The next time you drive downtown, take a look at the old IGN train depot at the intersection of San Antonio Street and Hill Avenue. Although it’s now a museum, with just a little knowledge and imagination, you can transport yourself back to the olden times known as the Railroad Era.

Back when Texas was the Republic of Texas, in 1836, the first congress chartered the first railroad company, the Texas Rail Road, Navigation, and Banking Co. to construct railroads where needed. This was ten years after the first US railroad was chartered. The company lasted two years but the railroad was never built. Other companies were chartered, but still no railroads.

In 1847, Gen.Sidney Sherman acquired lots in Harrisburg, acquired northern capital and established the Buffalo Bayou, Brazos and Colorado as the first railroad in Texas. By the end of 1861, there were nine operating railroads in Texas, mostly in East Texas. One was the International & Great Northern (IGN). Jay Gould was the controlling stockholder. This name would come up later in New Braunfels history. Politics played a big part as far as where railroads would locate.

After the Civil War and Reconstruction, new lines formed and some merged. In 1875, New Braunfels, as well as other small towns, saw the advantage of a railroad going through their town. Brian Weidner, who has done extensive research on railroads in NB, states that in the New Braunfelser Zeitung, editor Anselm Eiband, began writing about attempts to offer the railroads cash and property to build in NB.

In the meantime the International & Great Northern Railroad in 1879, requested right-of-way land to build a depot in NB. The railroad was able to acquire town lots 10 & 17 from Ferdinand and Anna Nolte. Lot 10 faced San Antonio Street and Hill Street and Lot 17 faced Mill Street. The railroad was in business! The first freight passenger trains entered NB in the fall of 1880.

The first ticket office was a store front owned by Mr. Nolte’s business on San Antonio Street. IGN constructed a small depot and the old store front was removed.

The era of the railroad brought tremendous changes to the economy of Texas and to New Braunfels as well. Many small towns that were overlooked by the railroad completely disappeared. A big advantage of the presence of a railroad was that goods could be brought in and local goods could be sent out. Tourism flourished in towns, like New Braunfels, that had natural beauty.

Remember Jay Gould? The story goes that his daughter, Helen Gould, visited the Harry Landa estate in 1898. According to Landa, Miss Gould liked the beauty of Landa Park so much that she proposed to him that the IGN build a spur track into Landa Park, which they did.

The second railroad line into NB, the Missouri, Kansas, Texas Railroad, while extending their tracks from NB to San Antonio, also built a station plus spur track into Landa Park. The railroads were helping New Braunfels become a tourist destination. In his book, “As I Remember”, Harry Landa made this comment:

“Beer, bathing, boat riding, bands, and dancing, and other recreations were enjoyed by picnickers and Landa Park became one of the most popular resorts of the Southwest.”

The president, Theodore Roosevelt, made a political speech from the rear of a Pullman car passing through NB, and the whole city turned out to see this spectacle complete with a children’s choir, a decorated station and an assembly of young women dressed as Roughriders.

Pressure was on by the public for the railroad to build a larger, better depot to accommodate all the visitors who were arriving. In 1907 the firm of Moeller, Mordhurst & Blumberg were contracted to manufacture cement blocks to build a new depot. Adolph Moeller was responsible for building many public buildings and Victorian homes in NB, and Mordhurst was the one who produced the cement blocks and also decorated the graves with concrete-filled shells. There are at least five homes still standing that were built of Mordhurst’s cement blocks in New Braunfels and also many graves in Comal Cemetery.

Brian Weidner’s research reveals that the new station was made of concrete-colored tiles with red grout between the tiles. There were ornamental wrought iron details supporting the roof. The large entrances were surrounded by diamond latticed glass transoms and side panels. Look for these features. You may have to get out of the car to see all the details.

The construction of the interstate highway system had a big effect on the railroad and its station. Eventually by the 1960s, passenger service was discontinued and then replaced by Amtrak.

The city was given the IGN station by the railroad in 1986 with a yearly lease on the land. The same year, the city leased the station and property to the New Braunfels Historic Railroad & Modelers Society who run it as a free museum to the public.

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Before we say goodbye to the Civil War, let’s look at what the period immediately after the war known as Reconstruction, brought to Comal County. When the war was over in 1865, many did not return home, putting a terrible hardship on the families. Many survivors sustained lifelong injuries. For all, life was different than it had been before the war.

Comal County had been divided on the question of secession from the Union and although the vote was overwhelmingly for joining the Confederacy, it wasn’t without conflict. Shortages of necessities of life made life difficult. Confederate money, issued during the war, was now worthless.

