Recollections of early New Braunfels

By Tara V. Kohlenberg — German immigrants crossed the Guadalupe River on March 21, 1845, setting foot in the next long-term waystation. When spring rolls through Central Texas, it is easy to see why the founding families sought to stay here, in New Braunfels, rather than move further along to the promised land of the […]

Hidden in plain sight

By Tara Voigt Kohlenberg — Almost everywhere we go in New Braunfels, there is history hidden in plain sight. Perhaps it is something we drive by daily, but when asked about it, can’t recall where it is. Perhaps it is a building that looks like any other built within the last twenty years, except it […]

“Just a Grand Place to make a Living and a Grand Place to Live”

By Keva Boardman, Sophienburg Curator When the New Braunfels Chamber of Commerce published a new brochure in the 1960s, they (rightfully) had a lot to boast about. New Braunfels was just beginning its change from a small town to a large town. Today, our community is changing from a large town to a city. Growth […]

Bill George, Renaissance Man

By Myra Lee Adams Goff In my travels in Comal County researching history, I have met some interesting individuals that tell great stories. One of them was Wilbur Bill “Big Willie” George, age 91, 92 in April. Herb Skoog, who interviewed George a few years back for the Sophienburg Reflections Program, called him a Renaissance […]

Background of Bracken Bowling

By Myra Lee Adams Goff “Rip Van Winkle” is a short story written by Washington Irving. Rip lives in a village by the Catskill Mountains. He is an easygoing, henpecked husband. One day he wanders into the mountains to go hunting and he meets and drinks with Henry Hudson’s legendary sailing crew. They are bowling […]