Hill Country History

Menu: Home About/Contact Markers Activities Landmarks Bergheim Boerne Comfort Kendalia Sisterdale Waring Welfare Add-Event M

Upcoming Activities:

2017-10-16

Boerne

Speaker - McGraw - Camino Real

Event Website Link

KCHC welcomes Al McGraw to the Patrick Heath Library / Boern

Ludwig von Herrf, Dr. Ferdinand - Marker in/near Boerne
Photo Credit: Dietert Historical Archives - Patrick Heath Public Library (Boerne)	Ludwig von Herrf, Dr. Ferdinand Marker #14328 - 1982

Location of this marker:

Random order Sort by City by Title

Theis House - Marker in/near Boerne

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

Marker #5460 - 1984   This pioneer home was built in 1858 by German immigrant Phillip Jacob Theis (1809-1876), an early Kendall County blacksmith and wheelwright. The original part of the Theis house is a dogtrot plan of palisade construction. Willow branches were woven around cedar support posts to form the walls, which were then packed with clay and rock and finally stuccoed for protection. The Theis house is a rare surviving example of this construction type. (on Newton Alley behind 242 Main Street, Boerne)

One story, four room. The structure is supported by hand hewn beams and poles that are held together with wooden pegs.

Built in 1858 by Phillip Jacob Theis, a blacksmith and wheelwright who immigrated from Germany in 1855, the Theis House was one of the ten residential structures existing in Boerne in 1958. Newton Street, adjoining the south boundary of the Theis property, was initially surveyed in 1852 as a public access alley to the Cibolo Creek. It was left open for the use of bucket brigades and later fire hoses when there was a fire in town. 

The Theis property line ran from Main Street to the creek and Mr. Theis operated his blacksmith shop under a mulberry tree in his front yard where the Adler Bakery Building later stood. Jacob Theis and his wife, Margaretha, raised seven children at the old Theis homesite. One son, August Theis, later took over his father's blacksmith shop and he and his wife, Agnes, continued living in the same house where they also raised seven children. Mrs. Edgar (Ruby) Bergmann refurbished the house and filled it with appropriate furniture of the early period. She opened it to the public on special occasions to showcase the life style of the early settlers.

More info and Map Link

Julius A. and Anna Phillip House - Marker in/near Boerne

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

Marker #2888 - 1993   Built about 1900, this was the home of Kendall County Justice of the Peace and County Judge Julius A. Philip (1867-1935), his wife Anna (Meckel) (1867-1961), and their eight children. Originally built as a 4-room house, it was enlarged in the 1920s to accommodate the growing family, and the front porch was added in the 1930s. Prominent features of the house include board-and-batten siding, a gable roof, jigsawn porch brackets and turned wood frieze.

The one story house is typical "turn of the century," rural, framed board and batten; original L shaped with a gable at each end of the roof. The roof is composition shingle to the original fron section. The foundation is on cedar post, pier and beam construction. The windows are wood, single hung, 6 x 6 sash.

The house began as a four room house with a separate room in rear. Later two rooms and porch were added. 
The front porch is three sections wide with sawn wood brackets supporting spindles, with a unique gingerbread design of wooden stars framed in wooden hoops. The floor remains wooden.

At the time of purchase of the property, many postoak trees were on the land; however, little time was wasted putting in a field and garden. Hackerry trees were planted and still stand, giving lovely shade in the summer. A complete orchard of pear, plum, figs, apricots and grapes was planted and some still bear fruit.

This house was the home of Julius Phillip, pioneer and county judge of Kendall County and his wife, Anna (Meckel) Phillip also from a pioneer family. The house has been the residence of family members since it was built in 1900. Ella (Phillip) Massey lived here rearing her four children and until her death, then her grand- daughter, Cary Crea became the owner.

More info and Map Link

Brownsboro Cemetery - Marker in/near Comfort

Photo Credit: Natalie Morgan

Marker #14411 - 2008   This cemetery served the community of Brownsboro, which was originally settled by shinglemakers. Later, farmers and then railroad workers resided here. Thomas and Sarah Manning donated land for a burial ground and church in 1870; Levi and Sarah Howell later donated additional property. The first known burial was of Henry Bierschwale in 1877. Other notable burials include five veterans of the Civil War. As Brownsboro’s population declined and floods damaged the area, the cemetery fell into disuse. Today, the Comfort Heritage Foundation cares for the burial ground, which remains as a memorial to the residents of the former Brownsboro community.

