Oh I sure will let ya know that place sounds wonderful to check out!!!!!
Texas Towns We All Know and Love
LUCKENBACH, TEXAS
It's not Fredericksburg Lite
Gillespie County, Texas Hill Country
6 miles East of Fredericksburg on CR 1376,
then South about 4.5 miles
(Fredericksburg is 80 miles West of Austin)
Luchenbach post office
Luckenbach Post Office/store
Photo by John Troesser, 2000
Official signs are stolen, so don't look for any. When you get close, you'll see some for "Uptown Luckenbach," which we may address in the future. For now, we'll talk about the historic and legendary Luckenbach. The one that's beckoning down in the shady grove.
1999 was the town's Sesquicentennial Celebration and in 2000 they had their Second 150th Anniversary Celebration.
The house you'll pass on the way in is the Engle place. The sign showing a population of 3, is actually 2 now, due to a recent death in the Engle family.
History in a Pecan Shell
The Reverend August Engel established the Post Office in 1886. His sister Minnie (or Sophie depending on the source) was appointed Postmistress and in a romantic gesture put the name of her fiancée in the blank space for the requested name. That name was Albert Luckenbach.
Years later when Albert and wife moved to Martinsburg the post office there was renamed Albert, Texas.
The romantic naming of Luckenbach started a tradition of unconventionality that has become something of a lifestyle. We didn't say it was a romantic lifestyle, we said it was a unconventional lifestyle.
The biggest contributor to this lifestyle would be, beyond a doubt, Hondo Crouch. Crouch, champion swimmer, raconteur, and columnist for The Comfort News, liked the shallow water of Grape Creek so much he and a few others bought Luckenbach's 10 or so acres from the Engel family in 1970.
Mr. Crouch used Luckenbach and its tranquility as a tongue-in-cheek comparison to the nearby high-priced spread of LBJ's Stonewall Ranch. Meanwhile, the celebration of life at Luckenbach continued, with country music and with what the Germans have been known to call "liquid bread."
Unless you spent 1976-77 in a coma, then you heard the song that opened the floodgates. Ask someone. It was bitter irony that Mr. Crouch died shortly after the town became famous.
While other parts of Texas have Fire Ant, Chigger and Mosquito Festivals, Luckenbach celebrates Spring's arrival each year by holding a contest to see who witnesses the arrival of the first Mud Dauber Wasp. The choice of this non-aggressive and home-oriented insect reflects Luckenbach's philosophy.
Luckenbach's unpretentiousness is as genuine as the portrait of FDR that remains from when the building's primary function was Post Office/Store.
There's a bronze bust of Hondo Crouch in front of the store. Drop in when you're in the neighborhood.
HUNTSVILLE, TEXAS (one of them, anyway - there's two?!)
Walker County Seat, East Texas
Interstate 45 and 75
Highways 190, 19 and 30
68 miles N of Houston
165 miles S of Dallas
45 miles S of Centerville
50 miles E of College Station
Population 35,078 (2000) 27,925 (1990)
History in a Pecan shell
A timeline of significant events in Huntsville's history:
1836: founded by Pleasant and Ephraim Gray as an Indian trading post. The Grays were from Huntsville, Alabama.
1837: Montgomery County organized - Huntsville was within its boundaries. First post office granted.
1844: The Huntsville Male and Female Academy opened.
1845: Stovall's Male and Female Academy opened.
1846: Walker County organized - Huntsville designated county seat.
1847: Huntsville becomes home of the Texas State Penitentiary. The prison received its first inmate in 1849. During the 1840s and 1850s prosperous families from the southern states arrive.
1850: Huntsville loses its chance to become state capital when it is defeated by Austin in an election.
1861 - 1865: During the Civil War, uniforms for Confederate soldiers were made at the pentitentiary. During reconstruction - Huntsville was placed under martial law for a brief period.
1867: a yellow fever epidemic reportedly killed 10 percent of the town's population.
1872: The Houston and Great Northern Railroad bypasses Huntsville to the east.
1875: Huntsville was a stop on four stage lines - including one running from Nacogdoches to Brenham, and one from Huntsville to Waxahachie.
1879: Sam Houston Normal Institute opens - later becomes Sam Houston State University.
1933: Emancipation Park is established
1936: Marker is erected for Steamboat House - where Sam Houston died. Also authorized were the construction of the James Gillaspie Monument and the Sam Houston Memorial Museum.
EARLYWINE, TEXAS
Washington County, Central Texas S
Rocky Creek at Highway 105
6 Miles from Brenham
Population: Unk
History on a Pinhead
Named for John W. Earlywine, former postmaster of Wren, Texas.
