Comal County was created in March 1846
and formed from Bexar, Travis and Gonzales Counties. Comal County was named for the Comal River; the name means basin or flat dish in Spanish. The County Seat is New
Braunfels. The Official County website is located at http://www.co.comal.tx.us/. See also Extended History for more historical details.
Comal County courthouse:
Located across from the northeast corner of the public square, the Comal County Courthouse is an excellent example of Romanesque Revival design, as interpreted by architect J. Riely Gordon. Although the roofing has been replaced and an addition has been made on the east, the courthouse retains most of its original exterior fabric. While modernized, the interior spaces still reveal the original concept of the plan. The main entrance is on the southwest reentrant angle of the Greek-cross plan. On the ground floor within the arms of the cross are located the offices of the treasurer, county attorney and county clerk, and the courts of the commissioners and the county. On the second floor, expressed by a curved mass, is tin district courtroom which originally had a two-story ceiling height. All these spaces radiated from a central core containing an open stairwell which facilitated natural ventilation by allowing hot air to rise and vent through the tower--thus the tower not only unified the courthouse massing but also served a functional purpose. The iron stairway, the woodwork, and much of the flooring is original.
The exterior walls are native limestone in a handsome light gold color. The texture of pitch-faced ashlar was subtly accented by cut-stone lintels and delicate stringcourse moldings. Common features on Romanesque architecture, the dormers, incorporating carved engaged columns, add to the picturesqueness of the building and relieve the austerity of the roof forms. The stone tower, with its gentle batter, is noteworthy for simplicity and originality. At the cornice of the tower as well as the main walls, a dentil course provides a delicate accent.
The entrance porches are also noteworthy. Supporting the entrance balcony are polished Syrian columns of pink granite; overhead, slender columns support capitals with handsomely carved Sullivanesque details. However, the entrances on the northwest, northeast, and southeast have been modified; the southwest (main) entrance is largely original, although an aluminum and glass door has replaced the original paneled wooden door. Similar in design to many of Gordon's+ Texas courthouses, the Comal County Courthouse contains two two-story quarter-circular entrance galleries set into the front ells (southwest and northwest), while the rear ells contain two three-story quarter-circular bays. A brick parapet with punched brick detail crowns each bay. The entrance and open second floor gallery of the northwest bay have been enclosed.
In 1930 A. C. Moeller was awarded the contract for a jail which was to be annexed to the courthouse--an unusual arrangement in Texas. Architect Jeremiah Schmidt designed the addition and the Southern Prison Company provided the jail equipment which is still in use. Through the use of limestone and compatible details the addition harmonizes with the courthouse.
In 1966 the courthouse was remodeled according to plans by Jeremiah Schmidt. Although the interior was modernized, much of the original interior character is yet apparent.
The Comal County Courthouse is noteworthy for its beauty, style, and association with one of the most talented nineteenth-century architects to practice in Texas. A work of limestone handsome proportions and details distinguish this temple of justice. In addition, it is an outstanding example of the Romanesque Revival Style that was prominent nationally, yet the materials of construction reflect the region--it unifies with other limestone buildings in the community.
A German settlement founded in 1845 by Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels, New Braunfels was laid out around a public square which was reserved for a market place rather than a public building, as was the Anglo-American custom. Named for the Comal River, the county was organized the following year and three years later a frame courthouse was contracted. In 1857, through a competition, plans for a new stone courthouse were selected and a new courthouse was built.
The German tradition of incorporating a marks platz into the town plan was responsible for locating the courthouses, including the present building, off the square. Although many citizens advocated placement of the present courthouse on the square, German custom prevailed and it was sited on a corner site across from the public space. Today only a bandstand and landscaping occupy the square.
Late in 1897, because their courthouse was in a "very dilapidated condition; and considered unsafe by many citizens," the commissioners' court deemed it their duty to provide a new safe and substantial building. Subsequently Albert F. Beckman of San Antonio was invited to meet with county commissioners but J. Riely Gordon, also from San Antonio, wrote the commissioners and requested the opportunity for an interview. Both architects submitted designs. Following a visit to the Gonzales County Courthouse, also the work of Gordon, and after considering competition drawings--although both architects advised the court not to sponsor a competition by a vote of three to one Gordon was awarded the commission for a 5% feet.