Historic Texas Cemetery – 2007
Marker is property of the state of Texas

More info and Map Link

Boerne Chapter No. 200, Order of the Eastern Star (O.E.S.) - Marker in/near Boerne
Photo Credit: Janis and Ted Maxymof	Marker #17334 - 2012 beside the Texas Historical Marker for Kendall Masonic Lodge #897; in front of the Masonic Lodge Hall, which is located at 897 E Blanco, Boerne, TX. Building is on the south side of the street, just More info and Map Link

August Ebers House - Marker in/near Fredericksburg

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

Marker #236 - 1983   Grapetown, TX

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

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

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

More info and Map Link

Comfort Post Office - Marker in/near Comfort

Photo Credit: Bryden Moon

Marker #1000 -    From 1856, when Comfort's postal station was established, until this building was constructed in 1910, the town's post office was housed in various mercantile stores. In 1910, while Hermann Ingenhuett was serving as postmaster, this building was completed. Designed by noted San Antonio architect Alfred Giles, the renaissance revival style structure exhibits Giles' talent for blending red brick and limestone. It remained in use as a post office until 1952. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1985

This one story brick designed by Alfred Giles for Paul Ingenhuett to be used as a post office.. It remained the Comfort Post Office until 1952. Since then it has been an apartment, and other businesses such as antiques and restaurants. Designated with Texas Historical Landmark in 1985.
One story brick and limestone; keystone arch above entrance. 
Double doors flanked by two windows, crowned by parapet.

More info and Map Link

The Engel Store - Bergheim General Store - Marker in/near Bergheim

Photo Credit: Ted and Janis Maxymof

Marker #5329 - 1983   A native of Austria, Andreas Engel (b. 1864) migrated to Texas in 1885. In 1900 he purchased land here and built a cotton gin, around which an agricultural community developed. When the area post office was moved here in 1901 and Engel became postmaster, he named the town Bergheim, German for "home in the hills". He and his wife Eva opened a store at this site in 1903. Their son Alfred added later services, including a cedar yard, to meet community needs and aid local development. A symbol of Bergheim`s pioneers, the store has remained in the Engel family. (1983)

More info and Map Link

Weyrich Building - Marker in/near Boerne

Photo Credit: Janis and Ted Maxymof

Marker #16468 - 2010   Charles (Carl) Weyrich bought this lot in 1877, shortly after relocating from Gillespie County. Weyrich established himself as a tinsmith and married Sophia Beyer in 1878, commissioning this building around the same time. Weyrich’s business remained here until he divided the lot and sold the building in 1883. A series of businesses, mostly grocery stores, operated here for the next 37 years. The property was later a residence, an office and an art studio. The rectangular-plan vernacular rubble limestone building is one of the oldest commercial structures in Boerne. It features a stone parapet and paired double doors with raised, hood-shaped stone lintels and keystones on the primary façade. (714 South Main Street)

More info and Map Link

Arno Schwethelm Building - Marker in/near Comfort

Photo Credit: Col. Bettie Edmonds

Marker #208 - 1981   Prominent local merchant Arno Schwethelm had this building constructed in 1916 to house his mercantile business, a leading Hill Country establishment. Designed by L. Harrington of San Antonio and built by stonemason Otto Bartel, it combines the function of a twentieth century commercial structure with the detail of German craftsmanship. Incorporated in the native limestone building are materials from an earlier structure at this site. (7th and High Streets, Comfort)

More info and Map Link

Ludwig Hein Home - Marker in/near Comfort

Photo Credit: Bryden Moon

Marker #3145 - 1987   Ludwig Hein (1855-1933) came to Texas from Germany in 1877. He married Rosa Treiber of Waring and built this home for his family before 1900. Hein operated a blacksmith shop next door until the family moved to San Antonio in 1914. The home was known as the "nerve center" of Comfort when the local telephone switchboard was housed here from 1923 to 1955. Features of the Victorian house include its front bay window and bracketed porch supports.

