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries and were present when Germans began arriving in the 1840s. The Meusebach-Comanche Treaty , signed in 1847, was to permit the settlers to enter Indian territory to settle and the Indians to enter the settlements. German immigrants established Sisterdale in 1847, Tusculum (Boerne) in 1849, Curry's Creek in 1850, and Comfort in 1854. Although relations between settlers and Indians were fairly sympathetic, small groups of Indians did make frequent raids on farms in the area, and in some instances killed settlers and stole children. The threat of raids continued through the mid-1870s but lessened as the frontier was pushed farther west. Most of the Kendall County area was part of the Bexar County established by the Republic of Texas in 1836; it later 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. In 1859 residents of Boerne and Sisterdale petitioned the legislature for a new county; the legislature granted the petition in 1862, and the new county, carved from Kerr and Blanco counties, was named in honor of George Wilkins Kendall . The first Kendall County officials were elected later that year, and Boerne was chosen as the county seat. The earliest schools in the area were private institutions that met in someone's home or in donated space. The first public schools were organized at Comfort in 1856 and at Boerne in 1857. Although the legislature had authorized a district system in 1854, the system was not put into effect before the 1870s or 1880s. Shortly after 1900 Kendall County had twenty-two common school districts. It was not until the 1930s and 1940s that improved transportation made large-scale consolidation of schools into independent school districts possible. Until the mid-twentieth century extensive schooling was for many children a luxury that took second place to their duties on the family farm, and drop-out rates were high. As late as 1940 less than 9 percent of the population over the age of twenty-five had completed high school. The percentage of residents who finished school began to rise as the job market in nearby San Antonio expanded. By 1960, 20 percent were high school graduates, and

Tsha Handbook →

"Treue Der Union"

1862

("Loyalty to the Union") 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. (1968)

Historical Marker →

Apelt Armadillo Farm

1890

In the late 1890s, Charles Apelt (1862-1944) opened a unique commercial enterprise at this site. Apelt, a German immigrant, came to Comfort in 1887 and worked as a farmer. Here he encountered the armadillo, an animal native to the Americas, and began to develop a commercial use for the mammal’s hard shell. Utilizing the nine-banded variety (Dasypus Novemcinctus) he soon opened the Armadillo Basket Factory. The novelty armadillo basket was a quick success; within its first six years of operation, the Armadillo factory shipped 40,000 orders throughout the U.S. and the world. In 1904, Apelt displayed his product at the St. Louis World’s Fair, and by the 1920s, the operation employed dozens of local hunters. At its height, the establishment produced about 100 baskets each week, which sold for $2.50 each or $15 if decorated with silk, bows and beads. Apelt found additional functions for armadillo shells, using them for floor and table lamps, desk sets and smoking stands. Some armadillos were captured live and sold to zoos, pet owners and research facilities; Apelt constructed an elaborate network of concrete burrows and tunnels in front of his home to meet the high demand for armadillos in medical research. Charles Apelt ran the farm until he died in 1944. His wife, Martha, continued to run the business, which closed when she died in 1947. The farm reopened in 1951 before again closing in 1971. During its years of operation, the farm was a significant source of employment in the area. Although it is no longer in operation, Apelt Armadillo Farm continues to be remembered for its production of distinctive and famed souvenirs. (2009)

Historical Marker →

Things to Do in Comfort

historical 8.4 mi away
Luckenbach Texas

Luckenbach was a failing ghost town of three residents when Hondo Crouch bought it in 1970 for thirty thousand dollars and declared himself mayor of an…
historical 0.2 mi away
The Treue der Union Monument

Comfort's Treue der Union monument is the only memorial to Union soldiers on former Confederate soil south of the Mason-Dixon line. It honors thirty-four…
historical 0.2 mi away
The Nueces Massacre

In August 1862 sixty-eight German Unionists from the Comfort area fled south toward Mexico rather than fight for the Confederacy. Confederate soldiers caught…
quirky 16.8 mi away
The Town That Sold for Thirty Grand

In 1970 old Benno Engel retired as postmaster of Luckenbach Texas and placed an ad in the local paper that read TOWN FOR SALE -- lock stock and dancehall. The…
quirky 17.0 mi away
The Song Nobody Had Seen

When Waylon Jennings recorded Luckenbach Texas (Back to the Basics of Love) in 1977 it shot to number one on the country charts and number 25 on the pop…
quirky 17.8 mi away
Luckenbach Texas

The entire 'town' is a dance hall and post office. Waylon sang about it.
quirky 21.0 mi away
ALL WELCOME / COME BACK Street Names

Stand at the Gillespie County Courthouse and look at the cross streets running off Main. Heading east the first letters spell ALL WELCOME — Adams Llano Lincoln…
historical 23.2 mi away
Birthplace and Burial of a President

Lyndon Baines Johnson was born in Stonewall on August 27 1908 in a small farmhouse on the Pedernales River. He served as the 36th President and spent about 20…

Everything Near Comfort

358 stories, landmarks & places within ~20 miles — the nearest 200 are listed here — the same local lore RoadyGoat plays as you drive through.

  • Caradja, Catherine Olympia · Tsha Handbook

    Princess Catherine Caradja (Caragea in Romanian), a celebrated Romanian expatriate who spent much of her later life in the Hill Country of Texas, daughter of Princess Irene Cantacuzene and Prince Radu Kretzulescu, was…

  • Comfort, TX · Tsha Handbook

    Comfort, the second largest town in Kendall County, is located at the junction of State Highway 27, U.S. Highway 87, and Interstate Highway 10, sixteen miles northwest of Boerne on the county's western edge. The town…

  • Kendall County · Tsha Handbook

    Kendall County is in south central Texas, 170 miles inland from the Gulf of Mexico, and is bordered by Gillespie, Blanco, Comal, Bexar, Bandera, and Kerr counties. Boerne, the county seat, is on Cibolo Creek at the…

  • Nueces, Battle of the · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Kinney County, not far from where the Battle of the Nueces took place on August 10, 1862. This was a brutal clash during the Civil War, pitting Confederate soldiers against Unionists, many of them…

  • Altgelt, Ernst Hermann · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through the beautiful Texas Hill Country, and right here is the town of Comfort, founded in 1854 by Ernst Hermann Altgelt. A German immigrant, Altgelt led a surveying party onto land owned by a cotton…

