Hill Country History

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Richard Caldwell interviewing Herff decendents

Thank you to Boerne's Patrick Heath Public Library for much of our information and imagery - click to their newsletter... or click to the library...

	The beginnings of Kendall County: In 1847, when Bavarian emigrant, Nicolaus Zink, settled on Pinta Trail land, he established himself as Kendall County's first settler and the first in the future Latin community of Sisterdale. Others followed, mostly German immigrants, bringing with them a strong desire for opportunity and the ideals of freedom. Tusculum predated Boerne, which was plotted in 1852. The same year that Comfort was laid out, 1854, George Wilkins Kendall, an accomplished writer, publisher, and the founder of the New Orleans Picayune, expanded his new career of raising sheep, to a ranch near Boerne. Click here to read more....
	Click here to... learn more about the Kendall County Historical Commission... ...and here for links to our county's heritage-related non-profits

St. Mary's Sanitarium - Event in/near Boerne

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

St. Mary's Sanitarium

A facility used for the treatment of tuberculosis (TB). One of the founders of this sanitarium was Dr. Ferdinand Herff, a prominent early German settler in Boerne. Dr. Herff was instrumental in getting the railroad from San Antonio to Boerne which would help get his patients to Boerne. Boerne was a center for the treatment of TB due to its fresh air as at this point there were no antibiotics for TB. This building was torn down in 1930.

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