Comal County

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll pass it along just the same. Comal County. Now that name right there, that's a story that starts in the water.

The Comal River runs through this part of Texas, and the springs that feed it, they don't just bubble up gentle and polite. They push up through the earth in clusters, forming little islands, flat and round as pancakes on a griddle. And so the river took its name from that shape, and when the county came along, it took the name of the river.

That's the chain of things. Now, this land was carved out of the Travis and Bexar land districts, and it was created on March 24, 1846. Organized not long after, July 13 of that same year.

Quick work, as these things go. But here's what makes Comal County a little different from your average Texas county story. The county seat, New Braunfels, was already there.

Already standing, already named, already established on March 21, 1845, before the county itself existed. Named in honor of its founder, Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels. A prince.

In Texas. The county came to the town, not the other way around. Some places earn their name.

Some places are born with one.

What the marker says

Formed from Travis and Bexar land districts. Created - March 24,1846; Organized - July-13, 1846; Named for the river, so called from the pancake shape of the islands formed by its springs. New Braunfels, county seat established March 21,1845. Named in honor of the founder Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels.