Ye Kendall Inn

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm just the one passing it along. Alright, picture this. The Texas Hill Country, 1859.

A man named Erastus Reed and his wife Sarah have made their way up from Georgia, and they are putting down roots in Boerne. They build themselves a home, a proper vernacular Greek revival structure, center section and all, symmetrical facade, two-story gallery. Solid.

Dignified. The kind of place that looks like it expects to be around for a while. And it was right about that.

Now, the Reeds couldn't have known what that building would become, but under later occupants, the home had a way of turning into a place where travelers stopped and rested their boots. The Hill Country had that pull. By 1878, owners C.

J. Roundtree and W. L.

Wadsworth had seen enough of that foot traffic to do something about it. They expanded the building, gave it a name, the Boerne Hotel, and set about welcoming the visitors who were finding their way out to this corner of Texas. What was drawing them?

The area's healthful climate. Word gets around. Then came a later owner, Dr.

H. J. Barnitz.

And in 1909, he gave the old place the name that stuck. Ye Kendall Inn. A home built for two people from Georgia became a hotel, became an inn, became a landmark.

Some buildings just know their calling from the start. It just takes everyone else a little while to catch up.

What the marker says

The center section of this vernacular Greek revival structure was built in 1859 as a home for Erastus and Sarah Reed, who had come to Boerne from Georgia. Under later occupants, the home often served as lodging for those traveling through the area. In 1878 owners C. J. Roundtree and W. L. Wadsworth expanded the building, which they named the Boerne Hotel, to accommodate visitors attracted to the area by its healthful climate. A later owner, Dr. H.J. Barnitz, adopted the name "Ye Kendall Inn" in 1909. The inn features a 2-story gallery and a wide symmetrical facade. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1962