ECHO, TEXAS
History in a Pecan Shell
A very short history of Echo from the Handbook of Texas Online:
Echo once had it's own post office, depot and identity. It was on the MKT line two miles south of Temple.
The town had been known as Miller before 1884. The railroad built a line called the Belton Railroad off the MKT that year and the town grew up where the two lines intersected.
In 1884 a post office called Echo was granted but was discontinued 10 years later.
In 1890 Echo had a depot, a railroad agent, and seven citizens. In 1948 Echo consisted of a few buildings and it was about this time it lost its identity as a separate town. Today it is totally within Temple's city limits.
OAKALLA, TEXAS
Burnet County, Texas Hill Country
FM 2657 and 963
On the Lampasas River, off Highway 183
9 mile N of Briggs
SW of Killeen
NE of Burnet
Population: 99 est. (2000)
History in a Pecan Shell
Settled in the 1850s, there is little to say about Oakalla until 1879 when the post office opened.
By 1881 the town had a gin, store and doctor (See Lucius Seneca Hine, M.D.) By 1890 the town had 100 people and a dozen businesses. In 1896, the population had increased to 175.
A two-story school built on a donated site in 1890, also served as a church until 1908.
In 1920 the wooden school was torn down, and rebuilt using stones from a rock school building that had been on Gregory Branch. In 1929 the building was expanded by two rooms.
Sometime after 1930 the post office was closed and the town's schools merged with those in Briggs in 1946 and 56. In 1958 the entire district merged with Lampasas schools.
The population went from 180 in 1925 to around 100 from the 40s through the 70s. It fell to 45 in the 1980s. The 1920 school remains in use as a community center and library.
This message was edited Jan 27, 2008 12:27 PM
ARANSAS PASS, TEXAS
Aransas, San Patricio & Nueces Counties, Gulf Coast
Hwy 35 and 361
12 miles W of Port Aransas
6 miles S of Rockport on Hwy 35
17 miles E of Portland on Hwy 361
24 miles NE of Corpus Christi
Population 8,138 (2000) 7,180 (1990)
History in a Pecan Shell
Originally the plan was for a deep-water port connected to San Antonio by a railroad and turnpike. But with false starts, delays, the Civil War and other setbacks, the port didn't become a reality until 1907 after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dredged a deep channel and installed jetties.
Initial town lots were sold by lottery to people in the Midwest wanting to relocate to the coast. The sale was a success, although the government needed to adjust some of the rules.
1892: Methodists erect combination church and school - post office opens
1910: City incorporates
1911: two-story brick school is constructed
1912: Town celebrates shipment of 47,093 bales of cotton in a two week period.
1916: Hurricane strikes
1919: Second Hurricane strikes - seawall is constructed
1920: Corps of Engineers announces that Corpus Christi had been chosen as major deep water port
1926: Corpus Christi opens port facilities
After World War II, the shrimp fleet moored in the area became the largest on the Gulf coast.
The city remains one of the more popular vacation and fishing destinations on the coast.
This message was edited Jan 27, 2008 12:27 PM
This message was edited Jan 27, 2008 12:30 PM
SMILEY, TEXAS
Gonzales County, Central Texas S
Highway 87
FM 3234 and 108
21 miles South of Gonzales
Population 453(2000) 463(1990)
History in a Pecan Shell
John Smiley was a sheepherder who settled on a lake in the vicinity in the early 1870s. The lake became known as Smiley’s Lake – and older Gonzales County residents knew Smiley as Smiley’s Lake. By the turn of the century – only the name Smiley appeared on maps.
Cattle herds driven to market watered at the lake. Businesses soon sprang up to cater to the drovers and by the 1880s – a town was born.
A post office opened in 1884 and within two years Smiley became Gonzales County’s number three city. By 1896 the community had several hundred residents.
In 1905, the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway came through the area north of “old” Smiley.
The town incorporated in 1911 but was devastated by a fire that same year. By the 1920s Smiley had an estimated population of 600. In the 1930s and 1940s it became well-known as a poultry-processing center.
In 1964 the population fell just below 500 and remained at that level for the next 35 years.
YARRELLTON, TEXAS
AKA Yaralton, or Yarrelton
Milam County, Central Texas S
FM 1915
9 miles NW of Cameron
SE of Temple
Not on the Texas Official Travel Map
Population: 35
History in a Pecan Shell
AKA Yaralton, or Yarrelton, the town was formed in the late 1860s by settlers from Alabama. The town was named to honor Storekeeper / Judge Tom Yarrell.
The first classes of the school were held under a brush-arbor in 1876. A post office opened in 1886. In 1890 the population was 50 and the town had a gin and two stores.
Yarrellton was once famous for its huge Fourth of July picnics, which sometimes drew crowds over a thousand people. In 1941 the population was reported as fifty-eight and its been in a slow decline ever since.
