Promotion & Prosperity

Promotion and Prosperity. Pullmans, Petroleum, Posts, Pearl, Pecans and Purses. , In 1906, the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway Company (SA&AP) constructed its prototypical 24-foot by 62-foot combination passenger and freight depot in Boerne that housed all local railroad operations at one location. The board-and-batten depot was situated between James and Theissen Streets, on the east side of what is now Ebner Street. To efficiently provide both passenger and freight services, the depot was placed between three parallel tracks: the main line and passenger siding to the north, and a freight siding, or house track, to the south of the depot. Other railroad facilities located near the depot included freight platforms, a storage yard for cedar posts, and stock pens with loading ramps for watering and shipment of livestock., Many of the passengers who arrived in Boerne via SA&AP heavyweight Pullman passenger cars spent days, weeks, and sometimes months availing themselves of the favorable ozone and revitalizing powers of the pure mountain air and crystalline spring waters. Entire families from all over Texas would travel to Boerne and the surrounding vicinity to spend the summer months camping outdoors to rest, recuperate, and recreate in the Texas Hill Country. To aid in the promotion of this activity, the Camper’s Association was formed by local business leaders to develop tourism and encourage expansion of the prosperous community. Local businesses and entrepreneurs were more than accommodating in providing campers the services and provisions desired by those who preferred a less strenuous but rustic experience., Several businesses sprang up along the SA&AP, mainly near the depot. One of the companies constructed bulk storage facilities, large elevated steel storage tanks, warehouses for barrel storage, and pump houses, on rail sidings for the shipment of petroleum products that were delivered in boxcars and tank cars. Companies such as Sinclair Refining Company, Gulf Oil Corporation, The Texas Company (later renamed Texaco), and Magnolia Petroleum Company operated in Boerne and shipped fuel oil, kerosene, gasoline, and lubricants to sell to homeowners, businesses, farms, and ranches., San Antonio breweries, including the San Antonio Brewing Association (renamed the Pearl Brewing Company in 1952), Anheuser-Busch Brewing Association, and Lone Star Brewing Company, constructed beer vaults along the route of various railroads linked by rail to San Antonio. The SA&AP was no exception; there were at least four beer vaults built along the Kerrville branch. Leon Springs, Boerne, Comfort, and Kerrville each had a beer vault, as did Fredericksburg, the terminus of the Fredericksburg and Northern Railroad Company. The frame buildings were constructed close to the tracks, where fresh beer from the breweries was off-loaded and put into cold storage until deliveries could be made to local saloons, grocers, and hotels. The only remaining beer vault is the one in Fredericksburg, which has been relocated and is now known as Das Peach Haus. Various other warehouses lined the rails, including A.L. Beckman’s... house was located adjacent to the main line to keep cool, perishable products en route to stops along the Kerrville Branch or for shipment back to San Antonio. The Boerne Light and Ice Company, formerly located near the banks of Cibolo Creek, produced and transported ice near the depot. The majority of exports from the Hill Country included cedar fence posts, wool, mohair, cotton, oats, wheat, livestock, and other agricultural goods that were shipped back to San Antonio for sale or trade., Pecans, harvested from orchards along the banks of the Guadalupe and Pedernales Rivers, were also shipped on this line. The majority of these pecans were delivered to the G.A. Duerler Mfg. Co., located a few blocks from the San Antonio SA&AP passenger depot. There was a spur off of the main line of the Kerrville branch that provided for bulk shipments and deliveries to the factory by rail. The employees of the company would walk along the spur and main line near the factory, looking for loose or discarded railroad spikes, which they used as hammers for manually cracking the pecan shells and harvesting the precious meat., One of the most interesting exports to be hauled on the SA&AP were the products from the Apelt Armadillo Company. The Charles Apelt family worked as basket makers. Apelt thought the armadillo shell might make a fine and unique basket. The oddity proved successful as Mr. Apelt contracted local dillo hunters to catch them and harvest their shells. Apelt created many novelties, including purses and baskets..., Captions: , Cedar posts being loaded at Boerne Depot for Texas ranches. , Boerne passengers board Pullman bound for San Antonio. , One of Boerne's early oil dealers. , Pearl Brewery formerly the San Antonio Brewing Association. , Fredericksburg building... , Gustav Duerler shelled pecans and produced candies. , Scene on the drying ground, showing about 500 armadillo shells.