Jacob Lindheimer, editor of the Zeitung, kept the paper going during and after the war even though the lack of paper forced him to use wallpaper and tissue paper. When citizens who didn’t agree with his opinions dumped his printing press into the Comal, he just fished it out and kept on printing. Then there was the matter of newspaper subscribers wanting to pay their subscriptions in Confederate money. Once Lindheimer and his sons, who were unable to buy food with this money, went out and slaughtered a beef and then advertised that he would be glad to pay the owner of the animal in Confederate money. The beef owner refused to take this money for the beef. “What’s good for the goose is good for the gander”, so they say.

Comal County issued its own money but it wasn’t honored either. The merchants came up with their own medium of exchange. It was called “due bills”, sort of like “charging”. Some larger companies like Runge & Sons of Indianola issued their own due bills.

All the industry that had developed in Comal County before the war was destroyed, not from combat, but from lack of raw materials. Some entrepreneurial types began driving cattle or hauling freight from the coast. NB was a feeder station for trail drives on the Chisholm Trail from San Antonio to Kansas. Ranching was quickly replacing the cotton industry. Industries like Landa Flour Mills prospered. Skilled German artisans like saddlemakers, blacksmiths and wheelwrights were in demand.

The New Braunfels Woolen Manufacturing Co. was organized in 1867 in a building formerly used for a brandy distillery located at Garden and Comal streets. It was converted into a woolen mill and later furnished yards of gray woolen cloth to A&M College for uniforms. The building became a steam laundry after the turn of the century and was razed in 1952. The present St. John’s Episcopal Church built in 1967 contains a wooden cross made from timbers of the old mill.

A new type of business association began with the formation of mutual insurance associations and cooperative gins. Neighbor had to help neighbor as they had done in the early days. Individuals owned the associations. If the breadwinner died during the war, the organization promised to pay a benefit to the survivors. Germania Farmers Association at Anhalt was one of those mutual companies organized for protection, and to promote agriculture. (See Sophienburg.com, Around the Archives, May 13, 2008.) Ranchers and farmers pooled their money and built their own gins. Most were non-profit but shared the proceeds according to the use they made of the facilities.

The insurance business in the United States was the brainchild of Benjamin Franklin. He came up with the idea in 1752 in Philadelphia to cover houses lost by fire. Houses were mostly made of wood and were very close together. Seven years later Franklin organized the first life insurance company. Religious authorities were outraged at putting a monetary value on human life but assented when they realized that it also protected widows and orphans. The whole insurance business expanded as the need evolved.

The Sons of Hermann was another mutual insurance company. In 1840 a handful of German men in New York City formed a brotherhood whose mission was to provide aid to each other, the sick, widows and orphans. The brotherhood was founded to combat the prejudice of the “Know-Nothing-Party”, an organization promoting prejudice against foreigners in the US. The European immigrants, particularly Germans, were recipients of prejudice. The Germans formed the Sons of Hermann insurance company in response to this prejudice. Hermann was a German folk hero who was a symbol of manhood.

Reconstruction was over with the entrance of the railroads in the 1880s. By the turn of the century, the Landa family had opened up picnic grounds at Landa Park. A new industry had begun based on the cultural assets of the community. Tourism was here to stay.

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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. Before Bob died, he gave me a personal copy of many of his writings.

The war and the courthouse were the two most covered events of that year. Some of the trivia in the paper will give you an idea of how things stacked up here in 1898. The Zeitung was written in German, the editor was Eugene Kaiser and the once-a-week paper subscription was $2.50 a year and $3.00 if sent to Germany.

The original CC Courthouse was located on the corner of the plaza where the Chase Bank stands. Plans were presented by six architects from Houston, Austin, and San Antonio. The plans of architect J. Riely Gordon were chosen. Judge Ad. Giesecke voted against the plan, as did Commissioner Schulze, Jr. Commissioners Marbach, Startz, and Adams voted for Gordon’s plan. Contractors chosen were Fischer and Lambie. Fischer was a New Braunfels native.

In May, the cornerstone was laid. Bands played, and flag-waving school children marched from school to the plaza. City and County officials marched in step. The cornerstone was suspended over the southern corner of the completed ground floor. Historical items were placed in a metal box and with three ceremonial hammer strokes, the stone was consecrated by pouring corn, wine and oil on it from a silver chalice. (Incidentally, Schulze refused to have his name on the cornerstone)

After the ceremony the crowd made its way to Gottlieb Oberkampf’s garden where children were served lemonade and adults were served beer.