NASH, TEXAS
North Texas Ghost Town
Ellis County
FM 55
6 miles S of Waxahachie
Population: 25 (estimated)
History on a Pinhead
In the early 1880s Benjamin Reid opened a general store and the community that grew around it was named for local lawyer named N. J. Nash.
The town had a post office for the years 1883 through 1903. The population was given as 75 in 1941 and it's high-water mark seems to have been 1968 when 125 people called Nash home.
HARLINGEN, TEXAS
Cameron County, Texas Gulf Coast
25 miles N of Brownsville on Hwy 77
30 miles E of McAllen on Hwy 83
246 miles S of San Antonio
Population 57,564 (2000) 48,746 (1990)
Another city born of the railroad, Harlingen was named after a Dutch town with a very good system of canals. At the time of its founding (1910), founder Lon C. Hill considered commerce to be a new town's lifeblood. Tourism per se was unknown except for the Holyland and Mecca.
Although today the highways have replaced the planned canal system, the beautiful Arroyo Colorado is still a town attraction, if only for the migratory birds (the first Winter Texans). We hope the city will keep the old Iron Bridge over the Arroyo.
Harlingen's biggest asset is space. Streets are wide and driving is easier on visitors who must slow down while looking for certain attractions. Even so, the city through its Historic Society has arranged to put many of the towns earliest buildings in one place.
The Rio Grande Valley Museum and Hospital Museum is at Boxwood and Raintree Streets. For a city map, go by the Chamber of Commerce at 311 Tyler Street. Harlingen is also a site for a Texas Travel Information Center. Here one can pick up brochures for all Valley destinations including Harlingen. Then you'll know where to find the Chamber. This center is announced in advance on Hwy 77 and is at the Intersection of US 83 and 77.
Harlingen has a lot of good places to eat, and finding a good hotel is easy. Everyone in the Valley is aware of the tropical vegetation, and Harlingen businesses believe in showing it off, whether it's a hotel patio or the landscaping of a fast food restaurant. Many restaurants are family owned and not just by the current generation. In addition to above average service, many feature specialties you can't get anywhere else. There are several extremely scenic neighborhoods, and we usually don't recommend sightseeing in residential areas. We don't recommend them for the houses, but once again for the vegetation.
We noticed the benches at a downtown park were reminiscent of the ones in Mexico. Closer examination showed that they were from Mexico and had the City Crest included in the design. Someone went to some trouble and we've tried to find out where, who, and how. Whoever you are, we appreciate your efforts. It's a subtle detail that a lot of towns in Texas would enjoy having.
Harlingen makes an excellent "base camp" for explorations around the Eastern Valley. As you travel further west, to examine the charms of Rio Grande City and Roma, you might consider avoiding a long drive back, but it's very tempting to stay in Harlingen.
Halingen Area Attractions
# The Arroyo Queen - This is a very nice tour (four times daily) Thursday through Sunday. Reservations are required. Do not confuse this tour with the well known Mexican crossdressing actor Anthony Queen.
# Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge - FM 106-25 miles East of Harlingen you'll find this 45,000 acre sanctuary. Best times are early or late in the day. Year round there's something to be remembered for the observant.
# Historic attractions beside the previously mentioned Rio Grande Valley Museum and Hospital Museum include the Port Isabel Historical Museum, 956-943-7602.
NAVASOTA, TEXAS
Grimes County, Central Texas S
Hwys 6, 90 and 105
25 miles NE of Brenham
26 miles SE of Bryan / College Station
43 miles SW of Huntsville
Population: 7,400
Navasota is one of those towns that you never seem to have time to explore because you're rushing to a more distant destination. The problem with distant locations is that they're so far away. Why not visit something a little closer to home? If Navasota is too close, then include it with a trip to Huntsville, Brenham, or College Station.
Don't miss the Grimes County Seat in Anderson, which is a mere 10 miles away. Their picturesque courthouse and main street is one of those timeless Texas views that haven't yet been ruined by prison expansion or modern high school architecture. Recently restored.
Arp, Texas
Arp, Texas is 16 miles SE of Tyler, Texas (center to center) and 109 miles E of Dallas, Texas. It is in Smith county. The city is part of the Tyler metro area. The population of Arp is 901.
The People and Families of Arp
In Arp, about 64% of adults are married.
Wealth and Education
In 2000, Arp had a median family income of $38,807. There aren't a lot of poor people in Arp.
Political Inclinations
Among Arp political contributors, George W. Bush was favored among Presidential candidates in 2004, with $2,200. The Republican party attracted the largest share of donations from the city.
