Depression years affected everyone
By Myra Lee Adams Goff The fall and failure of the Stock Market in 1929 was the beginning of an era in American history called the Great Depression. The statistics of this period are staggering. Almost half of the people in the United States had no jobs, homes or food. Leading up to this period […]
Slumber Falls on the Guadalupe
By Myra Lee Adams Goff We know a lot about our Comal River but not so much about the Guadalupe. Did you know that the Guadalupe is 226 miles longer than the Comal? It’s a tumultuous and erratic river. The Comal, on a flooding rampage, affects New Braunfels; the Guadalupe, on a flooding rampage, affects […]
Historic Kindermaskenball Parade This Coming Saturday
By Myra Lee Adams Goff Eleven years ago Rosemarie Gregory and I wrote a book called “Kindermaskenball, Past and Present”. It’s about an event here in New Braunfels that goes back to the early days of the settlement. At the beginning of the book we made this statement: “Kindermaskenball is about tradition and make-believe. Children […]
Klappenbach House on Klappenbach Hill still stands
By Myra Lee Adams Goff Do you know where the Klappenbach House is located? From Landa St., turn onto Fredericksburg Rd. and go straight until you get to a hill, Klappenbach Hill. The house on the left is the Klappenbach property. The story of the Klappenbach family is indeed interesting. The story begins in Sorenbohm, […]
Faust Street bridge led to mill
By Myra Lee Adams Goff When the Faust St. Bridge received the prestigious Texas Historic Civil Engineering Landmark Award recently, all attention was on the bridge itself. But the Faust St. Bridge was more to New Braunfels than that; it was the way that hundreds of NB citizens got to the textile mill. The bridge […]
Dowsing for water and switching for graves
By Keva Hoffmann Boardman — Divining. Dowsing. Witching. Switching. These strange words all refer to the same thing, an ancient method of finding something under the ground. It’s not science. It’s not magic. Some people have “the gift” and others do not. In many cases, the ability is found generationally in families. Whatever it is, […]
Hermann Sons #21 celebrating 135 years
By Tara V. Kohlenberg — This year, the New Braunfels Hermann Sons Lodge #21 is celebrating 135 years. What sounded like a simple “Happy Birthday” article soon became a rabbit hole that I could not ignore. Hold on! First of all, who is Hermann and why do his sons have a lodge? I learned that […]
Posting memories
By Keva Hoffmann Boardman — It used to be when you traveled, you would pick up postcards at all the locations you visited. Then you would either send them home to family and friends or keep them as a souvenir. Postcards were cheap, easy and extremely portable. The coming of the digital age has made […]
West San Antonio Street — Now and then
By Tara V. Kohlenberg — While scouring an old Herald-Zeitung for some trivial unrelated detail, I came across a photo of an early 20th century view of downtown New Braunfels. It was taken from a postcard of West San Antonio Street. The corresponding article described the names and locations of the businesses that would have […]
New Braunfels Music Study Club celebrates 95 years
By Tara V. Kohlenberg — Of the many things that New Braunfels’ founders brought with them, one of the greatest is their love of music. Men’s choirs, singing societies and bands of all types, have been the focal point of entertainment and social gatherings in New Braunfels for more than 175 years. Now that we […]
