Comal

Formed March 1, 1846 (41^st county)

Comal County (161,482), New Braunfels (90,391)

The limestone Romanesque Revival courthouse has the appearance of a medieval castle.  It was built in 1898 at the northwest corner of San Antonio and Seguin avenues (Texas State Highway 46).  The city square, a park, is across the street.  J. Riely Gordon provided the designs and the local area provided the materials.  The building was enlarged in 1930 and 1951 and restored in 2012.  An Annex was added in 1986.  Only New Braunfels has been the county seat since the March 1, 1846 organization with two courthouses sited in the town.  Comal County was formed from parts of Travis and Bexar counties as the 41^st county.  The county’s name means “saucer or pan” in Spanish and the county got its name from the Comal River.  Early German settlers named New Braunfels after one of their leaders, Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels. 

Comal County government consists of a sheriff, a County Judge, and 4 Commissioners.  One District Court Judge serves Comal, Caldwell, and Hays counties, One District Court Judge serves Comal, Guadalupe, and Hays counties, and One District Court Judge and Three County Court Judges serve Comal County.  The county is on the eastern edge of the hill country southwest of Austin, Texas and northeast of San Antonio, Texas.  The county center is 13.3 miles Northwest of New Braunfels in Canyon Lake.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Hays, Guadalupe, Bexar, Kendall, and Blanco counties. 

The area of the county is 562 square miles.  It is 234 out of 254 in the state.  It ranks 30 out of 254 in population in the state.  It has a density of 287.3 persons per square mile making it 22 out of 254 in the state.  Comal County has 51.1% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 35 crosses from the northeast to the southwest, Hays County to the extreme northwest corner of Guadalupe County.  United States Highway 281 goes from Blanco County on the north into Bexar County on the south.  The 45-degree turn of this rectangular county is typical for this part of the state.  New Braunfels is located in the extreme east of the county and extends into Guadalupe County.  New Braunfels is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 56.0% of the county population.  The county is pronounced KOE-MAL.  The county seat is pronounced NEW BRON-FELLS.  This county is in the San Antonio Metropolitan Statistical Area.