Civic Campus History

Civic Campus History. . , St. Mary’s Sanitarium , You are standing on property that the Sisters of the Incarnate Word purchased to operate both a sanitarium and a school in 1896. Dr. Herff worked as the Chief of Staff at the Santa Rosa Hospital in San Antonio. Patients with tuberculosis (TB) were turned away from the Santa Rosa Hospital, which was not equipped to provide long-term care of patients with this highly contagious disease. Dr. Herff coordinated with the Sisters of the Incarnate Word to create St. Mary’s Sanitarium, an adjunct hospital in Boerne to treat TB patients., Boerne’s population doubles , The sanitarium’s 30 beds filled rapidly. These spaces were soon kept for advanced cases while cottages were built around the property for milder cases, which placed the total number of patients at 150. By 1897, the number had grown to 731 throughout Boerne, which was a strain on a town population of approximately 700., Smokehouse , This smokehouse was originally located on the adjacent property to the south, directly behind an early Hill Country vintage home dating to the 1860s–1870s. The existing smokehouse was given to the City and carefully disassembled and later rebuilt. Fourteen-rod cedar was used for the roof, and bald cypress harvested from the Cibolo Creek was milled for the door and window frames., Holy Angels Academy , Religious education was a sensitive issue in the Boerne community, to which many had moved to escape religious persecution in Germany. Herman Toepperwein opened a Catholic school in 1883, which was closed in 1894 due to a religious controversy. The Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word replaced the school with the Holy Angels Academy in 1899. Initially, instruction was at the elementary school level, but as more sisters completed a university education, they added advanced grades through high school. The school closed in 1923 and reopened the following year. In 1930, the school closed permanently., Advertisement for school , “Conducted by the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, a select boarding and day school for young ladies and children, situated in the most desirable part of the city and offers every inducement as regards healthful and refined surroundings. The curriculum embraces a thorough course of English, music, art, languages, and elocution.” , Mountain Sun, Kerrville, Oct. 13, 1906, Overview , The campus has a long history of service in the community. In the 1800s to early 1900s, the campus had two major buildings. One was a sanitarium, which is a place where those with chronic sickness came for long-term treatment. The second building was a school., Did you know? , A nickname for Boerne was the Texas Alps because of its fresh air, dry climate, and crystal-clear water. People from places like Louisiana and Illinois came to enjoy the fresh air and seek healing and restoration for their lungs., Activity , Imagine that you lived in the late 1800s and went to the Holy Angels Academy. What subjects would you learn? Look at the picture of Holy Angels Academy. Pick a room for your classroom. Write an adventure story that begins “While looking out the classroom window, I saw…” Include things on the sign in your story. , [Captions:] , St. Mary’s Sanitarium , Students of Holy Angels Academy , Smokehouse for early Hill Country home , Students of Holy Angels Academy , A patient traveling to St. Mary's could have used a rail pass like this in 1901.