1907 Comfort State Bank Building

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, if you ever find yourself rolling through Comfort, Kendall County, keep your eyes open for a building that has some serious things to say for itself. We're talking about a structure put up in 1907, constructed for a man named Alex Brinkmann, and it did not come quietly into the world.

A local stonemason by the name of Richard Doebbler is credited with the hand-cut stone craftsmanship of the place, and friend, hand-cut stone is exactly what it sounds like. Every block shaped by hand, every surface worked until it said what it was supposed to say. Doebbler knew what he was doing.

The building shows it. You've got polished red granite columns catching the light, a round-headed window looking out over whatever's happening on the street, a corner entrance that invites you in from two directions at once, and a blind arcade in the tower, which sounds like something out of a riddle but is really a row of decorative arched panels that exist purely because beauty is a good enough reason. The style is what they call modified Richardsonian Romanesque, which is a way of saying it borrows from something grand and makes it its own.

Now, the Comfort State Bank called this building home from the day it opened until 1960. That is a long run for any institution. But 1961 rolls around, the bank is gone, and the Comfort Public Library moves right in.

Books where the money used to be. The library held that address until 1982. So this one building gave the community a place to keep its finances and then a place to keep its stories, and the walls themselves, hand-cut by Richard Doebbler back in 1907, were there for all of it.

What the marker says

Constructed in 1907 for Alex Brinkmann, this building housed the Comfort State Bank until 1960. Local stonemason Richard Doebbler is credited with the hand-cut stone craftsmanship of the structure. The Comfort Public Library was located here from 1961 to 1982. Features of the modified Richardsonian Romanesque building include polished red granite columns, a round-headed window, a corner entrance, and a blind arcade in the tower. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1988.