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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Arriving Germans found native tribes in area they settled

By Myra Lee Adams Goff — Prince Carl in the diary of his sojourn to Texas writes about sleeping on the ground, using a pistol case as a pillow. Even before the emigrants arrived, he feared an Indian attack. He recalled a patriotic drinking song called “Deutschland Hoch.” Rewriting his

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New Braunfels treasure celebrates 90 years

By Tara V. Kohlenberg — A 90th birthday is an event well worth celebrating. My beautiful friend was born in 1933, the same year as Willie Nelson and Carol Burnett. It was the worst year of the Great Depression, when twenty-five percent of the labor force was unemployed, the U.S.

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Photo: Alfred Schalausky Family with lighted Christmas tree, 1932.

Let there be Christmas light

By Keva Hoffmann Boardman — Decorations for Christmas are up at the Sophienburg Museum and Archives. This year we are highlighting 20th century Christmas décor of the 1920s–1960s. You will be wonderfully transported back to your childhood. We also discovered several large boxes with Christmas lights which led me to

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First county fair was in 1894

By Myra Lee Adams Goff — Soon it will be the annual Comal County Fair which had its first event in 1894. When I was doing the research at the Sophienburg for the book It’s Fair Time for the Fair Association, there was one particular era in its development that intrigued me. It was the period beginning

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Moving along

By Tara V. Kohlenberg — We have become somewhat accustomed to seeing motor homes, mobile homes, and tiny homes as they move down the highway to their new resting place. However, seeing a stucco building moving through downtown is more of a spectacle. That is exactly what I saw one

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History detectives

By Tara V. Kohlenberg – Working in an archive or research library probably doesn’t top the list of dream jobs for very many people, but it is really cool to be a History Detective. In fact, there are more history detectives out there than you would think. While it is

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Which way to the fair?

By Tara V. Kohlenberg — With the upcoming bridge closure, much has been written about daily street traffic and river traffic and where they all will go, but it was the announced change in the Comal County Fair Parade route that got people talking. The most vocally opposed viewpoints were

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When cotton was king

By Myra Lee Adams Goff  — The fall of the worldwide stock market, known as the Great Depression in 1929, was not of major concern to New Braunfelsers. Being an agrarian area, the county was more affected by a serious drought that had occurred in the early 1920s up to

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Emmie Seele Faust Memorial Library

By Tara V. Kohlenberg — As a child, going to the library with my mother was an awe-inspiring event. We mostly went during the summer when school was out. I remember it being cool and quiet. I felt very grown up because they had children’s books in a gated area

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