  • Tegener, Frederick [Fritz] · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through the Texas Hill Country, and right here in what is now Kerr County, you're passing through a place that was once a hotbed of Union loyalty during the Civil War. Fritz Tegener, a German immigrant…

  • Beckner, Denver William [Denny] · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through the Texas Hill Country, maybe not far from Comfort, where bandleader Denny Beckner made his home. Known as the 'Clown Prince of Music,' Beckner wasn't just a bandleader; he was a comedian and…

  • The Fachwerk Buildings · 0.1 mi · Things to Do

    Comfort has the most intact collection of fachwerk -- German half-timber construction -- in Texas. The settlers used the same building techniques their…

  • Loyalty To The Union, In Stone · 0.2 mi

    On High Street here in Comfort, Texas, stands a limestone monument you would not expect to find anywhere in the old Confederacy. It is called Treue der Union, German for loyalty to the Union, and it marks the hardest…

  • A Town Named For A Feeling · 0.2 mi

    Here's a town whose name is really a translation. Comfort, Texas, sits along Cypress Creek in the Hill Country, and it was laid out in eighteen fifty-four by a young German surveyor named Ernst Hermann Altgelt. German…

  • The Surveyor Who Named Two Places · 0.2 mi

    The man who drew the town of Comfort deserves a closer look. Ernst Hermann Altgelt was born in eighteen thirty-two in Dusseldorf, into a prominent Rhineland family, and he crossed to America at age twenty. Right here in…

  • The Town With No Church · 0.2 mi

    Comfort's founders were freethinkers, part of a wave of educated German liberals who prized reason and kept a deliberate distance from organized religion. That conviction left a strange and very specific mark on the…

Show all 200 nearby places
  • The Treue der Union Monument · 0.2 mi · Things to Do

    Comfort's Treue der Union monument is the only memorial to Union soldiers on former Confederate soil south of the Mason-Dixon line. It honors thirty-four…

  • The Nueces Massacre · 0.2 mi · Things to Do

    In August 1862 sixty-eight German Unionists from the Comfort area fled south toward Mexico rather than fight for the Confederacy. Confederate soldiers caught…

  • The Word That Would Not Translate · 0.2 mi

    You're passing through Comfort, a small town in the Texas Hill Country whose name started life as the German word Gemuetlichkeit. Sit with that word for a minute, because it is famous for being hard to carry across a…

  • The Angora Goat King Of The World · 0.2 mi

    Here in Comfort, in the Texas Hill Country, there was once a title a local man could actually earn: Angora Goat King of the World. In the nineteen forties and fifties, when the Hill Country was one of the planet's great…

  • Why The Ground Here Burns White · 0.2 mi

    Look at the ground you are standing on. Comfort rests on the edge of the Edwards Plateau, the great limestone shelf that gives the Hill Country its pale bluffs, its clear spring-fed creeks, and its thin rocky soil. That…

  • One Cozy Word, Unspooled · 0.2 mi

    So think about how much one gentle little town name can hold. Comfort began as Gemuetlichkeit, a German word for warmth and belonging that simply would not fit in English, so the settlers traded it for the nearest plain…

  • The Ingenhuett Store · 0.2 mi · Things to Do

    The Ingenhuett Store has operated on Comfort's High Street since 1867 making it one of the oldest general stores in continuous operation in Texas. The…

  • Comfort - Treue der Union Monument · 0.3 mi · Historical Marker

    Only monument to Union sympathizers on former Confederate soil. Commemorates German Texans massacred at the Nueces in 1862 while trying to flee to Mexico.

  • The Town the Freethinkers Built Where the Creek Meets the River · 0.3 mi

    You're rolling into a town that was planned, not just settled. In 1852 a band of educated Germans from New Braunfels pushed up here to where Cypress Creek runs down into the Guadalupe River, drawn by clear water and…

  • Forty Years, No Church, by Design · 0.3 mi

    Here is the fact that startles most people who stop in Comfort: for roughly the first forty years of its existence, this town had no church at all, and that was the plan. The German freethinkers who founded the place in…

  • The English Architect Who Gave Comfort Its Stone Face · 0.3 mi

    The handsome limestone storefronts along High Street aren't accidental. Many were drawn by Alfred Giles, an English-born architect who came to San Antonio in 1875 and became the region's most sought-after designer.…

  • The Limestone Obelisk on High Street · 0.3 mi

    On High Street, between Third and Fourth, stands a plain limestone obelisk that is one of the most significant historic markers in Texas. The Treue der Union Monument, German for Loyalty to the Union, was dedicated in…

  • Comfort, TX · 0.3 mi

    In 1854, Comfort was established by German immigrants who were Freethinkers and abolitionists. Ernst Hermann Altgelt, at the age of 22, is credited with surveying and measuring the lots that were later sold to the…

  • The Town With No Church · 0.3 mi · Things to Do

    Comfort's German freethinker founders were so committed to separation of church and state that the town had no church building for its first forty years. They…

  • The Bald Cypress Tunnel · 0.3 mi · Things to Do

    The Guadalupe River near Comfort runs through a tunnel of ancient bald cypress trees so thick the canopy blocks out the summer sun completely. Some of these…

  • The Freethinker Colony · 0.3 mi · Things to Do

    Comfort was founded in 1854 by German intellectuals fleeing the failed revolutions of 1848. They were freethinkers -- educated liberals who opposed slavery and…

  • The Founder Who Left, and the Families Whose Names Stuck · 0.3 mi

    The man who drew this town on the ground was barely more than a kid. Ernst Hermann Altgelt was born in Dusseldorf on the Rhine in 1832, the son of a city official, trained as a lawyer, and served a stint as a Prussian…

  • Texas's Oldest General Store, and the Fire That Took It · 0.3 mi

    For well over a century, the Ingenhuett Store on High Street was the beating heart of Comfort's commerce. The Ingenhuett family ran a general store on this site beginning in 1867, and in 1883 they hired architect Alfred…

  • The Goat King and the Life Magazine Photographer · 0.3 mi

    In the 1940s and 1950s the Texas Hill Country was the wool and mohair capital of the country, and no one embodied that boom like Adolph Stieler, a Comfort rancher crowned the Angora Goat King of the World. From his…

  • When Amelia's Rains Turned the Guadalupe Loose · 0.3 mi

    Comfort sits in the crook where Cypress Creek empties into the Guadalupe River, which is beautiful most of the year and dangerous in the wrong storm. The town learned that hard lesson over and over, in floods recorded…