Ludwig Hein was born in Steinhoefel Kreise Friedeberg, Berlin on October 9, 1955. In 1877, at age 22 he immigrated to the United States via the Port of New Orleans, and crossed country until he reached Waring, Texas.
Ludwig, from a family of 11 children, was joined in this country five years later by the passage of his parents, Henry and Ottilie Hein to Waring, Texas. In Waring, Ludwig met and married Rosa Treiber. Rosa was born August 19, 1867 in Burgenland, Austria. She, too, had immigrated to this country. On January 8, 1890, Ludwig Hein purchased Lot 93 in the township of Comfort from Achese Auguste for the sum of $150.
The Hein house, built before 1900, served as the home for the Hein's when Ludwig had a blacksmith shop next door. Six children were born to Ludwig and Rosa.
Son, Frederick, remembers how hard his father, Ludwig, worked in the tin blacksmith shop which adjoined their home directly on the southside. There were many horses to shoe as well as difficult wheel rims to mend.
In 1914, Ludwig moved his family to San Antonio so that his younger children might attend school there.
On April 19, 1923, Southwestern Bell moved the local switchboard from the Koblin Building to 727 High Street. Miss Augusta Allerkamp was in charge with 340 local and rural lines coming into the Comfort switchboard.
In 1925 Mrs. Grace Martin assumed management of the switchboard. The main switchboard was located in the front room while the remainder of the home served as Mrs. Martin's living quarters. The dining room of the home also served as one of the first lending libraries of the town, when in January, 1941, Mrs. Martin begin keeping the library books.

In 1947 Zahn Green purchased the Comfort and Center Point Exchanges which operated as Hill Country Telephone Company. With the advent of the dial system, Green sold out in 1955 to Hill Country Telephone, ending a 32 year era of Comfort's History.

The simple frame home was typical of those built in Comfort at the Turn of the Century as indicated by the porch columns, brackets and exposed rafter. The back portion of the house was added to the original structure before 1936.
The house was given a Historic Marker in 1987.

More info and Map Link

Stieler Ranch House - Marker in/near Comfort

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

Marker #5120 - 1970   Designed and built 1890-1892 by Herman Stieler, German rock mason and local sheep rancher. He came from Germany; hauled freight for Charles Schreiner Company and to Camp Verde. Made this place a shearing station for fellow ranchers. Coaches from nearby stage line often stopped for food, repairs. Style is typical of era. Each floor has two rooms on either side of central "dog trot" hall. Interior was remodeled in 1937. (at site, U.S. 87, 6 mile N of Comfort, Texas)

More info and Map Link

Comfort Community Theatre - Marker in/near Comfort

Photo Credit: Bryden Moon

Marker #999 - 1983   The need for a permanent civic center led Comfort business leaders to form a corporation to raise funds for its construction. Designed by Fredericksburg architect Hans Christiansen, the Comfort Community Theatre opened in 1930, providing the town with facilities for basketball, dances, civic meetings, stage plays, and private parties. It was later used as a movie theatre and enjoyed much success under the ownership of Hank Zimmerman from 1947 until 1964. The Comfort Community Theatre continues today as a performing arts center as well as a civic meeting hall. Incise on base: Purchased and restored by Richard and Dorothy Britt. (1983)

Business leaders formed a corporation to build a civic center to provide facilities for basketball, dances, plays; then a movie house. Marker was spearheaded by Dorothy and Richart Britt. Designated Texas Historical Landmark in 1984.

More info and Map Link

James House - Marker in/near Boerne

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

Marker #2726 -    This two-story limestone house is believed to have been built about 1880 by Ives Brown for Ichabod and Alice Kingsbury. In 1925 it was purchased by Maria (Williams) James (1859-1940), the pioneer surveyor and early community leader who platted the town of Boerne in 1852. Named `Puccoon` by Maria for her ancestral home in Hanover County, Virginia, the residence remained in her family following her death. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1982

Records show that John Small originally owned the land where the house is now located. In 1853 his heir, Martha A. Solomon and her husband Alexander, sold 1280 acres to Dr. W.G Kingsbury for $300.00. Dr. Kingsbury in turn sold a part of the land to William Kernaghan. William Dietert acquired the Dietert Addition acreage in 1874 and town lots No. 3 and 6 were sold to Ichabod and Alice V. Kingsbury in 1879.

