The 1936 opening of the brick highway from Mineral Wells to Weatherford, now known as Highway US 180. This was a Works Project Administration (WPA) highway, built during the early "Great Depression" recovery period. The photograph is looking west toward Mineral Wells, and the Baker Hotel may be seen faintly on the horizon at left center of the picture.

Fishermen stand below a cataract of the spillway of Lake Mineral Wells. The photograph was taken in 1938. On the reverse of the picture is the and-written legend: Picture taken by A. F. Weaver. This picture is featured in "Time Was in Mineral Wells...." on page 112.

Panoramic photograph of Lake Mineral Wells. An island, visible in the center of this picture, was initially accessible only by boat; but a wooden walkway eventually connected it to the concrete dam.

A copy of a newspaper clipping, the caption identifies members of the Mineral Wells Mounted Police "57 years ago." Identified are: "Uncle Billy Wood" on his white horse (not a member of the force); Bob Pate; Paul Craig; Jim Barrett, probably Chief of Police at the time; Paul Granbury. All are reported to be deceased at time of printing. The picture was furnished to the paper courtesy Mrs. Paul Granbury. The sign on the building at the far left of the picture has been tentatively identified as a Livery Stable. Though the sign is visible, the distance has made its contents extremely obscure. The first city hall was located at the corner of First Avenue and Third Street, with a fence to hold impounded livestock. The rounding up of stray livestock was the primary duty of the mounted police in 1910. Two more more individuals were also forbidden to fight in public; no-one was permitted to use obscene language; playing cards for liquor. The renting of houses for the playing of cards was also forbidden. Teams were not allowed to be unhitched while attached to wagons, and vagrants were fined $10- In short, the police team were kept busy. These …

The Mineral Wells High School marching band is shown here performing on a football field in the late 1930's. The band director at that time was Mr. Dave Brunswick. See also "Mineral Wells High School Concert Band."

A photograph print showing the Weatherford, Mineral Wells & Northwestern (WMWN) 4, 2-8-0, on a passenger train, Weatherford, TX.

Four unidentified men in golfing knickers (apparently from the early 1930's, to judge by their dress) stand in front of, and across the lake from the original Holiday Hills Country Club house. They are putting on what is now the Number 12 green.

A view of Mineral Wells from East Mountain, looking West-Northwest is shown here. The Crazy Hotel is visible in the near-left part of the picture, and the Nazareth Hospital in the middle-left, a block Northwest of the Crazy The Norwood Clinic (with its stately white columns), a block northeast of the Nazareth, is located near the center of the picture.

Photograph of welcome sign to Mineral Wells, the sign reads, "Home of the Crazy." The sign is hanging up a street by Mineral Well City National Bank Building.

Double exposure of a sign that reads "Welcome to Mineral Wells Home of the Crazy" and the interior of a room. The sign is partially visible as well as the Baker Hotel in the background. A dresser with one drawer open is also visible.

Photograph of a sign that reads, "Welcome to Mineral Wells Home of the Crazy" looking East on Hubbard Street (US 180) at the intersection with Oak Avenue. The Baker Hotel can be seen in the background. The sign was torn down on December 24, 1958, and later recreated in 2020.

Photograph of the Baker Hotel in Mineral Wells, towering over other buildings in the surrounding area. Along the horizon of the photograph, a hillside is visible on the right corner.

The Gibson Well Company purchased the Sangura-Sprudel property in 1908 for the sum of $30,000. It was to be operated as the Gibson Well property thereafter. An unnamed company shipped twenty-five carloads of water to an equally anonymous firm in Chicago in March of that year. The Gibson Well, Pavilion, and Park property covered the entire block, bordered by NW 2nd and 3rd Avenues and NW 6th and 7th Streets. The Gibson Well buildings were on the north side of the block, and the Crazy Water Well Company Bottling Plant was across NW 2nd Avenue--to the east. The Crazy Well Company maintained ambitions to build a large plant to the north of the Gibson Block, at 300 NW 7th Street, in 1921. Two buildings remained of the Gibson Well property in the 1920's, but the land was still used as a park. 1927 saw the operation of the Crazy Hotel (It was reputed to be the "Center of Everything in Mineral Wells") with its park at 300 NW 6th Street. Hence, the name of the park in the title. The property now [2008] belongs to, and is occupied by, the First Christian Church.

Found on page 158 of "TIME WAS In Mineral Wells" by A. F. Weaver, the caption to this picture reads, "Entrance to the original Camp Wolters around the 1930's. This entrance was located near and behind the present National Guard Armory." The Texas National Guard 112th Cavalry Service Troop maintained an armory on West Mountain, from a time before 1923. The hill itself was dubbed "Cavalry Hill." The Service Troop was later re-named 124th Cavalry, Troop F--which attained to fame as part of the task force that cleared the Burma Road in World War II. Camp Wolters was built for summer training of the Texas National Guard in 1927. It was to be used for a minimum of three weeks each year. The famous CCC (The Civilian Conservation Corps) stayed in the camp in 1930, and built several of the rock structures in the camp--and also around Mineral Wells. The original site had sen many uses: It was a P.O.W. camp for German prisoners taken during World War II; it was Texas National Guard property; and it was later given over to commercial use. An embedded star that was once on the headquarters of the parade ground of the original …

According to A. F. Weaver, in his book "Time was in Mineral Wells", the Crazy Radio Theatre broadcast from the lobby of the Crazy Hotel in Mineral Wells over the Texas Quality Network. The show's origin is said to be the selling of "Crazy Water Crystals." Identified are Hal Collins (Manager of the Crazy Hotel), Paul, Ludy, Dick, Jake, Slim. [No last names are given.] Please note the early 12-string steel guitar held by Paul.

