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View of Comfort Historic District
Courtesy of Texas Film
Commission |
The Comfort Historic District incorporates much of the town site founded
in 1854 when several German immigrant families moved into the area.
By 1860, Comfort was a flourishing town with small buildings clustered
around two town squares. One of the town squares remains intact today.
Many of the buildings display fachwerk--a traditional German
building technique associated with Germanic settlements consisting of
heavy timber framing and diagonal bracing, with an infill of limestone.
Examples of this unique building type can be seen on Main and High streets.
The district also includes buildings designed in popular 19th-century
architectural styles, including Italianate and Queen Anne. The Civil
War era had a tremendous impact on the town of Comfort. Texas' secession
and the Civil War created tension for the Germans. The majority of the
immigrants abhorred slavery and were opposed to the State's secession
from the Union. In 1862, 40 anti-secessionists attempted to join the
Union forces, but were attacked by a vastly larger Confederate force
and massacred. The majority of the 40 men were from Comfort. In 1865
the remains of the men were brought home to Comfort and in 1866, a monument
known as the Treue der Union was erected in their memory.
The Comfort Historic District is bounded by 3rd and 8th sts., Hwy
27 and Broadway in Comfort (northwest of San Antonio, off I-10). The Treue der Union monument is located in the 400 block
of High St.
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