Kendall County, Texas

From Vero - Wikipedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search

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

Kendall County is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. In the 2020 census, its population was 44,279.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Its county seat is Boerne.<ref name="GR6">Template:Cite web</ref> The county is named for George Wilkins Kendall, a journalist and Mexican–American War correspondent.

Kendall County is part of the San Antonio–New Braunfels, TX metropolitan statistical area.

Progressive Farmer rated Kendall County fifth in its list of the "Best Places to Live in Rural America" in 2006.

Kendall, along with Hays and Comal Counties, was listed in 2017 of the nation's 10 fastest-growing large counties with a population of at least 10,000. From 2015 to 2016, Kendall County, the second-fastest-growing county in the nation, grew by 5.16%, gaining 2,088 people in a one-year period.<ref>MacCormack, Zeke. "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><ref name="CensusBureauPR03232017">Press Release Number: CB17-44. Maricopa County Added Over 222 People Per Day in 2016, More Than Any Other County, U.S. Census Bureau, March 23, 2017.</ref>

History

Template:Prose

Before 1850

April 20 – Adelsverein<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> organized in Germany to promote emigration to Texas.
June 7 – Fisher-Miller Land Grant set aside Template:Convert 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 sold his interest in the land grant to Adelsverein.<ref name="Kendall County" />
  • 1845
Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels secured title to Template:Convert of the Veramendi grant, including the Comal Springs and River, for the Adelsverein.
February – Thousands of German immigrants were stranded at their port of disembarkation, Indianaola on Matagorda Bay. With no food or shelters, living in holes dug into the ground, an estimated 50% died from disease or starvation. The living began to walk to their destinations hundreds of miles away.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
May – John O. Meusebach arrived in Galveston.<ref name="Meusebach, John O">Template:Cite web</ref>
December 20 – Henry Francis Fisher and Burchard Miller sold their rights in the land grant to Adelsverein.
  • 1847
Meusebach–Comanche Treaty<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Sisterdale was established.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

1850–1899

John O. Meusebach received an appointment as commissioner from Governor Elisha M. Pease.
May 14–15, San Antonio – The Texas State Convention of Germans adopted 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>
Comfort is founded by German immigrant Freethinkers and abolitionists.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Kendall County was established from Kerr and Blanco Counties, named for journalist George Wilkins Kendall. Boerne was made the county seat.
The Union League formed companies to protect the frontier against Indians and their families against local Confederate forces. Conscientious objectors to the military draft were primarily among Tejanos and Germans.
May 30 – Confederate authorities imposed martial law on Central Texas.
August 10 – The Nueces massacre occurred in Kinney County. Jacob Kuechler served as a guide for 61 conscientious objectors attempting to flee to Mexico. Scottish-born Confederate irregular James Duff and his Duff’s Partisan Rangers pursued and overtook them at the Nueces River, 34 were killed, some executed after being taken prisoner. Jacob Kuechler survived the battle. The cruelty shocked the people of Gillespie County; 2,000 took to the hills to escape Duff's reign of terror.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Spring Creek Cemetery near Harper in Gillespie County has a singular grave with the names Sebird Henderson, Hiram Nelson, Gus Tegener, and Frank Scott. The inscription reads "Hanged and thrown in Spring Creek by Col. James Duff's Confederate Regiment".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The Sisterdale cotton gin began operations.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

1900–present

  • 1900 Kendall County had 542 farms. Area under cultivation had risen from Template:Convert in 1880 to Template:Convert. Stockraising was still the principal industry.
  • 1905 Citizens of Boerne gathered to share agricultural information, recipes, and news of events. This later became the annual Kendall County Fair.<ref name="kcfa.org">Template:Cite web</ref>
  • 1913 The Kendall County Fair Association was organized and was awarded a nonprofit corporate charter from the State of Texas.<ref name="kcfa.org" />
  • 1914 Fredericksburg and Northern Railway connected Fredericksburg with the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway track just east of Comfort.
  • 1918 A hygieostatic bat roost house was built in Comfort to attract bats to eradicate mosquitoes and reduce the spread of malaria. It was designed for former San Antonio Mayor Albert Steves Sr., by bat authority Dr. Charles A. R. Campbell.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
  • 1930s
The Great Depression brought an increase in tenant farming.
Commercial development of Cascade Caverns began.
  • World War II – American military bases in the San Antonio area provided jobs for Kendall County residents.
  • 1983 The Guadalupe River State Park opened to the public.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
  • 1988 The Federal Republic of Germany recognized the Boerne Village Band for its contribution to the German heritage in Texas and America.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
  • 1990, Earth Day – Cibolo Nature Center opened to the public.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
  • 1991 The Texas Legislature adopted a resolution recognizing the Boerne Village Band for "keeping alive German music as a part of our heritage."
  • 1998 The current Kendall County limestone, steel, and concrete courthouse was built in Boerne, across the street from the original 1870 courthouse with architect Rehler Vaughn & Koone, Inc.
  • 2005 Kendall County celebrated its 100th anniversary of the Kendall County Fair. The Kendall County Fair Association continues to produce one of the few remaining entirely privately funded county fairs in Texas.
  • 2013 The Kendall County Fair Association, Inc. celebrated its 100th year of existence.
  • 2015 Kendall County declared a state of emergency from May flooding.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of Template:Convert, of which Template:Convert are land and Template:Convert (0.09%) is covered by water.<ref name="GR1">Template:Cite web</ref>

