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
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
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
Doeppenschmidt Funeral Home from 1923 to the present in the same family
By Myra Lee Adams Goff — It’s the same business, in the same place, run by the same family for 100 years. That’s Doeppenschmidt Funeral Home, now involving the fourth generation. And it doesn’t look like they are going to run out of clients any time soon. In the early
Much can be discovered by visiting graves at Comal Cemetery
(Encore of article that first appeared November 26, 2008.) By Myra Lee Adams Goff — Recently I went to the Comal Cemetery to visit family and friends. Don’t tell me that I’m the only one that does that; someone brings the flowers! Since I started writing this column I have
Tombstone mystery
By Keva Hoffmann Boardman — Last week Sylvia Segovia and I were walking through Hidalgo Panteon searching for the graves of several people. If you have never visited this charming little cemetery, you are in for a truly cultural treat. You will find rows and rows of concrete crosses and
Backroad bingo
By Tara V. Kohlenberg — After this past week’s historic Arctic storms Uri and Viola had us in winter lockdown, I jumped at the chance to go driving through the Comal countryside under the clear blue skies. It wasn’t just the sunshine and 70-degree temperatures that were so inviting. It
The Greatest Show on Earth
By Keva Hoffmann Boardman — Well before the Civil War, circus troupes had made their way to Texas. The earliest mention of a circus in our local newspaper was on Jan. 7, 1859. My interest in the NB circus scene began with an early 1900s photograph featuring a circus parade of
Dollhouses on display at the Sophienburg
By Myra Lee Adams Goff The Sophienburg Museum celebrates the Christmas season by presenting an exhibit of dollhouses, old toys and dolls, all reminiscent of our Christmas Past. Dollhouses appeared on the scene all over the world hundreds of years ago. In their beginning, they were not toys; they were