1915 New Braunfels Post Office

Before the building, New Braunfels' mail moved from place to place. The first was in Count Arnold-Henkel von Donnersmark's hotel and saloon, with C. W. Thomae as postmaster; Adolph Benner took over in 1851, and after his death his wife Louise became the first postmistress, serving until Christian Holtz replaced her after the Civil War. Later offices met in a bus station, the courthouse, a home and a store. The new building came from a $50,000 appropriation and went to the San Antonio firm of Weston and Kroeger on a $40,949 bid, with fifteen months to finish.

What the plaque says

1915 New Braunfels Post Office The old post office of New Braunfels was built during the full-scale 20th century transformation of the United States Postal System. Programs like the United States Postal Savings System, parcel post, airmail, and improved rural delivery services expanded the reach and popularity of the postal system for letters and packages. In 1915, president Woodrow Wilson signed an act to fund the construction of a postal office building in New Braunfels. Prior to this, the postal service had its headquarters in various homes and businesses. The new building was dedicated in 1915, with the names on the cornerstone of William G. McAdoo, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury responsible for post offices, and James A. Wetmore, supervising architect. Many contractors were involved in construction, with Round Rock limestone and D'hanis and Acme brick companies as suppliers for much of the exterior materials. During the Great Depression and World War II, the office also sold war bonds and handled food stamps and ration books. In the 1960s, the office was remodeled and an addition to the north side was constructed. The location of the New Braunfels Post Office was eventually moved to Seguin Avenue in 1985. For 70 years, the New Braunfels community was supported and served through this post office building. In 2007-08, the building was completely renovated to house McAdoo's Seafood Company, named for the former Secretary of the Treasury. (2015)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Sophienburg Museum and Archives — 0.4 mi
  The hilltop where Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels raised the Adelsverein's headquarters in 1845, now the museum and archive of the German colony that became New Braunfels.
• Gruene Historic District — 2.8 mi
  A cotton town on the Guadalupe that the boll weevil emptied, rescued in the 1970s by a kayaking architecture student, with a dance hall that says it has never closed.
• Natural Bridge Caverns — 13 mi
  The largest known cavern in Texas, found in 1960 by four college cavers under a ranch family's land, entered beneath a 60-foot limestone bridge and still growing.
• Spring Lake and the Meadows Center — 18 mi
  The headsprings of the San Marcos River, among the longest-inhabited places in North America, once an amusement park with a swimming pig and now seen from glass-bottom boats.

More markers nearby

• Phoenix Saloon — steps away
• The New Braunfels Herald — steps away
• International & Great Northern Railroad in New Braunfels — steps away
• Comal County, C.S.A. — steps away