HISTORY OF BULVERDE, TEXAS — Bulverde Spring Branch Back Porch News
The city of Bulverde is on Cibolo Creek nineteen miles west of New Braunfels in southwestern Comal County. Cibolo Creek, which forms the Comal County/Bexar County line, runs just south of Bulverde. It 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 Bulverda, an early area landowner. Since 1959 Bulverde has been served by a community post office that opened in Charles L. Wood's store.
The town had a population of nearly 100 until the 1960s, when it fell to twenty-five. The Herrera, Ufnau, Honey Creek, Mustang Hill, and Green Hill schools were consolidated with the Bulverde school district, which had an enrollment of fifty-two in 1947. Estimated population in 2018 was 5,240.
Bulverde is called "The Front Porch of the Texas Hill Country". 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. After 1850 Bulverde was mainly settled by German immigrants similar to nearby New Braunfels. In the period between 1996 and 1999 five separate municipalities were incorporated and combined in the Bulverde area to form the current City of Bulverde. This process required 22 separate elections. In May 2015, the people of Bulverde voted to adopt a home rule charter to have more control over development.
The Spotlight Theater & Arts Group ETC (S.T.A.G.E.) is a community theater in Bulverde that performs at the Krause House Theater. The group formed in 1979 to promote the arts and moved into its current home in 1985. S.T.A.G.E. produces four shows per season and hosts Eli Lilly foundation acting classes for adults and children as well the ENCORE PLAYERS, an outreach program to the Bulverde Senior Citizen's Center for Readers Theater.
Bulverde is served by the Comal Independent School District. Throughout the 1980s and as of 2017, the children of Bulverde fed into Smithson Valley High School. Zoned schools include: Rahe Bulverde, Johnson Ranch, Arlon Seay, and Bill Brown elementary schools. Most residents are in the Spring Branch Middle School zone, while some are in the Smithson Valley middle zone for High School. There is also Bracken Christian School, a private school that sits on a hilltop near Bulverde.
Elected officials include:
Bill Krawietz, Mayor | Term Expires May 2022
Mark Morkovsky, Council Member Place 1 | Term Expires May 2022
Yvonne Chapman, Council Member Place 2 | Term Expires May 2022
Kirk Harrison, Council Member Place 3 | Term Expires May 2020
Ray Jeffrey, Council Member Place 4 | Term Expires May 2020
Gene Hartman, Council Member Place 5 | Term Expires May 2021
Mechelle Salmon, Council Member Place 6 | Term Expires May 2021
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