By Tara V. Kohlenberg —

When I was in junior high school, I sometimes would tag along with my dad when he drove my Oma to Comal Cemetery. She tended my Opa’s grave twice a month. While they were scraping the dirt and replacing the flowers, I would wander through the gravestones. It may sound goofy, but I loved the way that they were perfectly aligned, each with their own color and design according to the personality of the person laid beneath them. I rarely made it down to the “really old” part of the cemetery before we had to go, but I loved seeing the “cemetery trees” (Italian cypress and cedar bushes) that had long ago outgrown their originally intended landscape purpose. It was not until much later that I came to love Comal Cemetery for the history that it holds.

The arrival of German immigrants on Texas shores in 1845 opened the doors to a new life, adventure and unfortunately, untimely death. Some immigrants died on the way to their new town and impromptu burials were performed along the road. By July 31, 1845, 505 people had arrived in New Braunfels. When surveyor Nicolaus Zink laid out the town, he reserved a little over 4 acres of land on the southwest side of town for the New Braunfels Cemetery. Settlers kept coming to New Braunfels and sadly, 293 burials took place in the New Braunfels Cemetery between 1845-1846.

New Braunfels continued to grow, prompting the later settlers to seek land/housing across the Comal River. The new developments of Braunfels and Comal Town eventually became known as Comaltown (although still part of New Braunfels). A new cemetery, Comal Cemetery, was established in Comaltown in March 1868. It was perched on the bluff above the Guadalupe River where Common Street came to a dead end.

New Braunfels businessman John F. Torrey issued a promissory note, donating 8 acres of land plus $500 to three trustees for use only as a public graveyard, with the exception of a small plot of land for his family. There were additional stipulations that it be fenced and have a proper hearse to transport bodies for burial. The first known interment in the cemetery was Fredrick (Fritz) Hartwig on August 12, 1873. The City of New Braunfels took over administration of the cemetery from the Comal Cemetery Association in January 1887 (at John Torrey’s request) in exchange for $1.00.

The Comal Cemetery acreage has increased over the years. The original cemetery of 8 acres gained 6.93 acres in 1913 when Henry Kellermann sold his land adjoining the Torrey acreage. A small amount was gained when heirs of John Torrey, signed a quit claim deed to the original Torrey family plot, as their father had died and been buried elsewhere. Then in 1927, it gained another 10 acres with the purchase of land formerly belonging to E.A. and Ella M. Eiband. Today, the cemetery covers almost twenty-five acres and is the final resting place of over 12,550 souls.

The earliest graves are laid out in an east-west orientation, with feet to the east. I was always told that with feet to the east, your face will see the rising sun forever. It must have been an inefficient use of the land because in the later sections, graves are slightly akilter, with feet facing more northeast and mostly parallel to Common Street. I get it, perfectly square plots. The square plots hold 4 graves and most likely were sold as a “family plot”.

My Opa’s was an 8-grave plot, curbed and covered in sandy dirt and a caleche rock mix, much like the rest of the cemetery. Everything was dirt, including the spaces between the graves and the roads. A good family tended their loved one’s gravesites to keep the weeds off. Grass growing on a grave was said to be disrespectful. The wealthier families, like in the old part, had fancy Victorian wrought-iron or pipe fences around their plots (in very rural areas, it was to keep animals from grazing). Some families completely covered the family plot over with concrete to permanently prevent weeds. Others marked their plots by planting evergreen bushes at the corners, which then grew into huge “cemetery trees” that can be seen from a distance. Comal Cemetery was a “scraped earth” type cemetery until at least the late 1970s before allowing grass to grow between the grave plots.

