HistoricSiteMarkers
Reconstruction & Gilded Age

Saint Helena's Episcopal Church

Boerne, Kendall County, Texas

Marker Inscription

The first Episcopal worship service in Kendall County was held in the Old Kuhfuss Hall in Boerne in 1873. St. Helena's congregation was organized by Bishop R. W. B. Elliott in 1881, and a small wooden church structure was erected on this site. By 1929 the need for a new church had arisen. The original wooden building was razed to make room for a new limestone sanctuary. Later additions have included educational and office facilities. St. Helena's Church, a part of Boerne history for over a century, has often served as a center of community activities. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836-1986

Erected by Texas Historical Commission

The Story

The first Episcopal worship in Kendall County was held in Boerne's Old Kuhfuss Hall in 1873, and by 1881 Bishop R. W. B. Elliott had organized St. Helena's congregation, which raised a small frame church on this site. As the German-influenced Hill Country town grew, the wooden building gave way in 1929 to a limestone sanctuary, later expanded with educational and office wings. For well over a century the parish has doubled as a gathering place for community life in Boerne.

Why it matters

St. Helena's shows how a small frontier congregation could take root in the Texas Hill Country and grow into an enduring civic and spiritual anchor for its town.

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Related people

  • Β· R. W. B. Elliott

Themes & tags

EducationChurch

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