  • Seashells on the Graves, 200 Miles From the Sea · 0.3 mi

    Wander the old section of Comfort Cemetery, out on Third Street, and you'll find something that stops people cold: graves blanketed in seashells, here in a Hill Country town nearly two hundred miles from the nearest…

  • Fachwerk: The Building Science Hidden in the Walls · 0.3 mi

    Look closely at Comfort's oldest German houses and you're looking at an engineering choice, not just an old-country style. The settlers brought a building method called fachwerk, in which a rigid skeleton of heavy…

  • The Antique Capital of the Hill Country · 0.3 mi · Things to Do

    Comfort's main street has more antique shops per capita than arguably any town in Texas. The old limestone and half-timber buildings that line High Street have…

  • The Old Comfort Bridge Bats · 0.3 mi · Things to Do

    The old highway bridge on the edge of Comfort hosts a colony of Mexican free-tailed bats that pour out at dusk every summer evening. It is a smaller show than…

  • Comfort State Bank Building · 0.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Comfort, and right here is a building that tells a story of local business and community. Constructed in 1907, this was the Comfort State Bank for over fifty years, closing its doors in 1960. Look…

  • Schwethelm, Arno Building · 0.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Arno Schwethelm Building in Comfort. Look for this prominent local merchant's mercantile business, built in 1916. It was a leading establishment in the Hill Country. Designed by L. Harrington of…

  • Comfort Post Office · 0.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Comfort, and right here is a building that served this town for decades. Before this structure went up in 1910, the post office bounced around in local stores, starting way back in 1856. But this…

  • Ingenhuett-Faust Hotel · 0.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Ingenhuett-Faust Hotel in Comfort, a place that's seen over six decades of Texas hospitality. The older section, with its charming jig-cut brackets, went up in 1880. Seven years later, the…

  • Hein, Ludwig · 0.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the former Ludwig Hein home, a Victorian gem in Comfort. Hein himself arrived from Germany in 1877, marrying Rosa Treiber and building this house for his family before 1900. He ran a blacksmith shop…

  • Brinkmann, Otto · 0.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Comfort, and right here stands a piece of German heritage in Texas architecture. This cottage, built in 1860 by Otto Brinkmann, showcases the 'fachwerk' technique, a half-timbered style brought…

  • Ingenhuett, Peter Joseph · 0.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the Peter Joseph Ingenhuett home here in Comfort. Ingenhuett arrived from Germany in the 1850s, settling on a farm before moving into town in 1867. He and his wife, Marie, built a life…

  • Faltin Homestead · 0.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Faltin Homestead, a home built by German immigrants right here in Kendall County. Theodor Goldbeck, a native of Germany, built the first part of this house in 1854, the same year the town of…

  • Stieler Ranch House · 0.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Stieler Ranch House, a testament to German ingenuity right here in the Texas Hill Country. Built between 1890 and 1892 by Herman Stieler, a skilled rock mason who also happened to be a successful…

  • Gass Schmiede · 0.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Gass Schmiede. This limestone-block building was built in 1890 as a blacksmith shop ("schmiede") for Jacob Gass (1845-1913). Rock mason J. Gottlieb Lorbeer worked on the lower level for almost a…

  • Meyer Hotel Complex · 0.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Comfort, where Frederich Christian Meyer, a German immigrant wheelwright, established a stage stop and weight station back in 1862. He later expanded his log cabin into a home and, with his wife…

  • Lunch in the Old Firehouse on High Street · 0.4 mi

    When you need a stop in the historic district, High's Cafe & Store at 726 High Street is the easy call, and the building has a story of its own. The cafe sits in the original Comfort Volunteer Fire Department building,…

  • Faltin, August, Building · 0.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're cruising through Comfort, and right here is the August Faltin Building. Born in Prussia in 1830, Friedrich August Faltin arrived in Texas in 1856. He took over a general store right on this spot, eventually…

  • Comfort Community Theatre · 0.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Comfort Community Theatre, a building that's been the heart of this town for nearly a century! Back in 1930, local leaders pooled their resources to build this civic center. Designed by architect…

  • Karger Building · 0.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Karger Building, constructed in 1913 by Ernst Karger, who ran a saloon next door. Fritz Anderwald's pool hall was the first tenant, and later businesses included a cabinetry shop after 1951. The…

  • Comfort Community Church · 0.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Comfort Community Church, a beautiful Gothic revival building dedicated back in 1892. It started as the Deutsche Evangelische Gemeinde, founded by Reverend Frederick Bauer just a year earlier.…

  • "Treue Der Union" · 0.6 mi · Historical Marker

    ("Loyalty to the Union") 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.…

  • Freidenker · 0.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through the Texas Hill Country, a place that attracted some unique settlers. Between 1845 and 1861, German "Freethinkers," or Freidenker, arrived here. These weren't your typical immigrants; they were…

  • Ingenhuett, Paul · 0.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the former home of Paul Ingenhuett, a man who built his life right here in Comfort. Born on this very block in 1868, he took over his father's mercantile business and didn't stop there. Ingenhuett…

  • Hermann and Antoine Ingenhuett Homestead · 0.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Hermann and Antoine Ingenhuett Homestead, a place that tells a story of German-Texan heritage right here in Comfort. Married in 1895, Hermann and Antoine Ingenhuett built their lives on this…

  • Comfort School · 0.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Comfort, the site of its first permanent schoolhouse, built between 1892 and 1893. This three-room limestone building, complete with a bell tower, replaced earlier log cabins and frame structures…

  • Hanisch House · 0.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Comfort, Texas, and right here is the Hanisch House, built starting in 1857. Emil Serger and Paul Hanisch used local cypress trees to build the log portion, and get this – it housed the very first…

  • Idlewilde Lodge · 1.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the former Idlewilde Lodge, a place that saw over sixty years of summer fun for girls. Built in 1902 as a spa by Dr. C. H. Wilkinson, it was a place for healing. Then, it became Camp Reliance, and…

  • Hygieostatic Bat Roost · 1.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Hygieostatic Bat Roost, a bizarre structure built right here in 1918. Albert Steves, a former San Antonio mayor, wanted to get rid of mosquitoes and the malaria they carried. So, he hired Dr.…

  • Texas HS Baseball Leaders 2026: Comfort (Comfort) · 1.7 mi

    Comfort (Comfort, TX) placed on the 3A Texas high school baseball stat leaderboards for the 2026 season: Mason Matt (0.567 avg, 3 HR); Koen Muennink (2 HR); Gunner Carpenter (2 HR).