One of the most unique features of Comal Cemetery is that unlike some cities, Anglo Americans, African Americans and Hispanic peoples are buried in the same cemetery. It was Mr. Torrey’s wish to establish a Freedman’s section. Sexton’s records prior to 1917 were lost, but between 1917 and 1957, over 200 burials took place in the Freedman’s section. Citizens petitioned City Council and were granted the addition of more burial spaces in the Freedman’s section. One of those citizens was Amos Ball Jr., who was the city’s Animal Warden for 26 years and is buried there. Another notable burial in this section is Ruth D. Harper, who was born in New Braunfels and taught and served as principal at Booker T. Washington. Notable Hispanic persons resting in Comal Cemetery include Thomas Sias Villanueva, Sr, a distinguished Army veteran, who worked for the City of New Braunfels as the cemetery sexton for 20 years; and the Rev. Daniel Campos, a Pentecostal minister, who began the Iglesia Santa Pentecostes Jerusalem church, in 1958, serving the Hispanic community in New Braunfels for 35 years.

Remains of some of the earliest New Braunfels settlers can be found in the oldest part of the cemetery including those from Germany, France and other parts of the United States. The more notable persons found in Comal Cemetery are Ferdinand Lindheimer; Hermann Seele; Ernst Gruene; and H. D. Gruene, (son of Ernst), who built the now famous gin, saloon, store, and dance hall in Gruene, TX. One important, but lesser-known person buried there is Daniel Murchison. He was born in North Carolina and moved to Texas when he was 23. He was hired by Prince Carl as a guard for the early colonists. He went on to help with the Veramendi’s Braunfels and Comal Town developments; served in the 11th Texas Legislature, representing Comal County; and helped revise the state constitution.

The headstones marking a life gone in Comal Cemetery are truly like stepping-stones through New Braunfels history. Comal Cemetery received a Historic Texas Cemetery designation in 2000. It will soon receive a Texas Historical Marker from the Texas Historical Commission. Please watch for the marker dedication ceremony announcement.

Sources: Sophienburg Museum & Archives; Comal County Historical Commission

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By Tara V. Kohlenberg —

By now you know that “it’s fair time!” This fabulous, fun-filled week of the Comal County Fair brings the entire community together and hopefully slides in on the first norther of the year. Yeah, that weather thing is not happening this year, but still very fun-filled. Everyone that grew up in New Braunfels or has lived here a while, has a “favorite thing” about the fair.

As a child, my favorite thing was what my mother called the hobby horses. The beautifully painted horses gliding around on the glittering, mirrored carousel captured my eye from early on. Even when we were out of tickets, I was content to watch. I never seemed to move past riding anything more than the carousel, which as a teen, I’m sure made me something of an oddity. The horses just seemed so glamorous (plus, I never felt the need to spin at a high rate of speed in a cage above the fairgrounds).

Later on, a different circle of horses caught my attention. There was less gliding and galloping, but beautiful more all the same. And I do miss it!

Horse racing was a very important part of the Comal County Fair for many years. The Comal County Fair Association was formed early in 1893, fashioned after a very successful fundraiser for the Krankenhaus (hospital) in 1892. Harry Landa was elected president. They selected a date later in 1893 to hold the first fair in Landa’s pasture (later LCRA and now The Landmark). Unfortunately, there was a terrible drought that year. The fair was cancelled due to being too dusty for horse racing!

In 1894, the first actual fair was held, complete with both saddle and harness racing. Saddle racing is that of a rider perched upon a saddle on the animal’s back. Harness racing is where a rider sits upon a two-wheel buggy pulled by a single horse with a specific gait, a trot or a pace. In his memoir, As I Remember, Harry Landa tells of his rather dismal business venture where he bought buggies and a string of trotters in order to be ready to run them at the 1894 fair. He ended up trading all for 30 rail cars of hay, something he felt was a much better proposition than racing.

After five years on the Landa property, the Comal County Fair Association purchased approximately twenty-two acres in Comal Town above the Guadalupe River. There, they built a racetrack and a dancehall. Financial difficulties prompted them to sell the acreage to the city of New Braunfels, who in turn leased the property back to the Association. They appeared to enjoy some successes, but there is no mention of fair from 1910 to 1922 (basically World War I era). During that time the city used the property as a dump, building an incinerator on site. The stack is still visible.