In 1891 the property was purchased by Bertha Biessner who later married H. H. McFarland. The McFarland heirs sold the house to Mrs. John H. James in 1925. She bought it to replace a summer home in Comfort that she and her late husband previously owned. (Judge John James was the son of John James, a well known land dealer who with Gus Theissen, platted and surveyed the city of Boerne in 1852 and later gave the Main Plaza and courthouse land to boerne and Kendall County)

The beautiful old house which was built around 1880 has been known variously as the Kingsbury-Biessner home, the Kingsbury Place, the McFarland Home and now the James House is presently owned by Maria M. Sykes, a great-grand- daughter of John James, the great frontier surveyor and businessman who contributed so much to the early development of Boerne.

More info and Map Link

Kendall County - Marker in/near Boerne
Photo Credit: Bryden Moon	Marker #2920 - 1936 Kendall County; created January 10, 1862; organized February 18, 1862. Named in honor of George Wilkins Kendall, 1809-1867; poet, journalist, author and farmer. One of the founders of the New Orleans Picayune; member of the Santa Fe Expedition; most successful sheep raiser in the Southwest, (San Antonio and Watts, E of Main Street) More info and Map Link

Tunnel of the Fredericksburg & Northern Railway - Marker in/near Comfort

Marker #5568 - 1978   In 1913 area residents raised money to build a railroad linking Fredericksburg to San Antonio. The 920-foot tunnel beneath this hill increased the cost by $134,000 and required five months of hard labor. It opened a faster trade route for area merchants and farmers. Each time passenger trains entered the tunnel, small rocks, loosened by engine exhaust, were removed from the track and the windows closed to keep out coal smoke. The railroad operated until 1942 when the trackage was sold for scrap. Incise in base: Marker Sponsor: S. O. A. W. Enterprises, Inc. (1978) (at tunnel overlook, from Comfort take FM 473 east about 4 miles - turn N onto county road and continue about 9 miles to marker)

More info and Map Link

Peter Joseph Ingenhuett Homestead - Marker in/near Comfort

Photo Credit: Bryden Moon

Marker #3996 - 1986   German immigrant Peter Joseph Ingenhuett (1833-1923) came to Texas and settled on a farm near Comfort in the 1850s. In 1861, he married Marie Karger (1843-1913), and they moved into town in 1867. The Ingenhuetts opened various businesses along what is now High Street, including a hotel, saloon, and livery stable. Ingenhuett served for nearly 25 years as the Comfort postmaster. The small cottage at the back of this property was the Ingenhuett home until the larger dwelling at this site was built in 1888.

The homestead has two buildings involved. The 1863 cabin behind the big house was a home, a wash house, storage room, taxidery shop, garage and antique shop. It has fachwerk and outside stairs. The 1888 house is a one story, German Victorian limestone with gingerbread on porch.

 The original (1863) Peter Joseph Ingenhuett Homestead was located behind the later house. This cabin served as the Ingenhuett's home until they moved into the second floor of the "new" mercantile store building in 1880. In addition to a residence, the cabin has also served many other purposes. It was a wash house with inside hearth, a storage building, a taxidermy shop (when owned by Udo Letz) a garage, and an antique shop (which the Meyer's operated).

The larger house was built in 1888 for Peter Joseph and Marie Karger Ingenhuett. Mr. Ingenhuett was a prominent businessman in the community who built several businesses along High Street including the hotel, saloon, and the Ingenhuett Store. 

The house originally had clapboard siding. The stucco exterior was added in the first half of this century to improve the fire resistance as several fires had occurred in the vicinity. The house was renovated in the early 1970s with turned balusters and a new fretwork design being installed on the front porch. It was purchased in 1986 by Bill and Helen Meyer. Working from old photographs, the Meyers replaced the balusters and fretwork design in 1991 to more nearly approximate that of the original construction. The stairway in the central hall, giving access to the expanded attic, was moved from the Ingenhuett-Faust Hotel.

