Mill Street Telegraph Station

What began as smoke signals from hill to hill evolved into lines on poles. The telegraph was introduced in the United States in the mid-1800s and many cities in Texas began constructing lines and stations. New Braunfels opened its first telegraph station in the 1860s at the Guadalupe Hotel. August Schmitz (1830–1894) operated as a telegrapher in the hotel until 1871 when the office moved to his home on Mill Street. Schmitz was a schoolteacher and spoke German and English. The mid-1800s house is of half-timber, or fachwerk, style with mud bricks made from Comal Creek. The office was located there until 1879 when it was moved back to the hotel and then to the railroad depot in 1881.

Mill Street Telegraph Station is a historical marker in New Braunfels, Comal County, dedicated in 2016. It is one of 103 historical markers documented in Comal County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 248 historic sites cataloged across the county.

The site sits at 29.7051, -98.1247 near New Braunfels. The nearest cataloged historic site is Dietz, August, Cottage (historical marker), about under a tenth of a mile away. Others within a short drive include Windwehen Home, Klein, Joseph, House, and Comal Hotel and Klein-Kuse House.

This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5507018357. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.