  • Hermann Sons Home for the Aged · 2.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the Hermann Sons Home for the Aged. This fraternal group, originally for people of German descent, started its first Texas lodge way back in 1860. By 1913, they decided to build something…

  • Apelt Armadillo Farm · 2.9 mi · Historical Marker

    In the late 1890s, Charles Apelt (1862-1944) opened a unique commercial enterprise at this site. Apelt, a German immigrant, came to Comfort in 1887 and worked as a farmer. Here he encountered the armadillo, an animal…

  • Comfort, TX · 3.7 mi

    In 1918, Albert Steves erected a hygieostatic bat roost on his family farm in Comfort. This roost was an innovative approach to controlling mosquito populations by attracting bats, which were naturally inclined to feed…

  • Brownsboro Cemetery · 4.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Brownsboro Cemetery, a final resting place for a community that once thrived here. Originally settled by shinglemakers, Brownsboro later saw farmers and railroad workers call it home. In…

  • From Tivy High School to the Highway Patrol · 5.0 mi

    Interstate Ten in Kendall County, from mile marker five twenty two to mile marker five thirty five near Comfort, is the Trooper Kurt David Knapp Memorial Highway. Kurt Knapp was born in Prescott, Arizona, and raised in…

  • The Cartoon Saloon · 5.2 mi · Things to Do

    A walk-in faux Old-West saloon shed insulated with empty Lone Star beer cans and covered in license plates and visitor graffiti built in 2018 along FM 473 in…

  • The Cypress Creek School · 5.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the Cypress Creek School, a testament to the German settlers who shaped this community. They formed their own school district way back in 1879. The first little frame building was…

  • Indian Sites on Cypress Creek · 6.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Center Point, and just off the road here is a place that's been important to humans for a very, very long time. This property, known as Sturdy Oak Farm, has been owned by the Lich family since…

  • Waring Schoolhouse · 6.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the Waring Schoolhouse, a testament to community spirit. Built in 1891 by Anglo pioneers in this mostly German area, it was the first public school here. Robert Percival Maxwell Waring,…

  • The Nineteen Thirty Seven Road From Texline to Orange · 6.4 mi

    On May eighteenth, nineteen thirty seven, a Texas highway minute order gave the name Veterans of Foreign Wars Memorial Highway to a chain of roads. The route started at the New Mexico state line at Texline and ran to…

  • Stoneleigh Ranch · 7.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the historic Stoneleigh Ranch, a place with roots stretching back to 1878. That's when George L. Leigh, seeking better health, arrived in Kerr County. He started a mercantile and even served as…

  • Zanzenberg · 7.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Center Point, and you're passing the site of Zanzenberg, home of Dr. Charles De Ganahl. He was a key figure here, a signer of the Texas Articles of Secession in 1861 and served as an Army Surgeon…

  • Mosty Brothers Nursery · 7.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Mosty Brothers Nursery. MOSTY BROTHERS NURSERY A son of Belgian immigrants, Leander A. Mosty worked as a cattle driver and broker in Kansas before migrating to Kerr County in 1897. Sensing a market…

  • The Bald Conifer Guarding the River · 7.8 mi

    The giant trees leaning over the Guadalupe at Center Point are bald cypress, and they are stranger than they look. Bald cypress is a conifer, a cone-bearing cousin of pines and firs, yet it drops its needles every fall,…

  • Center Point School · 8.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Center Point's first official school building. Before this limestone structure went up in 1911, classes were held in shacks and homes, and later in a building called the Center Point…

  • Center Point United Methodist Church · 8.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the Center Point United Methodist Church. Mrs. Henrietta Rees arranged for Methodist circuit riders to serve this area starting in 1852. Land was purchased for a church in 1872, and the…

  • The Town That Named Itself the Middle · 8.1 mi

    Center Point sits on the Guadalupe River about eight miles southeast of Kerrville, and its name is a plain statement of geography. In 1859 Charles de Ganahl opened a post office inside his home on the north bank and…

  • Center Point Christian Church · 8.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the Center Point Christian Church, a community pillar for over 135 years. Founded in 1879 by traveling minister Green L. Surber, the church saw its first building burn down in 1888 but…

  • Rising Star Lodge No. 429, A.F. & A.M. · 8.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the Rising Star Lodge No. 429, chartered way back in 1875. Their first meeting hall burned down in 1900, taking all their records with it. The lodge met in another building until moving…

  • Cypress Creek Cemetery · 8.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Cypress Creek Cemetery, a quiet link to the 19th-century heritage of this community. The oldest marked grave here is Laura Steves Boerner, who died in 1861. Her husband, Wilhelm, was killed at the…

  • Woolls Building · 8.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Woolls Building, one of Center Point's oldest commercial structures. Built between 1873 and 1875, it housed a mercantile business on the first floor and fraternal organizations upstairs. Notably,…

  • Center Point Cemetery · 8.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Center Point Cemetery, a resting place for over 1,400 souls. The town of Center Point itself was named Zanzenberg by Dr. Charles Ganahl, who emigrated from Austria, before settling on the name Center…

  • N.O. Reynolds · 8.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Center Point, and right here is the final resting place of N.O. Reynolds, a lawman who made his mark on Texas history. Born in Pennsylvania and a Civil War veteran, Reynolds enlisted as a Texas…

  • Beseler Family · 8.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Welfare, Texas, a community that owes its very existence to the Beseler family. Carl Joseph and Augusta Beseler arrived from Germany in 1848, eventually settling on a land grant right here in the…

  • Luckenbach Texas · 8.4 mi · Things to Do

    Luckenbach was a failing ghost town of three residents when Hondo Crouch bought it in 1970 for thirty thousand dollars and declared himself mayor of an…

  • The Rangers' Own Arlington · 8.4 mi

    The land here was bought for a church and cemetery in 1872, expanded in 1881 and again in 1901 to about 5.3 acres. Roughly 1,452 graves have been located, the oldest being Lydia Burney, who was born in 1795. But the…

  • Welfare School · 8.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the old Welfare School. Built around 1878 as a one-teacher schoolhouse, it served the rural community near Comfort. The original building was even moved to this spot around 1902. After…

  • Zink, Nicolaus · 8.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Texas history! In 1844, a Bavarian civil engineer named Nicolaus Zink led a group of German immigrants to Texas, tasked by Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels and the Mainzer Adelsverein. When Zink…