A tourist court, built about 1930 by Charlie E. Turner, Harold Dennis, and Clarence Hunt is depicted here. It was located in the 1000 block of West Hubbard Street. Grande [pronounced "Grand-dee"--at least in Mineral Wells] Courts was a national chain of franchise motels. This picture appears in A.F. Weaver's book, "TIME WAS in Mineral Wells", second edition, page 99. The sign reads "Grande Courts Tourist Apts."

This photograph illustrates a fold-out brochure of the Crazy Hotel with various scenic views of things to see and do around the city, along with different modes of transportation to and from Mineral Wells.

Dr. H. H. Milling was the first of Mineral Wells' "rubbin' doctors." He operated the Mineral Wells Sanatorium at 315 NW 1st Avenue before building this sanitarium in the 2500 block of SE 6th Avenue - the old Millsap Highway) about 1929. The building was later sold and renamed Irvine Sanitarium. It now [2010] belongs to the Veterans of Foreign Wars, is located at 1400 SE VFW Highway (a branch of SE 6th Avenue), and houses VFW Post 2399. Dr. Milling also owned 60 acres on Pollard Creek in north Mineral Wells that were donated to the state of Texas to use as a State Park, which became SP8. During the Great Depression of the 1930's, the WPA and the CCC made several additions to that park to improve its recreational value: Bridges, a small dam, steps up the mountain, restrooms, etc., all using native sandstone. When Milling Park was determined by the state to be surplus property, it was deeded to the city and later renamed North City Park.

Mineral Wells' Sewerage Disposal Plant was built on the site of the former Elmhurst Park on Pollard Creek, approximately 2 miles SSW of the city. The city obtained the park property, and built the sewerage treatment plant during the recovery from the Great Depression of the 1930's. Shown here is a photograph of a clipping from a newspaper.

Products were developed to satisfy the public's search for health during the heyday of the Mineral Wells Health Industry. One of these was Crazy Fiz. Carbon dioxide was infused into mineral water under pressure to create a "Sparkling water" drink labeled "Crazy Fiz." The women in this photograph of the Crazy Water Crystal plant are packaging the Crazy Fiz for distribution. On the back of the photograph is printed "Crazy Fiz 1930's."

A caption on the back of the photograph states, "This picture, taken in the 1930's, shows the drinking pavilion in the [lacuna] Crazy Hotel." It was on the south wall of the hotel that the pavilion was located. It featured black marble counter-tops, and a small red tile roof. Servers wore white uniforms, and a machine sterilized each used glass. The price of a glass was set at five cents. The pavilion was operated for several years by Mr. Boyce Ditto, after whom the public library is named. Recognizable are N.E. Adams, last on the right, standing reading a newspaper; and Mrs. Veale, mother of Cecil Young, seated on left. Many people came to Mineral Wells to bathe and to "Drink their way to health" at the many wells and pavilions that catered to the public. This drinking pavilion is still extant, just off the lobby of the "Crazy" (now [2008] a retirement home), but it no longer dispenses mineral water.

The back of the photograph exhibits a note that this picture was copied from the "Burro", which is the Mineral Wells High School yearbook. The "Sewing Room" was a classroom in the Lillian Peek Home Economics building on the grounds of the high school. The Lillian Peek cottage was built by the WPA in 1937, and was the first free- standing house built specifically for Home Economics education in the State of Texas. It was "Current state of the art" when it was completed. The building now [2008] houses the Creative Arts Center, and is used by the local Art Club as an art workshop and museum.

This picture shows a post-card of the sign. It also represents the original version of the picture of the Crazy Sign. A colorized version, by A. F. Weaver, may be found under the title [Crazy Sign]. It was constructed in 1933 over East Hubbard Street, (later to become part of the Bankhead Highway--later still, US Highway 180) in the center of Mineral Wells. It was quite a landmark as it was one of only two signs allowed by by the Texas Department of Transportation to span a highway maintained by the state agency. The sign was torn down on December 24, 1958. The choice of Christmas Eve was made, it was declared, because there would be a minimum of traffic on that day. The sign was later salvaged for scrap. . Information about the sign was taken, for the most part, from A.F. Weaver's "Time Was..." on page 30.

This picture, looking east with the Baker Hotel in the background, of the Crazy Hotel sign was colorized by Mr. A.F. Weaver. The Crazy Sign was constructed in 1933 in the center of Mineral Wells and spanned Hubbard Street (US 180) at its intersection with Oak Avenue It was quite a landmark, as it was one of only two signs allowed by the Texas Department of Transportation to cross a highway maintained by the State. The sign was torn down on December 24, 1958, because--it was stated--that crickets and birds were wreaking havoc in the area. It was speculated that the Baker Hotel had pulled strings to have it removed, but no evidence was unearthed to prove the story.. The urgency of its removal during the Holiday Season was never explained; nor was it ever quite understood by the general public. It was sold for scrap some time later.