Bulverde, Texas

Bulverde, Texas
City
Motto: "Front Porch of the Texas Hill Country"
Location of Bulverde, Texas Location of Bulverde, Texas
250px
Coordinates:
Country	United States
State	Texas
County	Comal
Area
• Total	9.73 sq mi (25.20 km2)
• Land	9.72 sq mi (25.17 km2)
• Water	0.008 sq mi (0.02 km2)
Elevation	1,093 ft (333 m)
Population (2010)
• Total	4,630
• Density	476/sq mi (183.9/km2)
Time zone	Central (CST) (UTC-6)
• Summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
ZIP code	78163
Area code(s)	830
FIPS code	48-11224
GNIS feature ID	1378070
Website	bulverdetx.gov

Bulverde is a city in Comal County, Texas, United States. The population was 4,630 at the 2010 census, up from 3,761 at the 2000 census. It is part of the San Antonio Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Geography

Bulverde is located in western Comal County at , about 26 miles (42 km) north of downtown San Antonio. U.S. Route 281 passes through the east side of Bulverde, leading south to San Antonio and north 25 miles (40 km) to Blanco. Cibolo Creek, which forms the Comal County/Bexar County line, runs just south of Bulverde.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 9.7 square miles (25.2 km²), of which 0.01 square miles (0.02 km²), or 0.09%, is water.

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.		%±
2000	3,761		—
2010	4,630		23.1%
Est. 2014	4,847		4.7%
U.S. Decennial Census

As of the census of 2000, there were 3,761 people, 1,292 households, and 1,131 families residing in the city. The population density was 495.7 people per square mile (191.3/km²). There were 1,349 housing units at an average density of 177.8 per square mile (68.6/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 95.32% White, 0.32% African American, 0.32% Native American, 0.51% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 1.81% from other races, and 1.70% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 10.95% of the population.

There were 1,292 households out of which 41.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 79.6% were married couples living together, 5.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 12.4% were non-families. 10.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 3.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.91 and the average family size was 3.12.

In the city the population was spread out with 28.3% under the age of 18, 5.2% from 18 to 24, 27.7% from 25 to 44, 29.2% from 45 to 64, and 9.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 101.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.4 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $67,055, and the median income for a family was $68,019. Males had a median income of $49,245 versus $30,717 for females. The per capita income for the city was $26,887. About 1.5% of families and 2.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including none of those under the age of eighteen or sixty-five or over.

History

Bulverde's first people were Native Americans. A type of arrowhead known as the Bulverde Point is named after the style of arrowhead made by Native Americans who lived in the area during the period 2,500 to 600 B.C.

Bulverde was settled in 1850 and called "Pieper Settlement", after Anton Pieper. For many years the closest post office was at Smithson Valley, and mail was delivered once a week to the house of Carl Koch in Bulverde. A local post office that operated from 1879 to 1919 was named for Luciano Bulverdo, an early area landowner.

Many residents of early Bulverde were immigrants or direct descendants of the German immigrants that had settled much of the Texas Hill Country. In the 1950s and as recently as the 1970s, many if not most of the residents carried German surnames (such as Seidel (meaning beer mug in German) and Saur (meaning sour)). Major changes came to the region when Interstate Highway 35 was built and Canyon Lake was created. Both of these brought new residents to Comal County, and another wave of settlers came to Bulverde.

Much of the area surrounding Bulverde is made up of huge ranches. The city limits encompasses many of the first housing developments composed of low-density residential housing. The City of Bulverde incorporated in 1997 to prevent the encroachment of San Antonio city limits. The citizens were concerned that they would be required to pay higher taxes and receive minimal services from San Antonio and became a Type-B Municipality. Many of the original German families which settled the area still remain in the area even after selling off part of their land to eager developers which has, unfortunately, created suburban sprawl in an area not yet prepared for high density development. One of the more recent developments, Johnson Ranch, named after the family who still has a ranch house in the middle of the neighborhood, has intentions to dump treated wastewater onto a neighboring ranchers property. The creation of this development which is based on cluster development concept, allows the developer to skirt city ordinances requiring minimum lot sizes by stacking houses side-by-side and allotting larger shared open space, making room for centralized water and wastewater systems. The developer has yet to receive the permit for this discharge because of a grassroots citizens effort to fight the permit through the TCEQ. Meanwhile, the water quality of the Edwards Aquifer, which is the main water supply for nearly 2 million people of San Antonio, is under threat from these new developments that want to discharge the wastewater from high-density residential and commercial properties into the Edwards Aquifer Contribution and Recharge Zones.

Education

Bulverde is served by the Comal Independent School District.

Throughout the 1980s and as of 2007, the children of Bulverde fed into Smithson Valley High School. The sports teams from the high school regularly advance to compete at state championship levels.

There is also Bracken Christian School, a k4-12th school that sits on a hilltop.

Newspapers

The Bulverde Bul-a-ton was published in the mid-1980s using an Osborne 1 microcomputer. The publisher was Betty Baker. The offices were located due east of the Justice of the Peace's office for Comal County Precinct 2. The airport was east of the offices. Wood's store, now Sweet's store, is north of the offices.

The Bulverde Standard was in circulation from the mid-1980s until present. The newspaper is available for free at Luke's Corner Store on 1863 and Hwy. 281 and also at Sweet's Store in downtown Bulverde.

The Bulverde Community News, founded in 1994 by Bob Welch (Publisher) and Julia Welch (Managing Editor), exerted dominance in local news coverage and became the official paper of record for the newly formed City of Bulverde. Mr. and Mrs. Welch sold the Bulverde Community News to Prime Time Newspapers (a subsidiary of Clear Channel Communications) in September 1998.

Notable people

• Felix "Doc" Blanchard ("Mr. Inside"), 1945 Heisman Trophy winner, died of pneumonia on April 19, 2009, in Bulverde
• Jason LaRue, Major League Baseball player
• Nathan Macias, Republican former member of the Texas House of Representatives from Comal County
• Augie Meyers, musician and singer, former member of Sir Douglas Quintet, and Texas Tornados

Climate

The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Bulverde has a humid subtropical climate, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.

External links

• City of Bulverde official website
• Bulverde from the Handbook of Texas Online