Arp Housing
Of the housing in Arp, approximately 83% is occupied by their owners. Property taxes in the city are low by Texas standards.
Commuting
In Arp, 98% of commuters drive to work. It's harder to live without a car in Arp than most cities its size.
PORTLAND, TEXAS
San Patricio County, Texas Gulf Coast
Highway 181
North of Corpus Christi across Nueces Bay
17 miles W of Aransas Pass
22 miles SW of Rockport
Population: 14,827 (2000) 12,224 (1990)
History in a Seashell
John G. Willacy, purchased 1,920 acres of land from the Coleman-Fulton Pasture Company in 1891. Willacy had formed an investment company by uniting the New England Land Company of Portland, Maine and the Portland Harbor and Improvement Company of Wichita, Kansas.
A post office was granted in March of 1891and lots went on sale that July. Potential buyers were brought across the bay by a chartered boat to a hotel built especially for the occasion. Others arrived by train from San Antonio. By the following year the population had reached 500 and a 1,200-foot wharf was built.
Boom times disappeared with the panic of 1893 and the now vacant hotel was converted into Bay View College - an institution that operated until it was destroyed in a 1916 hurricane.
Since Portland had no water supply of its own, water was piped in from a well in Taft.
In 1911 Willacy tried again by negotiating with the Coleman-Fulton Pasture Company for the land that it had repossessed.
Competetion from the Rio Grande Valley (for agriculture) and the hurricanes of 1916 and 1919 dashed Portland's dreams of becoming a port.
Portland's growth since then has been from an overflow from Corpus Christi. The city limits of Portland now extend into Nueces County.
OT, but related
DW's cousin owned the huge produce vendor in Arp, TX. Started with just a roadside stand selling family grown vegetables - grew into a multi-million dollar business - produce from all over the world.
small world I would pick Arp to stick in ...thought we needed more East Texas towns in here LOL and the idea I was thinking of doing with veggies form my garden if they do good this year....selling roadside in front of my house LOL
DITTO, TEXAS
Atascosa County, South Texas
On the Atascosa River
32 miles S of San Antonio via Hwy16
5 miles NW of Poteet
Population: 0
History in a Pecan Shell
Settlement of the area dates back to the late 1700s.
The town had originally been known as Agua Negra after the dark water of a local spring.
The first post office was called Mottomosa, but was discontinued by 1875.
In 1881 a new application was submitted to the postal authorities. Ditto was written into the space for the name - assuming that the authorities would understand that the town was requesting the same name as before - Mottomosa. The approval came for the name Ditto, Texas.
In 1884 Ditto fifty people called Ditto home, although their school was still Agua Negra. This seems to have been Ditto's high water mark.
In 1885 a petition was signed to make Ditto the Atascosa county seat. It would've won, had the women signers not been disqualified.
In the 1890s the population shrunk to 20 and the last time a census was taken - it was still 20.
In 1934 the Agua Negra School was consolidated with Poteet. After the war a few scattered dwellings occupied the area and remained into the 60s. Ditto no longer appears on maps and the few people who reside in the area would be surprised to hear that it was once a town.
Incidentally on Arp ~ there was an extremely hardy rosemary found there in 1972. It has proven winter hardy as far north as Washington DC. Of course it too was named Rosemarinus officinalis 'Arp'.
OZONA, TEXAS
"The Many Layers of Ozona"
Crockett County Seat, West Texas
I-10 and Hwy 163
37 miles West of Sonora
204 miles from San Antonio
344 miles from El Paso
Population: 3436 (2000)
Crockett County courthouse
View of the square and the courthouse
Photo Courtesy Jason Penney
History on a Pecan Shell:
Ozona is unincorporated. It was once called Powell's Well after the surveyor who donated land to built the Courthouse, school and municipal buildings. The town of Emerald had been considered for the county seat.
The town dates from 1891 and has withstood a fire in the 20s and a flood in 1954 that washed away half of the houses in the city.
Crockett County Courthouse - next page
"Named for David Crockett, the county had existed on paper since 1875, first attached for judicial purposes to Kinney County and by 1885 to Val Verde County. Finally, on July 7, 1891, Crockett County's all-male electorate cast ballots for the first time. Residents voted in the county's first office holders. But more important for posterity's sake, they picked the county seat..." more (From Eureka by Mike Cox "Texas Tales" Column)
Speaking of County Seats
How is this for confusing-
Cherokee Co. is Rusk
Rusk Co. is Henderson
Henderson Co. is Athens
There are many more....
Harris Co. is Houston
Houston Co. is Crockett
Tyler Co. is Woodville
Smith Co. is Tyler
Just a little personal note on the German history of the hill country. DH is descended on his father's side from the people who settled Fredericksburg. Casper Marschall (DH's gr-gr-gr-grandfather) was county comissioner I think and Marschall Creek is named after him. On his mother's side, he is descended from the people who settled New Braunfels. A huge part of the town is built on what used to be the family farm.