In February, 1898, bids were received for construction and the contract was awarded to Fischer and Lambie of Austin for $36,900. In May the cornerstone was levelled and in December, 1898, the court extended appreciation to the contractors for their excellent workmanship on the structure, just recently completed.
The courthouse plan based upon the Greek cross had been used by Gordon for several other Texas courthouses and the architect claimed a copyright on the arrangement. However, each courthouse on the same plan incorporated different materials and the detailing varied considerably, making each a unique building. In 1899 the grounds around the courthouse were finished. Louis Moeller provided clay for the surfacing.
PLEASE READ!! Please call the clerk's department to confirm hours, mailing address, fees and other specifics before visiting or requesting information because of sometimes changing contact information.
Comal County Clerk has Court Records from 1846, Land Records from 1846, Probate Records from 1846 , Marriage Records from 1846 and Birth/Death Records from 1903 is located at 100
Main Plaza, Suite 302,
New Braunfels, TX 78130-5140; Telephone:
(830)
620-5513 . The County Clerk's Office is the record keeper of the county. The county records include birth certificates, death certificates, marriage licenses, brand registrations, DD214s (military discharges), land / real estate / property records, probate and civil filings.
Below is a list of online resources for Comal County Court Records. Email us with websites containing Comal County Court Records by clicking the link below:
Texas Immigration & Emigration Records - Immigration records help the family historian to understand the movements of their ancestry as they relocated to different parts of the world.
Click Here to Search Texas Birth, Marriage & Death Records! - Birth, marriage, and death records are connected with central life events. They are prime sources for genealogical information. Look also for baptism, christening, and burial records in this collection.
Vital Records,1100 West 49th Street,
Austin, TX 78756, Please allow up to approximately 6-8 weeks for processing of all type of certificates when ordered through the mail. They have the following records:
Birth Certificates: Birth records maintained by Bureau of Vital Statistics, Dept. of Health since 1903 through the present. For births that occurred within the past 75 years, copies can be requested only by the immediate family of the person whose name is on the birth certificate.
Cost: The cost of a birth record is $22.00. If no record is found or no copy is made, state law requires that we keep $22.00 for a searching fee. Please do not send cash in the mail.
Processing Time: 6-8 weeks when ordered by MAIL or 2-5 Days when you order ELECTRONICALLY
Death Certificates: Death records maintained by Bureau of Vital Statistics, Dept. of Health since 1903 through the present.
For deaths that occurred in the past 25 years, copies can be requested only by immediate family members of the deceased.
Cost: The cost of a certified death certificate is $20.00 for the first copy and $3.00 for each additional copy issued at the same time for the same certificate. If no record is found or no copy is made, state law requires that we keep $20.00 for a searching fee. Please do not send cash in the mail.
Processing Time: 6-8 weeks when ordered by MAIL or 2-5 Days when you order ELECTRONICALLY
Marriage & Divorce Certificates: Marriage Verifications from Jan 1966 and Divorce Verifications from Jan 1968. Certified copies of marriage licenses or divorce decrees are only available from the county clerk (marriage) or district clerk (divorce) in the county or district in which the event occurred. Marriage verification or divorce verification letters can now be ordered ELECTRONICALLY
Cost: $20 - Fee is for verification only.
Processing Time: 6-8 weeks when ordered by MAIL or 2-5 Days when you order ELECTRONICALLY
Order Online: You can also order Order Electronically and get the certificates within 2-5 days by ordering below
Order In Person: The certificates may be ordered by coming into this office. If you want the copy the same day, our hours for same day service are 8:00 A.M. until 5:00 P.M. Monday – Friday. The Texas Vital Statistics Office in Austin is located at 1100 W. 49th Street,
Austin, TX 78756.
Order By Mail: Mail a check or money order (no cash) payable to the "Texas Vital Records " along with the necessary information to the following address: Texas Vital Records, Department of State Health Services, PO Box 12040,
Austin TX 78711-2040. Please include return address on envelope and application form.
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Research Death records In The World's Largest Newspaper Archive at NewpaperArchive.com! - Find thousands of historical Texas newspaper articles about deaths. Search for local articles about an old family friend that died many years ago or a celebrity that committed suicide. Historical newspapers contain a wealth of information about the deceased.
Texas Birth Certificates, 1903-10, 1926-29 - Browse by county, then year, then surname, beginning with the first letters of the last name of the person you seek. If you're unsure of the year or location, use the search box under the browse menu. These records can be searched by father's first and last names, mother's first and maiden names, year, county, and city. The certificates include the child and parents' full names, residence, occupations, age, time and date of the birth, and the name of the physician attending the birth.