In 1923, the Fair Association reorganized, purchasing three city blocks adjacent to the city property. The old leased property and buildings had not been touched for more than 10 years. The group worked to add improvements and bring the track back to life. Just a month before the fair, a huge fire consumed the grandstand. It was rebuilt, granting them the ability to hold both harness and saddle races. Racing became a very popular spectator sport.

By January 1926, the Association added winter pony racing events to the calendar, stepping out of the county fair time frame. There were up and down successes through the years. Texas voters approved parimutuel betting just four years prior, but it was again outlawed in 1937. Racing had remained steady without legalized betting, but the popularity of horse racing had risen when parimutuel betting was legal in Texas at four large state-designated tracks. The Comal County Fair Association benefited from all the activity even though they were never licensed for parimutuel betting.

By 1958, Marcus Adams, Secretary of the Comal County Fair Association, was appointed a member of the Texas Racing Circuit. The circuit was made up of operators from six race tracks in southern Texas: New Braunfels, Junction, Fredericksburg, Brady, Boerne, and Sonora, running both thoroughbred and quarter horses races Many CCFA members served on the Texas Racing Circuit over the years. Of the tracks that made up the Texas Racing Circuit, only Fredericksburg still operates a race track.

Along the way, the local Comal County Fair race track became known as Dutchman Downs. During the ’70s, the track developed a reputation as one of the leading training centers for some of the finest quarter horse racing stables, complimented by local award-winning trainers and jockeys.

From the time that parimutuel betting was outlawed in 1937, proponents pushed to have it reinstated. Parimutuel betting appeared on Texas ballots more than four times. Finally, in 1987, the Texas voters approved a referendum legalizing parimutuel wagering again. It also created the Texas Racing Commission and a new set of rules. The rules required a track to have a clear quarter-mile straightaway for parimutuel licensure. With the layout of the fairground property backing up to the Guadalupe River bluff, there was no way that Comal County Fairgrounds could fit a quarter-mile straightaway. Races continued to run in 1987 and 1988 with the last run in 1989. Sadly, the 1990 races were canceled due to lack of entries. There was only one.

After trainers moved to other recognized tracks, the inside fairground track rail was cut open to expand the center rodeo arena. Now, the rodeo is my favorite thing. Go to the fair and find your favorite thing! Enjoy!

Sources: Gene Chollett; Danny Scheel; It’s Fair Time by Myra Lee Adams Goff, So phienburg Museum and Archives; A Pictorial History by Rosemarie Leissner Gregory and Myra Lee Adams Goff.

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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 go there, but never really got an answer, until now. Did you know that New Braunfels had a poor farm? I certainly didn’t, and I grew up here.

I think the farm location shocked me the most. A farm. In town. Okay, it was actually located in Comal Town, close to what is now Landa Park, but only a mile and a half from Main Plaza. The area was rural farmland when the county commissioners created it, and Comal Town was not part of New Braunfels. Let’s start over.

As long as people have inhabited the earth, there have been people of lesser means – the indigent or poor people. Many were poor because of unfortunate circumstances, illness or old age. Continental Europe followed Spanish traditions where families and the church charities were responsible for helping the needy. Within English society, responsibility for care of the poor was given to local authorities and families, but with government oversight.

Pauper care in Texas was rooted in Spanish tradition that expected the church, charities and families to care for the needy. The churches did the best they could. With the formation of the Republic of Texas 1836, care for those in need changed to a system rooted in English poor law. The new republic enacted laws that organized courts and defined their duties. One law specified that it was the “duty of said board of commissioners to provide at the expense of the county, for the support of indigent, lame, and blind persons, who are unable to support themselves.” Support came as both outside support (money to help them in their homes) or inside, which meant living in an almshouse or on a poor farm. After Texas gained statehood, the act was modified in 1846 to include a provision for responsibility of pauper burials.

Those who came to Texas from Europe banked all they had to make a new life in this wonderful land. The risk was high and there was no Plan B. If things went wrong, they were in trouble. Illness, snake bites, childbirth, even riding a horse could create a traumatic change of events. Losing a spouse to childbirth or illness often split up families. Those with frailties, no means of support and advanced age were sent to the poor farm and children went to an orphanage. The indigent of early New Braunfels were usually widows or of very advanced age. They were granted support of about $6 monthly.

