- Kendalia was first surveyed by D. W. Grady in 1883 for early settler Carl Gustav Vogel, who built a gin and gristmill at the town. In 1895 the post office records were transferred from Curry`s Creek to Kendalia.
The town was laid out by Ernst Hermann Altgelt along the banks of the Cypress Creek above its confluence with the Guadalupe River. Freemasons, freethinkers, and political activists from Bettina and Sisterdale settled the area. 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.
Built in 1888 with opera being the popular entertainment of the times. As vaudeville (comedic acts, song and dance/burlesque) became popular the Opera House became a vaudeville stage and was renamed the Plaza Theatre. As the "talkie" pictures became popular vaudeville faded and the Opera House became a movie theater. In 1966 the Opera House was torn down and the Ebner Pharmacy built their shop there. This photo (1910) shows the Boerne Gesang Verein singing club - that was begun to compliment the Boerne German band.
Guadalupe Post Office - Est 1874 1874 - in/near Bergheim
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Guadalupe Post Office - Est 1874
Ever heard of the Guadalupe Post Office…nobody has, even the old timers who were once with us never got it right as to location and postmaster. It opened in 1874 in the home of Charles Wenzel. Here is a small portion of the postal map that was part of the submission process. At the time Charles owned two adjacent 160 acre parcels in eastern Kendall County along the Guadalupe River (hence the name) in what is now the WaterStone subdivision. His neighboring post offices were few…Curry’s Creek was the closest in Kendall County, Spring Branch in Comal County. Charles ran the Guadalupe Post Office for 5 years.
The early German residents of Boerne would have their children first attend a local Catholic school for one or two years to be trained to learn about their religion. Holy Angels Academy began it's schooling in 1899. The Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word began the schools and also the medical facilities (sanitariums) in the Boerne area. This building was torn down in 1930.