Nearly doubling in the last decade as both Baby Boomers and young families flock to its Hill Country location, Boerne is a Texas city on the rise.
The population increased from less than 14,000 in 2015 to nearly 25,000 today. “Boerne is expected to continue to grow at a rapid rate from an estimated 25,000 in 2026 and a projected growth rate of 24 percent over the next several years,” says the Boerne and Kendall County Economic Development Corporation.
“It’s a wonderful community, a great place. With a slower pace than some of the larger nearby cities — San Antonio, for example — Boerne for me has always been a community and a way of life,” Boerne Mayor Frank Ritchie told KSAT.
Situated midway between San Antonio and Kerrville on Interstate 10 (about 35 minutes in each direction), Boerne’s civic leaders are looking to thread the needle of achieving balanced growth with an emphasis on small business.
“How do we grow responsibly, right? Making sure that we have the proper infrastructure, making sure that our water conservation efforts are top-notch, and making sure that we build responsibly and not overbuild,” Mayor Ritchie told KSAT.
The first thing for new residents of the area to learn is how to pronounce the city’s name properly: it’s pronounced “Bernie”!
Boerne, the county seat of Kendall County, was founded by German immigrants along the banks of Cibolo Creek in 1849.
These German freethinkers had originally settled on the north bank of the Llano River in western Llano County (a short-lived utopian community called Bettina) before setting up camp on the Cibolo, about a mile west of present-day Boerne.
“They called their new community Tusculum, after Cicero's home in ancient Rome. In 1852 Gustav Theissen and John James laid out the townsite and changed the name to Boerne in honor of Ludwig Boerne, a German author and publicist,” says the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA) Handbook. “A post office was established in 1856 with August Staffell as postmaster. The community had only ten houses in 1859, but it was chosen as county seat by a margin of sixty-seven votes after the county was established in 1862.”
The historic county courthouse (204 E. San Antonio Ave.) built in 1870 was in use all the way until 1998 and still stands today in Boerne, housing government offices.
“Boerne developed the reputation of having a very healthful environment and quickly became known as a health resort. By 1884 it had five hotels, assorted businesses, and 250 residents,” says the TSHA.
Boerne’s clean and dry air, compared to crowded cities such as San Antonio, led to several sanatoriums opening in the area to treat patients with tuberculosis and other respiratory diseases.
Residents voted to incorporate Boerne as a city in 1909 and established the Boerne Independent School District the same year.
Both tourism and cotton farming in the area took a hit during the Great Depression as Boerne’s population in 1950 (1,802 people) was lower than in 1928 (2,000 people).
Boerne’s slow-paced growth for more than 100 years exploded in the 1980s (32.8 percent growth), 1990s (32.4 percent), 2000s (44.5 percent), and 2010s (69.5 percent).
It was also in the early 2010s that Boerne’s “Hill Country Mile”was created – a 1.1-mile walking path along River Road Park and the town’s historic Main Street.
“Steeped in Hill Country charm, the colorful storefronts and historic buildings that are downtown Boerne’s Hill Country Mile will bring feelings of nostalgia–but our shops, restaurants, and galleries are anything but antiquated,” says the Hill Country Mile website.
On the historical side, you can check out:
The Hill Country Mile is really known for its shops, restaurants, and galleries, more than 80 total all within easy walking distance
Over the years, Boerne’s Hill Country Mile has been awardedthe best shopping district by the Texas Travel Awards and called by Country Living one of the “Top 25 Small Town Main Streets in America.”
The highlight of the year for the Hill Country Mile is the annual Dickens on Main holiday event over Thanksgiving weekend where the area is transformed into a vintage winter wonderland with live music and performers, holiday lights, shopping, food, kids activities, and even blowing snow along Main Street.
“The city of Boerne gets even more picturesque during the holiday season. Main Street also transforms into the immersive world of Charles Dickens's "A Christmas Carol," reported the San Antonio Current. “Attractions have expanded over the years and now, they even include a live ice carving show and battle.”
Other Boerne annual events to check out:
From holiday cheer to German roots to antique cars, Boerne has a lot of special reasons to visit and the Hill Country Mile awaits those on weekend getaways and day trips year round.