{"nrhp_refnum":"70000744","name":"Lindheimer House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"489 Comal Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"New Braunfels","county":"Comal County","state":"TX","lat":29.70049485100003,"lon":-98.11854218199994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1970-08-25","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Science","Architecture","Communications"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one-story-and-loft stuccoed limestone rubble fachwerk 'double' house with a salt box profile at 489 Comal Avenue, New Braunfels, Comal County, Texas, built about 1852 for Ferdinand Lindheimer.","why_significant":"It is presented as a typical simple home of the highly educated German immigrants in Texas, built in the medieval fachwerk technique and reminiscent of Rhineland and Alsace peasant cottages. It is also tied to Ferdinand Lindheimer, known as the Father of Texas Botany, who later published a German-language weekly newspaper from the house.","narrative":"Built about 1852 at 489 Comal Avenue in New Braunfels, this one-story-and-loft house is a well-preserved example of German settler building in Texas. It is a stuccoed limestone rubble fachwerk 'double' house with a salt box profile, two paneled front doors with transoms, nine-over-six windows, a central chimney and the customary rear room. The timber framing is left exposed on the rear, and ornament is largely absent, as was typical of the type. The form compares it to peasant cottages of the Rhineland and Alsace. It was the home of Ferdinand Lindheimer, born in Frankfurt in 1801, who fled Germany after the 1833 Frankfurter Putsch and later fought for Texas. He organized the state's plant life into a system and is known as the Father of Texas Botany. In 1852 he built the house and began publishing a weekly German-language newspaper, with a print shop built into the rear. The property is in excellent, unaltered condition on its original site and is used as a museum.","period_of_significance":"19th Century (c.1852)","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"German settler fachwerk (timber frame filled with limestone rubble and stuccoed), salt box profile","criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed in excellent condition, unaltered, on its original site; occupied and used as a museum; owned by a conservation society.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:19.50539-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/55/9715/40971555/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/70000744.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/70000744/2c38e83f82-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/70000744/2c38e83f82-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 4.0","author":"Larry D. Moore","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lindheimer_house_2008.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Larry D. Moore</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lindheimer_house_2008.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40971555","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindheimer_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6552479"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/comal-county/lindheimer-house-70000744/"}