HistoricSiteMarkers
Reconstruction & Gilded Age

Hinmann House

New Braunfels, Comal County, Texas

Marker Inscription

This home’s architecture reflects the German influence of many of the area’s early structures. Heinrich Hinmann purchased the property in July 1855, and he and his wife Therese (Sickold) raised ten children here. The home dates from circa 1868 and remained a family residence for more than a century, although Dr. A.J. Hinmann converted interior spaces for his medical practice in the 1920s. The two-story house is built of load-bearing masonry with a low-sloping roof. Hand-tooled limestone blocks form regular courses and heavy lintels and sills, and square wood columns support a gallery porch with geometric design railings. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark – 2008

Erected by Texas Historical Commission

The Story

Heinrich Hinmann bought this New Braunfels property in 1855 and, with his wife Therese, raised ten children in the limestone house built around 1868. Its load-bearing masonry, hand-tooled stone courses, heavy lintels, and gallery porch reflect the German building traditions that shaped so many of the town's early structures. The home stayed in the family for more than a century, even serving as Dr. A.J. Hinmann's medical office in the 1920s.

Why it matters

The house is a durable testament to the German immigrants who settled the Texas Hill Country and carried their stonework and craftsmanship into the American landscape.

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Related people

  • · Heinrich Hinmann
  • · Therese (Sickold) Hinmann
  • · Dr. A.J. Hinmann

Themes & tags

Nearby & related markers

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First Protestant Church

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When German immigrants founded New Braunfels in the 1840s, they quickly organized a congregation, and the Republic of Texas chartered the German Protestant Church here in 1845. Commemorated by a mid-twentieth-century historical medallion placed by heritage societies, the site marks one of the earliest Protestant fellowships among Texas's German settlers.

Mill Street Telegraph Station

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New Braunfels Academy

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Promised schools by the society that sponsored their emigration, the German settlers of New Braunfels hired their first teacher in 1845, the year classes began. When the state retracted support for local school districts in 1856, the city persuaded the legislature to create the New Braunfels Academy in 1858, funding it through a local property tax and tuition—making it one of Texas's first tax-supported schools. It taught in both German and English until the state built a public system in 1871.