How neat. We have dreamed of living in the Hill Country for 35 years. Not gonna happen. The German influence and the architecture is beautiful.
Sorry, OT again.
ALPINE , TEXAS
Brewster County Seat, West Texas
Hwys 90, 67 and 118
26 miles E of Marfa
26 miles S of Ft. Davis
22 miles W of Marathon
66 miles SW of Fort Stockton
80 miles N of Terlingua
Population: 5,786 (2000)
http://www.texasescapes.com/WestTexasTowns/AlpineTexas/AlpineTexas.htm
History in a Pecan Shell
Osborne was the original name of the settlement in 1882. It later became Murphyville after two brothers named Murphy registered the plat in 1883. Finally in 1888 it was named Alpine.
Growth was slow, but as soon as the townspeople realized that no one had built roads connecting Alpine to the rest of the world - things started happening. In 1921 they opened Sul Ross State Normal College which later became Sul Ross State University.
The town incorporated in 1929.
In 1940 the government opened Big Bend National Park and Alpine naturally became a popular entry point. There's no doubt that the University has played a large part in Alpine's growth.
The goodly number of students (or what passes for a goodly number in West Texas) at Sul Ross State University makes Alpine the host to the only fast food franchise west of Del Rio and South of Pecos.
Someone has arranged rocks on hills near the campus - to help further identify the town. Normally one has to travel to a military installation to see such a display.
EL SAUZ, TEXAS
Willacy County, Gulf Coast / South Texas
Farm Road 497
13 miles E of Raymondville
Population 85 (2000)
History in a Pecan Shell
El Sauz is said to be is a variant of sauce, which is Spanish for "willow." The original land grant was given to José Narciso Cavazos in 1781 by the Spanish crown. His history of ownership is sketchy - but it is known that he had stocked it with nearly 1,000 head of cattle.
While riding north from Brownsville in 1852, Richard King mentioned that he had discovered a deserted ranch in that region named El Sauz. This is also a mention of a coastal community named El Sauz established around that same time frame. Situated on Redfish Bay, this town had a post office (1870 to 1875) and it's said that after a hurricane in 1882, the community moved inland to the present location.
In 1881 Richard King and his partner Mifflin Kenedy incorporated El Sauz into their vast holdings. It later became a subdivision of the King Ranch. A post office by the name of Sauz was opened in 1893 and the town served as a stage-stop - for the Brownsville to Alice stageline. A school district was established in 1925 and the 100,000 acre ranch was owned by the Atwood family - an extension of the King family.
El Sauz made national newspaper headlines in late 1936, when two residents of San Perlita, disappeared while hunting on or near the ranch. Family and friends of the missing men (whose bodies were never found) claimed that
ZEPHYR, TEXAS
Suggested slogan: "Inherit Our Wind"
Brown County, Panhandle / North Central Texas
Hwy 84
12 miles E of Brownwood
42 miles E of Coleman
54 miles SW of Stephenville
Population: about 200
History in a Pecan Shell
The usual definition of Zephyr is a soft, gentle wind. The Blue Norther that pinned down the original surveying party here in 1850 was far from a summer breeze. But surveyors have been known to be a little on the sarcastic side, so they called the place Zephyr and when time came (1879) to apply for a post office, the townsfolk couldn't think of anything else.
When the railroad extended their line from Brownwood to Lampasas, the Zephyrites moved the grocery and post office the mile or so to the tracks. People had long since stopped laughing at the irony of the name when a tornado destroyed most of the town in 1909, leaving 20 people dead.
ROSEBUD, TEXAS
Falls County, North Central Texas
Hwy 77
25 miles E of Temple
38 miles S of Waco
45 miles NW of Bryan | College Station
Population: 1,478 (2000)
History in a Pecan Shell
Rosebud has had as wide a variety of names as any town in Texas. It was first called Pool's Crossing (of Pond Creek) or Greer's Horsepen, and when it was granted a post office, the requested (and granted) name was Mormon. The postmaster resisted the temptation of naming it Tarver (Albert G.) after himself, and in an act of friendliness and brotherhood, named it after a group of Mormons who had settled nearby. (See Rosebud Forum)
A fire in 1887 destroyed the community and (perhaps rather than lick scorched stamps) Albert Tarver took up other work. The new postmaster, wanted to name the post office after a local family named Mullins. There was already a Mullin, Texas over in Mills County, so the application was denied. Rosebud was then submitted (and accepted) and Mormon has been Rosebud ever since.