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Click Here to Search Texas Voter Lists & Census Records! - Few, if any, records reveal as many details about individuals and families as do government census records. Substitute records can be used when the official census is unavailable.
Countywide Records: Federal Population Schedules that exist for Comal County, Texas are 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1890 (fragment, see below), 1900, 1910, 1920 and 1930. The Texas State Library holds microfilm editions for all of Texas' federal censuses. Although the 1850, 1860, and part of the 1870 mortality schedules have been published, all the original mortality schedules are at the Texas State Library and on microfilm The 1830 territorial census of Miller County, Arkansas, enumerates an area that is in today's Texas boundaries. The remaining 1890 population schedules which exist for Texas include: Ellis County (Justice Precinct 6, Mountain Peak, and Ovilla Precinct); Hood County (Precinct 5); Rusk County (No. 6 and Justice Precinct No. 7); Trinity County (town of Trinity and Justice Precinct 2); and Kaufman County (Kaufman). Although Greer County in present-day Oklahoma functioned as part of Texas between 1886 and 1896, the 1890 census for this county was enumerated under Oklahoma Territory.
Other Federal Schedules to look at when researching your family tree in Comal County, Texas are Industry and Agriculture Schedules availible for the years 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880. Slave Schedules exist for 1850 & 1860. The Mortality Schedules for the years 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880. There are free downloadable and printable Census forms to help with your research. These include U.S. Census Extraction Forms and U.K. Census Extraction Forms
Below is a list of online resources for Comal County Census Records. Email us with websites containing Comal County Census Records by clicking the link below:
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You can view rotating animated maps for Texas showing all the county boundaries for each census year overlayed with past and present maps so you can see the changes in county boundaries. You can view a list of maps for other states at Census Maps
You can view rotating animated maps for Texas showing all the county boundary changes for each year overlayed with past and present maps so you can see the changes in county boundaries. You can view a list of maps for other states and State Department of Transportation Maps at County Maps.
Below is a list of online resources for Comal County Maps. Email us with websites containing Comal County Maps by clicking the link below:
Click Here to Search Texas Military Records! - Military and civil service records provide unique facts and insights into the lives of men and women who have served their country at home and abroad.
The uses and value of military records in genealogical research for ancestors who were veterans are obvious, but military records can also be important to re-searchers whose direct ancestors were not soldiers in any war. The fathers, grandfathers, brothers, and other close relatives of an ancestor may have served in a war, and their service or pension records could contain information that will assist in further identifying the family of primary interest. Due to the amount of genealogical information contained in some military pension files, they should never be overlooked during the research process. Those records not containing specific genealogical information are of historic value and should be included in any overall research design.
Below is a list of online resources for Comal County Military Records. Email us with websites containing Comal County Military Records by clicking the link below:
Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783 (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Documents in NARA publication M246 include muster rolls, payrolls, strength returns, and other miscellaneous personnel, pay, and supply records of American Army units, 1775-83.
Southern Claims Commission from the State of Texas (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Documents In the 1870s, southerners claimed compensation from the U.S. government for items used by the Union Army, ranging from corn and horses, to trees and church buildings.
Texas tax records constitute one of the most complete sets of available records generated at the county level (by the Commissioners Court) because these documents are maintained by the state. These lists may only include approximately sixty percent of eligible males over the age of twenty-one. Persons exempted from taxes included native Americans, "idiots," "incompetents," and those exempted because of age. This final category of exemptions varied over time. Years without an older age exemption were 1840 and 1862-70. Between 1841-44 exemptions began at forty-five years; in 1845 and from 1850-61 the upward age was set at fifty years. In 1837, 1848, and 1849 the limit was established as fifty-five, and in 1846-7, and 1871 the upward limit was set at sixty years.
Texas Ad Valorem (poll, personal, and real property) tax records for 1836 through 1976 are available in microfilm at the Texas State Library from the date of respective county organization; these are arranged by county and date and are somewhat alphabetized within each division. Microfilm copies are housed in the Genealogy Section. Tax lists for the various counties from creation to 1901 may be borrowed through interlibrary loan. Tax records through 1901-1947 are readily accessible, but not on interlibrary loan. Those for 1948 through 1976 can be obtained upon request.