After the Civil War, there was much suffering that churches and charities could hardly keep up. The Texas Constitution, amended in 1869, provided for the establishment of the county labor poorhouses. It was not until 1897 that Comal County Comissioners voted to establish a poor farm in New Braunfels. They voted to purchase fourteen acres of land from Louis Moeller for $1350. The land was located in the vicinity of the Landa Estates, bordered by Market (now Torrey), LibertyAvenue, Mulberry Avenue and the Comal River. The county authorized the building of three houses of board and batten construction. The houses were located on Lots No. 74 & 82 up front on Market. Mr. George Lang was hired to be the manager of the poor farm. He was allowed to live rent-free in the middle house and was expected to feed all of the paupers sent to the farm on 20 cents per day. Approximately eleven and a half acres of the property was leased back to Mr. Moeller for cultivation.

The poor farm continued to operate over the years in spite the MKT Railroad cutting through the property. Albert Marion was manager for twenty-four years. After his death in 1934, his nephew Milton C. Marion took the job. The poor farm had been very important in helping many people make it through the depression, being able to work and support the families.

In 1934, the Social Security Act changed indigent care forever and the need began to dwindle. I could still find M.C. Marion was listed as poor farm manager in 1940, but not after that. In 1936, Harry Landa sold his park to the City and the Landa Estates developed on property that was once poor farm. People still resided in the old poor farm houses in the ‘40s and ‘50s.

Time moved on and in 1961 the City County Health Department took up residence in one of the white board and batten Torrey Street houses. If you had to get vaccinations or health cards between 1961 and 1974, that is where you went. At the same time, the county warehouse occupied barns on the same poor farm property between the railroad and Torrey Street. After the Health Department moved to the old Naval Reserve building on Comal Street, the County Probation department had some programs there. The two-acre poor farm property changed hands in 1980 when Henk Paving moved in. The last board and batten structure was recently destroyed to make way for parking.

Sources: Sophienburg Museum & Archives; https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1467&context=ita

Caption: Map indicating the location of the Comal County Poor Farm

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By Tara V. Kohlenberg —

It’s happened again. While looking for an old house address in the archive, my eyes strayed across the page to an unknown item, and my curiosity got the best of me. I needed to solve the mystery of a street named Pecan. I had no idea where that was. Having lived nearly my entire life in New Braunfels, with the exception of a few years away at school, I thought I could tell you where almost every old street was in this town, but it seems that was not the case.

With magnifying glass in hand, I headed for the map drawers. I went for the earliest representation of New Braunfels as surveyed by Nikolaus Zink in 1845. Zink was an army officer on leave and at the disposal of Prince Carl. He is responsible for laying out the newly established colony in the manner of European towns, with streets and town lots arranged around a large open main plaza. Zink even added a smaller market plaza a little further from the center of town. For his efforts, Zink was granted 25 acres along the Comal Creek along with his own named street designated along the edge of his property. Early street names were in German. The two main ones, San Antonio Strasse and Seguiner Strasse (strasse means street), obviously marking the direction to those cities, intersected at Main Plaza. I also found Berg (Hill) Strasse, which ran along the base of the hill where the Sophienburg sat. There was Brücken (Bridge) Strasse, which led to the pecan tree bridge across the Comal: Fahr (Ferry) Strasse, which led to the ferry crossing on the Guadalupe; and Sack Gasse, (sack alley), which led from Lindheimer’s garden to the ferry crossing. No Pecan Street on that map.

Moving on to an 1868 map, I found it. Pecan Street was short, only two blocks long, located between Zink Street and the Comal Creek. But that mystery led to others with more streets that I did not recognize, many names of which are now different. New Braunfels more than tripled in size in just twenty-three years, challenging the numbers of today’s rapid population growth. Prince Carl settled New Braunfels on 1285 acres purchased from the Juan Martin de Veramendi Family. The Veramendis in turn, hired an agent named Murchison to develop and sell lots in Comal Town, situated across the Comal River, but that’s another story.

