“What’s in a name?” — William Shakespeare
By Keva Hoffmann Boardman — What if New Braunfels was not named New Braunfels? I had never considered this, but of course the wonderful historian Oscar Haas did and recorded his findings in his book, History of New Braunfels and Comal County 1844-1946. There are two occasions on record wherein New Braunfels nearly lost its […]
Seven flags over New Braunfels
By Keva Hoffmann Boardman — On February 16, 1963, San Antonio Express and News staff writer Jerry Deal ran a story in the San Antonio Express and News about Laredo, Texas. This is an out take: “… the friendly city of Laredo is not only the oldest independent town established in Texas (1755) — it […]
The voice of Oscar Haas
By Tara V. Kohlenberg — Oscar Haas was well known as the historian and record-keeper of New Braunfels and Comal County. He documented a hundred years of our community’s progress through twenty years of newspaper articles and a published book. Now in its fourth printing, The History of New Braunfels and Comal County, Texas 1844-1946, […]
Mammoth finds
By Keva Hoffmann Boardman – If you’ve ever looked at the mural “Lure of the Springs” on the Parks and Rec building in Landa Park, you will find it includes a mammoth. The Sophienburg has several prehistoric artifacts and one of them is a mammoth tooth. Cool. I wondered where it was found, who found […]
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. Bicycle trips were often made […]
We owe a lot of what we know to Oscar Haas
By Myra Lee Adams Goff Almost 70 years ago (1947), local historian Oscar Haas was asked by the Texas State Historical Association to compile the origin and history of all name-places in Comal County. Haas’ histories and thousands of others are what make up the Handbook of Texas that can be accessed online. One of […]
Oscar Haas’ research used by many for over 75 years
By Myra Lee Adams Goff There is one historian’s name in New Braunfels that is mentioned over and over. After writing this column for the last nine years, and writing a few books, I can’t begin to tell you how many times his name is mentioned as a writer or a translator. Somehow the name […]
