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Blacksmiths
on a beer break c1890
Courtesy Schulenburg Historical Society |
"They shoe horses,
don't they?"
Texas
and Texans Observed
by Editor
& Friends |
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Bar
Art by Brewster Hudspeth 2-10-08
A sampling of what now passes for art in and around drinking establishments.
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| Editors: |
Guest
Columnists: |
John
Troesser
Brewster Hudspeth
Luke Warm
Johnny Stucco
Raoul Hashimoto
John Troesser
El
Paso’s Beautiful People: 1921-1946 6-5-08
Photographer Alfonso Casasola and The Casasola Photo Collection
Pedro
Gonzalez-Gonzalez
A Guy So Nice - They Named Him Twice
During his career he performed alongside such actors as Glenn Ford,
Lee Marvin, Karl Malden, James Garner and James Arness.
The
Saddest Valentine in Houston
The
Eagle Befriends the Stork
Port Arthur's legend of F. B. Wright, A Hurricane Story
The
Day the Elephant died in Flatonia
“It wasn’t beauty that killed the beast – it was railroad-strength
pesticide.”
Told to the Editor by Flatonia Historian George Koudelka
Ten
Things You Should Know About George Campbell Childress
Author of the Texas Declaration of Independence and namesake of
Childress County
Tree
Murder in La Grange, and "... a bad haircut that can kill."
Austin's
Newsboy Statue
Etta
Moten Barnett
November 5th, 1901 - January - 2004
"Life does not owe me one thing."
Mollie
Bailey
"Circus Queen of the Southwest"
September
11th Memorial in Austin, Texas
Miss
Rita of Beaumont's Dixie Hotel
The Philanthropic Madam of Oil City
Don't
Mess with Oklahoma Either!
"That ain't my sidekick, that's my lawyer." as told to the
Editor by Ex-Ranger X
Flat
Tire in Spinachville
Three
Bean Salad
Tom Bean, Peter Ellis Bean and Judge Roy Bean
Killer
Trees of the Texas Panhandle and The Noble Quest for a "Forgiving
Roadside"
Ten
More Things Your Should Know About Judge Roy Bean
The Jersey Lilly: Where "sidebar" has a very literal meaning
Ten
Things Your Should Know About Judge Roy Bean
Texas
War Casualties
Delhi, Smithville and Praha. Stone markers and chapels quietly reveal
where America gets its soldiers.
Buildings
inside Buildings
It happened more often than you would think.
Murder
at Camp Swift 1942 - The Tragic Death of Little Lucy Maynard
4-11-04
The
Texas Onion
Turning Bermudas into Vidalias with a Little Help from Cotulla
"It's generally accepted that sweet onion production in Texas
can be traced back to a single packet of seed from Bermuda being
planted near Cotulla in 1898. ..."
Marshall
"High Pockets" Bailey of West, Texas
"The Long Arms of the Law" and Pioneer Consumer Advocate
If bootlegging couldn't be controlled,
then at least it could be monitored for quality.
"The
Day the Monkey Got Loose from the Carnival and Bit the Sheriff"
Lost Treasures mined from County Histories
County histories agree on two unspoken points: Every life is interesting
and the harder the times, the more interesting they seemed.
"Struck
on the head by a Locomotive" Early Waco Obituaries 1874-1908.
Judging by these entries, the good old days didn't quite live up
to the reputation.
The
Bride, He Wore White
Or How Men Wed in 1953 Waco
The
Worst Book on Texas Ever Written by a Man or His legs were a
little bowed from being in the saddle since boyhood.
Bring
Me the Head of My Least Favorite Nephew Getting what you wish
for in Marlin, Texas, 1908
The
Texas Pudding Solution
or Are we having flan, yet?
"If no good deed goes unpunished, and every silver lining needs
a dark cloud, then every solution needs a problem. In this case
the solution is pudding - the problem is chili..."
Brewster Hudspeth
Bar
Art
2-10-08
Ghost
Towns for Sale:
Valuable Properties and Invaluable (Free) Advice
12-6-07
Plutoed
in El Paso!
1-7-07
The World's Largest Blue Horse as White Elephant
The
Savage Life of Herman Lehmann
or Ich bin ein Apache
The
Jourdanton Dog Drownings
Small Town Finds Way to get International Attention
An
Extremely Informal* History of Penitas
*Written as an entertainment and not recommended for school reports
How
to Demolish a Texas Courthouse in 14 Days
Brazos County Hires an Iowan to Raze their 1892 Building
The
Capitol Goddess or
What's a girl like you doing on a Capitol like this?