The two settlements were quite separate, as it required a ferry to cross the river. Two separate cities easily explains the duplication of street names: Commerce, Liberty, Washington, Union, Ferguson. It looked like a patchwork quilt, where the subdivisions and streets did not quite line up. It seemed that each developer did not take into account that it had to connect to other already existing streets. So, in October 1926, the City Commissioners voted to change all that, marking the streets in a uniform manner for city delivery.

In downtown New Braunfels, Grand Avenue, was somewhat in line with Hill and therefore changed to Hill Avenue. Both sides of Market Plaza, parallel to San Antonio St. were changed to Tolle Street. Ferry Street, one block long, was made an extension of Jahn Street. Pecan, Market and Solms (a little short street by Boy Scout Hut) were sort of in a straight line, so they all became Market Avenue. Coll Street, Church (the piece of Coll that ran beside First Protestant Church) and Warnecke (may have been the little street running from Solms to river) streets were all changed to the Coll Street that we know now. They also took Yankee (beside the mill, supposedly named for Torrey, who was from Connecticut), Gilbert and Ferdinand (possibly the short street perpendicular to Warnecke) and made a very disjointed Gilbert Street. Sack Street became Simon (See-mon) located near Lindheimer Plaza.

The 1926 action also included changing Prinz Road, where Prince Carl is said to have once owned 100 acres, to Landa Street. There is now a Prince Drive in the subdivision in the same area. High became Willow Avenue. Hoecke Street became West Bridge Street. An unnamed street in the Schulze addition on the west side of town was designated Katy Street. The street running north of Comal Creek was named Floral Avenue, as it ran along the Locke Nursery property from the hill to the creek. Later, maybe in the 70’s, a railroad crossing was put in connecting Floral and Walnut. The whole street became Walnut, except for the little dead end piece of Floral on the hill. They also changed South Union in the Kuehler addition to Kuehler Avenue.

And what of the other duplications mentioned earlier? They were not addressed in the 1926 reports, so it is not clear when the changes happened. The new names do appear on the 1936 map. Comal Town retained Commerce, Liberty, Washington and Union. In New Braunfels proper, Commerce became Clemens (named for businessman Johann Wilhelm Clemens of Clemens Dam fame) Avenue. Liberty became Hampe Street; and Washington became South Guenther. Ferguson, a one block long avenue connecting San Antonio and Mill streets, was retained by New Braunfels. In Comal Town, Ferguson Street, so named because it was adjacent to Ferguson-owned property, along with an earlier version of Basel Street, went away when Liberty Street was extended to East Dittlinger/San Antonio Street.

There is so much information to be found in these old maps, some of which can be found in articles by Myra Lee Adams Goff on our website or in her book, Around the Sophienburg, available at the museum. If all of this street information is more than you can absorb, just know that the Commissioners tried to make it simple for us when they adopted the ordinance stating that San Antonio Street is the dividing line between north and south and Seguin Avenue the dividing line between east and west. All streets parallel with Seguin Avenue would be known as avenues, and all streets parallel with San Antonio Street would be called streets. Easy, Right?

Sources: Sophienburg Archives, Around the Sophienburg by Myra Lee Adams Goff; First Founders by Everette Fey

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By Myra Lee Adams Goff —

To know the history of New Braunfels is to know the history of Comaltown. This is somewhat true but not entirely. In 1845, there were two towns, separated only by the Comal River‘s original channel which basically runs from Landa Park Lake between the golf course and Schlitterbahn.

Let’s look at the 1840s map of the two-league Veramendi tract to locate where these two settlements were. I found the map in the abstract of my property. It is very crude and not to scale but you can get the idea. A portion of area No. 1 makes up the original city of New Braunfels. Areas No. 2, No. 3 and part of No. 4 were Comaltown. All of the area was owned by the Juan Veramendi family. The name Veramendi lives on even today with a new subdivision by that name. Juan Martin de Veramendi, born in San Antonio in 1778, was a politician during the Spanish and Mexican periods in the history of Texas. He married Maria Josefa Navarro, who was from a prominent family, and the couple had seven children. Veramendi received two Mexican land grants in Comal County. One consisted of 8,856 acres (two leagues as pictured) and the other 4,300 acres (one league) above the Balcones Escarpment. The Veramendi subdivision is part of the one-league grant. Juan Veramendi died in Monclova, Mexico in 1833 from cholera.