The Homestead received a Texas Historical Marker in 1985.

More info and Map Link

Kendalia Community Church - Marker in/near Kendalia

Photo Credit: Col. Bettie Edmonds

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

More info and Map Link

Kuhlmann-King House - Marker in/near Boerne

Marker #2977 -    This structure was built in the late 1880s as a residence for German native William Kuhlmann (1856-1918), a successful pharmacist and landholder. He sold the home in 1908 to Selina Long King (1831-1910), whose sons operated the local King & King Lumber Co. The Boerne Independent School District owned the house from 1920 to 1951, using it for rental property as well as for school-related purposes. Hill Country artist Harry Anthony DeYoung (1893-1956) leased the house for two years while teaching art in San Antonio. The Kuhlmann-King house has been owned by the city of Boerne since 1951.  (on W side of city hall)

Two story rubblestone symmetrical with two story gallery across the front (West) side. Originally the house had two upper and two lower rooms. The gallery on both floors extended around to the entire south side. The stairs to the upper floor were on the outside of the house on the East, or back side. As was the custom, there were no closets in the entire house. The house has one central chimney, with the fireplace on the southwest room. The remaining three rooms had openings into this same chimney and wood stoves were used for heating. The walls in the house are approximately 15" thick and the 9 foot ceilings inside are beaded board. The upstairs floors are still the original random width planks varying between 10" and 12" in width. The floors on the first floor have been replaced and are now of 3" narrow pine flooring. The house had a gabled roof and 6x6 sash windows.,br>Today the gallery on the south side of the house is gone. It is believed that the south portion of the porch was removed in the late 1920s when a major change in the house was made.The wooden portion of the house was added to the east side about the same time the south side gallery was removed. This new addition brought the house the newest conveniences. The outside stairs were removed. Traces still show on the rock and the door upstairs is still there. New stairs were built inside the southwest room. Closets were built in this room as well as the room directly above. A gallery and a modern kitchen (to take the place of the separate outdoor kitchen) were added to the first floor. On the second floor, a bathroom was added above the new kitchen and a second floor gallery was added above the new one on the first floor. With this new addition all the plumbing and water pipes were used without having to go through the thick rock walls.

The land, out of Lot #9 and #10, on which this house stands was sold by John and Helene Werner to William Kuhlmann on March 26, 1883. Just what year the house was built is not known thus far. It was built by William Kuhlmann between 1885-1890.

Mr. Kuhlmann became a naturalized citizen of the U.S. on Feb 5, 1890. He was born July 2, 1856 in Germany. He died in Boerne of pneumonia on Dec. 18 1918. The doctor in attendance was Dr. Wright. Undertaker - Ebensberger & Wendler - buried in Boerne Cemetery.

Mr. Kuhlmann returned to Germany to marry his sweetheart, Marie, and brought her back to live in this house. On Dec. 27, 1896 Marie died during childbirth. The child never lived. Marie was born Sept 13, 1854 in Germany. The couple is buried in the same grave in the Boerne Cemetery.

Mr. Kuhlmann sold this house with improvements to W.F. Shirer but Mr. Shirer sold it back a year later because of the lack of finances.
In 1902 Mr. Kuhlmann sold the house to Selina Long King. The King family lived in the house until 1920 when Mrs. King died. The house was sold to the Boerne School District.

The house was used to extend the facilities of the school which was in the adjacent building just south of the house.
In 1951 the school system no longer needed the buildings in this location, thus it was sold to the City of Boerne.
In 1971 the Boerne Area Historical Preservation Society was given a twenty-five year lease on the house for a museum.

More info and Map Link

Rice Home - Marker in/near Comfort

Photo Credit: Col. Bettie Edmonds

Marker #15626 - 1965   There are three buildings on this complex. The first was a two room log cabin. Using trees growing on nearby Cypress Creek, the log portion of this house was built in 1857 by Emil Serger a master cabinet maker. He was soon joined by his friend, Paul Hanisch, a pharmacist. Two rooms were added to house the first pharmacy in Comfort.

Mr. Hanisch married and moved, then Mr. Serger married, making a larger house a necessity. The two story "Sunday House" was built between 1870 and 1885. The three parts were connected with hallways or breezeways. There is a one story gallery across the front.

