Boerne came into being as an offshoot of the Texas Hill Country Free Thinker Latin Settlements, resulting from the Revolutions of 1848 in the German states.

Those who came were Forty-Eighters, intellectual liberal abolitionists who enjoyed conversing in Latin and who believed in utopian ideals that guaranteed basic human rights to all.

The communities eventually failed due to lack of finances after the Adelsverein funding expired, and conflicts of structure and authorities.

[15] In 1849, a group of Free Thinker German colonists from Bettina camped on the north side of Cibolo Creek, about a mile west of the site of present Boerne.

In 1852, John James and Gustav Theissen,[9] who helped settle Sisterdale, platted the townsite, renamed it in honor of German author Karl Ludwig Börne,[16] with the Anglicized spelling of "Boerne".

The 1870 limestone courthouse, second-oldest in Texas, was designed by architects Philip Zoeller and J. F. Stendebach, and stands directly across the street from the current 1998 courthouse designed by architects Rehler, Vaughn & Koone, Inc.[18] In March 1887, the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway came to town.

[19] In the late 1870s, retired British army officers, including Glynn Turquand and Captain Egremont Shearburn, played one of the first polo matches in the United States in Boerne.

Wright contracted with the Veterans Administration in 1919 to provide care for World War I veterans suffering from lung ailments;[22] the William L. Sill Tuberculosis Resort operated northwest of Boerne;[23] and Mrs. Adolph (Emilie) Lex opened her home to recovering patients, eventually converting two rooms into operating rooms.

Although 46.1 mornings per year fall below freezing, snowfall is extremely rare: between 1971 and 2000, the median was zero and the mean 0.5 inches or 0.013 metres.

Mostly the summer months are dry as the region is too far east of the monsoonal trough, but remnants of hurricanes tracking inland can produce very heavy rainfall, indeed, as in the wettest month of July 2002 when 28.43 inches (722.1 mm) fell and the first five days as much as 25.47 inches or 646.9 millimetres.

Opening in 2008, Samuel V. Champion High School is attended by students who matriculate from Boerne Middle School-South.

[37] Students zoned north of Texas Highway 46 attend Boerne High School.

[39] Created in the early 2010s, the Hill Country Mile is a 1.1-mile-long (1.8 km) walking path following River Road Park and historic Main Street.

[40] The path was created as a catalyst to unify and preserve the rich cultural identity of downtown Boerne.

The Cibolo Center for Conservation comprises over 100 acres (40 ha) of Hill Country trails and wilderness, as well as the historic Herff-Rozelle Farm.

The Center features a day camp during the summer for children ages 5–12, which focuses on educating about the environment and learning how to have fun in nature.

[41] Formed by the John D. Reed Dam, Boerne City Lake was completed and opened to the public in 1978.

[42] The primary purpose of the project was to provide some flood control for Cibolo Creek, and to supplement the fresh water supply for the city.