Comfort Historic District

Comfort is a well-preserved German immigrant community in the Texas Hill Country displaying a high concentration of mid to late nineteenth and early twentieth-century structures. The township has maintained a remarkably stable population (40 of the original 50 families have members still residing in Comfort) and has remained unincorporated since its founding in 1854. Because of the lack of recent growth and development, Comfort retains much of its turn-of-the-century character, culturally and architecturally. The high number of contributing commercial buildings, residences, and their associated outbuildings presents a cohesive district. These factors provide the basis for a well-defined historic district which includes much of the original townsite of Comfort.

In 1847 John Vles, a wealthy New Orleans cotton merchant, purchased one league of land near the confluence of the Cypress Creek and the Guada- lupe River. For several years the land remained unsettled, but by 1852, a few German families, recent immigrants to Texas, settled in the area. Two years later, Vles sent one of his young workers, Ernst Altgelt, to investigate the value of the land. Upon his arrival, Altgelt reported that the land was ideal for settlement and suggested a town survey be completed as rapidly as possible. Vles granted Altgelt the power to.. survey a town site. By the end of the summer of 1854, the survey was completed, and the community of Comfort was founded.

Because of its proximity to other German settlements, such as New Braunfels and Fredericksburg, a few German families began moving into the town when lots became available. Comfort, as a result, had a distinctive. German flavor. However, most of the town's first settlers immigrated from Germany.

In many ways similar to the other German communities in Texas, Comfort also differed tremendously from these towns. Comfort was settled by individuals with no organizational or financial backing, contrary to the New Braunfels and Fredericksburg settlements which were founded by aristocratic Germans, Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels and Gottfried (John) Meusebach, respectively. The three communities' primary settlers were victims of the hardships of Germany throughout the 1840s and 1850s. Catholic and Lutheran agrarians who migrated to Texas to escape the German famine of the 1840s;s helped found New Braunfels and Fredericks- burg; however, the Revolution of 1848 provided the impetus for another group of Germans to escape their country's political turmoil and immigrate to the United States. Better educated and primarily non-agrarian, some of these refugees were the initial settlers of Comfort. As a result, the composition and character of Comfort greatly contrasted to other German communities. The establishment of religious institutions illustrates a prime difference between the towns. In Fredericksburg and New Braunfels, the founding of a church was among the priorities. fort, on the other hand, was settled by" free thinkers" who viewed re-religion with distaste. Comfort's first church was established by its second generation of citizens almost forty years after the town's founding. Although Comfort presently has several churches, this anti-religious sentiment is still widespread in the town.

The origin of Comfort's unusual name is not known. Some have suggested that it came from the pleasant setting of the town; others maintain that the town offered peace and tranquility to the German immigrants. Nevertheless, the town's name did not accurately describe the first years of settlement. Pioneer life was difficult and often quite dangerous. By 1860 the community was flourishing. Many log cabins and fachwerk buildings dominated the town, and the residents regarded their future in Comfort with enthusiasm.

This feeling of optimism was short-lived as Texas' secession and eventual entry into the Civil War created tremendous tension for the Germans. Most had come to the United States to escape the disruption within their newly adopted country. The majority of these Germans abhorred the idea of slavery and opposed the state's secession from the Union. Some, particularly in Comfort, openly expressed their loyalty to the Union. A few escaped to Mexico; others were determined to join Union forces. What soon followed was an event that has been called "The Blackest Crime in Texas Warfare" and has been memorialized by the Treue der Union monument in Comfort.

In 1862 a group of 40 anti-secessionists were attempting to reach Mexico and eventually sail north from there to join the Union army in the United States. On August 12, 1862, less than 50 miles from the Mexican border, the Germans were attacked by Confederates in a pre-dawn battle. Vastly outnumbered, most of the Unionists were massacred and left unburied on the banks of the Nueces River. No prisoners were taken by the Confederate forces as all the wounded and captured were murdered by the Confederates. The remaining few escaped and survived as best they could until the war's conclusion. Some hid in the Hill Country; others sought refuge in Mexico. Most of the 40 men hailed from Comfort and when the news of the battle reached Comfort, the citizens were grieved.

