Emmie Seele Faust Memorial Library
New Braunfels, Comal County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Located on the corner of Coll Street and Magazine Avenue, the Emmie Seele Faust Memorial Library served as the New Braunfels Public Library from 1938 to 1969. The New Braunfels Library Association formed in 1928 to meet the need for better education in the growing community. For ten years, the association operated a public library at various locations around the downtown area. In 1937, Emmie Seele Faust (1867-1957), daughter of first New Braunfels teacher, Hermann Seele, spearheaded a combined effort between the city of New Braunfels, the Sophienburg Museum and the New Braunfels Library Association to give the Public Library a permanent home. The native rock building was designed by architect Jeremiah (Jimmie) Schmidt and opened in 1938 with 250 visitors. Built by Edwin Hanz, the rectangular, 65x30-foot building sits on a bell-shaped foundation made of rock and concrete. The front door and wrought-iron window grates are original. When the Dittlinger Memorial Library was built in 1967 on the back of the property, the Emmie Seele Faust Library building ceased to be the public library, taking on a new use as an archive and artifact collection storage space for the Sophienburg Museum and archives. The Dittlinger Memorial Library building became part of the Sophienburg in 1999. In 2010, the Emmie Seele Faust Library was restored and repurposed as a meeting hall and classroom, preserving the original intention of the library association and Emmie Seele Faust. RECORDED TEXAS HISTORIC LANDMARK – 2017
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
The New Braunfels Library Association formed in 1928 and ran a public library from shifting downtown quarters for a decade. In 1937 Emmie Seele Faust, daughter of the town's first teacher, led a joint effort by the city, the Sophienburg Museum, and the association to give the library a permanent home, and the native-rock building opened in 1938. It served as the public library until 1969, then became museum storage before being restored in 2010 as a meeting hall and classroom.
Why it matters
The library reflects the civic drive of small-town women who built lasting cultural institutions, and it honors a family line reaching back to the German community's very first teacher.
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Related people
- · Emmie Seele Faust
- · Hermann Seele
Themes & tags
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