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KENDALL HOUSE
525 S. Main, Boerne
DESCRIPTION: It was described as, "a long, strung-out house with a deep porch clear across the front with beautiful woodwork and lots of flowers."
HISTORY: According to The Handbook of Texas Online, "John G. O'Grady, pioneer innkeeper, was born in Westport, Ireland, in 1829. He immigrated to Boston in 1848. Although he had studied for the priesthood, he decided in Boston to pursue medicine instead. He eventually traveled west, and in the early 1850s he served in the United States Infantry at what later became Fort McKavett in Menard County." The fort was closed in March of 1859. John O'Grady and his wife, Katherine Cahill, moved to Boerne which was a stage stop on the military road from San Antonio western fortifications. Here O'Grady used his knowledge of the mercantile business learned in the army. He probably built the adobe building he opened as an inn on the south bank of the Cibolo Creek. It is said to have been a "long, strung-out house with a deep porch clear across the front with beautiful woodwork and lots of flowers." - [article by Bettie Edmonds, Jan. 2008] This house was also a stage stop where government teams hauling freight would pick up supplies.
The Kendall House was operated until 1879, the year Mr. O'Grady died. The inn was vacant for many years before it was torn down and replaced in the 1930s by Charles Loe, a one time president of the Boerne State Bank. The replacement house is known as the Vogt-Shoch House.
Source: Boerne Public Library files.- January, 2008
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