River Road reverie

By Tara V. Kohlenberg — The Guadalupe River is always there. It is life-sustaining water. It rages. It slows to a trickle. It calls us to fish, to play, or to watch sunlight dance off its surface as it rolls on toward the coast. The river beckons us to gather at its edge to make […]

New Braunfels history for a rainy day

By Simon V. Simek — Considering the rainy days we had last week after such a long dry spell, we thought it relevant to help tell the history of New Braunfels’ eternally erratic weather, and our long-standing feud with rushing water. Diving into the archives, we found some tremendous accounts of how our predecessors fared […]

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 […]

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 […]

Railroads change NB architectural scene

By Myra Lee Adams Goff Dr. Carl Windwehen’s wedding gift to his bride, Lena Coreth, was a beautiful home on 257 E. Bridge St. now owned by Joel and Merry Saegert, and that home is being nominated for the prestigious designation as a Recorded Texas Historical Landmark. In Comal County, there are presently 50 structures […]

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, […]

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 […]

New Braunfels treasures — social, fraternal and otherwise

By Tara V. Kohlenberg — Reaching a certain age and lifespan in New Braunfels entitles me, and others like me, to call buildings/places by other names and not sound crazy. It is like a secret code. We can use the “old” name when referring to a current building, and not many will know what we […]

History mystery: South Seguin Avenue, Part II

By Tara V. Kohlenberg — Part I of the history of 650 and 666 South Seguin Avenue properties was a story of immigrants who worked hard and expanded their family holdings. Now, on to Part II. Ysmael Zamora Isasi and Otila Martinez, fled the atrocities of the Mexican Revolution with their children to become permanent […]

New Braunfels had a poor farm

By Tara V. Kohlenberg — As a child, were you ever told that wanting a special toy or dress or bike would land the whole family on the poor farm? I’m not sure it was said specifically to me, but I have heard it said. I wondered where these farms were and who had to […]