Boerne

Boerne is a city in and the county seat of Kendall County, Texas, in the Texas Hill Country. The population of Boerne was 10,471 at the 2010 census, and in 2019 the estimated population was 18,232. Founded in 1849 as "Tusculum", the name was changed to "Boersne" when the town was platted in 1852. The city is noted for the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case City of Boersne v. Flores. It is known for its German-Texan history, named in honor of German author and satirist Ludwig Börne by the German Founders of the town. The 1870 limestone courthouse, second-oldest in Texas, was designed by architects Philip Zoeller and J. F. Stendebach, and stands directly across the street from the current 1998 courthouse built by architects Rehler, Vaughn & Koone, Inc. The town was not incorporated until 1909, and is part of the San AntonioNew Braunfels Metropolitan Statistical Area. The German Village Band is billed as the "Oldest Continuously Organized German Band in the World", and the Federal Republic of Germany recognized the band for its contribution to the German heritage in Texas and America in 1998. Boerte is located in southern Kendall County in the Hill Country, with access through the Interstate 10 and US. Route 87 pass through the city and west of its center of Exits 537 and 537.

History

Boerne is the primary city name, but also Fair Oaks, Fair Oaks Ranch, Sisterdale are acceptable city names or spellings. The official name is Boerne, Texas. Boerne came into being as an offshoot of the Texas Hill Country Free Thinker Latin Settlements, resulting from the Revolutions of 1848 in the German states. The 1870 limestone courthouse, second-oldest in Texas, was designed by architects Philip Zoeller and J. F. Stendebach. The Federal Republic of Germany recognized the Boerne Village Band for its contribution to the German heritage in Texas and America. In the late 1870s, retired British army officers, including Glynn Turquand and Captain Egremont Shearburn, played one of the first polo matches in the U.S. in Boerte. The town's robust environment encouraged the health resort industry. Sisters of the Incarnate Word founded the St. Mary's Sanitarium in 1896 for pulmonary patients. Dr. W.E. Wright contracted with the Veterans Administration in 1919 to provide care for World War I veterans suffering from lung ailments. The San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway came to town in March 1887, and it created better conditions for the area. During the Civil War, Boersne voted against secession and was a mostly pro-Union town; many communities in Kendall County were part of the formation of the Union League, which supported the Union and Abraham Lincoln. Karl Degener organized the Boersen Gesang Verein (singing club) in 1860. The family and descendants of Sisterdale resident Baron Ottomar von Behr have included three generations of directors and four generations of musicians.

Geography

Boerne is located in southern Kendall County in the Texas Hill Country. Interstate 10 and U.S. Route 87 pass through the city south and west of its center. Cibolo Creek, a 96-mile-long (154 km) tributary of the San Antonio River, flows through Boerne. Two of Texas' seven show caves are located near the city: Cave Without a Name is 10 miles (16 km) to the northeast, and Cascade Caverns are 3 miles (5 km) southeast. The city has a typical central Texas humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) with hot, frequently humid summers and winters that average mild, but vary from hot to cold. The wettest calendar year has been 1992 with 64.17 inches (1,629.9 mm) and the driest 1954 with 10.29 inches (261.4 mm) Although 46.1 mornings per year fall below freezing, snowfall is extremely rare: between 1971 and 2000, the median was zero and the mean 0.5 inches or 0.013 metres. Temperatures at or below 0 °F or 17.8 °C have occurred only three times on record: December 22, 1929, January 31, 1949, and February 2, 1951. In contrast, no rain fell between June 27 and August 31 of 1993, with only 1.45 inches or 36.8 millimetres between June and August 1910. In the extreme case of the winter of 1991/1992, 14.42 inches or 366.3 millimetre fell between December 19 and 22.

Demographics

Boerne is home to two public high schools and one private high school. Students located south of Texas State Highway 46 attend Boerne Samuel V. Champion High School, a 5A high school named after a well-liked administrator. Students zoned north of the highway go to Boernerne High School. Geneva High School is a 4A private school with an annual tuition of $11,235. The city has a population of 17,850, with 5,547 households and 3,891 families as of the 2020 U.S. census. The median income for a household in the city was $80,500 and for a family was $50,903. The per capita income for the city is $23,251, with 6.5% of families and 9.8% of the population under the age of 18 living below the poverty line. The average household size was 2.56 and the average family size was 3.10. The population was distributed as 26.0% under age 18, 6.7% from 18 to 24, 26.7%) from 25 to 44, 23.0%) from 45 to 64, and 17.6% who were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 80.1 males. The white population was 94.76%. The Hispanic population was 19.44%. The city had a population density of 1,061.1 people per square mile (409.9/km²).