The other big headliner was the Spanish-American war between Spain and the United States. The US intervened in the Cuba Libra war against Spain for independence. Conflicts between Spain and its possession, Cuba, had been going on for years and American sentiment towards the Spanish atrocities had reached a high point by 1898.

Pres. McKinley sent the USS Maine to Havana to protect American citizens. The Maine suffered a massive explosion in Havana Harbor. The cause was unknown but with the death of 266 sailors, American opinion demanded retaliation against Spain. War was declared by the US on Spain in April of 1898.

After four months of conflict, the war was over. The US gained almost all of Spain’s colonies – Philippines, Guam and Puerto Rico. Cuba formed its own government and gained independence in 1902. During this war, Theodore Roosevelt and his Rough Riders trained in San Antonio.

The paper was not without its trivia about this war. The Naval Dept. was acquiring 10,000 carrier pigeons. In Key West, a special building for three weeks of training was built. The birds would be trained until they were capable of covering points near Havana to Key West.

Local news reflects the social aspect of the town. In that year, all babies that were born were listed throughout the paper but in a different way than today. “The mayor Carl Jahn and his wife had a baby girl.” The father’s name was listed in that way, not giving any credit to the mother.

There was an abundance of entertainment, particularly in the form of masked balls-Thorn Hill, Orth’s Pasture, Vogel’s Valley, and Children’s Masked Ball. The shooting club was active and the Men’s Singing Clubs celebrated with the “clinking of glasses”. A famous diver named Felton, would perform at the garden by diving from the roof of the high building into a basin of water 3½ feet deep. For sports lovers, one can travel on the International train between NB and Austin for $1.25 round trip to attend the “Base Ball” game.

New downtown: Sylvester Simon built a two story handsome pub right next to the new courthouse. Hmm. Also downtown, a sidewalk was built in front of the Gruene building on San Antonio St. (Calahans) A night watchman was hired to ” get around by bicycle”. (Horses were the main means of transportation) The city purchased a water wagon to sprinkle the streets. I’m sure that was a big thing since the streets were not paved.

Here it is, 114 years later. We still have a lively downtown, war, pubs, entertainment but hallelujah we don’t have a water wagon!

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How many times have you said or thought, “I wish I could remember what my grandmother told me about that.” If you have letters or a diary from your family, you are one of the fortunate ones. Our history of New Braunfels is almost totally based on the writings of Prince Carl, Hermann Seele, Ferdinand Roemer, Ferdinand Lindheimer and all those who told us our history because they were here. From them we learned what the town looked like, what people were doing, what they ate, how they felt, and what they thought. Even from the Spanish period in Texas we are told about routes along the Camino Real through the Comal Springs and about the missions established along the routes and how the explorers lived.

We live in what is called the communication age but you have to wonder how much of our “communication” today will be left for future generations to discover where we were and who we were. Remember that when you hit “delete” on your computer or cell text. Wonder if there is some kind of “cyber diary” out there that will be tapped in the future or will it all just be transported into outer space?

In 2013, I wrote an article about the life of Ferdinand Lindheimer, however, recently I read again A Life Among the Texas Flora by Minetta Altgelt Goyne, and decided to write more about this exceptional man. The book is a compilation of letters from Lindheimer to botanist George Engelmann.

Dr. Goyne, a descendant from some old New Braunfels families (Altgelt and Coreth), was teaching at the University of Texas at Arlington and could translate the old German script. She also knew a lot about New Braunfels history, Lindheimer and the history of Germany, all contributing to her insightful analysis published alongside the letters. The original letters are housed at the Missouri Botanical Garden at St. Louis. In 1979, the president of the New Braunfels Conservation Society approached Dr. Goyne to translate the letters. Copies of the letters had been acquired from Carlos Lindheimer, great-grandnephew of Lindheimer and native of Argentina.

Lindheimer came to New Braunfels in 1845 with Prince Carl at the age of 43. He did not travel to Texas on the ships with the first contingency of immigrants. He was already here in Texas. He was born and raised near Frankfurt, came to the United States in 1834, entering at New York. He traveled to Belleville, Illinois to the Hilgard Farm where he joined friends that had already emigrated from Germany. One of the friends was George Engelmann. Engelmann had studied medicine in Germany and had a practice in St. Louis but continued his plant studies. Engelmann and Lindheimer had studied botany together in Germany.