After Juan Verimendi died, the Veramendi lands were divided in the 1840s and the two-league property divided further into five parcels. All were awarded to heirs of Veramendi who eventually sold the properties. A portion of area No. 1 was sold to Prince Carl for the new settlement of New Braunfels.

When the Texas Legislature incorporated New Braunfels in May of 1846, the town of Comaltown (areas No. 2, 3 and 4) was included as part of New Braunfels. In 1850, forty-five Comaltown citizens petitioned the legislature to become a separate city and to change the boundaries. The petition was rejected so Comaltown remained part of NB.

Ferdinand Roemer writes about early Texas, “A speculative American had laid out a new city between the fork of the Comal and the Guadalupe within view of the city of New Braunfels called Comaltown.” Roemer was referring to Daniel Murchison, agent for Maria Antonia Veramendi Garza. Comal Town (named originally to be a separate town) was laid out in area No. 4 by Maria and Rafael Garza. The plaza in the middle is where the Christus Santa Rosa Hospital lies. It originally was a plaza given by the Garzas to the people who bought lots in the Comal Town subdivision.

The subdivision of Braunfels was later platted in 1868 in area No. 3 and contained a plaza that later became the location of Lamar School. The large dance hall, Echo Halle, now Eagles Hall, is in this area. Area No. 2 was the last area of Comaltown to be subdivided. Initially, it had been purchased by Mather and Richardson.

During the flood of 1972, Comaltown became an island. It was surrounded by water – the Comal and Guadalupe Rivers and Blieders Creek. Some of the lower lands, like the golf course and Landa Estates, were completely inundated but most of the area was above water. Many city landmarks were located on dry ground such as the New Braunfels Hospital, the Comal Cemetery, Our Lady of Perpetual Help Cemetery, Panteon Hidalgo Cemetery, Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Cemetery and the Comal County Fairgrounds.

My home was, and still is, in the middle of the Braunfels Subdivision. I remember the flood well. With no electricity, no fresh water, no cars, no ambulances, the only noise that could be heard was the rushing of flood water as it picked up trees and buildings along the banks. The most devastating loss was that of fourteen lives.

Back to the beginning: As time passed from 1845, many businesses sprang up in the Comaltown area especially along Union Avenue. There were grocery stores, a gas station, saloons, a funeral home, mechanics and churches. As New Braunfels’ city limits grew, Comaltown did not. It was a land-locked area. Many Victorian style homes as well as small craftsmen style homes were built. Many of the homes were built by Adolph and Alwin Moeller. My Comaltown family connection begins with the Moeller family. On Austin Street, there is a three-story beautiful rock home that was built in the early 1850s by Johann George Moeller, grandfather of Adolph and Alwin Moeller. Johann finished the hand-hewn rock home in 1857. It remained in the Moeller family until it was sold to Schlitterbahn a few years back.

Both the Moeller brothers established themselves in New Braunfels construction. Many of the buildings in downtown New Braunfels were built by Adolph or Alwin Carl (A.C.) Moeller. Occasionally you can look at the old sidewalks and see the name A.C. Moeller Contractor. My friend David Hartmann and I claim Johann Moeller as our first ancestor in the Comaltown area. Johann Moeller is my g-g-grandfather and he is David’s g-g-g-grandfather. David and I both grew up in Comaltown. Yes, 20 years apart.

In the next few articles, David and I will tell you about what we remember about Comalstadt from the 1940s and the 1960s. We often get together and share remembrances about the good old days in Comaltown. Perhaps we will tell you about the social life, businesses, churches and schools.

My dad used to say that everything that relates to property changes value every 25 years, sometimes good and sometime bad. I think Comaltown is changing for the good.

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