Mr. and Mrs. J. C. Rice, interim owners, were commended by the San Antonio Conservation Society for their restoration of the property. The next owners were Mr and Mrs. John T. Steen. This house was designated a Recorded Texas Historical Landmark in 1965.

More info and Map Link

Beseler House - Marker in/near Boerne

Photo Credit: Jay Pennington click to their website

Marker #383 - 1985   Civic leader and Boerne businessman Maxmillian Beseler (1866-1939) had this stone Victorian cottage built for his parents, Charles and Minna Beseler, in 1903. A native of Prussia, Charles Beseler came to Texas in 1848 and served for many years as a Kendall County public official. Constructed by Ed Clemens of locally quarried rock, the home features a curved front porch, decorative woodwork, and shingle detailing. It remained in the Beseler family for over 80 years. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1985.

One and one-half story, native limestone rock; quarried at Ranger Creek. Rectangular blocks and frilly Victorian/neoclassical motifs on porch. Deep pitched roofs with dormer over front porch; many gables. Roof recently changed to tin standing seam.

Built by Ed Clemens, a well-known builder in Boerne, in 1903. The house originally consisted of a kitchen, two bedrooms, one later used as a dining room and still later as a TV room, two sitting rooms, both converted to bedrooms and a large hallway. All rooms are spacious and have been redone through the years with different pastelshades with creamy white acoustical ceilings. Clothes closets were built in all the bedrooms in the early 1940s.

There were two large porches, the back one being in part converted into a bathroom in later years. This porch was completely enclosed with shutters. Close type shutters were also used on the windows. Later the shutters were replaced with ordinary screens. The front porch is rounded on one end. Three large round wooden columns, 10" in diameter at the base tapering to about 8 1/2 inches at the top with a decorative entablature at the top of each and all along the porch roof; as well as an ornate wooden balustrade enclose the porch area. Balustrades form the handrails on each side of the front steps.

The roof on the house proper was cedar shingle and the porches had tin roofs. The stone which surrounds the house was quarried in large chunks at Ranger Creek, brought to town and sawed into 30" by 14" rectangles. There are no fireplaces in the house. At first wood burningstoves and later kerosene circulating heaters were used for heat. In the early1960s, gas connections were installed.

An ornate wrought iron fencesurrounds the front yard area. Many trees and shrubs were planted but most of the big hackberry trees and several pecan trees died during the drought of the late 1940s and early 1950s.
A wash house, a work shop,garage, metal rainwater tank, chicken coop and swine shed were early out-buildings. Later, a one room house, where Max Beseler slept while he lived there with his daughter, Edna, was built. It was fondly called "Opa's room". In between this and the old wash house a flower house was built to store potplants during the winter. The wash house was rebuilt in 1971 to serve as agarage, the old garage being antiquated and used for only storage. When the children were young, Herbert built a play house in the yard for them.

When Mr. and Mrs. Charles Beseler were alive, the whole backyard was plowed and planted in cabbage. Some fruit trees were also planted. Charles Beseler lived in this house only five years before he died,but his wife, Minna, lived here for twenty-two years. When Mrs. Beseler lived here there was no sink in the kitchen, but running water was already piped in. Later the kitchen was remodeled to add a sink and cabinets for thedishes. The kitchen was originally painted maroon.

When Edna Beseler Harz died in 1982, her heirs sold the house to Waldo Lynch, who put wrought iron bars on all of the windows and doors. Then in 1984 the house was sold to Dr. Richard Schatz and his wife, Dr. Renee Rose and they completely restored and remodeled the house.