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The Repositories
in this section are Archives, Libraries, Museums, Genealogical
and Historical Societies. Many County Historical and Genealogical
Societies publish magazines and/or news letters on a monthly,
quarterly, bi-annual or annual basis. Contacting the local societies
should not be over looked. State Archives and Societies are
usually much larger and better organized with much larger archived
materials than their smaller county cousins but they can be
more generalized and over look the smaller details that local
societies tend to have. Libraries can also be a good place to
look for local information. Some libraries have a genealogy
section and may have some resources that are not located at
archives or societies. Also, take a special look at any museums
in the area. They sometimes have photos and items from years
gone by as well as information of a genealogical interest. All
these places are vitally important to the family genealogist
and must not be passed over.
Below is a list of online resources for Comal County Genealogical Addresses. Email us with websites containing Comal County Genealogical Addresses by clicking the link below:
Comal County Genealogical Society,
P.O. Box 310160,
New Braunfels 78131-0160
VISIT THE RESEARCH COLLECTION at the Sophienburg Archives, 401 West Coll St., New Braunfels, Texas 78130
Texas State Library and Archives Commission, P.O. Box 12927, Austin, TX 78711-2927 Holdings under the auspices of the Texas State Library are divided. Most important for genealogical research are the Texas State Archives with its Local Records Department, the Records Management Division, and the Information Services Division, which includes a Genealogy Section and a Reference Department.
The Genealogy Section maintains vertical ties that contain notes, clippings, pamphlets, and correspondence on Texas families. These files may be accessed in person, by phone (512-463-5463, forty-five minute limit), or through correspondence.
Texas Historical Commision The Texas Historical Commission (THC) is the state agency for historic preservation. THC staff consults with citizens and organizations to preserve Texas' architectural, archeological and cultural landmarks. The agency is recognized nationally for its preservation programs.
Texas Newspapers & Periodicals Records - Newspapers and periodicals are the diaries of local communities. They are excellent sources of family history details - often recorded nowhere else. Look for obituaries, marriages, legal notices, and more found in our Historical Newspaper Archives.
Click Here to Search Texas Obituary Records! - This database is a compilation of obituaries published in U.S. newspapers, collected from various online sources. Obituaries can vary in the amount of information they contain, but many of them are genealogical goldmines, including information such as names, dates, places of birth and death, marriage information, and family relationships.
During Texas's colonization period Roman Catholics were the most numerous, but early citizens included those representing other religious faiths such as Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, and Christian or Disciples of Christ.
Many cemetery records have been collected and transcribed, including the largest of which is multi-volumes compilation by the DAR and two volumes for Peters Colonists and descendants. The DAR collection, also microfilmed, is available at the Texas State Library and through the FHL.
Some Texas county historical and genealogical societies have published local cemetery and/funeral home records. These are normally available for purchase through the respective society. Two references can help determine which cemeteries have been recorded: Kim Parsons', A Reference to Texas Cemetery Records (Humble, Tex.: by author, 1988), arranged by county; and Sharry Crofford-Gould's, Texas Cemetery Inscriptions: A Source Index (San Antonio, Tex.: Limited Editions, 1977).
Below is a list of online resources for Comal County Cemetery & Church Records. Email us with websites containing Comal County Cemetery & Church Records by clicking the link below:
Find Obituaries in The World's Largest Newspaper Archive at NewpaperArchive.com! - Find thousands of Texas obituaries to help you research your family history. Search for a Texas newspaper obituary about your ancestor or a celebrity. Begin your search today and find death notices and funeral announcements printed in newspapers from Texas.
Click Here to Search Texas Family Tree Records! - The use of published genealogies, electronic files containing genealogical lineage, and other compiled sources can be of tremendous value to a researcher.
When view family trees online or not, be sure to only take the info at face value and always follow up with your own sources or verify the ones they provide. Below is a list of online resources for Comal County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information. Email us with websites containing Comal County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information by clicking the link below:
Genealogy Encyclopedia: General Abbreviations, Early Illnesses, Nickname Meanings, Worldwide Epidemics, Early Occupations, Common Terms, Censuses Explained, Free Genealogical Forms
Nichols and Related Families of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virgina.
Texas Family & Local History Records - The Family & Local Histories Collection lets you read journals, memoirs, and other first-hand historical narratives right on your computer. Gathered from some of the world's finest libraries, these materials may provide hard-to-find town, county, and state information; tax records and wills; military, church, and court records; as well as photographs, stories, and maps.
