Drought, floods, and war affect Comal County Fair

By Myra Lee Adams Goff There were only three times in the long history of the Comal County Fair that the fair was postponed. Two times had to do with weather and one time had to do with war. The very first fair was scheduled to be held in November

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The dark history of Meriwether’s millrace

By Myra Lee Adams Goff What I knew about William Hunter Meriwether could be summed up as “That American from Virginia who had slaves dig the canal next to Landa Park Drive.” That’s changing, thanks to Joy Alexander who has been doing an extensive study of Meriwether. Alexander first became

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New Braunfels Coffee Company popular until 1950

By Myra Lee Adams Goff The Zuehl Family Book at the Sophienburg contains a rather well-known story to local historians. It was written by Wilhelm Zuehl when he was in his 70s as he recalled coming to Texas with his family as an 18-year-old in 1846. His family was on

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What’s the connection between von Coll and Clemens Dam?

By Myra Lee Adams Goff Did you know that there was a connection between Jean Jacques von Coll, the Adelsverein’s bookkeeper, and the tube chute at Clemens Dam? It’s not inner tubes. Give up? In my last column, I wrote about why von Coll came to Texas. (See Sophienburg.com, July

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Twist of fate brings von Coll to Texas

By Myra Lee Adams Goff Last month a group from the Nassau Historical Society in Germany came to the Sophienburg. Von Hartmut Heinemann, group historian, handed me a small book in German about the life of Johann Jakob von Coll. You know him as Jean Jacques von Coll, but they

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St. Joseph chapel becomes Comal County historical site

By Myra Lee Adams Goff Out in the county on FM 482, the newly formed Schertz Historical Preservation Committee recently celebrated the St. Joseph Chapel as a historic site. The newly formed committee, led by Dean Weirtz, has become extremely active in the last year and the members, many of

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New Braunfels newspaper influenced secession effort

By Myra Lee Adams Goff Fourth of July Parade When: 9:15 a.m. Monday Where: Main Plaza, New Braunfels Another Fourth of July celebration is coming up Monday. Flags will be waving, music will be saluting the United States of America and The Sophienburg’s annual parade downtown to the Main Plaza

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Spielzeit at Sophienburg Saturday

By Myra Lee Adams Goff Picture this: Every day after school, a group of elementary school boys rushed home and met at a vacant lot behind Hollmig’s Drive-In at the intersection of Seguin and Zink streets. Their goal: to play baseball their way. (See the 1958 photo below for names.)

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Stories of Lustige Strumpf intrigue, puzzle historians

By Myra Lee Adams Goff Have you ever heard of a place called “der Lustige Strumpf“? In English, it means “the lusty stocking”. Sounds a little suspicious, doesn’t it? Its background and location are a little shady and a little mysterious. Der Lustige Strumpf has been the subject of curiosity

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New Braunfels newspaper has changed with the times

By Myra Lee Adams Goff When our town was only 7 years old, citizens saw a need for a newspaper. These citizens organized themselves into a company and through public subscription financed what became the second oldest continuous newspaper in Texas. It was in German because that was the mother

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