  • Center Point, TX (Camp County) · 9.0 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Camp County, heading southeast of Pittsburg. Right here is the site of Center Point, a community founded by formerly enslaved people shortly after emancipation in 1865. It got its name because the…

  • Center Point, TX (Kerr County) · 9.0 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Center Point, a town with a name that's more descriptive than you might think. It wasn't always called Center Point, though. Back in 1859, early settler Dr. Charles de Ganahl opened a post office…

  • Burney, Jesse Green · 9.0 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through the Hill Country, maybe near Center Point in Kerr County. Right here, Jesse Green Burney was farming and building a political career. In 1895, he took his seat in the Texas House as one of the…

  • Tunnel of the Fredericksburg & Northern Railway · 10.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of a remarkable feat of early 20th-century engineering: the Tunnel of the Fredericksburg & Northern Railway. Back in 1913, folks in Fredericksburg wanted a faster connection to San Antonio.…

  • Sisterdale, TX · 11.0 mi

    Sisterdale began as a haven, a place carved out of the Texas Hill Country by German immigrants in the 1840s. Drawn by the promise of land and the possibility of building a community based on shared ideals, these…

  • Pinta Trail Crossing of the Guadalupe River · 11.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the historic Pinta Trail crossing of the Guadalupe River. In October 1839, a Republic of Texas expedition started here, piling rocks to mark their survey line into the wilderness. Later, surveyor…

  • Sisterdale · 11.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Sisterdale, an early Hill Country settlement founded by German immigrants. The area was first a pathway for Native Americans and later, in 1839, saw Henry Karnes lead a frontier expedition here.…

  • Ottmar von Behr · 11.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Sisterdale, a place that owes its name to Ottmar von Behr. He was a nobleman from Germany who wrote a guide for immigrants, encouraging them to farm in Texas. He settled here in 1848, becoming the…

  • Wharton Cemetery · 11.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Center Point, and just off the road is Wharton Cemetery. This isn't just any old graveyard; it's the final resting place of William Watson Wharton, one of Kerr County's earliest settlers. He…

  • Ferdinand Hohenberger Farmstead · 11.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through the Texas Hill Country, near Comfort. Look around – this land was once the farmstead of Ferdinand Hohenberger. He and his family left Germany in 1855, enduring a 73-day sea voyage before landing…

  • Cave Without A Name · 11.9 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Kendall County, not far from Boerne, and right below your tires lies a geological wonder: the Cave Without A Name. It was discovered by accident in 1927 when a goat literally fell through a hole…

  • Walker, Samuel Hamilton · 11.9 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through what is now Kendall County, Texas, a place that saw a legendary Texas Ranger named Samuel H. Walker make his name. In 1844, Walker and his Rangers, armed with brand new Colt revolvers, fought a…

  • Sisterdale, TX · 11.9 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Sisterdale, on Farm roads 1376 and 473, thirteen miles north of Boerne in north central Kendall County, was founded in 1847 by Nicolaus Zink , a German freethinker who surveyed New Braunfels for Prince Carl of…

  • Forty-Eighters · 11.9 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Kendall County, and right here, in places like Sisterdale, settled some of the most passionate immigrants Texas has ever seen: the Forty-Eighters. These were German intellectuals and activists who…

  • Sansom, John William · 11.9 mi · Tsha Handbook

    John W. Sansom, frontier militia officer and Unionist leader, was born in Dallas County, Alabama, on February 5, 1834, one of eleven children of William Greenbury Sansom and Mary ("Polly") Short. After his parents moved…

  • Cibolo Creek (Kendall County) · 11.9 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Kendall County, and the creek you're crossing, Cibolo Creek, has a name with a long history. Indigenous peoples knew it by different names, like 'Xoloton' and 'Bata Coniquiyoqui.' Early Spanish…

  • Curry Creek · 11.9 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through the Texas Hill Country, and right near here, you're passing through the area once known as Curry's Creek Settlement. Settlers began homesteading along this creek back in the 1840s. By 1850, Judge…

  • Bergheim, TX · 11.9 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Bergheim ("Mountain Home"), a German immigrant community, is on State Highway 46 and Farm Road 316 ten miles northeast of Boerne in far southeastern Kendall County. Austrian-born Andreas Engel immigrated to Texas in…

  • Kendalia, TX · 11.9 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Kendalia is on Farm Road 473 twenty-five miles northeast of Boerne in east Kendall County. The community was probably named for George Wilkins Kendall , who established a ranch and introduced sheep ranching in the area…

  • Curry's Creek Settlement · 11.9 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Kendall County, near the site of Kendalia, where Curry's Creek Settlement once thrived. Founded around 1847 by Samuel B. Patton, this wasn't just a town, but a string of homesteads along a…

  • Texas Lions Camp · 12.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Texas Lions Camp, a place born from a polio epidemic and a vision for kids. Back in 1948, local Lion Jack Roe saw handicapped children turned away from summer camps. He vowed to create a place…

  • Gruen-Doebbler Homestead · 12.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Gruen-Doebbler Homestead, a home with a story etched in stone. The earliest part of this two-story house was built in the late 1800s by pioneer Ludwig Doebbler for his daughter, Mathilda, and her…

  • Ebers, August, House · 12.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the August Ebers House near Fredericksburg. Built starting in 1860 by a German immigrant, this stone home began with just a kitchen, a main room, and a loft bedroom. By 1880, Ebers added a whole west…

  • Brown Cemetery · 12.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Brown Cemetery, a resting place with roots stretching back to the late 1840s. Joshua D. Brown himself, who built a shingle mill right here, is buried nearby. But the cemetery officially began in…

  • Camp Verde General Store and Post Office · 13.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the Camp Verde General Store, which has a wild story tied to the U.S. Army's bizarre camel experiment. In 1857, this mercantile opened as the Williams Community Store, right near the Army…

  • Camp Verde, C.S.A. · 13.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Kerr County, Texas, where during the Civil War, a frontier regiment outpost was established in 1862, not far from the old U.S. post, Camp Verde. These Confederate troops were tasked with guarding…

  • One Mile to Ruins of Camp Verde · 13.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Camp Verde, a frontier post established by the U.S. Army way back in July of <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1855</say-as>.<break time="400ms"/> By <say-as interpret-as="date"…

  • Penateka Comanches · 13.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through the heart of the Edwards Plateau, a land once dominated by the Penateka Comanches. The 'honey eaters,' they called themselves, and their range stretched from right here all the way to the…