Spanish explorers were familiar with the Comal Springs area but evinced little interest in settling the region. After the expedition of Domingo Terán de los Ríos of 1691, the Old San Antonio Road crossed the Guadalupe River near the future site of New Braunfels. Subsequent French and Spanish expeditions, including those of the Marqués de Aguayo and Louis Juchereau de St. Denis,q commonly passed through what later became southeastern Comal County. In 1756 Comal Springs became the site of the short-lived Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe Mission, but, rather than fortify the mission against anticipated Comanche depredations, Spanish authorities closed it in 1758. Nearly a century passed before settlement became permanent, although a Mexican land grant of 1825 gave title of the area around the springs to Juan M. Veramendi. During the eighteenth century the springs and river (which had been called Las Fontanas and the Little Guadalupe respectively) took the name Comal, Spanish for "flat dish." It is thought that the name was suggested to the Spanish by the numerous small islands in the river or by the shallow basin through which the river runs.
The inhabitants of the region on the eve of settlement were primarily Tonkawa and Waco Indians, although Lipan Apaches and Karankawas also roamed the area. Early settlers' contacts with these peoples were generally uneventful. Nomadic Wacos who were camped at springs north of New Braunfels moved their camp west within a year of the founding of the settlement, and a village of some 500 Tonkawas on the Guadalupe River above New Braunfels initially welcomed German visitors. Notwithstanding the rapid influx of settlers in the 1840s and 1850s and isolated incidents of violence, county fathers and Indian leaders generally maintained peaceful relations.
Permanent settlement of the county began in 1845, when Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels secured title to 1,265 acres of the Veramendi grant, including the Comal springs and river, for the Adelsverein. In succeeding years thousands of Germans and Americans were attracted to the rich farm and ranch land around New Braunfels. Settlement progressed rapidly; in March 1846 the Texas legislature formed Comal County from the Eighth Precinct of Bexar County and made New Braunfels the county seat. The final boundary determination was made in 1858 with the separation of part of western Comal County to Blanco and Kendall counties. The first county elections were held on July 13, 1846. It is estimated that in 1850 New Braunfels was the fourth largest city in Texas. In 1854 the county commissioners divided the county into eight public school districts, and in 1858, long before they were required by law to do so, New Braunfels citizens voted to collect a tax for support of public schools. The population of the county grew 133 percent between 1850 and 1860, and numbered more than 4,000 on the eve of the Civil War.
Comal County was exceptional among the largely German counties of south and west central Texas in the strength of its 1861 vote in favor of secession. The county contributed three all-German volunteer companies-two cavalry and one infantry-to the Confederate cause. There is little to suggest that the county's support for the Confederacy reflected enthusiasm for slavery. Free labor predominated over slave in all counties with large German populations; a survey of 130 German farms in Comal and two other counties in 1850 revealed no slave laborers. By 1860, as Anglo-Americans settled alongside the German pioneers, blacks still made up less than 5 percent of county residents, and the family remained the primary source of labor. Comal County residents seem to have embraced the Southern cause because of their support of the larger cause of states' rights. But there is no record in the county of the violence between Unionists and Confederates that broke out in German counties to the northwest.
From the early years of its settlement Comal County supported diversified farming and ranching industries. Corn was almost universally cultivated by pioneers and quickly became a staple both of the German diet and of the local economy as a cash crop. It declined in importance relative to other crops and to livestock, however, during and after the Civil War as county ranchers and farmers began to produce commercially important amounts of cotton, wheat, oats, wool, dairy products, and beef.
As farming and ranching spread beyond the environs of New Braunfels into the Hill Country, the county seat developed as an important supply and processing center for products of the expanding agricultural frontier. Many immigrants brought manufacturing experience and commercial acumen to their new home and applied these skills to the products of local agriculture. Comal County never developed as a major cotton-producing area, but the crop played an important role in the local economy. Production rose from 1,220 bales in 1860 to a peak of more than 16,000 bales in 1900. Perhaps more significant, however, was early interest in cotton processing. The first cotton gin in the county was built in the mid-1850s, and by 1885 there were twenty. During the Civil War John F. Torrey imported machinery and looms to manufacture cotton textiles and laid the foundation of the Comal County cotton industry of the twentieth century. At almost the same time, another New Braunfels industrialist, George Weber, established the first cottonseed press in the state. Local businessmen also moved rapidly from sheep herding to woolen textiles. Production of raw wool expanded from 621 pounds in 1850 to 72,000 pounds in 1890, and in 1867 a company for the manufacture of woolen products was organized in New Braunfels.