More info and Map Link

Freidenker (Nineteenth Century Freethinkers) - Marker in/near Comfort

Photo Credit: Bryden Moon

Marker #11673 - 2000   From 1845 to 1861, a number of German Freidenker ("Freethinkers") immigrated to the Texas hill country. Freethinkers were German intellectuals who advocated reason and democracy over religious and political authoritarianism. Many had participated in the 1848 German revolution and sought freedom in America. The Freidenker helped establish Bettina, Castell, Cypress Mill, Luckenbach, Sisterdale ,Tusculum (Boerne) and Comfort. Laid out in 1854, Comfort soon was home to about half the population of hill country Freethinkers. Freethinkers valued their newfound freedoms of speech, assembly and religion. Their settlements, where a knowledge of Latin was considered essential for a cultured intellectual society, became known as "Latin Colonies." They strongly supported secular education and generally did not adhere to any formal religious doctrines. They applied themselves to the crafts of physical labor and divided their time between farming and intellectual pursuits. Freethinkers advocated universal equal rights, and their moral values were dominated by their respect for life. They actively supported such social issues as the abolition of slavery and the rejection of secession. Their loyalty to the Union during the Civil War cost many their freedoms and their lives. Following the war, many Freethinkers relocated to nearby urban areas, while others returned to Germany. (2000) (301 SH 27, Comfort)

More info and Map Link

1907 Comfort State Bank Building - Marker in/near Comfort

Photo Credit: Jay Pennington click to their website

Marker #29 - 1988   Constructed in 1907 for Alex Brinkmann, this building housed the Comfort State Bank until 1960. Local stonemason Richard Doebbler is credited with the hand-cut stone craftsmanship of the structure. The Comfort Public Library was located here from 1961 to 1982. Features of the modified Richardsonian Romanesque building include polished red granite columns, a round-headed window, a corner entrance, and a blind arcade in the tower. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1988. (Corner 7th and High Streets, Comfort)

More info and Map Link

Welfare School - Marker in/near Welfare

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

Marker #12370 - 2000   Built as a one-teacher school about 1878 to serve the rural Welfare community near Comfort, this building originally was located on the west side of Joshua Creek. It was moved to this site about 1902. After 1907, separate classes were held for African American students. About 1912, parents contributed funds to the erection of an addition and porch. Enrollment peaked at 25 in 1916. The structure served as a school until 1952, when students were transferred to Comfort. The single-room, wood frame structure with a stone foundation and shed roof porches is a vivid reminder of the heritage of rural Texas schools.

One room, wood fram structure with a stone foundation and shed roof porches.

More info and Map Link

Hermann and Antoine Ingenhuett Homestead - Marker in/near Comfort
Photo Credit: Bryden Moon	Marker #12752 - 2002 Hermann and Antoine Ingenhuett Homestead (436 8th St.) More info and Map Link

George Wilkins Kendall - Marker in/near Boerne
Photo Credit: Dietert Historical Archives - Patrick Heath Public Library (Boerne)	Marker #2169 - George Wilkins Kendall (1809–1867) was a journalist, war correspondent, and pioneer Texas sheepman, known as the father of the Texas sheep business. Kendall County, Texas is named for him. Kendall was given a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 1989, Marker number 2169. (Northwest corner of cemetery at stone wall, school Street and Main, Boerne) More info and Map Link

Kendall Masonic Lodge No. 897 - Marker in/near Boerne
	Marker #15599 - 2005 Kendall Masonic Lodge No. 897 More info and Map Link

Faltin Homestead - Marker in/near Comfort

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

Marker #1564 - 1962   German native Theodor Georg Ludwig Goldbeck constructed the original part of this home in 1854, the same year the town of Comfort was founded. In 1856 he sold the house and his mercantile business to Friedrich August Faltin, a merchant who had recently migrated from Prussia. Additions to the residence, completed during his ownership, reflect German influences of pioneer building techniques. For over 125 years it has remained in the Faltin family. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1981 (Main and Seventh Street, Comfort)

Certainly one of the oldest dwellings in its original location in Comfort, this cabin was built by Fritz and Theodore Goldbeck in 1854. The Goldbeck's operated Comfort's first mercantile store. Fritz also wrote poetry about the early life of German pioneers in Texas and published them as "Seit Funfzig Jahren" ("Since Fifty Years").

In 1856 August F. Faltin, with his wife, Clara Below, bought the cabin from the Goldbeck's when the brothers wanted to return to San Antonio. The log portion was extended with the fachwerk addition. The cabin has been restored by August Faltin III, a great- grandson of the 1856 immigrant. The August Faltin House was designated Texas Historical Landmark in 1981.

More info and Map Link

Ludwig von Herrf, Dr. Ferdinand