DROP, TEXAS
Denton County, North Central Texas
FM 1384
4 miles NW of Justin
SW of Denton
North of Fort Worth
Population: extremely dispersed
The Denton Creek Settlement - established in 1854 – included what would become Drop.
The original name on the application was Dewdrop, but this was rejected by postal authorities. There was a Dew, Texas in Fairfield County, although research shows that there never has been a Dewdrop, Texas. The settlers simply dropped the Dew from their name rather than incur the wrath of bureaucrats.
In 1886 the Drop post office opened, but was closed by 1910.
In the late 1880s, the railroad built near Justin and this drew people and businesses from Drop.
In 1936 Drop only had thirty-eight people and it declined further to fewer than thirty in 1963.
Subject: No Stangers in Drop, Texas
My name is Chelsey Cox, and I live in Drop, Texas. Seeing as Drop is no longer a ‘town’ per se, I did most of my growing up in Justin. I can remember the always unique cookouts the firehouse would have and the Justin Fun Days we used to have every year. The best thing about Justin is that everyone is family and every one knows everyone else. We can sit down in Mom’s Café and the waitress already knows what we want to drink, everyone knows the names of our 5-6 police officers who are always glad to help. Justin is a small family-oriented town, a place like every other place used to be.
Throughout my childhood the whole community would swim at "Drop Slab" in the summer and today on the last Monday night of every month, everyone in Drop will cook up their favorite dish and meet at the old schoolhouse for dinner. Everyone knows everyone else and are willing enough to help whenever possible. I love living in Drop because it's small, there are no strangers, and the traditions of over 100 yrs are still practiced today. - Chelsey Cox, Drop, Texas, August 17, 2007
PEACOCK, TEXAS
Stonewall County, Panhandle / West Texas
Panhandle Farm Road 2211
Off Hwy 380
15 miles West of Aspermont
10 miles East of Jayton
Population: 125 (1990)
A timeline of significant events in Peacock's history
1909: Peacock was originally called Alluvia when it was a stop on the Stamford and Northwestern Railway.
1910: The name was changed when J. W. Peacock, postmaster, moved his store to Alluvia.
The population at that time was 100.
1914: A tornado wrecked the town, but growth continued
1920: The population was 350 people.
1940: the town was reduced to 216 residents
1964: The Peacock school closed.
1980: The population was 125.
KOVAR, TEXAS
Texas Ghost Town
Bastrop County, Central Texas S
2 miles W of Hwy 95
8 miles S of Smithville
Population: Unknown
History in a Pecan Shell
Named sometime around 1870 for early settler Martin Kovar, the next big event to occur in Kovar was in 1894 when a Czech-Moravian church was organized by Rev. Jindrich Juren. The church's congregation was 30 members strong.
Kovar had a gin and the economy was entirely based on agriculture for many years. The post office opened in 1903, but was closed by 1914. Since the community never developed around commercial buildings or a plat, it never grew and no population figures have been recorded.
Saints Peter and Paul's Church with its adjoining cemetery occupies the SE corner of Zimerhansel and Stolle Road and a large SPJST Hall is a short distance to the north.
Two other cemeteries are a quarter of a mile west of the SPJST building. The economy today is based on ranching.
This message was edited Feb 1, 2008 11:03 AM
DdeTex...very interesting in deed but then it seems that is the way Texas is LOL...I live no where near Flint but that is my mailing address hahaha
Punkin Center
by Mike Cox
An old Irish legend that must have come to Texas with some of its earliest settlers has grown into a profitable business for Lone Star farmers – cultivating a variety of squash that sells by the ton every fall.
We’re talking about pumpkins, of course. Or, to the Texas tongue, punkins.
It’s not too difficult to dig up the tale that transformed pumpkins into edible holiday icons, but there is an interesting puzzle of geographic nomenclature to consider: The Punkin Center Phenomenon.
If anyone ever tells you that they’re from Punkin Center, better ask them to be more specific. Unique as that place name might seem, Texas has four different communities called Punkin Center.
Listed alphabetically, there’s Punkin Center in Dawson County, Punkin Center in Eastland County, Punkin Center in Hardeman County and Punkin Center in Parker County. Oh, and in Wichita County, the community of Haynesville is locally known as Punkin Center even though Haynesville is the official name.
Elsewhere across the United States, four other communities call themselves Punkin Center. But unlike Texas, which has to be bigger about everything, each of the non-Texas Punkin Centers is in a different state – Arizona, Kansas, Louisiana and Missouri.
Strange as the name Punkin Center may seem, according to the Web site www.placesnamed.com, Punkin Center is the 4,438th most popular town name in the U.S. It also shows up on a Web site devoted to America’s funniest town names, but that site lists Punkin Center, KS, not the Texas PCs.
