Comfort is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Kendall County, Texas, United States. As of the 2020 census, Comfort had a population of 2,211. Comfort was founded by German emigrants on the western end of the Texas-German belt. Many residents of the town today are descendants of those same Germans. Comfort is known for its German heritage and large ranches outside of town.
It lies adjacent to the Guadalupe River, and the 1987 Guadalupe River flood killed 10 people being evacuated from a summer camp sited near Comfort, leaving 33 others missing for a time.
History
thumb|Former Comfort State Bank, now the Comfort Heritage Foundation
thumb|The town square at Christmas
thumb|Gazebo for Albert Steves designed by [[Dionicio Rodriguez]]
Comfort was established in 1854 by German immigrants, who were Freethinkers and abolitionists. Ernst Hermann Altgelt, at the age of 22, is credited with surveying and measuring the lots that were later sold to the incoming Germans. He stayed and married Emma (Murck) Altgelt, and they raised their nine children in the township of Comfort. Fritz and Betty Holekamp built the first house in Comfort, having started construction before Comfort's official founding on September 3, 1854. The first churches were not established in Comfort until 1892. After some controversy, a cenotaph honoring "the Founding Freethinkers" was dedicated on November 2, 2002.
The downtown area is possibly one of the most well-preserved historic business districts in Texas. The well over 100 structures in the area date back to the 19th century, and seven of them were designed by noted architect Alfred Giles. Mr. Giles lived in San Antonio and would ride horses, the stagecoach, and later the train to check his building sites in Comfort. Most of the population today is composed of descendants of those original pioneer families of the 1850s and the 1860s.
Comfort is also known for a tragic event that took place during the American Civil War. The Treue der Union Monument ("Loyalty to the Union") was dedicated in honor of 35 men who died at the Battle of the Nueces, which took place because they opposed the state's secession from the Union. The German settlers were killed on their way to Mexico during the Civil War. They were attacked by Confederate forces near Brackettville on August 10, 1862. The bodies were not buried, and the bones were retrieved and placed here in 1865. The monument was erected in 1866.
In 1918, Albert Steves erected a hygieostatic bat roost on his family farm in Comfort. This roost was built to attract bats in an effort to control mosquito populations by natural means. It was originally researched and developed by Dr. Charles Agustus Rosenheimer Campbell of San Antonio. The idea was to use bats against malaria-carrying mosquitos. At one time, 16 bat roosts had been built in the United States and Europe, of which only two sites now remain — one in Comfort and one in the Florida Keys.
Darmstadt Society of Forty
Some of the early settlers in Comfort migrated from the collapsed Fisher–Miller Land Grant experimental colonies of the Darmstadt Society of Forty.
Geography
Comfort is bordered to the west by Kerr County. It is southeast of Kerrville, northwest of Boerne, and northwest of San Antonio. The town is at the interchange of I-10 and US 87.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the Comfort CDP has a total area of , of which , or 0.27%, is covered by water. The community sits on the north side of Cypress Creek where it joins the Guadalupe River.
Climate
The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the Köppen climate classification, Comfort has a humid subtropical climate, Cfa on climate maps.
Demographics
Comfort was first listed as a census designated place in the 1980 United States census.
!Pop 2010
!
!% 2000
!% 2010
!
|-
|White alone (NH)
|1,263
|1,039
|style='background: #ffffe6; |972
|53.56%
|43.97%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |43.96%
|-
|Black or African American alone (NH)
|4
|5
|style='background: #ffffe6; |9
|0.17%
|0.21%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.41%
|-
|Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)
|16
|15
|style='background: #ffffe6; |18
|0.68%
|0.63%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.81%
|-
|Asian alone (NH)
|2
|3
|style='background: #ffffe6; |2
|0.08%
|0.13%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.09%
|-
|Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)
|1
|1
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0
|0.04%
|0.04%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.00%
|-
|Other race alone (NH)
|0
|1
|style='background: #ffffe6; |13
|0.00%
|0.04%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.59%
|-
|Multiracial (NH)
|11
|13
|style='background: #ffffe6; |54
|0.47%
|0.55%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |2.44%
|-
|Hispanic or Latino (any race)
|1,061
|1,286
|style='background: #ffffe6; |1,143
|45.00%
|54.42%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |51.70%
|-
|Total
|2,358
|2,363
|style='background: #ffffe6; |2,211
|100.00%
|100.00%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |100.00%
|}
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, Comfort had a population of 2,211. The median age was 41.7 years. 22.3% of residents were under the age of 18 and 20.9% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 90.8 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 90.8 males age 18 and over.
0.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 100.0% lived in rural areas.
There were 840 households in Comfort, of which 27.9% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 48.3% were married-couple households, 17.5% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 28.5% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 30.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
- Betty Holekamp (1826–1902), Texas pioneer, was called the Betsy Ross of Texas.
See also
- July 2025 Central Texas floods
References
External links
- Comfort Chamber of Commerce
- Chronology of Central European Colonization in Texas
- Freethinkers of the Early Texas Hill Country from the Freedom From Religion Foundation
- The Comfort Freethought Cenotaph Dedication from the Freedom From Religion Foundation
- Freethinkers and the Nueces Massacre