Open 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday

We are closed.

Phoenix Saloon applies for historical designation

By Myra Lee Adams Goff Another downtown building, the Phoenix Saloon owners Ross and Debbie Fortune, are applying for a Texas Historical Marker. The Phoenix Saloon history really does live up to the story of the Phoenix, a legendary bird that builds its own funeral pyre, throws itself into the fire, lays an egg in […]

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 for a subject marker with […]

Sts. Peter and Paul church family relations go back generations

By Myra Lee Adams Goff Prince Carl, on behalf of the Adelsverein, was given the responsibility of establishing two churches in the new settlement of New Braunfels, one Protestant and one Catholic. They were to be established at the same time, but that didn’t happen. Prince Carl engaged Rev. Louis Ervendberg as the Protestant pastor […]

Join Sophienburg at Main Plaza for traditional Fourth of July

Photos: July 4, 2013, Parade and Program By Myra Lee Adams Goff It is fitting that the Sophienburg Museum and Archives sponsor the Fourth of July parade and celebration here in downtown New Braunfels. Prince Carl chose the little hill on which the Sophienburg Museum is located to build a fortress to oversee and defend […]

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 1900s, on the corner of […]

History mystery: South Seguin Avenue, Part II

Photo Caption: Valley Fruit Stand, 666 S. Seguin Ave., 1951.

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 […]

The rest of the story …

By Tara Kohlenberg, Sophienburg Executive Director — You might remember the article written a couple of weeks back about Karl Klinger and Sophienburg Hill, where I mentioned that the old Sophienburg Verein Headquarters was destroyed by a storm. It wasn’t just any storm and now you get to hear the rest of the story… In […]

Dr. Otto R. Grube practiced in New Braunfels

By Keva Hoffmann Boardman, Sophienburg Curator Occasionally, I need to look through the Sophienburg’s newspaper collection. The papers, on microfilm, date from 1852 to present day; it is an amazing resource. Often, an unrelated search sends me “down a bunny trail” (of course, I follow!). As I was researching pigeons a couple columns back, I […]

Faust Hotel has an interesting history

By Myra Lee Adams Goff Once upon a time there were two large Victorian houses sitting side by side on Seguin Ave. next to the First Protestant Church. These two houses belonged to Joseph Faust and his son Walter Faust. Walter Faust’s house was right next to the church and it still stands there. Joseph […]

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 almost 92 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 1900s, on the corner of […]

Upcoming Events

May
20

9:00 am – 10:30 am

May
21

Jun
5