Comal County, Texas

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Template:Short description Template:Use American English Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox U.S. county

Comal County (Template:IPAc-en Template:Respell) is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 161,501.<ref name="QF">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Comal County is known for its rich German-Texan and European history.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Its county seat is New Braunfels.<ref name="GR6">Template:Cite web</ref>

Comal County is part of the San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX metropolitan statistical area.

Along with Hays and Kendall Counties, Comal was listed in 2017 of the nation's 10 fastest-growing large counties with a population of at least 10,000. In 2017, Comal County was second on the list; it grew by 5,675 newcomers, or 4.4% from 2015 to 2016. Kendall County was the second-fastest growing county in the nation in 2015 to 2016, growing by 5.16%. Hays County, third on the national list, had nearly 10,000 new residents during the year. As a result of this growth, the counties have experienced new home construction, traffic congestion, and greater demand for public services. Bexar County, which includes San Antonio, grew by 1.75% during the year, but its number of new residents exceeded 33,000.<ref>Zeke MacCormack, "Folks flocking to area counties: Kendall, Comal, and Hays are on the top 10 list", San Antonio Express-News, March 24, 2017, pp. 1, A11.</ref>

History

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  • Early native American inhabitants include Tonkawa, Waco, Karankawa, and Lipan Apache.<ref name="Comal County">Template:Cite web</ref>
  • 1700-1758 The area becomes known as “Comal”, Mexican Spanish for “flat griddle”. Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe Mission at Comal Springs.<ref name="Comal County"/><ref name="Gone to Texas: Genealogical Abstracts from The Telegraph and Texas Register, 1835-1841"/><ref>"comal," Collins Spanish Dictionary (2005 edition), online at https://www.wordreference.com/es/en/translation.asp?spen=comal</ref>
  • 1825 Coahuila y Tejas issues land grant for Comal Springs to Juan Martín de Veramendi.<ref name="Gone to Texas: Genealogical Abstracts from The Telegraph and Texas Register, 1835-1841">Template:Cite book</ref>
  • 1842 Adelsverein organized in Germany to promote emigration to Texas.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Fisher-Miller Land Grant sets aside three million acres (12,000 km2) to settle 600 families and single men of German, Dutch, Swiss, Danish, Swedish, and Norwegian ancestry in Texas.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
  • 1844, June 26 - Henry Francis Fisher sells interest in land grant to Adelsverein<ref name="Gillespie County, Texas">Template:Cite web</ref>
  • 1845 Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels secures title to Template:Convert of the Veramendi grant, including the Comal Springs and River, for the Adelsverein. Thousands of German immigrants are stranded at port of disembarkation Indianaola on Matagorda Bay. With no food or shelters, living in holes dug into the ground, an estimated 50% die from disease or starvation. The living begin to walk to their destinations hundreds of miles away. 200 German colonists who walked from Indianola found the town of New Braunfels at the crossing of the San Antonio-Nacogdoches Road on the Guadalupe River. John O. Meusebach arrives in Galveston.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Meusebach, John O">Template:Cite web</ref>
  • 1846 March - Texas legislature forms Comal County from the Eighth Precinct of Bexar County. New Braunfels is the county seat.<ref name="Comal County"/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
  • 1850 Survey of 130 German farms in Comal reveals no slave laborers.<ref name="Comal County"/>
  • 1852 Neu-Braunfelser Zeitung begins publication, initially only in German, deriving its name from 16th-century Germany's prototype of a newspaper titled Zeitung.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
  • 1854 County is divided into eight public school districts.<ref name="Comal County"/> The Texas State Convention of Germans meet in San Antonio and adopt a political, social and religious platform, including: 1) Equal pay for equal work; 2) Direct election of the President of the United States; 3) Abolition of capital punishment; 4) “Slavery is an evil, the abolition of which is a requirement of democratic principles..”; 5) Free schools – including universities - supported by the state, without religious influence; and 6) Total separation of church and state.<ref>Template:Cite journalTemplate:Dead link</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
  • 1858 Final county boundaries determination with the separation of part of western Comal County to Blanco and Kendall counties. New Braunfels votes in a school tax.<ref name="Comal County"/>
  • 1861 Comal County votes for secession from the Union. Contributes three all-German volunteer companies to the Confederate cause.<ref name="Comal County"/>
  • 1887 Faust Street Bridge built over the Guadalupe River.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
  • 1898 Comal County limestone courthouse erected. Romanesque Revival style. Architect James Riely Gordon.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
  • 1920s County establishes itself as a manufacturing and shipping center for textiles, garments, flour, and construction materials.<ref name="Comal County"/>
  • 1924 Presidential candidate Robert M. LaFollette received his highest vote percentage of any county in the 48 states, 73.96%, in Comal.
  • 1960 Four students at St. Mary's University San Antonio discover Natural Bridge Caverns, the largest known commercial caverns in the state of Texas.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
  • 1961 Comal's first Wurstfest draws a crowd of 2,000.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
  • 1964 Canyon Lake impoundment, boosting tourism and related industries.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Darmstadt Society of Forty