Texas singer David Allen Coe sure likes the name. In 1976, he recorded a song called “The Punkin Center Barn Dance.”
But here’s the weird thing about Punkin Centers in Texas. None of them are in counties particularly known for their bounteous pumpkin crops.
Floyd County, which has an annual Punkin Festival but no community named Punkin Center, is the top pumpkin-producing county in Texas. Other prolific producers of pumpkins are Bailey, Hale, Lamb and Lubbock counties.
Texas A&M University says Texas ranks in the Top 10 of pumpkin-producing states (but don’t forget we’re No. 1 in terms of number of Punkin Centers). The estimated value of Texas’ annual pumpkin harvest is $4.6 million, most of the pumpkins going for ornamental (read: Halloween) purposes.
ROARING SPRINGS, TEXAS
Motley County, Texas Panhandle
State Highway 70 and FM 684
8 miles S of Matador
85 miles NE of Lubbock
Population: 265 (2000) 264 (1990)
History in a Small Pecan Shell
Roaring Springs was once a part of the Matador Ranch. In anticipation of the railroad coming through, they platted a town in 1912 and called it Ragtown. It seemed like a good idea at the time. When they got their post office in 1913 they were told to get serious and they came up with Roaring Springs - named after a point on Dutchman Creek.
The Travelers Hotel (c.1914) in downtown Roaring Springs is on the Texas Historical Commission's endangered buildings list.
The Quanah, Acme and Pacific Railroad operated from 1913 to 1971.
The high population of Roaring Springs was 514 people - reached in the 1940s.
Witching Water in Roaring Springs
Dear TE, My grandfather, Rolla Chester "R.C" Ireton and his wife Lillie lived in Roaring Springs from 1920 to 1925. Son Merion Frank was born February 16, 1922. Rolla operated the blacksmith shop, garage and light plant furnishing power to the barbershop, general store run by his father, Frank Austin Ireton, and the hotel and a few other business places. The light plant consisted of a Model "T" Ford engine and generator in the garage and blacksmith shop which ran the machinery during and the electric generator at night until about ten o'clock .Rolla was a dowser being able to find water with a willow branch and in 1924 a rancher who could not find water on his ranch offered him five hundred dollars to dig a well on his place he accepted and took another man out and located place to dig and about twenty five feet down where they found a nice stream of good water and was producing water fifty years later. In 1925 they moved to Whitedeer. - Mark William Ireton, Portland Oregon, August 11, 2007
Roaring Springs will always hold a special place in my heart. My grandmother and grandfather moved their ten children to Roaring Springs sometime in the 1940's. All of their grandchildren loved Roaring Springs. I was born in 1973 and as a child, I remember visiting my grandmother on holidays and summers. We had freedom, we could walk downtown to the store by ourselves and we played outside all day. Occasionally we were able to go the Springs and swim. The people were always friendly, they would wave as they drove by. My grandmother finally moved from Roaring Springs about 5 years ago.
My mom told me about all of the people that used to live in Roaring Springs and many of my fondest memories happened there. It was a place that represented family and values. I couldn't believe people actually left their doors unlocked. It is a really special place to me. - Angela J., Granddaughter of Ossie "Shine" Brown, Las Vegas, Nevada, July 27, 2005
My grandfather worked for the Matador Ranch at one point, and they lived near Roaring Springs in an old boxcar. He and my father broke saddle horses for them for a while. They were working a bunch of cattle and my grandfather was off his horse for some reason when a bull gored him badly. This happened somewhere around 1915 or so. It took two years to heal, and when he died in 1959, the scars on his abdomen were terrible to see.
His name was J.O. CHESTER, born about 1867, married to Katie Leona BAMFORD AUSTIN . The Children that were with them were Mae Austin, John Felix Austin age about 15, and Thomas A. Chester age 5 or 6. Thanks, Leona Guthrie
Lots of wonderful history here, thank you for sharing, James.
SALT FLAT, TEXAS
Texas Ghost Town
Hudspeth County, West Texas
US 62/180 FM 1576
20 miles SE of Dell City
70 miles E of El Paso
86 miles N of Van Horn
54 miles N of Sierra Blanca
Population est. 35
History in a Pecan Shell
Although the major events occurred just East of El Paso at San Elizario, the salt lakes* here were the cause of the much written about San Elizario Salt War. It's an interesting chapter of Texas history and is usually included in most books written about the Texas Rangers.
*The salt came from shallow lakes that formed after rains in the Guadalupe Mountains. It was "mined" for cattle as late as the 1930s, but wells drilled in Dell City lowered the water table to where there was less and less salt deposited.
