DRIVING TOURS

Take a Driving Tour in the Hills

Make Boerne your headquarters for day trips through the countryside

NORTH TOUR (33 MILES)

Start at north end of Main St. (Hwy. 87, northbound) at traffic light. Start mileage count here. 0.3 Kendall County EMS building (right) 0.4 (Turn right onto FM 1376) 3.4 Walnut Grove Road (left) 4.7 Remains of old Walnut Grove Resort Ranch still visible, one of Texas’ better known resorts in late 1890’s (left) 7.6 Wasp Creek 7.9 Wasp Creek School - original part still present, but converted into residence (left) 11.0 Ottmar Von Behr’s Homestead - in National

Register as Historical District 11.1 Guadalupe River 11.9 Intersection of FM 473 (right) 12.1 East Sister Creek 12.2 Sisterdale - First known as Zink’s Settlement, named for Nicholas Zink who settled in 1847 12.3 Sister Creek Winery (left) 12.5 Lohrbeer House* - Built in 1897 (left) 12.6 Old Dance Hall (left) 12.7 Old school house (right) 12.9 Cemetery (right) Turn left at intersection of FM 473. Dr. Kapp’s Hydropathic Clinic (entrance 12.7 miles on right). Sisterdale. On the National

Register as an Historical District. West Sister

Creek 15.9 Turn left on Waring-Sisterdale Road (no signs). 18.2 Guadalupe River 20.1 Mira Sol Girl Scout Camp owned by Alamo Area Council of Girl Scouts (left). 20.5 Waring - community created in 1888. First known as Windsor, later changed to Waringford and finally Waring. Baptist Church, general store, post office, Waring school* makeup historic town. Just outside Waring is old

Windsor Stage Stop, built in 1860s to accommodate overnight stagecoach travelers. 20.6 Railroad Depot (right) 22.7 Joshua Creek 23.9 Welfare - first known as Bon Ton. Like Waring Welfare was cut off with completion of Hwy. 87 and later IH-10, bypassing these small German settlements. 24.1 Railroad Depot (right) 24.1 Old Welfare School (left) 25.3 Nicolaus Zink Home* - built in 1868. Zink selected to lead group of German immigrants overseas to establish settlements on Texas Land Grant, buried in unmarked grave on this property. 26.2 Turn left 26.5 Nelson City - named for Nelson family farmers and ranchers, who operated automotive garage, filling station and lunch stand. Po-Po Restaurant built in 1929 first as dance hall. 27.0 Turn right off of IH-I0 frontage road - go under IH-10 overpass 27.5 Enter IH-10 30.2 Site of Andrew Jackson Potter’s Home (1868-1883). Potter, a Methodist minister for 30 years, traveled the Texas frontier, preaching in saloons, the only public buildings in the early settlements (left) 30.4 Boerne City Lake - Kendall County’s only lake (right). Exit at Boerne business exit, take the frontage road. 31.0 Take Boerne exit to Hwy. 87 32.0 Ernest/Walter Pfeiffer Home - in 1974 the Pfeiffers received Texas State

Family Land Heritage Award for owning and operating same agricultural land for over 100 years 32.9 Traffic Light (Main Street).

EAST TOUR (45 MILES)

Turn east off Main St. at the Cibolo Creek Bridge. Start your mileage count. 0.3 Cibolo Creek Dam - site of Boerne’s first business, the Dietert Saw and Grist

Mill (right). 0.9 Agricultural Heritage Center - museum of antique farm equipment - Open

Saturdays, 10 to 4 (right). 0.9 Boerne City Park & Cibolo Nature Center (right). 1.1 Herff Park - home to Kendall County Fair on Labor Day weekend (right). 6.6 Pleasant Valley School - now used for Community Center (left). 7.2 Cecil Smith’s Polo Field - home of America’s most famous polo player and training site for polo ponies (right) 10.0 Bergheim General Store* - old general store (right) which has been in the same family since 1900, and O’Briens Restaurant (left) 10.5 Turn left on FM 3351

Z

11.0 Smith Cemetery - family-owned cemetery (right) 14.7 Old Schiller Post Office and site of first Bergheim

General Store - located on Cielo Ranch. 15.0 Guadalupe River - old charcoal burners were active in this area. 19.1 Curry Creek. 21.0 Rawls Creek. 21.9 Kendalia* - town first known as Bech’s Flat, but later changed. Named after George Wilkins Kendall. Many historic buildings in Kendalia including

Kendall Community Church,* Old Lawhon General Store, log cabin Elbel General Store, dance hall and Kendalia Library with historical marker for

George Wilkins Kendall. Turn left on FM 473 (left) 25.8 Shepard’s Creek & schoolhouse. 26.9 Dry Creek. 28.0 Curry Creek. 29.3 FM 474 intersects (left) Turn here. 36.3 Guadalupe River. 37.2 Guadalupe River Ranch (left). 38.6 Kreutzberg Road (left). Optional Tour (approximately 10 miles) Turn left on Kreutzberg Rd. Pass Kreutzberg Shooting Club and School which dates back almost 100 years. On top of hill behind shooting club building is large cross erected by Joseph V.

Phillip in 1847, used as landmark for the area.

Kreutzberg (German for Cross Mountain ) (left). Alzafar Shrine Camp (left) and Cave Without a

Name, one of Texas’ most beautiful caves (right) Return and continue on FM 474 to Boerne 42.2 Malakopf Monument* - monument erected in memory of Dr. Ferdinand Ludwig Von Herff, wellknown doctor in late 1800s (right) 43.4 Intersection of Adler Road (turn right). 43.9 Kendall County Law Enforcement Center (right). 44.1 Boerne Civic Center - built in 1987. 44.2 Boerne Curington Elementary School - (left).

Adler Rd. (will take you back to Main St.

WEST TOUR (10.5 MILES)

Turn left off Main St. onto Johns Road (westbound).

Start mileage count. 0.2 Henry Fabra Elementary School - dedicated to

Henry Fabra, descendant of early settlers (left). 0.2 Boerne Middle School North originally built in 1929 and served as Boerne High School until new high school was built in 1972. 0.3 Cibolo Creek. 0.5 Tusculum - first settlement in Boerne. Located behind Schwope’s Water Well Drilling Company.

Settled in 1849 by German immigrants hoping to bring higher standard of living to the United

States. Only one stone building remains today. (Not visible from John’s Road). 0.9 Lex Sanitarium*- Lex family home used as sanitarium from 1919 to 1939. Owned and operated by Emilie Lex (Mrs. Adolph). Boarding house, also for people traveling long distance to visit friends and family members who were parents. Dr. John

Francis Nooe, at one time Boerne’s favorite doctor, operated and cared for parents here. Still owned by Lex family. (left - visible only from IH-10). 1.2 IH-l0 Overpass 5.2 Tapatio Springs Golf Resort Country Club - hotel conference center, golf, tennis, restaurant. Return to Main Street by way of John’s Road

SOUTH TOUR (9.5 MILES)

Start tour on S. Main St. and Hwy. 46 (Bandera Hwy., southbound) intersection and drive south. Start mileage count here. 0.9 Enter frontage road of IH-10 (left). 2.1 Turn left on Cascade Caverns Rd., follow signs to

Cascade Caverns 4.7 Cascade Caverns - 10-acre park, campground and cave. Cavern named for beautiful waterfall which plunges 90 feet. Return to Main Street by way of Cascade Caverns

Rd. * Denotes Texas Historical markers. Compiled from Kendall County Historical Commission and Boerne Area Historical Preservation

Society records.