Early jails in New Braunfels

By Myra Lee Adams Goff — According to stories of the Old West, suspected criminals were shot or hung. No jail was necessary. Then as people became more civilized, there arose a doubt as to whether the person accused was actually guilty. Could we possibly say that “those were the

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New Braunfels Fire Department – years of service

By Myra Lee Adams Goff The New Braunfels Fire Department is celebrating its 130th year of service to the New Braunfels people. In 1886, Hermann Seele was named the chairman of the Fire Committee of the City Council by Mayor Joseph Faust. The purpose of the committee was to form

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James Ferguson, early pioneer from Scotland

By Myra Lee Adams Goff If you believe that all of the earliest settlers of New Braunfels were of German descent, then you will be surprised to learn how many European natives were represented. One of those Ausländers (a person not originally from New Braunfels with a German heritage) was

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Prince Solms Inn still boosting tourism

By Myra Lee Adams Goff Besides the Plaza Hotel on the Main Plaza, another grand hotel was built around the turn of the century, the Comal Hotel (now Prince Solms Inn). What was the reason for more large hotels in the little town of New Braunfels? Hotels are built to

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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

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The year of the courthouse and the Spanish-American War

By Myra Lee Adams Goff The year 1898 was the year of the Comal County Courthouse and the year of the Spanish-American War. In 1998 Dr. Robert Govier translated the “Neu Braunfelser Zeitung” from German into English for the Sophienburg . The Govier and Adams families were old family friends.

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The last remnant of an era

By Myra Lee Adams Goff Would you like to know what was on the property on which our present Comal County Courthouse sits? If so, read on. When Nicholas Zink laid out the town of New Braunfels, with its main plaza and streets leading to it, he was given the

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