Landa Park
New Braunfels, Comal County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Joseph Landa purchased the land that now encompasses this park in 1859. The Comal Springs, the largest group of springs in the American Southwest, are the focus of the park. Landa used the Comal River to power gristmills, cotton and woolen factories, an ice plant and a brewery. During the Civil War, a saltpeter processing plant was also located on the site. Joseph's son Harry Landa opened Landa's Park as a tourist site in 1898, when the International and Great Northern Railroad built a spur to the site. By 1900, both the I&GN and the Missouri-Kansas-Texas (Katy) railroads ran weekend excursion trains to the park, where visitors enjoyed picnics, dancing and steamboat excursions on Landa Lake. Landa later sold the park to a San Antonio investment group, who operated it until financial problems caused the park's closure in 1933. In 1936, concerned citizens led by Erhard P. Nowotny petitioned the City of New Braunfels to purchase the park, and city residents voted three to one in favor of the move. The park has remained open to the public since that time. Throughout the years the park has grown in acreage, and many improvements have been made. In the 1930s, Works Progress Adminstration (WPA) employees built concession stands, restrooms, parking areas, and retaining walls. Later improvements have included a miniature golf course, playgrounds and nature trails. Wurstfest, an annual celebration of food and music, has been held in the park each November since the early 1960s. Today, Landa Park continues to serve the public as a leisure destination both for the citizens of New Braunfels and for area travelers. (2009)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Joseph Landa bought this land around the Comal Springs—the largest springs in the American Southwest—in 1859 and harnessed the Comal River to power gristmills, textile factories, an ice plant, and a brewery, even a Civil War saltpeter works. His son Harry opened Landa's Park as a tourist resort in 1898, and excursion trains soon brought crowds for picnics, dancing, and steamboat rides. After financial troubles closed it, New Braunfels citizens voted overwhelmingly to buy the park in 1936, and WPA crews added lasting improvements.
Why it matters
Landa Park charts a Texas landscape's journey from industrial mill site to beloved public park, and it remains home to the annual Wurstfest celebration of the region's German heritage.
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Related people
- · Joseph Landa
- · Harry Landa
- · Erhard P. Nowotny
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
International & Great Northern Railroad in New Braunfels
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Meriwether Milling
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In 1847 Virginia planter William Hunter Meriwether bought hundreds of acres around the Comal Springs, dammed the geyser springs locally called Las Fontanas, and used enslaved labor to dig a mill race that powered a grist mill, cotton gin, and sawmill. He sold the works to Joseph Landa in 1859, whose family expanded them into flour, cottonseed oil, ice, and hydroelectric enterprises. Much of the original tract later became the city's Landa Park.