Major highways

Template:Div col

Template:Div col end

Historic highways

Adjacent counties

Waterways

Caves

Template:Div col

Template:Div col end

Demographics

Template:US Census population

Kendall County, Texas – Racial and ethnic composition
Template:Nobold
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) 19,104 25,746 31,767 80.46% 77.06% 71.74%
Black or African American alone (NH) 63 138 315 0.27% 0.41% 0.71%
Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH) 79 129 138 0.33% 0.39% 0.31%
Asian alone (NH) 52 202 355 0.22% 0.60% 0.80%
Pacific Islander alone (NH) 3 13 36 0.01% 0.04% 0.08%
Other Race alone (NH) 31 26 202 0.13% 0.08% 0.46%
Mixed Race or Multiracial (NH) 163 327 1,437 0.69% 0.98% 3.25%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 4,248 6,829 10,029 17.89% 20.44% 22.65%
Total 23,743 33,410 44,279 100.00% 100.00% 100.00%

As of the census<ref name="GR8">Template:Cite web</ref> of 2010, 33,410 people, 8,613 households, and 6,692 families resided in the county. The population density was Template:Convert. The 9,609 housing units averaged Template:Convert. The racial makeup of the county was 92.86% White, 0.56% Native American, 0.35% African American, 0.23% Asian, 4.46% from other races, and 1.55% from two or more races. About 17.89% of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race.

Of the 8,613 households, 36.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 67.20% were married couples living together, 7.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.30% were not families. About 19.20% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.40% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.70 and the average family size was 3.09.

In the county, the population was distributed as 27.20% under the age of 18, 6.10% from 18 to 24, 26.40% from 25 to 44, 26.40% from 45 to 64, and 13.90% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.40 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $49,521, and for a family was $58,081. Males had a median income of $39,697 versus $28,807 for females. The per capita income for the county was $24,619. About 7.90% of families and 10.50% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.60% of those under age 18 and 9.40% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Cities

Census-designated place

Other unincorporated communities

Template:Div col

Template:Div col end

Ghost towns

Template:Div col

Template:Div col end

Politics

Kendall County is an anomaly in Texas politics, being a historically Republican county in a state that at the presidential level was overwhelmingly Democratic until the 1950s. This is largely due to the heavily German American heritage of the county and that the area Kendall County occupies was the center of Texas's small Unionist movement during the Civil War. Most Texas Germans acquiesced to secession, but Fredericksburg and surrounding areas were still self-sufficient and sold surplus food to the army.<ref>Bünger, Walter L. "Secession and the Texas German Community: Editor Lindheimer vs. Editor Flake", The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Vol. 82, No. 4 (April 1979), pp. 379–402.</ref> No Democratic presidential nominee has carried Kendall County since Franklin D. Roosevelt won over 88% of Texas's vote and carried all 254 counties in 1932; his performance is particularly impressive given that, despite the county's long-standing Republican favoritism, he won Kendall County by almost 50 points. In 1936, when Roosevelt won over 87% of Texas's vote, Alf Landon carried the county with over 62% of the vote, making Kendall County the nation's southernmost county to vote for Landon. Since then, only Lyndon Johnson in 1964 and Jimmy Carter in 1976 have managed over 30% for the Democratic Party in Kendall County.

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 19th District of the Texas House of Representatives and is represented by Republican Ellen Troxclair.

Education

School districts include:<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>

Government offices

State parks

Fire departments

Post offices

  • Village Post Office, Bergheim
  • Boerne Carrier Annex
  • Boerne Post Office
  • Comfort Post Office
  • Kendalia Post Office
  • Waring Post Office

Former

Template:Div col

  • Welfare Post Office (1880–1976)
  • Currey's Creek Post Office (1870–1894)
  • Panther Creek Post Office (June 1879–August 1879)
  • Ammans Post Office (February 1881–October 1881)
  • Benton Post Office (1875–1880)
  • Block Creek Post Office (1884–1895)
  • Curry Post Office (1894–1895)
  • Guadalupe Post Office (1875–1890)
  • Hastings Post Office (1890–1903)
  • Hodge's Mill Post Office (1867–1870)
  • Joseway Post Office (February 1880–March 1880)
  • Schiller Post Office (1890–1907)
  • South Grape Creek Post Office (1875–1881)
  • Waringford Post Office (1888–1891)
  • Windsor Post Office (1880–1888)
  • Bankersmith Post Office
  • Brownsboro Post Office

Template:Div col end

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 two hundred families on the Fisher–Miller Land Grant territory in Texas. In return, they were to receive $12,000 in money, livestock, 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.

See also

Template:Portal

References

Template:Reflist

Template:Commons category

Template:Geographic Location

Template:Kendall County, Texas Template:Texas counties Template:Texas

Template:Coord

Template:Authority control

Retrieved from "https://wiki.sarg.dev/index.php?title=Kendall_County,_Texas&oldid=60649"