Eggeling Hotel
The historic Comal (or Eggeling) hotel structure was planned in 1897 and built in 1898-1990, after the site had been cleared by removal of the dwelling built by Joseph Klein, and occupied by William Kuse as his shoe shop and residence for thirty-eight years before the removal, and for many years afterward.
The Comal was planned as a hotel and built in Texas Victorian style. Basement footings measure 30 inches in thickness. Even as late as 1978 there are no apparent flaws and no visible settling of the structure, giving proof after three-quarters of a century of excellence in construction. The exterior walls set on the 30-inch footings are 18 inches thick. First floor ceilings were 13 feet, and second floor ceiling eleven feet high. The window sills are of white limestone fitted with cypress wood boards 20 inches wide. These wide sills give a sumptuous feeling to the interior of the building. Above a full basement there are two floors and an attic. The structure has never had fireplaces, but was fitted with flues to pipe out the smoke from four large pot-belliedheaters that warmed the building. The chimneys or flues still remain on the roof. The major materials for the exterior included bricks made in McQueeney, Texas, especially for this structure, and gypress lumber milled in McQueeney expressly for this structure. The tin for the roof and the structural and finish hardware were purchased by the contractor from Henne Hardware & Lumber Company in New Braunfels.
The hotel was built with several rooms downstairs and ten guest rooms on the second floor. On each level the rooms open into central halls that run the length of the building. Front and back entrances are situated in the center of the downstairs hallway. A front door in the upstairs hallway gives access to a porch, and the back door in that hallway gives access to the fire escape. Stairs mount up from the first floor hall to the second floor hall. The structure was built without clothes closets or bathrooms. Originally a hand washbasin was provided in the first-floor hallway, and private basins, pitchers and chamber- pots were doubtless used in the guest rooms, since such appointments as these were customarily provided in the early 1900s. A privy in the back yard was also accessible to all of the guests and staff people.
