Hermann Sons Home for the Aged

Duane's take

Here's the story as the official marker tells it, and I'm gonna do it justice. The Sons of Hermann started out as a fraternal group for persons of German descent, and after that first Texas lodge got its footing in 1860 and 1861, the organization grew. Fast.

Lodges spread across the state, members multiplied, and by the time a meeting convened in Austin in 1913, the Sons of Hermann had enough people, enough reach, and enough heart to ask a question that mattered: what do we do for our own when they get old? The answer they voted on that day was a home for the aged. They even had a name for it already: Altenheim.

Now, this wasn't just any idea whose time had come. This was one of the first homes for the aged started by a fraternal group in all of Texas. That's the kind of thing worth saying twice.

The citizens of Comfort, they didn't wait around either. They raised seven thousand dollars to purchase a 202-acre tract for the facility. That's a town putting its money where its values were.

And then lodge members from around the state reached into their own pockets to fund the construction of a limestone building, which went up in 1915 and 1916. Limestone, sturdy and pale, the way the Hill Country builds things meant to last. A fraternal handshake that started in 1860 turned into four walls and a roof for folks who needed both.

What the marker says

A fraternal group originally for persons of German descent, the Sons of Hermann grew rapidly after the founding of the first Texas lodge in 1860-61. At a meeting in Austin in 1913, members voted to establish a home for the aged, to be called "Altenheim". This was one of the first homes for the aged started by a fraternal group in Texas. The citizens of Comfort raised $7,000 to buy this 202-acre tract for the facility. Lodge members from around the state contributed funds for the construction of a limestone building in 1915-16. (1979)