Austin's
"Guy Town" 1870-1913
Contemporary Name / Traditional Vice
The
Anatomically Incorrect Cowboy Silhouette
One Bar -Two Dimensions
Remembering
Memory
“Thanks for the Whatchamacallits.”- Bob Hope
Quarry
Quandary
Texas’ Untoward Underground
Bison:
It's not just for Native Americans anymore
Limestone
Fence Posts
They Aren't just in Kansas Anymore
The
Short but Eventful Life of Adrián J. Vidal 1840-1865
Luke Warm
Home
Demonstration in Texas 11-24-07
From Tomatoes to Environmental Issues: The evolution of the Texas
Association for Family and Community Education
The
Streets of Reynosa
A Walk Down Pinata Row
Prada
Marfa
West Texas gets a Long-overdue Infusion of Whimsey by German-based
Artists
The
World's Heaviest, Fastest and Most Beloved Hailstone
or "I Can't Believe It's Not an Ice Cube"
Texas
on a First-name Basis
Of the roughly 2,000 town names on the official state map, over
400 of them are first names.
"The
Sound of One Hand Counting Money"
Reconstituted
Yankees with Embalmed Smiles
125 year-old Kansas “Tooth Wash” Bottles Reveal Early Advertising
Hyperbole
Pixilated
in Port Arthur & Reincarnated in Luling
Alfred Stillwell and Edgar Davis
Is
There an Edna Ferber in Your Mailbox?
or What’s a nice girl like you doing on a stamp like this?
The
Naming of Chili
The
Crash at Crush
The field that once was Crush, Texas is now occupied by cows, but
a recently replaced historical marker south of West, Texas tells
the story of one of the most bizarre publicity stunts of all time.
Texas
Guinan
She may have been Waco's Answer to Mae West - but no one remembers
the question...
Johnny Stucco
How
to Explore a Small Town 1-9-08
Helpful
Tips So You Won’t Feel You've Missed Anything
The
Bones in the Courthouse Crawlspace 10-24-07
What the exterminator saw...
“Witch’s
Gate” 10-11-07
In Cold Blood: Clay County, Texas 1975
A needless killing for a fortune that wasn’t there.
Midday
at the Oasis
Photos by Erik Whetstone
"Having never pumped a pint, let alone a gallon of gasoline,
this station-that-never-was has become our symbol for a particular
period in Texas history."
Like-New
Sidewalks and a Paper Historical Marker
Photos by Lou Ann Herda
"Wink qualified as a perfect example - the "poster child" for
Urban Renewal in Texas... The whole operation was a tremendous success
- except for one minor point. Nearly the whole town had left."
The
Ugliest Courthouse in Texas
Inside a modern monster, a 19th Century beauty is crying to come
out.
Interview
with the Gargoyle
Behind the grimace beats the heart of a young boy.
Sailors
in Limestone
The Cystal City Statue That Might’ve Been
Raoul Hashimoto
The
Most Memorable Teacher I Never Had
9-2-07
“Anguish and Disappointment at a Mexico City Bus Stop”
Border
Patrol Shootout on the Rio Grande
4-3-07
from "Border Patrol: With the U.S. Immigration Service on the
Mexican Boundary 1910-54" by Clifford Alan Perkins
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Mel
Brown
Robert Cowser
Dwight Young
Fred B. McKinley
Audrey A. Herbrich
Guests
Mel Brown
Adventures
of Eddie Fung: Chinatown Kid, Texas Cowboy, Prisoner of War
6-26-08
More by Mel Brown
Robert G.
Cowser
Memorial
Day Services at Old Saltillo Church
2-10-08
Remembering
Claire Perry
1-15-08
A
Few Degrees of Separation from John F. Kennedy's Death
12-1-07
Competing
with Elvis in the Classroom
11-15-07
Entertaining
the Rotary Club in Mount Vernon
10-8-07
Familiar
Ground 9-6-07
When I was younger, I could never quite understand how anyone could
be devoted to the town where I was born. My birthplace was a farm
house five miles south of Saltillo...
Plumbing
the Past 8-3-07
My sons and daughters laugh about the shock they experienced the
first time I told them about the galvanized bath tub that hung on
the exterior wall of the two-room house where I once lived...
The
Sounds of Home 6-30-07
In one of his essays Scott Russell Sanders writes that in centuries
past Japanese villagers were cautioned never to wander so far from
their homes that they could not hear the village drummer...
An
Influential Visit 5-28-07
"As a junior, I found myself on the teacher-certification track,
preparing to observe classes at the only high school in Commerce."
Gram and Daffodils
2-1-07
Recollections
of Talco During the Oil Boom 8-18-06
Guests
Ina Knowles Has a Brush With Bonnie and Clyde
by Lois Zook Wauson 1-15-08
Heartbeat
of a Small Town
by Alicia Lohberger 12-16-07
Cadillac
Ranch by M.M. Harris 12-15-07
Desperately
Seeking Permission: A Coryell County Adventure
by M.M. Harris 11-24-07
Delightful
Detour by Billy B. Smith 11-17-07
"The sixteen-mile delightful detour reminds me that there once
was another America, a wistful place full of pleasant and pensive
scenery..."