  • Grapetown, TX · 13.2 mi

    Grapetown, nestled in the heart of the Texas Hill Country, has always been a place where the past feels close. You can almost hear the echoes of those early German settlers as you drive along the old Fredericksburg-San…

  • Camp Verde - U.S. Camel Corps · 13.3 mi · Historical Marker

    In 1856, the U.S. Army did something genuinely bizarre: it imported 66 camels from Egypt, Turkey, and Tunisia to this outpost in the Texas Hill Country. The idea came from Secretary of War Jefferson Davis, who believed…

  • Grapetown School · 13.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the Grapetown School. Frederick Baag donated the land in 1882, and the community built this schoolhouse, completed in 1884, teaching all seven grades with just one teacher. It served as…

  • Camp Verde · 14.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Camp Verde, a U.S. Army frontier post established way back in July of <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1855</say-as>. This place became the headquarters for a truly bizarre…

  • Tivy, Captain Joseph A. · 14.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the area where Captain Joseph A. Tivy made his mark on Texas. Born in Canada in 1818, Tivy headed to Texas with his sisters in 1837. He served as a Texas Ranger, then struck gold in California in…

  • Highway One Seventy Three and Westmoreland's Fire Brigade · 14.2 mi

    State Highway One Seventy Three, from near Kerrville down to near Jourdanton, is the One Seventy Third Airborne Brigade Memorial Highway. The highway and the brigade share a number. Texas lawmakers passed the…

  • Schreiner College (Schreiner Institute) · 14.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Schreiner College, which started as a vision for a boys' school back in the early 1900s. Businessman Charles Schreiner donated land and money in 1914, but World War I delayed things. The…

  • Gus F. Schreiner Home · 14.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the former "Cedarcrest," the home of Gus F. Schreiner, built right here in Kerrville. His father, Charles, a wealthy rancher and banker, bought this land back in 1883. Gus took over, and in 1901, he…

  • Butt, Howard Edward · 14.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through the heart of H-E-B country! Right here in Kerrville, back in 1905, a determined woman named Florence Butt opened a small grocery store with just sixty dollars. Her son, Howard Edward Butt, started…

  • H-E-B · 14.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Texas, and right here, you're passing the birthplace of a Texas legend: H-E-B! It all started back in 1905 in Kerrville when Florence Thornton Butt used a sixty-dollar loan to open a tiny grocery…

  • Butt, Florence Thornton · 14.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Kerrville right now, and you're passing the very spot where a Texas institution began. Florence Thornton Butt, a determined woman who’d moved to Texas seeking a better climate for her ailing…

  • Schreiner, Charles Armand · 14.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through the Texas Hill Country, near Kerrville. Right here, Charles Armand Schreiner built an empire. He arrived in the area after the Civil War, a poor rancher, but by 1869, he'd opened a general store.…

  • Site of Animal Health Discovery · 14.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Kerrville, where a groundbreaking discovery in animal health happened. Back in the late 1930s, Dr. Edward F. Knipling theorized that releasing sterile male screwworms could break their reproductive…

  • Spanish fought Apaches in the 1730s · 14.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Bandera Pass, a natural cut through the hills that's been a vital corridor for centuries. Spanish soldiers fought Apaches here in the 1730s, and later, Texas Rangers and Comanche warriors clashed…

  • Bandera Pass · 14.3 mi · Historical Marker

    The prominent feature known as Bandera Pass is a notable landmark in the topography and history of the region. The pass is a narrow natural cut through a chain of hills which run roughly east and west and divide the…

  • Dietert, Christian · 14.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Kerrville, a town that owes much of its early success to Christian Dietert. This German master miller arrived in Texas in 1854 and, after a couple of early setbacks with floods and droughts, he…

  • Reid, Asa Elmer, Jr. [Ace] · 14.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through the Texas Hill Country, maybe near Kerrville, and you might just be passing by the legacy of Ace Reid. Born in Lelia Lake in 1925, Reid grew up with the dust of the Depression and the life of a…

  • Schreiner, Gustave Frederick · 14.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through the Texas Hill Country, near Kerrville, the town known as the "father of Kerrville" helped build. That was Gustave Frederick Schreiner, a rancher and philanthropist who managed the Schreiner Land…

  • Tivy, Joseph Albert · 14.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through the Texas Hill Country, perhaps near Kerrville. Right here, Joseph Albert Tivy wasn't just a surveyor, rancher, or even a state representative. He was a visionary who believed in education for…

  • Kerrville, TX · 14.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Kerrville, a town that owes its start to shinglemakers and a river bluff. It began as Brownsborough in the early 1850s, founded by pioneers like Joshua D. Brown, a veteran of the Battle of San…

  • Kerr County · 14.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Kerr County, a place that's seen thousands of years of human history, but it wasn't until the mid-1800s that Anglo settlers tried to make a permanent home here. In 1846, a group tried to establish…

  • Kerrville State Hospital · 14.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Kerrville, and right here on this hill overlooking the Guadalupe River, you're passing the site of the Kerrville State Hospital. It started in 1937 as the Kerrville State Sanatorium for Negroes,…

  • Kerrville-Schreiner Park · 14.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving south of Kerrville on the Guadalupe River, and right here is Kerrville-Schreiner Park. Back in the late 1930s, this park was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps, Company 1823. These were Black…

  • Schreiner, Louis Albert · 14.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Kerrville, the heart of the Texas Hill Country. Right here, Louis Albert Schreiner, a man dedicated to his community, was encouraging local ranchers during the Great Depression. He urged them to…

  • Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Kerrville · 14.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Kerrville, and right here, on the southeastern edge of town, stands a testament to Texas grit and generosity. It started in 1919 with a dream to build a hospital for World War I veterans, funded…

  • Westminster Encampment · 14.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Kerrville, and right here, on the southeastern edge of town, operated the Westminster Encampment from 1906 to 1950. This Presbyterian conference center was a summer haven for families seeking…

  • Glen Rest Cemetery · 14.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Glen Rest Cemetery, established in 1894 by Kerrville citizens as a community burial ground. It started with a ten-acre tract and has grown to hold thousands of interments, with some families having…

  • Burney, Hance McCain · 14.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Kerrville, Texas, a town that owes its start to a pioneer named Hance McCain Burney. Back in 1858, Burney became the very first postmaster here. He wasn't just a mailman, though. He also built one…

