Photo Caption: Records in the Sophienburg Museum and Archives used in researching Pablo Diaz.

The Pablo Diaz story

By Keva Hoffmann Boardman – Sometimes a little tidbit of information sets me off on a bunny trail. I took one of those trails recently after finding and reading a 1975 letter from Oscar Haas to Mrs. Gregorio Coronado here in New Braunfels. Haas was drawing her attention to the

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Horse racing at the county fair

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

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Joshua Wesloh wins Sophienburg history scholarship

The Sophienburg Memorial Association is proud to bestow the Sophienburg History Award, established in 2013, honoring Myra Lee Adams Goff for her dedication to the community and her steadfast love of history. The award recognizes a student who demonstrates a love and passion for New Braunfels history. The 2022 recipient

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Backroad bingo

By Tara V. Kohlenberg — After this past week’s historic Arctic storms Uri and Viola had us in winter lockdown, I jumped at the chance to go driving through the Comal countryside under the clear blue skies. It wasn’t just the sunshine and 70-degree temperatures that were so inviting. It

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Serdinko’s story

By Keva Hoffmann Boardman — Request from Fargo, North Dakota: Do you know anything about a New Braunfels photographer named J. Serdinko? “Uhhh…yeah,” I thought to myself, “but not enough to answer this request!” The Sophienburg photograph collections contain several hundred thousand images; about 300 of those are impressed with

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The museum’s Mormon mystery

By Keva Hoffmann Boardman – I just finished an exhibit on the Waissenhaus or Orphan’s Home. Organized in 1848 near Gruene, it was the first orphanage in Texas. I perused the Sophienburg’s collections to find original artifacts to use in the exhibit, and knew that of two large dough troughs,

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New Braunfels 25th Birthday (Part 1)

By Keva Hoffmann Boardman — New Braunfels, founded on March 21, 1845, traditionally celebrated the city’s anniversaries in May, because of agricultural and weather issues. The 25th Anniversary was held Sunday and Monday, May 15-16, 1870. Jubilee committees worked from March through May to plan the event. At 7 p.m.

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The Herman Lehmann Show

By Keva Hoffmann Boardman – Did you read my Herald-Zeitung article on Herman Lehmann? If not, you should, because this dovetails into it. To recap, Herman Lehmann was captured by Apache in 1870, when he was 11 years old. He published an autobiography, Nine Years Among the Indians, in 1927.

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Agarita memories

By Keva Hoffmann Boardman — I’m on the riding mower last weekend and encountered some of the least-friendly Texas botanicals: stickyweed (Galium aparino), greenbriar (Smilax bona-nox L.) and agarita (Berberis trifoliolata). I totally detest the first two. The only thing stickyweed is good for is to use in a throwing

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A cycling trip

By Keva Hoffmann Boardman — In 1975, Oscar Haas (known as the historian of New Braunfels) delivered a talk on things he remembered in his youth. Oscar was born in 1895, so by youth, he means somewhere between 1905-1915. One of the things he talked about was his cycling escapades.

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