Sundays
in Floresville During the 30's
by Lois Wauson 11-19-07
Quanah:
Bread Buttering, Cotton Ginning and Bop Dancing by Darrell
Gilliam 11-15-07
"Little did I know at that time how much I would eventually
miss my times in Quanah."
Waiting
for Elvis A story by Shere Chamness 9-2-07
Bura
Handley
by Phil Handley 8-21-07
Mister Wellington
Living
on The New Mexico State Line and getting Mail in Texas
8-19-07
A Bronco Memoir by Loretta Caraway
A
Railroad Adventure by Maj. General Thomas R. Rampy
8-15-07
A
Man's Vision... Swinney Switch!
by Robin Sellman 7-13-07
My
Town: Twin Sisters
by Johon Haas 7-12-07
Skunk
Oil, Jackrabbits, and Red Roosters by Lois Zook Wauson 7-2-07
My Aunt Fay Goode Newhouser had the best memory of anyone I know
who talks about the 1930’s...
Vashti
by William Holmes 6-1-07
Don Quixote believed that the very essence of adventure was in “letting
his horse take whatever path it chose...” So do I. On July 2, 2005,
I happend to be in Vashti, Tx for their annual fireworks...
Mosier
Valley "Garden of Angels"
by William Holmes 5-1-07
The
Gillette Cowboy by Lois Zook Wauson 5-1-07
Beeville
Memories by Yvonne Hastings (Winfrey) 4-1-07
German Spies, Flim-Flam Men and Stolen Tortillas
Shootout
at Shafter 2-1-07
Ranger Meets His End on New Years Day 1940
Story and photos courtesy of William G. Howell
Grin
and Bear It
by Milton Babb 1-5-07
"There's nothing worse than a drunken bear in a department store..."
Stately
Memories by
Billy B. Smith 1-1-06
The old State Theater in Winnsboro, Texas
Lucius
Seneca Hine, M.D. 1-1-07
A Yankee Doctor in Oakalla, Texas after the Civil War
Longview:
A Memoir
by Mike Campbell 12-4-06
Remembering
Sabine Pass by Stan Weeber, Ph.D. 11-11-06
Railroad
Interlocking Towers of Texas
by Jim King 11-10-06
The railroad towers, "signal towers" or "switch towers"
Kopperl,
Bosque County, Texas
by Steven Fromholz 11-1-06
I was neither born nor reared in the very small town of Kopperl,
Bosque County, Texas, but as we Texans say, "Mom 'n 'em were."...
Chisholm
Trail: Fording the Brazos at Kimball Bend Bosque County Texas
by Angela Blair 11-1-06
Tracks
by
Billy B. Smith 10-1-06
Houston
Airport Story by Ken Rudine 10-1-06
Texas
Panhandle Mystery Monument
10-1-06
The
Lee House
A letter from George Benoit 9-16-06
Wings
Over Notrees Texas
by Mike Moore 8-7-06
The
Joy Theater of Shreveport
by Billy B. Smith 7-1-06
Judge
Leonard W. Scott of Caldwell County by Wayne & Rick Scott
6-15-06
My
Father's Desk
by Wayne Scott 6-15-06
My
Afternoon with Jack Johnson
by Ed "Brock" Brockman 6-5-06
I remember Bartlett by Carolyn Ripper 5-10-06
Memories
of Uncle Bob and a Wooden Box
by Delores Miles 5-6-06
"Really he must have been a most intelligent man for how else
could he have known to give a child joy you must let them have it
a little at a time."
Remembering
Alexander and the "Fattest Kitten" in Erath County
by Duby Joe Moore 3-17-06
Freddy
Fender by Ken Rudine 3-9-06
"Freddy Fender is probably the greatest singer, writer and
musician of Mexican-American heritage."
