Cotton gins in Comal County

By Keva Hoffmann Boardman — Who invented the cotton gin? Many of you learned the answer to this question in elementary school. If you said “Eli Whitney” you are correct, but like me, back then you really didn’t understand that the invention of the cotton gin revolutionized the American economy

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E.A. Grist: Watching over New Braunfels

By Tara V. Kohlenberg — Have you ever heard of the song “Someone To Watch Over Me”? It was written by George and Ira Gershwin in 1926. I am, in fact, a fan of jazz and big band music, so my favorite version is the one recorded in 1959 by

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Cool. Clear. Water.

By Keva Hoffmann Boardman — We are here because of the Comal and the Guadalupe rivers. We have drunk it, powered mills and made electricity with it, and played in the beautiful water since 1845. Farmers and ranchers in Comal County also used the waters of the Guadalupe and the

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2024 Myra Lee Adams Goff Sophienburg History Award Winner

The 2024 Myra Lee Adams Goff Sophienburg History Scholarship was awarded to Nathan Martinez. In a ceremony during the Sophienburg Museum’s annual meeting on April 18, Nathan was presented with the award ― a $1000 scholarship ― and got to meet and visit with Mrs. Goff. He is the eleventh

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Mueller family history tapestry

By Tara V. Kohlenberg — Have you ever tugged at a loose thread only to find that the thread was not really loose, resulting in an irritating unraveling of sorts? I recently pulled at said “loose thread,” but the odd “thread” that I pulled exposed a beautiful tapestry with a

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Weather reports from New Braunfels

By Keva Hoffmann Boardman — I wake up in the morning and the first thing I do is pull up the weather app on my phone. I want to know temperature and precipitation possibilities in order to get dressed appropriately. Humans have always watched the weather. Where to settle, when

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History among the ‘stones — Part II: Panteon Hidalgo

By Tara V. Kohlenberg — There is always plenty of history to be found in a cemetery, especially when the people’s story is entwined with the history of the cemetery. Today, I stand at the gate of Panteon Hidalgo. The spring rain-washed headstones and markers, in their full array of

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PHOTO CAPTION: The Charter of the Ferdinand Lindheimer Chapter of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas.

The keepers of Texas history

The Daughters of the Republic of Texas: One and Indivisible By Tara V. Kohlenberg — There is nothing more beautiful to a Texan than the Lone Star Flag flying against a brilliant azure blue sky. You may have noticed the Texas flags posted around Main Plaza and on downtown streets

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History of the Moeller House

By Tara V. Kohlenberg — New Braunfels historians have told us that the first immigrants arrived with very little in the way of belongings. And, unlike today’s new arrivals in New Braunfels, our founding ancestors had a lot to do before settling into a house. They had to secure materials

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Photo Caption: Martin's Picture Palace was the first movie house in New Braunfels. Advertisements for films begin in March 1914.

Movie memories

By Keva Hoffmann Boardman — We go see the latest movie and think nothing about it. It is an easy and common thing to do. I don’t even remember the first film I saw, though I’m fairly certain it was a Disney movie. Not so in the early 1900s. I

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