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Marker Title: Comal County
City: New Braunfels
County: Comal
Year Marker Erected: 1936
Marker Location: On Business IH 35, just north of intersection
with SH 46, New Braunfels - (1 mi. N. New Braunfels, US 81)
Marker Text: Formed from Travis and Bexar land districts. Created
- March 24,1846; Organized - July-13, 1846; Named for the river, so
called from the pancake shape of the islands formed by its springs.
New Braunfels, county seat established March 21,1845. Named in honor
of the founder Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels.
Marker Title: Comal County Courthouse
City: New Braunfels
County: Comal
Year Marker Erected: 1993
Marker Location: 150 N Sequin, New Braunfels
Marker Text: In 1846 Comal County held its first court session
in the home of its county clerk, Conrad Seabaugh. Courthouse facilities
acquired in 1849 proved inadequate and were replaced with a 2-story
building at the southeast corner of the city plaza in 1860. The building
fell into disrepair and in 1898 the county chose famous Texas courthouse
architect J. Riley Gordon to design a new courthouse. Gordon's original
design, incorporating four entrances compatible with the building's
proposed location at the center of the plaza, was nevertheless retained
when this corner lot site was chosen instead . Austin contractors Fischer
and Lamie used stone quarried 10 miles north of New Braunfels on land
owned by Texas/U.S.statesman Edward Mandell House to build this courthouse
in 1898. The 3 1/2 story Romanesque-style structure features rounded
pavilion entrances often employed by Gordon and includes dramatic massing
and superb detail in its stone work. A 1929-31 large stone jail addition
was designed by Jeremiah Schmidt of New Braunfels. The courthouse underwent
considerable interior and minor exterior renovations in 1966-67 and
1987. The courthouse reflects New Braunfel's German heritage and the
spirit of Comal County at the turn of the twentieth century. Recorded
Texas Historic Landmark - 1993
Marker Title: Faust Street Bridge
City: New Braunfels
County: Comal
Year Marker Erected: 1999
Marker Location: East end of Faust Street, at Guadalupe River.
Marker Text: Caravans carrying supplies to Spanish missions in
east Texas and other travelers crossed the Guadalupe River on El Camino
Real (The King's Highway) near this site in the 18th century. It sometimes
took weeks for floodwaters to subside so travelers could cross. In 1887,
the Comal County commissioners court contracted with the King Iron Bridge
Company of Ohio to build a high water bridge over the Guadalupe River.
Among the last wrought iron bridges built in Texas and one of the first
long-term toll-free structures completed over a major waterway in the
state, this monumental truss structure extends more than 640 feet in
length. It is comprised of two main spans, known as Pratt (Whipple)
truss spans, flanked by two smaller spans. The Whipple was a variation
on the more typical Pratt truss style bridge design which enjoyed brief
but explosive popularity in the mid- to late-19th century. These trusses
are connected by a pin-and-hanger system, which was the common method
of the time. The spans are supported by oval-shaped masonry piers with
rusticated stonework and pointed, or "cut-water," ends. In
1917, the Texas Highway Department designated the Faust Street bridge
to serve as a major crossing for all traffic between Austin and San
Antonio on state highway 2, formerly the Austin-San Antonio post road.
In 1934, a new concrete highway bridge was erected. The Faust Street
bridge continued to serve local traffic until it was damaged by fire
in 1979. Its unique design, using a combination of Pratt and Whipple
truss types, and its wrought iron construction place the Faust Street
bridge among the important historic bridges in the state. Recorded Texas
Marker Title: First Patented Wire Fence
City: New Braunfels
County: Comal
Year Marker Erected: 1982
Marker Location: 100 block Landa St., entrance to Wurstfest grounds
at Landa Park, New Braunfels.
Marker Text: [Special fence design at top of inscription] Virgina
native William H. Meriwether (b. 1800), an early Comal County plantation
owner, ran a sawmill, cotton gin and gristmill at this site. As an agriculturalist,
he was aware of the need for an economical and practical source of fencing
material. His interest led to the development of smooth wire and board
fence that effectively resisted the temperature changes that had been
so damaging to earlier wire fences. His invention known as snake wire
fencing, was awarded patent No.10211 on November 8, 1853. It was the
first patent for wire fence issued in the United States. Although not
widely accepted, Meriwether's fence was an important step in the development
of an economical fencing material. It also played a role in later wire
fence patent disputes. Meriwether sold his mill site to German native
Joseph Landa in 1859 and moved to Tennessee, where he died in 1861.
(1982)
Marker Title: German Pioneers in Texas
City: New Braunfels
County: Comal
Year Marker Erected: 1968
Marker Location: Hwy. 306, about 12 mi. NE of New Braunfels at
North Lookout on Canyon Dam.
Marker Text: In this area, now covered by Canyon Lake, German
emigrants were the first settlers. A society of Nobles (Mainzer Adelsverein)
sponsored the emigration of 7,380 Germans to Texas from 1844 to 1847.
They founded New Braunfels in 1845. Moving west, they established Fredericksburg
in 1846. Their Comanche Indian treaty opened 3,800,000 acres between
the Llano and Colorado Rivers to peaceful settlement. Farmers and artisans,
scholars and scientists, they triumphed over epidemic and privation
to help build Texas and the West.
Marker Title: Natural Bridge Caverns
City: New Braunfels
County: Comal
Year Marker Erected: 1967
Marker Location: From New Braunfels about 8.5 mi. west, caverns
located on FM 1863.
Marker Text: Discovered March 27, 1960, by four students of St.
Mary's University, San Antonio. Named for the rock bridge that marks
entrance. Dedicated on August 5, 1964 by Governor John Connally. Of
early cretaceous age; still forming. Site of artifacts from 5000 B.C., and human remains at least 8,000 years old; also Indian campsites.
1967
Marker Title: Site of Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe Mission -
Our Lady of Guadalupe Mission
City: New Braunfels
County: Comal
Year Marker Erected: 1968
Marker Text: Established on 1756 in the Guadalupe River at or
near present New Braunfels as an extension of the ill-fated Mission
San Francisco Xavier de Horcasitas (1746-1755). Earlier located 100
miles northeast, San Francisco Xavier had been shaken by attacks, disease,
and strife between friars and soldiers, which had climaxed in the murder
of a friar in 1752. Although most of the personnel and Indian converts
(neophytes) fled, the mission continued until 1755. After that time
it moved to the Guadalupe River to gather its scattered Mayeye Indians,
who refused to enter Valero Mission (the Alamo) in San Antonio. Like
the other three San Xavier missions, San Francisco Xavier was short-lived.
Good features at the site included five springs, fertile fields, timber,
meadows and the nearby river. Two friars ran the small mission, with
a citizen guard, so as to avoid friction. Four Spanish families and
41 Indians (27 of them baptized) comprised the inhabitants of the mission
as of January, 1757. Never a strong mission, Guadalupe continued only
until March, 1758. At this time the church withdrew its staff because
of increasingly dangerous raids by Comanches and other northern tribes.
Museum Name: Sophienburg Museum and Archives
City: New Braunfels
Zip Code: 78130
Street Address: 401 W Coll
Area Code: 210
Phone: 629-1572
County: Comal
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