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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PHOTO CAPTION: The first post office in New Braunfels, the home, hotel, and saloon of Arnold-Henkel von Donnersmark, 1847.

Postmarks tell interesting history

By Myra Lee Adams Goff — A young German count, Arnold-Henkel von Donnersmark, came to the New Braunfels settlement in 1845 with Prince Carl. He built a large frame building where he lived and conducted his hotel and saloon business. In less than a year he had accumulated several thousand

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Getting “pop” in New Braunfels

Keva Hoffmann Boardman – Soda pop? Soft drink? Soda water? My family just says “soda.” Whatever you call it, the soft drink industry is huge. When did New Braunfelsers first get a taste for the sugary yet satisfying beverage? As early as 1872, Otto and Theo. Simon were bottling ice

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Trading stamps in New Braunfels

By Tara V. Kohlenberg — Did your mother ever give you the job of pasting trading stamps into books? Mine did. My childhood is full of rainy afternoons spent licking (or wetting with a sponge after I got smart) drawers full of S&H Green stamps. That entitled me to browse

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Mammoth finds

By Keva Hoffmann Boardman – If you’ve ever looked at the mural “Lure of the Springs” on the Parks and Rec building in Landa Park, you will find it includes a mammoth. The Sophienburg has several prehistoric artifacts and one of them is a mammoth tooth. Cool. I wondered where

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A cycling trip

By Keva Hoffmann Boardman — In 1975, Oscar Haas (known as the historian of New Braunfels) delivered a talk on things he remembered in his youth. Oscar was born in 1895, so by youth, he means somewhere between 1905-1915. One of the things he talked about was his cycling escapades.

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The cold facts of New Braunfels

By Keva Hoffmann Boardman — New Braunfelsers were giddy with joy when snowflake clusters fell on December 7th. Waking up that next morning was a “blessed event” of sorts for us locals. Some newcomers amongst us wondered at our ecstasy over snow, and in trying to explain, I realized that

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New Braunfels calling

By Tara V. Kohlenberg — The multitude of seasonal well wishes received over the past month got me to thinking. Christmas cards and actual phone calls seem to be dwindling while texts, Instagram and Facebook posts (at least at my house) are on the rise. It’s amazing to consider just how

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Downtown renovations important

By Myra Lee Adams Goff Ron Snider has been awarded the Dr. Frederick Frueholz Comal County Historical Commission Award for his work in the restoration and preservation of downtown New Braunfels buildings. In the 1960s a trend of tearing down old buildings, remodeling them into modern buildings or using the

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Post office has evolved in 100 years

By Myra Lee Adams Goff An extremely important building in downtown New Braunfels has been saved and renovated by Pat and Becky Wiggins. It is the old Post Office building on the corner of Castell and Mill. It now serves a new purpose, being McAdoo’s Restaurant. The owners are applying

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