First Protestant Church - New Braunfels, TX - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

From the NRHP application, we discover:
The First Protestant Church in New Braunfels is strongly German in character and probably not so much Gothic Revival as a continuation of a traditional German vernacular type. There is a stout firmness in the handling of the massing and a simplicity and sureness of form that together with the fine stone work makes this a notable example of the architecture of the German settlers in Texas.
In the spring of 1845 Prince Solms of Braunfels and Lahn, Germany, and his followers landed in Houston, Texas. Solms had purchased land on the San Saba and Llano rivers. Indian raids, however, discouraged settlement near the San Saba, so Solms bought a league of land on the Comal River and took a contingent of German settlers there to begin farming.
On October 15, 1845, the Republic of Texas issued a charter to the Solms German Protestant Congregation and in the spring of the following year the settlers of New Braunfel built a log church. They laid a cornerstone March 8, 1846, and held their first services March 22, Palm Sunday, April 5, the church was consecrated.
About 1870 the congregation decided to build a larger church. They formed a building committee instead of hiring a contractor, and they commissioned architect Jacob Langkopf. To keep costs down, the committee decided to limit the length of the church to eighty feet, with construction to be done in such a way that the church could be lengthened in the future. They chose native limestone as the building material and laid a cornerstone July 18, 1875.
March 16, 1879, the congregation held their first service in the new church. They dedicated a tower July 14, 1889, at the cost of $2,800 and finished the interior by July, 1893, at the cost of $1,728.39.
The church was renovated in 1955 in order to accommodate a growing membership. The congregation lengthened the church and added rooms on each side of the tower. They also added a basement to house heating and cooling equipment.

The religious facility was expanded as designed for the active congregration. For historical reference, the $2,800 cost of the 1889 tower would be roughly $658,000 today based on income value.

Street address: 296 S. Sequin Street New Braunfels, TX USA County / Borough / Parish: Comal County Year listed: 1971 Historic (Areas of) Significance: Event, Architecture/Engineering Periods of significance: 1875-1899 Historic function: Religion Current function: Religion Privately owned?: yes Season start / Season finish: From: 01/01/2014 To: 12/31/2014 Primary Web Site: [Web Link] Hours of operation: Not listed Secondary Website 1: Not listed Secondary Website 2: Not listed National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   01/18/2021 WayBetterFinder visited it 08/04/2012 WalksfarTX visited it

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