You can check the Handbook of Texas Online under Salt War of San Elizario for the details, but in a nutshell it was a non-family feud that came about when a claim for title was sought for the flats which was thought by many (including the rival faction) to be public property.
During its seven-year simmer, the "war" claimed fewer than a dozen lives, but since it involved factions on both sides of the border and the Texas Rangers as well as the Army, it demands its place as a (rather large) footnote to El Pasoan and West Texas History. Because of the Salt War Fort Bliss was reestablished later the same year it had been abandoned (1877).
This has been a most interesting thread ........ SO MUCH history and so little time (at least in my case :o) ) to spend reading and studying it !!
TURKEY, TEXAS
“Western Swing Capitol of the World”
Hall County, Texas Panhandle
100 miles SE of Amarillo
100 miles NE of Lubbock
250 miles NW of Dallas
Population: 570 (2000)
History in a Pecan Shell
Originally called Turkey Roost for Turkey Creek and the roosting turkeys there, settlers began arriving in the 1890's. The name was shortened when the post office (the dug-out of Alfred P. Hall, postmaster) was granted in 1893. The town plat was recorded in 1907 and in 1927, the Fort Worth and Denver Railroad arrived. The Turkey Volunteer Fire Department was organized in February of 1928 after two disastrous fires destroyed most of downtown Turkey. Major crops are cotton, watermelons, peanuts, and sweet potatoes.
Turkey is best known as the home of Bob Wills, the King of Western Swing. Wills was a barber in Turkey during the 1920's. In his biography “Hubbin’ It”, Wills said that the lotions and soft-work of barbering kept his fingers pliable for playing the fiddle. It was a trade that many musicians shared, since the day work of barbering never interfered with dances and holiday celebrations. Wills form the Texas Playboys band and their music introduced a new offshoot of county-western music known as “Western Swing.”
The former Turkey school buildings were purchased by The Bob Wills Foundation and city offices, the library, a senior citizens room, and the Bob Wills Museum are located in the former grade school building. The Foundation has built a Bob Wills monument and Bob Wills Park.
I love the western swing, lots of fun to dance.
yes indeedy !!!!! "When you cross that Ole Red River Bob Wills is still the king"
YANCEY
Medina County, Texas Hill Country
FM 462 and FM 2200
14 Miles S of Hondo
19 Miles SE of D'Hanis
46 Mile SW of San Antonio
Population 202 (2000)
History in a Pecan Shell
Once known as Tehuacana and also as Moss, Texas, it was named for not one, but two youngs men with the first name of Yancey. Yancey Strait and Yancey Kilgore were sons of prominent land owners. A post office was granted in 1897 and the town consisted of little more than school store, cotton gin and post office.
The area had three separate schools (Community School, Styles, and Tehuacana) before they merged in 1912. The mostly German-American population was 350 in 1914 and the town was once noted for it's watermelons, peaches and plums.
In the mid-1920s Yancy was primarily comprised of the school, residences and two churches. The population remained at 275 in the early 1960s but declined to just over 202 in the late 1980s. The population on the state map in 2007 shows 202.
ZULCH, TEXAS
Central Texas Ghost Town
Madison County
FM 39 and FM 1372
11 miles SW of Madisonville
Population: 0
History in a Pecan Shell
Settlement began in the late 1830s when the first homestead was established in what had been Grimes County. Sometime around 1850 Julius Zulch, a German immigrant recognized the potential of this place that was known as Willow Hole. It had spring water and was halfway between Midway and Boonville - the perfect place to open a store.
Zulch opened his store and in 1859 the Willow Hole post office operated within the walls of Zulch's store. The settlers (mostly from southern states) weren't settling fast enough for Julius, who wanted a broader customer base. He started placing ads back in the old country - even fronting interested immigrants their passage money.
In the early 1880s, "considerable numbers" of Germans arrived - either sharecropping for Zulch or others in order to get a grubstake for their own farms. Willow Hole soon had a respectable population of 150 - growing to around 500 by 1890.
Julius Zulch built a Lutheran school which doubled as a church. In 1893 the Bethlehem Lutheran Church was built on property donated by Zulch. The town was renamed Zulch in 1906 and the postal authorities authorized the change of the post office's name.
That same year the Houston and Texas Central Railroad on its way from Navasota to Mexia bypassed Zulch by building to the west.
Then in 1907, the Trinity and Brazos Valley Railway built a spur parallel to the Houston and Texas Central tracks. When people moved North to the railroads - North Zulch came into existence and plain Zulch shrank. The post office closed in 1920 and the school managed to hold on until a consolidation in the early 1940s.
By 1949 Zulch was down to only 50 people and by the 60s, only the Willow Hole Church and Cemetery remained.
A historical marker on Farm Road 39, (half a mile west) serves as tombstone for the town.