Boerne, Texas, United States

🇺🇸 Boerne is a city in and the county seat of Kendall County, Texas, United States, in the Texas Hill Country. Boerne is known as a German-Texan city, named in honour of German author and publicist Ludwig Börne by the German Founders of the town.

Boerne is part of the San Antonio–New Braunfels Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History Boerne came into being as an offshoot of the Texas Hill Country Free Thinker Latin Settlements, resulting from the Revolutions of 1848 in the German states. Those who came were Forty-Eighters, intellectual liberal abolitionists who enjoyed conversing in Latin and who believed in utopian ideals that guaranteed basic human rights to all. They reveled in passionate conversations about science, philosophy, literature, and music. The Free Thinkers first settled Castell, Bettina, Leningen, and Schoenburg in Llano County. These experimental communities were supported by the Adelsverein for one year. The communities eventually failed due to lack of finances after the Adelsverein funding expired, and conflicts of structure and authorities. Many of the pioneers from these communities moved to Sisterdale, Boerne, and Comfort.

In 1849, a group of Free Thinker German colonists from Bettina camped on the north side of Cibolo Creek, about a mile west of the site of present Boerne. They named their new community after Cicero's Tusculum home in ancient Rome. In 1852, John James and Gustav Theissen, who helped settle Sisterdale, platted the townsite, renamed it in honor of German author Karl Ludwig Börne, with the Anglicized spelling of "Boerne". The town was not incorporated until 1909. August Staffell was the original postmaster in 1856.

During the Civil War, Boerne voted against secession and was a mostly pro-Union town; many communities in Kendall County were part of the formation of the Union League, which supported the Union and Abraham Lincoln.

The 1870 limestone courthouse, second-oldest in Texas, was designed by architects Philip Zoeller and J. F. Stendebach, and stands directly across the street from the current 1998 courthouse designed by architects Rehler, Vaughn & Koone, Inc.

In March 1887, the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway came to town. The coming of the railroad was an economic boost of some magnitude, and it created better conditions for the area.

In the late 1870s, retired British army officers, including Glynn Turquand and Captain Egremont Shearburn, played one of the first polo matches in the United States in Boerne. The polo ground is still visible on Balcones Ranch, bought by Captain Turquand in 1878.

Boerne's robust environment encouraged the health resort industry. Sisters of the Incarnate Word founded the St. Mary's Sanitarium in 1896 for pulmonary patients; Dr. W.E. Wright contracted with the Veterans Administration in 1919 to provide care for World War I veterans suffering from lung ailments; the William L. Sill Tuberculosis Resort operated north-west of Boerne; and Mrs. Adolph (Emilie) Lex opened her home to recovering patients, eventually converting two rooms into operating rooms.

Karl Degener organized the Boerne Gesang Verein (singing club) and the Boerne Village Band in 1860. The family and descendants of Sisterdale resident Baron Ottomar von Behr have included three generations of directors of the Boerne Village Band, and four generations of musicians. The band is billed as the "Oldest Continuously Organized German Band in the World outside Germany", and in 1998 the Federal Republic of Germany recognised the Boerne Village Band for its contribution to the German heritage in Texas and America.

Geography Boerne is located in southern Kendall County in the Texas Hill Country. Interstate 10 and U.S. Route 87 pass through the city south and west of its centre, with access from Exits 537 through 543. I-10/US-87 lead south-east 31 miles (50 km) to downtown San Antonio and north-west 16 miles (26 km) to Comfort, where the highways diverge.

According to the United States Census Bureau, Boerne has a total area of 11.6 square miles (30.1 km²), of which 0.3 square miles (0.8 km²), or 2.61%, is covered by water. Cibolo Creek, a 96-mile-long (154 km) tributary of the San Antonio River, flows through the city.

Two of Texas' seven show caves are located near Boerne: Cave Without a Name is 10 miles (16 km) to the north-east, and Cascade Caverns are 3 miles (5 km) to the southeast. They are both actively growing limestone-solution caves.

Hill Country Mile Created in the early 2010s, the Hill Country Mile is a 1.1-mile-long (1.8 km) walking path following River Road Park and historic Main Street. The path was created as a catalyst to unify and preserve the rich cultural identity of downtown Boerne. It was also created to increase and foster economic growth through downtown shopping and culture centers.

Cibolo Center for Conservation The Cibolo Center for Conservation comprises over 100 acres (40 ha) of Hill Country trails and wilderness, as well as the historic Herff-Rozelle Farm. Originally named the Cibolo Nature Center, it was first opened to the public on Earth Day in 1990 after founder Carolyn Chipman Evans urged the City of Boerne to preserve marshland around Boerne City Park. It is maintained through a 501c3 nonprofit organization called the Friends of the Cibolo Wilderness. Trails are open every day from sunrise to sunset, and the Visitors' Center is open from 8am to 5pm. City Park is in a unique natural setting, as it shares a border with Cibolo Creek. The Center features a day camp during the summer for children ages 5–12, which focuses on educating about the environment and learning how to have fun in nature. It also operates a nature-based preschool named The Nest.

Boerne City Lake Park Formed by the John D. Reed Dam, Boerne City Lake was completed and opened to the public in 1978. The primary purpose of the project was to provide some flood control for Cibolo Creek, and to supplement the fresh water supply for the city. The lake has around 100 acres of water and an associated watershed of 12,560 acres. Motorized boats not permitted on the water.

Cascade Caverns Cascade Caverns opened to the public in 1932 and began having private tours in the 1870s. Stories say that the cave was known particularly to the adventurous young men of Kendall County and a hermit, who hid in a cave at the time of the war.

Education It is in the Boerne Independent School District, which has two high schools, three middle schools, and seven elementary schools. There are also a handful of religious private schools as well as Meadowlands, a charter school for at-risk youth in the San Antonio and Hill Country areas.