County population growth slowed after the rapid expansion of the 1850s; from 4,030 in 1860 it reached 8,824 in 1920. In these years cotton and wheat peaked and were supplanted in importance by oats and dairy products. Oat cultivation surpassed 200,000 bushels annually; production of milk approached a million gallons and that of butter neared 200,000 pounds before 1920. Corn culture and livestock remained important sources of income. Production of corn reached as much as 439,000 bushels annually in the years after World War I, while the number of cattle, though fluctuating widely, grew to an annual average of about 20,000 head in the twentieth century. Near the end of the nineteenth century goat ranching also became a significant part of the county economy; in the 1930 agricultural census goats outnumbered sheep 22,176 to 15,457.
As county agricultural production expanded, so too did the scale of industry. The value of county manufactures grew inconsistently until the 1890s, when it increased nearly tenfold to more than $950,000; it grew again almost fivefold by 1920. Although the value of manufactured products approached $5 million in 1920, the number of manufacturers fell after 1900 from sixty to twenty-nine. Improvements in transportation and in power generation allowed a shift toward larger industrial concerns and the expansion of production. By the turn of the century the International-Great Northern and Missouri, Kansas and Texas railroads had replaced the stagecoach and oxcart in the passenger and freight-hauling business and linked the county with state and national markets. At the same time electricity began to replace water and steam power in New Braunfels industry. By the 1920s Comal County had established itself as a manufacturing and shipping center for textiles, garments, flour, and construction materials.
After World War I Comal County farming declined relative to ranching. Though the number of livestock, particularly cattle, sheep, goats, hogs, and poultry, remained relatively constant until 1960, production of the primary commercial crops of the nineteenth century, corn, cotton, and oats, fell in most decades after 1920. The agricultural censuses indicate that cotton cultivation ceased altogether in the 1950s. From a peak in 1920 of 439,182 bushels, corn production fell to slightly more than 60,000 bushels by 1970. The oat harvest in the same period dropped from 217,160 bushels to 40,814 bushels, while the number of cattle, goats and sheep, and poultry increased in most censuses through 1950. That year county ranchers raised 20,000 cattle, almost 60,000 sheep and goats, and 62,938 chickens, turkeys, and other barnyard fowl. By the end of the decade the number of goats alone surpassed 50,000.
By mid-century mixed stock raising and the production of hay and feed grains, particularly sorghum, supplanted the commercially important crops of the nineteenth century as the basis of Comal County's agricultural economy. After hybrid seeds became widely available in the 1950s, the yield from sorghum culture leapt from 3,958 bushels in 1940 to almost 250,000 bushels in 1969. Except during the decade of the Great Depression, the value of county farms and ranches rose steadily in the twentieth century, but the variety and number of agricultural enterprises in the area declined just as consistently. From a high of 899 in 1910, the number of Comal County farms dropped to 584 in the early 1980s; the bulk of agricultural income was increasingly concentrated in livestock and its products. In 1968 cash receipts from crops amounted to $385,000; that derived from livestock exceeded $2.6 million. That ratio held steady through the following decade; in 1985 cattle, goats, sheep, and poultry generated roughly 85 percent of the county's $8 million agricultural income.
As the diversified farms and ranches of the original Comal County agriculturalists gave way to the livestock economy of the twentieth century, local industrialists were increasing the scope and the scale of county manufactures. By 1982 fifty manufacturers, employing almost 30 percent of the county labor force, had a gross product of more than $188 million. The production of such construction materials as gravel, sand, limestone, crushed stone, and concrete, in addition to the manufacture of textiles and clothing and the milling of wheat and corn were still the mainstays of the industrial sector and accounted for much of its expansion. Metal and wood work and food processing also became important industries.
The county grew rapidly after World War II and boomed after 1970. From 16,357 residents in 1950, the population expanded by 21 percent in the subsequent decade and by the same amount in the 1960s, reaching 24,165 by 1970. In 1980 the figure was 36,446-a 50 percent increase from the previous census.