Not
Remembering the Monahans Sandhill Rangerettes by Rex Parsons
2-3-06
I
Remember a Faded Love
by Ken Rudine 11-22-05
Coolidge,
Texas 11-22-05
An excerpt from the unpublished manuscript of Archibald Flint Watkins,
1956
Orla,
Texas Michael E. Beckham 9-17-05
Bubba's Bus Route and the Day the Water Tank Fell
The
Osburn Saga by Caroll Osburn Zerkle 9-4-05
Melungeons in Wizard Wells
In
Its Own Way by Kathleene S. Baker 9-4-05
A
Texas Tragedy by Kathleene Baker 8-27-05
Jourdanton Dog Drownings
Memories
of the Hall County Courthouse
by Wes Reeves 8-3-05
Dignity,
Decorum and Justice Mark Texas' Courthouse Histories, Except for
the Fights, Arsons, Thefts, etc by Bill Morgan 6-9-05
Remembering
Beattie by Harland Moore 7-24-05
Beattie, Comanche County, Texas
“Brenham
to Sweetwater and the Big Town of Blair” 7-8-05
Railroad Memoir. A letter from Johnnie Stokes, Morse Telegraph Operator,
Colorado, Gulf and Santa Fe railroad
“When
Robert Lee Gets a New Railroad"
A letter from Ruth Elliott Sellers 7-8-05
Street
Name Trivia by Joe Foster 6-23-05
Austin, Fredericksburg, McAllen and Weslaco
TUMBLEWEEDS'
TALES: Ghost Towns and Town Ghosts
by Stephen Osmon 6-22-05
“When you get there you’ll know. Then you will have to decide,
will you stop or will you pass by? It could change your life forever;
but you gotta make the first move....”
James
Brown, Desdemona's Celebrity Actor by Linda Ruhl 6-19-05
Lt. Rip Masters of "Rin Tin Tin"
The
Picture Show Years by Darrell Loyd 6-11-05
The Select Theatre in Mineola
Taken
on the Road by Charles Kuralt by James Feagin 6-10-05
Collin
County Courthouse: Architecture The Embodiment of Human Endeavor
by Guy R. Giersch 6-3-05
Area
citizens join protest in Austin against Texas corridor by Barry
Halvorson, Victoria Advocate 5-5-05
"We need to say no to the largest land grab in Texas history, say
no to freeways being converted to toll roads and say no to TxDot
being replaced by EuroDot." - Fayette County Judge Edward Janecka
Bend,
Texas by Harland Moore 4-19-05
San Saba County Chronicles
"In this account of the history of Bend, Texas, it may sound
like that my ancestors invented the earth, inhabited it, created
Bend, Texas, and hung the moon..."
Bethel
Community by Shirley Thompson Mohler 4-18-05
Romance at the mailboxes, smuggled books and why pregnant women
couldn't teach.
Bentsen-Rio
Grande Valley State Park by Ken Rudine 3-1-05
All Texans are being deprived of their usual access by the
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department empowerment of The World Birding
Center.
Dick
Dowling Statue by Edward T. Cotham, Jr. 3-1-05
Dick Dowling Statue, First Public Monument in Houston, Turns 100
Years Old on St. Patrick’s Day
"Mary,
Mary, Once of Perry" by Toney Urban 1-25-05
"In the late 40s and early 50s, there was a Black lady named
Mary (last name unknown), that would arrive out in the countryside
near Perry, Texas and dispense some incredibly amazing medicine
and conversation....."
Purple
Martins by Judith D. Mitchell 10-16-04
The
naming of Marfa - The Last Word on "Marfa" by Lee Lowry 10-6-04
Remembering
Grandma & Dado (Elmer F. and Clara B. Sanders) in Quemado, Texas
by O. Polly (Ford) Wright 9-25-04
Consider
the Lowly Canna and Where It Grows
Horticultural Mongrels Number 12 by Sylvan Wilt 7-7-04
Kyle:
Growing with Thought by Veranda Mansard 4-19-04
"With all that's going wrong in the world of development -
it's nice to know that something is going right."
Your
Simplified Horrorscope by Sister Latrina 2-3-04
Herein you shall find no mythological creatures and no placemats
telling you who you should or shouldn't have married. To get your
simplified horrorscope, just ...
Dwight
Young
Originally published in Preservation magazine, National Trust
for Historic Preservation:
Right Here 3-16-05
Keene, Texas
"There's something incredibly powerful about being able to
walk into a building and say, "This is where it happened, within
these walls, right here."
That's what a landmark does: It tells you, "Right here."
Perfect
Worlds 2-1-05
Donna Reed and the Granada Theater in Plainview, Texas
Sagging
Symbols 1-12-05
"In the midst of the vast, windswept West Texas landscape,
the courthouse ... offered tangible evidence that our town was here
to stay and that the residents were a civilized lot who knew what
a public building ought to look like."
Fred B. McKinley
Oil
Field Humor 6-14-05
Who says that oil, wool—and sheep manure don’t mix?
Frank
Yount, Godfather of Beaumont 9-25-04
Audrey A. Herbrich
English instructor at Blinn College in Brenham and Schulenburg
San
Angelo’s (Semi-) Old Five-and-Dime 6-16-05
Running
of the Sheep 2-16-05
On the last Saturday in September, San Angeloans showcase their
idea of “fun” by releasing a herd of sheep in the downtown streets.
Hollywood
Soot 11-24-04
Photos by Boyd Photography, La Grange
The fire in La Granger.
The
“Perdiest” Falls in Texas
or Falling for You: Central Texas Travel
Pedernales Falls State Park near Johnson City
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