Template:Further Count Castell<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> of the Adelsverein negotiated with the separate Darmstadt Society of Forty to colonize 200 families on the Fisher–Miller Land Grant territory in Texas. In return, they were to receive $12,000 in money, livestock, and equipment, and provisions for a year. After the first year, the colonies were expected to support themselves.<ref>King (1967) p.122</ref> The colonies attempted were Castell,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Leiningen, Bettina,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Schoenburg, and Meerholz in Llano County; Darmstädler Farm in Comal County; and Tusculum in Kendall County.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Of these, only Castell survives. The colonies failed after the Adelsverein funding expired, and also due to conflict of structure and authorities. Some members moved to other Adelsverein settlements in Texas. Others moved elsewhere, or returned to Germany.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of Template:Convert, of which Template:Convert (2.7%) are covered by water.<ref name="GR1">Template:Cite web</ref>

The Balcones Escarpment runs northeastward through the county, generally just west of Interstate 35. West of the escarpment are the rocky hills and canyons of the Texas Hill Country; to the east are the rolling grasslands of the coastal plains.

The Guadalupe River flows generally southeastward through the county, and is impounded by Canyon Lake. The Comal River rises from the Comal Springs in New Braunfels, and quickly joins the Guadalupe River.

Adjacent counties

Transportation

Major highways

Airports

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Demographics

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Comal County, Texas – Racial and ethnic composition
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Race / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic) Pop 2000<ref name=2000CensusP004>Template:Cite web</ref> Pop 2010<ref name=2010CensusP2>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:Partial<ref name=2020CensusP2>Template:Cite web</ref> % 2000 % 2010 Template:Partial
White alone (NH) 58,345 77,387 105,250 74.78% 71.34% 65.17%
Black or African American alone (NH) 693 1,606 3,584 0.89% 1.48% 2.22%
Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH) 268 355 514 0.34% 0.33% 0.32%
Asian alone (NH) 343 813 1,844 0.44% 0.75% 1.14%
Pacific Islander alone (NH) 21 45 127 0.03% 0.04% 0.08%
Other Race alone (NH) 77 105 700 0.10% 0.10% 0.43%
Mixed Race or Multiracial (NH) 665 1,172 5,892 0.85% 1.08% 3.65%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 17,609 26,989 43,590 22.57% 24.88% 26.99%
Total 78,021 108,472 161,501 100.00% 100.00% 100.00%

As of the census<ref name="GR8">Template:Cite web</ref> of 2010, there were 108,472 people, 29,066 households, and 21,886 families residing in the county. The population density was Template:Convert. There were 32,718 housing units at an average density of Template:Convert. The racial makeup of the county was 89.08% White, 0.95% Black or African American, 0.53% Native American, 0.46% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 6.98% from other races, and 1.96% from two or more races. 22.57% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 29,066 households, out of which 33.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.80% were married couples living together, 9.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.70% were non-families. 20.60% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.00% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.64 and the average family size was 3.05.

A Williams Institute analysis of 2010 census data found there were about 4.4 same-sex couples per 1,000 households in the county.<ref name=newyorktimes>Template:Citation</ref>

In the county, the population was spread out, with 25.50% under the age of 18, 7.00% from 18 to 24, 27.50% from 25 to 44, 25.20% from 45 to 64, and 14.80% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.20 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $46,147, and the median income for a family was $52,455. Males had a median income of $36,048 versus $25,940 for females. The per capita income for the county was $21,914. About 6.40% of families and 8.60% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.50% of those under age 18 and 7.30% of those age 65 or over.

Politics

Comal is a strongly Republican county: the last Democrat to carry it being Texan Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964, and no others have done so since Franklin Roosevelt’s 1936 landslide when he won every Texas county bar traditionally Unionist Gillespie and Kendall and took 87.31 percent of the Lone Star State’s vote. LBJ’s victory in 1964 is the last time a Democrat has managed even 40 percent of the county's vote.

In earlier periods, the county’s German heritage meant it often deviated from a "Solid South" voting pattern. In 1924 Robert M. La Follette won 73.96 percent of Comal County’s vote (versus 6.52 percent for all of Texas), which made it his strongest county nationwide,<ref>Dave Leip’s U.S. Election Atlas; 1924 Presidential Election Statistics Template:Webarchive</ref> and in 1920 American candidate James “Pa” Ferguson carried the county with 841 votes to 765 for Warren G. Harding.<ref>Géoelections; Popular Vote for Eugene V. Debs Template:Webarchive (.xlsx file for €15)</ref>

Template:PresHead Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresFoot Template:U.S. SenHead Template:U.S. SenRow Template:U.S. SenFoot The county is part of the 21st District in the United States House of Representatives, represented by Republican Chip Roy, the 25th district of the Texas State Senate, represented by Republican Donna Campbell, and the 73rd District of the Texas House of Representatives and is represented by Republican Carrie Isaac.

Communities

Cities (multiple counties)

Cities

Census-designated place

Other unincorporated communities

Ghost towns

Education

School districts in Comal County:<ref>Template:Cite web - Text list</ref>

All of the county is in the service area of Alamo Community College District.<ref>Texas Education Code, Sec. 130.162. ALAMO COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT SERVICE AREA..</ref>

See also

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References

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