  • Burney, Robert Hance · 14.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Kerr County, Texas, and right here in Kerrville, Robert Hance Burney built a career that touched many parts of Texas life. After a stint with the Texas Rangers in the 1870s, Burney studied law at…

  • Disabled American Veterans · 14.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're rolling through Kerrville, Texas, where in May of <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1923</say-as>, a significant organization for veterans took root. Right here, the Department of Texas of the Disabled…

  • Lacey, Howard George · 14.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through the Texas Hill Country, and right here in what is now Kerr County, you're passing the former home of Howard George Lacey. Born to aristocracy in England, Lacey came to Texas in 1882, settling on…

  • Upper Guadalupe River Authority · 14.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Kerrville, the heart of the upper Guadalupe River basin. Back in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1939</say-as>, the Texas Legislature created the Upper Guadalupe River Authority. Its…

  • Bandera Pass · 14.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Bandera Pass, a name that echoes with the clash of cultures on the Texas frontier. For centuries, this was a vital corridor through the mountains, known from the earliest days of Spanish…

  • The Lights and the Headless Rider of Bandera Pass · 14.4 mi

    After dark, the legend of Bandera Pass takes over from the history. The same rocky gap north of town that gave Bandera its name has long been the subject of ghost stories told around Hill Country campfires. Drivers…

  • Polly's Chapel · 14.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Bandera County, and just ahead is Polly's Chapel. This isn't just any chapel; it was built by Policarpo Rodriguez, a Texas Ranger, Army Scout, and Guide who settled Privilege Creek back in 1858.…

  • The Scout Who Chased Camels and Built a Chapel · 14.6 mi

    Just northwest of Pipe Creek stands a small stone chapel built by one of the frontier's most remarkable figures. Jose Policarpio Rodriguez, born in 1829 near Zaragoza, Mexico, was a surveyor and U.S. Army scout who…

  • Tivy School · 14.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the historic Tivy School in Kerrville. Captain Joseph Tivy, a Canadian who became Kerrville's first mayor and a Texas legislator, donated 16 acres right here in 1890 for a school. He also…

  • Comparette Home · 14.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Comparette Home, a Victorian beauty built back in 1890. It saw a few owners, including Dr. R. H. P. Wright, a local physician whose daughter Fay would go on to marry Texas Governor Coke…

  • Notre Dame Catholic School · 14.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Notre Dame Catholic School in Kerrville. Founded in 1912 by Father Henry Kemper, a priest who came to Kerrville seeking recovery from tuberculosis, this school offered education for a…

  • Kennedy-Peterson House · 14.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Kennedy-Peterson House, built in 1914 for Austin Milton Kennedy, a seven-term Texas State Representative and Speaker of the House. He moved here seeking treatment for tuberculosis, but lived only…

  • Saint Peter's Episcopal Church · 14.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Saint Peter's Episcopal Church in Kerrville. Episcopalians here first gathered in the county courthouse way back in 1881. They built their first small church in the late 1880s. But here’s a cool bit…

  • First Baptist Church of Kerrville · 14.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the First Baptist Church of Kerrville. Organized in 1887 with eleven members, the congregation officially became the First Baptist Church of Kerrville seven years later. They built their…

  • Zion Lutheran Church · 14.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Zion Lutheran Church. This congregation began with worship services in family homes as early as 1898 and was officially organized in 1901 with seven families. They built their first…

  • Notre Dame Catholic Church · 14.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Notre Dame Catholic Church in Kerrville. It began in 1892 as a mission called St. Mary of the Assumption. The church became a parish in 1911, moved to its current location, and later changed its name…

  • The Man Who Built Kerrville · 14.9 mi

    You can't talk about Kerrville without talking about Captain Charles Schreiner. He arrived in 1869, a young Confederate veteran and former Texas Ranger, and saw a future here that no one else did. He started with a…

  • The U.S. Army's Camel Corps · 14.9 mi

    Just a short drive south of Kerrville lies the site of one of the strangest experiments in U.S. military history. In the 1850s, the War Department decided that camels were the solution for transporting supplies across…

  • The Climate Cure: Kerrville's Sanitariums · 14.9 mi

    In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, before the discovery of antibiotics, a diagnosis of tuberculosis was often a death sentence. Doctors had only one prescription: rest and clean, dry air. This medical theory,…

  • The Songwriter's Mecca · 14.9 mi

    Just south of town, at a place called the Quiet Valley Ranch, something magical happens every year. Since 1972, it has been home to the Kerrville Folk Festival. What started as a three-day event is now the…

  • The Parkway That Erased a Town · 14.9 mi

    The road you're on, or one just like it, is the most powerful force in modern Houston. State Highway 249, the Tomball Parkway, is a work of transportation engineering that redefined Kohrville right out of existence. And…

  • Kohrville, TX · 14.9 mi

    Kohrville, Texas, has a rich history that dates back to before 1870 when it was founded by freed slaves from Alabama. The town was named after Paul Kohrmann, a German immigrant who served as the first postmaster. The…

  • A National Brand from a Two-Car Garage · 14.9 mi

    You've probably seen the distinctive jewelry in stores across the country, but the James Avery story starts right here in Kerrville. In 1954, James Avery, a former Air Force pilot and instructor, started his business in…

  • Berryville, TX · 14.9 mi · Local history

    The recent controversy over the Berryville Creek development continues to be a central topic of discussion at the weekly farmers market and the diner counter. For years, the creek, a tributary of the Neches River, has…

  • Guthrie Building · 14.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Guthrie Building, a stone structure that's been a fixture in Kerrville since 1887. It started as the newspaper office for Robert Guthrie, a Scottish immigrant whose family had been publishing…

  • The Slow Disappearance of Kohrville · 14.9 mi

    Towns can die in many ways. Some are flooded, some are abandoned, but Kohrville simply faded — and what faded here is not what most people assume. In the 1870s, freed slaves from Alabama came to this stretch of Harris…

  • Dietert, Christian · 14.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Christian Dietert's mill, built right here in 1857. This German millwright, who'd already built mills elsewhere in Texas, partnered with Balthasar Lich to construct this mill and dam. It…

  • First Presbyterian Church of Kerrville · 14.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the First Presbyterian Church of Kerrville. Presbyterians here organized their congregation in 1888, initially sharing a Union Church. They built a small wooden church that same year, which was later…

  • The Father of Country Music Chased Clean Air to Kerrville · 15.0 mi

    Kerrville was once a place sick people came to breathe, and in 1929 the most famous of them was Jimmie Rodgers, the Singing Brakeman and the man country music calls its father. Diagnosed with tuberculosis in 1924, when…