With the ending of the Civil War in 1865, a group of Comfort citizens traveled to the site of the battle and returned the bones of the massacred Germans to Comfort. In 1866, a small monument was erected as a tribute to the Battle on the Nueces River. Made of limestone, the monument is known as "Treue der Union" (National Register 11/29/78) and stands as one of the few pro-Union monuments in the south. It remains today much as it did when completed in 1866.

When peace came in 1865, the people of Comfort soon turned their attention back to the affairs of peacetime. The community steadily grew, and more sophisticated goods and services became available. Agriculture was one of Comfort's first industries, and along with several nearby ranches, became an important source of revenue. Cotton was the leading crop produced in the area and was taken to the cotton gin owned and operated by Ernst Flach. But by 1904, competition from more fertile cotton growing areas hindered Comfort's growers, and cotton production ceased to be profitable in the town. Wheat and other grains also played a crucial role in the community's agricultural development. Perhaps Comfort's earliest and most valuable resource was the grove of cypress trees along the nearby creek. Handhewn lumber from the trees was a primary building material. Since the town's founding and once milling machinery was set up in Comfort, the lumber industry proved to be a vital element in the town's economy. Shingle making, a derivation of the lumber industry, also provided additional jobs and revenue.

The Goldbeck Brothers' general store was one of Comfort's earliest and most important business institutions. Supplying goods for the townspeople, the store was located at the northwest corner of Main and Seventh Streets. In 1856, the Goldbecks (Fritz and Theodore) sold their store and house to August Faltin and moved back to San Antonio. Faltin, a shrewd businessman, successfully operated the store and soon needed store and house additional space for his store. He commissioned a young San Antonio architect, Alfred Giles, to erect a new two-story structure on an adjacent lot to the original store. This building represents one of the most significant structures, both architecturally and historically in Comfort. It reportedly was Giles' first commission for a commercial building outside of San Antonio and was one of Comfort's first buildings constructed of limestone. The building was used as a general store until the 1960s. In the early 1970s, the top floor was rehabilitated for use as apartments.

Thus after 20 short years, Comfort had established itself as a thriving, self-sufficient community. In 1887, the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railroad established a line through the town. The railroad, by providing cheaper transportation, stifled much of Comfort's blossoming economic base. Lime kilns closed, lumberyards were bought out by San Antonio businessmen, and the town, in general, gradually became dependent on the railroad.

The railroad did contribute to the development of the commercial area along the High Street as more sophisticated goods were offered in local stores at cheaper prices. As the store owners prospered, more commercial buildings were constructed. One of the town's most successful businessmen, Peter Ingenhuett, built several impressive structures along High Street and helped establish the Ingenheutts as a leading family in Comfort. The Opera House, the Ingenhuett Saloon, and the Ingenheutt Store were erected by Peter during the last two decades of the nineteenth century.

By the turn of the century, Comfort, though still small, nevertheless maintained a solid economic base. The town experienced a small boom during the first two decades of the twentieth century. The town's first bank was founded in 1907, and the farms and ranches continued their high level of success. Many of the late Victorian residences were built during the first decade of the twentieth century. Because of the establishment of the railroad, Comfort had become an important marketing center for the western portion of Kendall County but was relegated to a secondary position of importance, as Boerne, the county seat, became the leading city in Kendall County.

Although Comfort has ceased to grow since the 1920s, the townspeople continue to take great pride in their community. In 1904 and 1954, the city celebrated its 50th and centennial anniversaries with ceremonies in the Public Square. In the summer of 1979, the citizens propose to commemorate the 125th anniversary.

In 1978 a disastrous flood nearly washed away the entire community and most of the buildings within the district were flooded with the rising waters. For example, the Heuermann Log Cabin was filled with water over four feet deep. Clean-up operations began almost immediately after the disaster and little evidence of the flood can be seen today.