Attractions

The Hill Country Mile is a 1.1-mile (1.8 km) walking path. The Cibolo Nature Center comprises over 100 acres (40 ha) of Hill Country trails and wilderness. The Cascade Caverns opened to the public in 1932 and began having private tours in the 1870s. The Boerne City Park has around 100 acres of water and an associated watershed of 12,560 acres. It is open every day from 8 am until 5 pm, with no motorized boats allowed on the water. It was created in 1978 to provide flood control for the city's fresh water supply and to preserve marshland around the city. The River Road Park was opened in 1990 to preserve the River Road and its surrounding marshland. It has a 1-mile walkway and is open from 8am to 5pm, but no motorised boats are permitted on the walkway or in the surrounding area. It also has a 2-mile path, which is open to the general public from 9am to 6pm. It runs along the banks of the River River, which runs through the centre of the city, and is called the Riverroad Walkway, which was built in the 1960s to protect the river and its banks from flooding. It includes a path through the Cibolos Nature Center, which opened in 1989. It's also a walkway through the nearby Cibola National Park, which has been open since the 1970s and has an area of around 2,000 acres.

Air Quality, Water Quality, Superfund Sites & UV Index

The Air Quality index is in Boerne, Bexar County, Texas = 91. These Air Quality index is based on annual reports from the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The number of ozone alert days is used as an indicator of air quality, as are the amounts of seven pollutants including particulates, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, lead, and volatile organic chemicals. The Water Quality Index is 100. A measure of the quality of an area’s water supply as rated by the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The EPA has a complex method of measuring the watershed quality, using 15 indicators such as pollutants, turbidity, sediments, and toxic discharges. The Superfund Sites Index is 99. Higher is better (100=best). Based upon the number and impact of EPA Superfund pollution sites in the county, including spending on the cleanup efforts. The UV Index in Boerne = 6.1 and is a measure of an area's exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays. This is most often a combination of sunny weather, altitude, and latitude. The UV Index has been defined by the WHO (www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/radiation-the-ultraviolet-(uv)-index) and is uniform worldwide.

Employed

The most recent city population of 17,850 individuals with a median age of 37.7 age the population grows by 49.47% in Boerne, Bexar County, Texas population since 2000 and are distributed over a density of 1,562.03 residents per square mile of area (603.10/km²). There are average 2.52 people per household in the 3,518 households with an average household income of $56,378 a year. The unemployment rate in Alabama is 7.10% of the available work force and has dropped -0.03% over the most recent 12-month period and the projected change in job supply over the next decade based on migration patterns, economic growth, and other factors will increase by 34.14%. The number of physicians in Boerne per 100,000 population = 247.3.

Weather

The annual rainfall in Boerne = 34.3 inches and the annual snowfall = 0.9 inches. The annual number of days with measurable precipitation (over .01 inch) = 76. The average number of days per year that are predominantly sunny = 228. 93 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily high temperature for the month of July and 36.6 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily low temperature for the month of January. The Comfort Index (higher=better) is 29, where higher values mean a more pleasant climate. The Comfort Index measure recognizes that humidity by itself isn't the problem. (Have you noticed nobody ever complains about the weather being 'cold and humid?) It's in the summertime that we notice the humidity the most, when it's hot and muggy. Our Comfort Index uses a combination of afternoon summer temperature and humidity to closely predict the effect that the humidity will have on people.

Median Home Cost

The percentage of housing units in Boerne, Bexar County, Texas which are owned by the occupant = 58.37%. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, or room occupied as separate living quarters. The average age of homes = 12 years with median home cost = $172,760 and home appreciation of 1.01%. This is the value of the years most recent home sales data. Its important to note that this is not the average (or arithmetic mean). The median home price is the middle value when you arrange all the sales prices of homes from lowest to highest. This is a better indicator than the average, because the median is not changed as much by a few unusually high or low values. The property tax rate of $12.91 shown here is the rate per $1,000 of home value. If for simplification for example the tax rate is $14.00 and the home value is $250,000, the property tax would be $14.00 x ($250,000/1000), or $3500. This is the 'effective' tax rate.

Study

The local school district spends $4,503 per student. There are 14.4 students for each teacher in the school, 774 students for each Librarian and 448 students for each Counselor. 5.04% of the area’s population over the age of 25 with an Associate Degree or other 2-year college degree, 19.74% with a master’s degree, Ph.D. or other advanced college degree and 8.54% with high school diplomas or high school equivalency degrees (GEDs).