The emergence of tourism as a primary industry, as well as attendant increases in retail and service employment, explains much of the population growth. The county is located in the "corridor" along Interstate Highway 35 between San Antonio and Austin and in 1973 was included in the San Antonio Metropolitan Statistical Area. Between 1970 and 1984 the number of residents employed in trade nearly doubled, to 2,287; the number of jobs in service industries increased more than 600 percent, to 1,977; and employment in financial, insurance, and real estate businesses rose 400 percent.
Since its impoundment in 1964, Canyon Lake has transformed a rural stretch of the Guadalupe River valley in northern Comal County into one of the largest rural population centers in Central Texas. By 1984 more than eighty subdivisions had been built on the shores of the lake and in the hills surrounding it; the number of permanent residents is estimated at 12,000 to 15,000. The area is especially popular with retired people. Canyon Lake and the scenic river valley below the dam have also served as the focal point for revitalization of a tourist industry in the county that dates to the early years of the century, when the International-Great Northern Railroad promoted New Braunfels as a tourist destination for San Antonians. Capitalizing on the natural and historic attractions offered by the Guadalupe River, by Natural Bridge Caverns, and by the county's German heritage, tourism in the mid-1980s supported some thirty hotels and motels, as well as resort condominiums, around New Braunfels and Canyon Lake.
Comal County was founded and initially populated under the sponsorship of the Association for the Protection of German Immigrants in Texas. The county was perhaps one-half German-born in the 1850s. The influx of Americans from the old South and border states in subsequent years diluted the Germans' early predominance, and by 1890 only about one in five county residents was a native German. When the children of German immigrants are included in the 1890 figure, however, German stock still comprised roughly 75 percent of the county population. The flow of German immigrants dwindled after the Civil War, and by 1940 only 1.6 percent of county residents were native Germans; but their influence on the social and cultural life of the area endured. The first newspaper in the county, the Neu Braunfelser Zeitung (later the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung), was published exclusively in German until after World War II. Social clubs and an annual celebration of the county's German heritage, the Wurstfest (begun in the 1960s), have also served to maintain the ethnic identity and cultural legacy of the original settlers. With the exception of Mexican immigrants, no other single foreign nationality settled in significant numbers in the area. Mexican immigration peaked during the period of the Mexican Revolution. The 1930 census recorded 3,662 ethnic Mexicans in the county, or 30.5 percent of the total population. Though there were nearly twice as many Hispanic-surnamed residents when they were next recorded in 1970, their number did not grow as quickly as the population of the county as a whole. By 1980, when 8,728 Mexican Americans were counted, they made up 24 percent of the county population. The 1860 census recorded only 193 African Americans in Comal County, and in 1870, when blacks constituted 31 percent of the state population, they made up just 7.1 percent of the county total. By 1980 blacks constituted barely 1 percent of the area population.
Within the context of the state's historic loyalty to the Democratic party, Comal County voters have been a remarkably independent lot. The county's antebellum voting record was unexceptional; in the four presidential elections in which it participated before secession, Comal County registered a nearly unanimous vote in line with the statewide majority. It voted Democratic in the first post-Civil War presidential vote in Texas, but produced solid Republican majorities in the next three elections. In 1888 and 1892 it supported the Democratic candidate. The county opted for the Republican Warren Harding in 1920, but by 1924 must have felt disowned by both major parties. Seventy-four percent of Comal County voters rejected both the Republican and Democratic nominees for Progressive leader Robert La Follette. Four years later, perhaps with prohibition uppermost in voters' minds, the county returned to the Democratic fold (four years earlier than the state as a whole), where they remained through the worst years of the Great Depression. In 1940, when Texans voted by more than four to one to return Franklin D. Roosevelt to the White House, Comal County reverted to Republicanism. From 1940 through 1992 it has voted Democratic in only one presidential election, that of Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964.
The influx of new residents as well as the expansion and transformation of the job market after 1970 dramatically improved the average educational level of citizens. In 1950 just 20 percent of the population over the age of twenty-five had completed high school. Steady improvement before 1970 raised that figure to 35 percent. In 1980, 60 percent of residents over twenty-five were high school graduates. The shift from an agricultural economy to one based on industry and tourism is reflected in the proportional growth of New Braunfels. In 1900 the city's 2,097 people made up less than 30 percent of the county's residents. In 1990 the 27,334 inhabitants were more than half the county population of 51,832.
Texas Birth Certificates, 1903-10, 1926-29