Origins
Today, Cypress Bend is a 15-acre recreational/community park in New Braunfels, Texas. The 503 Peace Avenue address is bordered by the Guadalupe River to the east and by the Comal Cemetery to the west. Acquisition of this park space began in 1913 when Henry Kellermann sold to the City 6.93 acres. The acreage was expanded in 1927 when the City used Promissory Notes to purchase adjacent land from E.A. and Ella Eiband. Part of the 1927 land purchase was set aside for the neighboring Comal Cemetery and the remainder was added to Eiband Park, as it was first known. In years immediately following the Eiband addition, the property was used largely as a tourist camp ground. A screened camp house at the City’s Tourist Park was available for rental of $1.00 per day. These simple events placed the Park in the forefront of New Braunfels’s burgeoning tourist market. Eiband Park, or City Park as it had come to be known, became an increasingly popular touchstone of the community in 1925 when Landa Park was closed to the public. Picnic tables had been placed in the shade of pecan and cypress trees. The park was also furnished with bath houses and an open-air pavilion, as well as a roofed meeting hall. New Braunfelsers now in their eighties fondly recall birthday parties held at this park.
City Park was a wonderful option for families wishing to spend time together outdoors. Scouting events became increasingly popular and in the 1960s, the park was closed every first week of June so that Girl Scout Day Camp could be held. City Park was the arena where Girl Scouts earned badges for setting up tents, program planning, and fire safety. Thursday night brought the sleep-over and, with the camp’s proximity to the Comal Cemetery, facilitated a special expression of kids being kids. Older Girl Scouts loved scaring the younger ones with ghost stories as they sat by campfires. Throughout remaining summer months, reservations secured the popular pavilion and campgrounds. Horseshoe pits and swing sets were in full use. This gentle, small-town atmosphere continued well into the 1960s.
A Renaming
Following a 1963 suggestion by the Chamber of Commerce’s Parks Study Committee, City Park’s name was changed to Cypress Bend. The City hoped to encourage tourism and thereby increase revenues. While they were successful, that success also came with lessons in environmental stewardship. Three major floods occurred on the Guadalupe River between 1972 and 1978. During the years 1960 – 1980, the City’s population increased by 43%. During those same years, Cypress Bend Park became known as a hangout for the undesirable element. Something had to be done.
A Resilient Park
In the mid-1980s, the Parks Board recommended that Cypress Bend Park be designated as the last tuber’s exit. Today, Cypress Bend remains one of only three public access point on the rivers. In 1986, local citizens worked through the Texas Highway Department’s Keep Texas Beautiful campaign and organized a cleanup which included the Park’s adjacent Guadalupe River. In 1997, the City announced that Cypress Bend Park would be the site for a new venture. The Park was illuminated during the Christmas Season with 35 displays which included reindeer jumping over the road and a giant triceratops playing the guitar. The event drew a record 14,000 vehicles in 1999, but City Council soon deemed the event not cost effective. The new millennium also brought the end of Holiday of Lights.
Recent fans of Cypress Bend Park are revealing new appreciation for the site. Comal County Birders have included the Park in Audubon Society’s Annual Christmas Bird Count. For over a decade, egrets, osprey, green kingfishers, and American killdeer, among many others, have been reported. Kayakers find convenient access to the relative calm of Guadalupe River through Cypress Bend Park. With one-mile of shoreline along the Guadalupe River, fly fishing has become an annual tournament event held each spring at Cypress Bend Park. Soul Searching, a re-enactment of famous or forgotten local persons, utilizes Cypress Bend as a gateway to the event’s Comal Cemetery location. A specialized event was held at the Park in 2014 & 2016 as the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) held a three-day tree climbing competition. In some respects, Cypress Bend remains a hidden treasure within the City of New Braunfels. Its heritage Cypress trees oversee new generations of visitors exploring the great outdoors and the ever increasingly popular Guadalupe River.