  • Kerrville, TX · 15.0 mi

    Kerrville wouldn't be Kerrville without James Avery Jewelry. It's more than just a business here; it's woven into the fabric of the town. Founded in 1954, in a small workshop, the company started with the simple idea of…

  • The Limestone Mansion the Schreiner Family Built · 15.0 mi

    At 226 Earl Garrett Street stands the house that put a face on Kerrville's most powerful family. Captain Charles Schreiner built this limestone mansion in 1879, the first limestone building in Kerr County, and hired the…

  • The Airplane With the Backward Tail, Built in Kerrville · 15.0 mi

    Kerrville is one of the few small towns in America with its own line of airplanes, and they wear an aerodynamic signature you can spot from across a ramp. Mooney Aircraft moved to Kerrville in early 1953, and here…

  • James Kerr · 15.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through the heart of the Texas Hill Country, near the town that bears his name. James Kerr, a veteran of the War of 1812 and a former Missouri legislator, arrived in Texas in 1825. He was tasked with…

  • The Kerrville Axe · 15.0 mi

    Step outside in Kerrville and you'll see it everywhere — Ashe juniper, the scrubby "cedar" that blankets the Texas Hill Country, drinks the water table dry, and chokes out grass. In the 1920s, two Kerrville men, Henry…

  • The Shinglemaker's Town Named for a Man Who Never Saw It · 15.0 mi

    The town you're rolling into started as a cypress camp, not a townsite. In 1846 Joshua Brown, a shinglemaker and veteran of the Battle of San Jacinto, led about ten men up the Guadalupe River hunting the giant bald…

  • The Diagonal Dam That Powered a Town · 15.0 mi

    On the bluff above the Guadalupe, German miller Christian Dietert and millwright Balthasar Lich built the machine that turned a cypress camp into a real town. Arriving in 1857, the two designed a grist and saw mill,…

  • The Road Goes On Forever, and It Runs Through Kerrville · 15.0 mi

    Texas songwriter Robert Earl Keen has called the Kerrville area home for decades, working from a ranch in these hills outside town. Keen built one of the most loyal followings in Texas music writing literate,…

  • The Town That Promised to Cure You · 15.0 mi

    In the early twentieth century, before antibiotics, a tuberculosis diagnosis was often a death sentence, and the only prescription doctors trusted was dry, mild air. Kerrville's Hill Country climate gave the town a…

  • Africa in Texas and the Longhorns Brought Back From the Brink · 15.0 mi

    Out toward Mountain Home in Kerr County sprawls the YO Ranch, bought by Captain Charles Schreiner in 1880 with profits from trailing longhorns to Dodge City. The ranch did two genuinely remarkable things. First, when…

  • Shopping and Eating Where the Camels Once Camped · 15.0 mi

    Down State Highway 173 between Kerrville and Bandera, at the crossroads by old Camp Verde, the Camp Verde General Store has been selling to travelers since 1857, when it opened as the Williams Community Store to trade…

  • Early Settlers of Kerr County · 15.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the first industry in what would become Kerrville. Back in 1846, Joshua D. Brown, a veteran of the Republic of Texas, led ten shingle makers to this spot on the Guadalupe River. He'd…

  • Pampell Opera House · 15.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Kerrville, and right here is the site of the Pampell Opera House. Built around 1895 as a hotel and store, local merchant John Pampell bought it in 1901. He transformed the second floor into a…

  • San Antonio & Aransas Pass Passenger Train Depot · 15.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past San Antonio & Aransas Pass Passenger Train Depot. In 1887, Kerrville was chosen as the last stop on the SA&AP Railroad. A wood depot was erected four blocks west of here to accommodate the large…

  • The Saluting Cadet of Delaney Hall · 15.0 mi

    Schreiner University began life in 1917 as the Schreiner Institute, and for decades it ran as a military-style school, which is the backdrop for the campus legend students still trade after dark. The stories center on…

  • Kerr County · 15.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Kerr County, named for James Kerr, a true Texas pioneer. He was the first American settler on the Guadalupe River and played a key role in early Texas government, even signing the Declaration of…

  • Kerrville Telephone Company · 15.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Kerrville, where the telephone first rang in this area back in 1896. It all started with a handshake and a thousand dollars between A.C. Schriner and D.H. Comparette, Sr., connecting two wool…

  • Beitel Lumberyard · 15.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Kerrville, and right here is where Frank Beitel set up shop back in 1889. When the railroad made this its last stop, Beitel saw opportunity. His lumberyard, with its warehouses and sheds, became a…

  • How Kerrville Became the Mohair Center of the World · 15.1 mi

    Captain Charles Schreiner arrived in Kerrville in 1869 and built a frontier empire out of a general store. Alsace-born and a former Texas Ranger, Schreiner figured out something nobody else in America had: that the…

  • Kerrville Daily Times · 15.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Kerrville, home to a newspaper with a long and evolving history: The Kerrville Daily Times. It started life way back in 1910 as the Center Point News. Imagine, a weekly paper that eventually…

  • Kerrville Mountain Sun · 15.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Kerrville, and right here is the birthplace of a newspaper that's been serving this town for over a century. It all started in the 1870s as 'The Frontiersman.' Over the years, it went through…

  • H-E-B · 15.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Kerrville, passing the birthplace of a Texas giant: H-E-B. It all started in 1905 when Florence Butt, with just $60, opened a tiny grocery store on Main Street. Her youngest son, Howard, took over…

  • Scott and Josephine Carr Schreiner · 15.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the former home of Scott and Josephine Schreiner, influential Kerrville residents. Scott led the Chamber of Commerce and his name graces the municipal golf course. Josephine, a trained musician,…

  • George Wilkins Kendall · 15.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're cruising through Kendall County right now, and you're passing the former home of George Wilkins Kendall. Kendall wasn't just a pioneer; he was a journalist and a writer. He co-founded the New Orleans Picayune…

  • Boerne Cemetery · 15.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Boerne, and just off the road is the city's historic cemetery. It started as a community burial ground even before it was officially deeded to the city in 1867 by Adam Vogt. The earliest marked…

  • Schreiner, A. C., Jr. · 15.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the former home of A. C. Schreiner, Jr., a significant figure in Kerrville's business and ranching history. His father, Charles A. Schreiner, built the original section of this house in 1897 as a…

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