New Braunfels’ Main Plaza to join National Register of Historic Places | Community Alert
Along with parades, activities and fireworks, New Braunfels will have something a little extra to celebrate this Independence Day.
A plaque dedicating the Main Plaza in Downtown New Braunfels as part of the National Register of Historic Places will be unveiled during a July 4 ceremony.
The National Historical Commission, in association with the Texas Historical Commission, will officially bestow the honor on the plaza, which has served as a venue for celebrations, performances, protests and social gatherings for generations of New Braunfels residents.
The ceremony at the Main Plaza bandstand will follow the Sophienberg Museum’s Fourth of July Old Time Parade and Patriotic Program, which gets underway at 9:15 am on the streets of downtown New Braunfels.
Special guest speaker David Vela, former National Park Service acting director, will join city and Comal County officials for the unveiling ceremony.
“New Braunfels already celebrates the Main Plaza as a historic part of our city, but having it officially recognized by the National Park Service is a great reminder of the Plaza’s history and significance to our community,” said New Braunfels Parks and Recreation Director Stacey Dicke .
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of historical places in the US worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a federal program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.
Main Plaza will be joining the National Register of Historic Places. The National Historical Commission, in association with the Texas Historical Commission, will have a plaque dedicating ceremony at the Bandstand Monday, July 4, immediately following the 4th of July Parade.
Buildings, sites, objects, structures and districts are eligible for the designation if they are at least 50 years old — with rare exceptions — and meet established criteria.
According to the text of proclamations issued by New Braunfels City Council members and the Comal County Commissioners Court earlier this week, the Main Plaza was conceived in the original town plans drawn by Nicholas Zink around 1845.
It remained an open space with no defining features from 1845 until the early 1890s.
In 1896, a fountain, cast by JL Mott Iron Works of New York, was installed at the plaza’s center. Curbing was added in 1897, along with landscaping and benches.
In 1905, a bandstand for musical and theatrical performances was built for $560 by local contractor Adolph F. Moeller.
Several memorials were placed at the plaza in the following years, including two war monuments commemorating the soldiers of the Civil War and World War I.
“Every year, we try to submit a grant application for a special place in the county, and certainly this one is one of the most special,” Cindy Coers, chair of the Comal County Historical Commission, said during Monday’s City Council meeting. “From day one, when the town was laid out and Nicholas Zink laid out this little oval place in the middle of town, who would have thought 176 years later it is still so special to this community.”
In an interview with the Herald newspaper, Coers said the Main Plaza has served as the heart of New Braunfels since the city’s founding.
“Early on, it was a marketplace, (even) as late as the 1890s,” she said. “The first Fourth of July event was held there in 1846 — they had a parade. The first Founders Day in 1870, which was 25 years after the town’s founding, they had it at the Main Plaza, so over the years, it has been a place where people meet and celebrate different things. I think that’s why it’s so important to the city, and it continues to be that way.”
The Main Plaza will join other New Braunfels properties listed in the National Register, which include the Arnold-Rauch-Brandt Homestead, Brauntex Theatre, Andreas Breustedt House, Central Fire Station, Comal County Courthouse, Comal Hotel and Klein-Kuse House, Comal Power Plant, Comal Springs, Faust Street Bridge and First Protestant Church.
New Braunfels properties also on the National Register list include the Carl WA Groos House, Gruene Historic District, Guadalupe Hotel, Holz-Forshage-Krueger Building, Hotel Faust, Stephen Klein House, Lindheimer House, Mission Valley School and Teacherage, Pape-Borchers Homestead , Riley’s Tavern and Walzem Homestead.
Residents will also celebrate Uncle Sam’s 246th birthday with the Fourth of July Fireworks Spectacular in the skies over Landa Park starting at around 9:15 pm on Monday.
The fireworks are fired over Landa Lake and are viewable throughout Landa Park, the Landa Park Golf Course at Comal Springs and the Fredericksburg Baseball Fields.
Seating on the golf course begins at 6 pm, and the putting greens are off-limits.
The fireworks can be seen in several other places around the city, including Fischer Park.
Landa Park attractions like the Landa Park Aquatic Complex, the Mini-Golf Course, Paddle Boats, and the Miniature Train will remain open throughout the Fourth of July weekend.
For more information about Landa Park attractions, visit www.nbtexas.org/3377/Landa-Park-Attractions.
The Independence Day festivities in Landa Park begin at 7 pm at the Dance Slab with the final Live at Landa concert featuring the J. Abram Band. And visitors to Landa Park will once again find the Remax Skydiving Team parachuting into the park ahead of the fireworks display.
Residents and visitors are encouraged to come early, expect large crowds, and be mindful of park rules. When the fireworks get underway, everyone is encouraged to tune in to KGNB 1420 AM to listen to the live broadcast of patriotic music timed to accompany the fireworks display.