In the fall of 1834, Lindheimer set out from Illinois to travel south. His destination was Texas but it was considered dangerous to travel south directly into Texas from the northern route. He decided to travel to Mexico and then enter Texas from the south. He took a steamboat from Illinois down the Mississippi and arrived in New Orleans. then took a schooner to Veracruz, Mexico. He traveled to a German colony not far from Veracruz that he considered one of the most beautiful areas on earth. The German colony grew and exported sugarcane, coffee and tobacco. Lindheimer stayed there for a period of time working and observing the plantation. At that point, he thought he wanted to be a farmer.

We know that he left Mexico and enlisted in the Army of Texas, arriving with his company at San Jacinto one day too late. He received an honorable discharge at Houston on December 5, 1837. Apparently his commanding officers allowed him to collect botanical specimens while his fellow soldiers were performing drills. In 1939, he purchased a ten-acre farm near Houston not far from White Oak Bayou.

The letters to Engelmann beginning in 1841, indicate that he was accumulating equipment for his first botanizing in Texas. In 1835, while in Mexico, Lindheimer wrote to Engelmann about his interest in plants. Now in Texas, he was going to be paid to collect plant specimens and ship them to Engelmann in St. Louis.

Engelmann later organized the St. Louis Academy of Science in 1856 and what is now called the Missouri Botanical Garden. The archives house Engelmann’s plant collections and papers which include the Lindheimer letters. Many of the plant specimens collected by Lindheimer were also be sent to the famous botanist Asa Gray and actually all over the world. The Texas plants had never been collected and catalogued so completely before this time.

In the early 1840s, Lindheimer collected plants in the Houston and Galveston area, making little use of his home and living in a tent. His equipment consisted of paper, plant pressing equipment, magnifying glasses and botany textbooks. Specimens were shipped to St. Louis in wooden crates. Engelmann and Gray paid Lindheimer eight dollars per 100 specimens.

In 1842, Lindheimer wrote to Engelmann from Houston concerning the “Texas Star” flower (Lindheimeria texensis), “Did you write my name among the stars with this little Asteroid? Did I serve botany in that way? Not by knowledge of it but rather by love of this sleeping, dreaming daughter of Flora.” He continues, “So, if I die childless, then I shall nevertheless leave a little immortal daughter, the Lindheimer texensis!”

In 1843 and 1844, we find Lindheimer collecting specimens in (Wild)Cat Springs, San Felipe, Brazoria, Liverpool, the Brazos basin, Industry and the Chocolate Bayou. Wildcat or Cat Springs was established in 1834 by Robert Justus and Rosalie Roeder Kleberg. The 1831 settlement of Industry where Lindheimer visited is considered the cradle of German settlements in Texas. There was a small influx of German emigrants during most of the Republic of Texas period until the last year, when the major immigration to Texas occurred with Prince Carl.

In January 1845, Lindheimer wrote to Engelmann from the Adelsverein’s camp at Aqua Dulce. Many of the German Texans that had settled in Texas prior to the arrival of Prince Carl, joined with the prince at the coast. Then on April 18, 1845, we find that Lindheimer is writing his letter from the new German settlement on the Comal Springs. Lindheimer writes of New Braunfels, “Flower upon flower, richer than the richest Persian carpet. Fragrances that sometimes remind one of violets, often of vanilla, flow around the wanderer.”

In New Braunfels, Lindheimer reserved a piece of land for his botanical garden of Texas plants, arboretum and agricultural experiments. Under the employ of the Adelsverein, he received this farm and a house. By Christmas, he was living in a cold, poor, open hut and spending so much time on survival that he is having difficulty collecting plants. This situation was remedied when he met Eleanor Reinarz. Lindheimer described her as upright, understanding, diligent, solid, refreshing, generous and chaste. She shared in his interests and helped with his plant collecting. He wrote that in a couple of weeks, his weatherproof house will be ready alleviating the problem of moldy specimens.

From this home-base, Lindheimer traveled to the surrounding areas of San Antonio, Seguin, Austin, San Saba and the Pedernales to collect plant specimens.

Gray and Engelmann issued Plantae Lindheimerianae, Part I in 1845 and Part II in 1850, with many publications to follow. In the early 1850s, Lindheimer’s interests became more local and he spent more time raising his family with wife, Eleanor. New Braunfels was in need of a newspaper and on November 12, 1852, the first issue of the Neu-Braunfelser Zeitung was published with Lindheimer as editor. He continued botanizing to the end of his days. He died in 1879, and is buried in the Comal Cemetery. The first log home he built on Comal Avenue is no longer standing but his winterized home stands and is maintained amidst gardens by the New Braunfels Conservation Society.

Without a doubt, the letters establish why Lindheimer is considered the Father of Texas Botany.

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