Photo Caption: Martin's Picture Palace was the first movie house in New Braunfels. Advertisements for films begin in March 1914.

Movie memories

By Keva Hoffmann Boardman — We go see the latest movie and think nothing about it. It is an easy and common thing to do. I don’t even remember the first film I saw, though I’m fairly certain it was a Disney movie. Not so in the early 1900s. I

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Days of yule and yore in downtown New Braunfels

By Myra Lee Adams Goff — (Originally published December 13, 2006) I am sure you have seen our beautiful lighted Comal County Courthouse. The Grand Dame of Main Plaza buildings is 125 years old. In December 1898, the courthouse was inspected and given the seal of approval by the Commissioners

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The saga of the Six Shooter Ranch

By Keva Hoffman Boardman — The Six Shooter Ranch. The name evokes something rather wonderful in an old-Western-movie kind of way. However, dear reader, the history around the Six Shooter Ranch is anything but romantic. There are tales from different time periods which give us clues to its story and

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Photo Caption: H.W. Schmidt cigar box with circa 1845 cigar cutter and meerschaum cigar holder.

A good smoke was a hometown cigar

By Keva Hoffmann Boardman — So, I’m still in “cigar-mode.” Once begun, research on a subject takes me down many roads, each with their own questions to answer. For instance, I found out that early New Braunfels had cigar makers. These were not big outfits, but little factories which had

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Images of history

By Tara V. Kohlenberg — Some fifty years ago, New Braunfels was still a small town. You know, very Mayberry, where they pulled up the fire hydrants, rolled up the sidewalks and locked them in the bank every day at 6 p.m. At least they did from my child-eye view.

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The Moeller family of Comaltown

By Myra Lee Adams Goff — New Braunfels has an historic and active downtown. In order for that to happen, three things are necessary. First, the buildings themselves must be of lasting quality. Secondly, an active preservation philosophy must be prevalent. The third is to have creative successful business owners. We

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Public art in New Braunfels

By Keva Hoffmann Boardman — The recently unveiled “Legacy of Our Journey” mural on Main Plaza got me thinking about public art in our city. I have always considered New Braunfels to be an historic city, but what if I broadened my thinking and started looking at it as a

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First-hand account of the Indianola hurricane

By Myra Lee Adams Goff New Braunfels loves to celebrate anniversaries, but this date, Friday August 20 in 1886, we can commemorate but not celebrate. It was on this day one hundred thirty years ago (as of yesterday) that a hurricane hit the Gulf Coast. It was so strong that

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The year 1898 was a news-filled year for the Neu Braunfelser Zeitung

By Myra Lee Adams Goff In 1998, the late Dr. Robert Govier, native New Braunfelser and volunteer at the Sophienburg, translated the 1898 Neu Braunfelser Zeitung, one hundred years later. The weekly newspaper is on microfilm at the Archives and had to be translated from German script to English. Govier

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Downtown renovations important

By Myra Lee Adams Goff Ron Snider has been awarded the Dr. Frederick Frueholz Comal County Historical Commission Award for his work in the restoration and preservation of downtown New Braunfels buildings. In the 1960s a trend of tearing down old buildings, remodeling them into modern buildings or using the

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