Comfort

Comfort was established by German settlers in 1854. Today it is a popular tourist area with numerous camps along the Guadalupe River operated by various civic organizations. Visitors enjoy fishing, swimming and camping during summer months. Hunting is popular during the fall and winter. And shoppers, particularly those interested in antiques, find the unincorporated town fun year round.

The Treue der Union Monument in Comfort recalls Civil War hostilities that wracked the nation. Predominantly German settlers of Comfort were openly sympathetic with the Union cause. Friction developed with the Confederate forces, and some 65 men led by Fritz Tegener determined to leave the area and go to Mexico. The group was surprised and attacked by mounted Confederate soldiers on the west bank of the Nueces River, about 20 miles from Fort Clark. Nineteen settlers were killed and nine wounded. The latter were captured and executed a few hours after the battle. The monument commemorates the unionists killed in this tragic episode of a violent area. It is one of only six National Cemeteries permitted to fly the U.S. flag at half-staff in perpetuity.

– Source: Hill Country Visitor’s Guide

Sisterdale

Nicolaus Zink, the man who surveyed New Braunfels for Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels is credited with founding the town. The name comes from Sister Creek. The tiny population grew with the arrival of "Forty-Eighters" - dissidents (many of them intellectuals) leaving Europe after a failed revolution.

Frederick Law Olmsted (noted landscape architect and creator of NYC's Central Park) visited Sisterdale on his cross-country trip. Sisterdale was granted a post office in 1851.

The community was open on its anti-slavery and pro-Union policies - it's relative isolation probably protecting it from Confederate reprisals. When the war was over, Sisterdale lived in blissful tranquility - its population comprised of an estimated 150 people (1884).

Sisterdale had a store, gin and a factory for making Cypress shingles - an important industry at that time.

In 1914 there were only 25 residents which doubled by the mid-20s. In 1968 the estimate was 63 - the same number that appears on the 2004 state map.

Source: www.Escapes.com

Bergheim

Bergheim, a German immigrant community on State Highway 46 and FM1365 10 miles northeast of Boerne, is the site of one of the state’s oldest general stores. The Bergheim General Store and Post Office received a historical marker in 1983.

Leon Springs

Leon Springs is the site of the settlement of Max Aue, who in 1852 acquired 640 acres for services rendered as a Texas Ranger. He established the Leon Springs Supply Company, a general store that is known today as the Settlement Inn. The family lived in the upstairs area. Aue served as postmaster until 1861 in the back part of the building. The Settlement Inn became the first stop on the “Jackass” Stageline route from San Antonio to San Diego.