St. Joseph's Chapel -- Comal TX
N 29° 38.846 W 098° 13.135
14R E 575599 N 3279974
Beautiful St. Joseph's Chapel in the ghost town of Comal, built 1905 and renovated in 2010, the only structure still in use in this vanished community
Waymark Code: WMXPG3
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 02/08/2018
Views: 5
All that is left of the once-prosperous town of Comal are abandoned historic buildings, a church, and two historic markers. The town has been annexed by nearby Schertz, a growing bedroom community of San Antonio TX.
In the 1870s, Comal citizens formed a church and built a one-room log schoolhouse. By 1900 the community had its own cotton gin, a corn-shelling operation, general store, and a community hall. A brick Catholic Church was built in 1905 that still stands today.
Comal declined precipitously after WWII, and around 2015 was annexed by the city of Schertz.
There are no regularly scheduled church services at St. Joseph's Chapel, which is part of the Archdiocese of San Antonio.
A Schertz Historic Site sign at St. Joseph's Chapel reads as follows:
"SCHERTZ HISTORIC SITE
ST. JOSEPH'S CHAPEL
The original Catholic settlers of Comal Village longed for their own place of worship and school. Peter Ignatz Wenzel donated 3 acres of land for the construction of a school and a chapel. A one room school was built in December 1868 and an expanded (four room) school built in 1885. The latter school was placed on the same site as was the soon to be constructed to St. Joseph's Chapel. The school was closed in 1941 and the building dismantled in 1959. In 1905, St. Joseph's Chapel was built to allow Comal citizens to attend Mass on days following great church feast days and for funerals and baptisms. The chapel was paid for by donations from Comal Catholic farm families, and served as the center for religious education and social gathering. St. Joseph's importance to the larger Catholic community is seen through the unusually large numbers of priests and nuns that eventually originated from the families of the Comal Community. Renovation of the chapel's interior was completed in 2010."
From the Comal County Historical Commission: (
visit link)
". . .
The Peter Ignaz Wenzel family farm was a prominent piece of Comal landscape. Ignotz purchased 100 acres of land in the Rodriquez Survey #99 (Comal) from William Bracken in 1851 (Comal Co. Deed Records, Vol. D, pp. 70-71). Peter Wenzel was an educated man and had been a teacher in his native Germany. The community’s need for a school prompted Wenzel to sell two acres of land to the Bishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of San Antonio for the specific purpose of building a school (Reference: "St. Joseph’s Chapel, Comal, Texas" by Rev. Samuel Heitkamp, New Braunfels, Texas, p. 1). The one room school (known as Wenzel School) opened December 1, 1868. Peter Ignaz Wenzel died February 2, 1884. In 1905, Saint Joseph Chapel was constructed on the original two acre tract of land donated by the Wenzel family. The Chapel still stands at that location (Attachment #2). The foundation stones of the 1881-1885 school building can still be seen at the property site next to Saint Joseph’s Chapel. The Chapel has been designated as a "Historical Landmark" by the City of Schertz, Texas."