Spindletop-Gladys City Boomtown Museum, Beaumont

Spindletop-Gladys City Boomtown Museum, Beaumont. Reenactment of the Spindletop Gusher with performers in period costumes.
Date: April 4, 2006
Creator: Belden, Dreanna L.
System: The Portal to Texas History

Spindletop-Gladys City Boomtown Museum, Beaumont

Spindletop-Gladys City Boomtown Museum, Beaumont. Reenactment of the Spindletop Gusher with performers in period costumes.
Date: April 4, 2006
Creator: Belden, Dreanna L.
System: The Portal to Texas History

Baker Hotel, Mineral Wells, flyer for the official website

Photograph of a flier for the official website for the Baker Hotel, in Mineral Wells, Texas. It has been pasted into a window.
Date: April 14, 2006
Creator: Belden, Dreanna L.
System: The Portal to Texas History

Blach Building, erected 1884, Albany

Photograph of the Blach Building in Albany, Texas. The building is painted green, with red and white trim. There are two plaques to the right of the door that explain what the building is. The words "Shackelford County Tax Office" have been painted in both windows.
Date: April 14, 2006
Creator: Belden, Dreanna L.
System: The Portal to Texas History

Blach Building, erected 1884, Albany

Photograph of the Blach Building, in Albany. It currently houses the Shackelford County Appraisal District. The front facade of the building is green with red and white trim. There is a historic marker to the right of the building.
Date: April 14, 2006
Creator: Belden, Dreanna L.
System: The Portal to Texas History

Blach Building, erected 1884, doorway detail

Photograph of the doorway to the Blach Building in Albany, Texas. The building is painted green, with red and white trim. There are two plaques to the right of the door that explain what the building is. The words "Shackelford County Tax Office" have been painted in both windows, and papers have been taped into the doors. There is a wooden ceiling fan above the door.
Date: April 14, 2006
Creator: Belden, Dreanna L.
System: The Portal to Texas History

Breckenridge City Offices

Photograph of the Breckenridge City Offices. There is a flag pole in front of the building, as well as two potted plants. Cars are parked in the far right side of the photo.
Date: April 14, 2006
Creator: Belden, Dreanna L.
System: The Portal to Texas History

Businesses around the square, Albany

Photograph of businesses around the square in Albany, Texas. Pictured is Corriente Rope Co., next to the Blach Building.
Date: April 14, 2006
Creator: Belden, Dreanna L.
System: The Portal to Texas History

Businesses around the square, Albany

Photograph of businesses along the square in Albany, Texas. Pictured are Bright Sky Press and Lynch Line Books. The buildings are largely stone. Several cars are parked or driving by the businesses.
Date: April 14, 2006
Creator: Belden, Dreanna L.
System: The Portal to Texas History

Camp Breckenridge C. S. A. Monument

Photograph of a monument to Camp Breckenridge. It says: "Camp Breckenridge C. S. A. Established near this site 1862. Part Confederate Frontier defense line from Red River to Rio Grande occupied by company of Texas frontier regiment. Posts were day's horseback ride apart and area patrolled regularly. Duties included curbing Indian raids, rounding up draft evaders and renegades. Confederates were poorly fed, clothed and lacked horses, ammunition. They shared few of the glories of the war, but at the cost of the lives of not a few of them. These men gave a measure of protection to a vast frontier area. A memorium to the Texans who served the confederacy. Erected by the State of Texas 1963." There is a small rendering of a Confederate flag at the bottom of the monument.
Date: April 14, 2006
Creator: Belden, Dreanna L.
System: The Portal to Texas History

Confederate Memorial and statue, Parker County

Photograph of a Confederate Memorial in Parker County, Texas. It is a statue of a man in uniform holding a rifle. It reads "In honor of the United Confederate Veterans of Parker County, 1861-1865" on the base of the statue.
Date: April 14, 2006
Creator: Belden, Dreanna L.
System: The Portal to Texas History

Country Cousins Craft Mall sign - Breckenridge

Photograph of a sign shaped like a cow advertising Country Cousins Craft Mall.
Date: April 14, 2006
Creator: Belden, Dreanna L.
System: The Portal to Texas History

Doorway to the 1883 Stephens County Courthouse, detail

Photograph of the doorway to the 1883 Stephens County Courthouse. It is engraved with the words "J. E. Flanders, architect, Dallas, Texas." There is a historic marker in the right to the background.
Date: April 14, 2006
Creator: Belden, Dreanna L.
System: The Portal to Texas History

Doorway to the 1883 Stephens County Courthouse, detail

Photograph of the doorway to the 1883 Stephens County Courthouse. It is engraved with the names E. L. Walker, M. D. Rhea, S. S. Cook, and I. T. Crawford.
Date: April 14, 2006
Creator: Belden, Dreanna L.
System: The Portal to Texas History

Historic Plaque, Courthouses of Palo Pinto County

Photograph of a historic plaque about the courthouses of Palo Pinto County. It reads: "Palo Pinto County was created in 1856 and named for a creek south of here that was perhaps named by Spanish explorers of the Brazos River valley. The county seat of 320 acres was surveyed at its geographical center and was originally named Golconda. A court session in 1857 called for the first courthouse to be built of wood frame construction, with two doors and three windows. The contract was awarded to a bid of $300. Shortly after, in 1859, the town name was changed to Palo Pinto. In 1882, just after the Texas legislature allowed counties to issue bonds for new courthouses, a large sandstone structure was built. It cost $35,000 and exhibited second empire styling with a central clock tower. A two-story sandstone annex was added in 1906 and connected to the courthouse by an iron bridge. Sandstone for the buildings was quarried south of the city. In 1940 these buildings were demolished and a new courthouse was erected by Work Projects Administration workers. The reinforced-concrete structure featured subtle classical detail and was clad with some of the sandstone from the old buildings. It …
Date: April 14, 2006
Creator: Belden, Dreanna L.
System: The Portal to Texas History

Historic Plaque, Hartfield Building

Photograph of a historic plaque in Albany, Texas. It reads: "Hartfield Building. Charles A. Hartfield purchased the lot on this site in 1881. A noted area cook, he quickly established "Charley's Restaurant," which included a bakery and boardinghouse. Hartfield was so successful that he planned an elegant rock structure in which to house his business. Construction began in March 1884 amid a flurry of development in the area. Scottish stonemason Patrick McDonnell, who was responsible for much of the stonework on the new courthouse, was foreman for the Hartfield worksite. The project's scope proved too grand for Hartfield's finances, however, and in September of 1884 he sold the building to J. C. Lynch. Financially ruined, Hartfield was found dead within the year. Lynch sold his building in 1885 to three Albany businessmen: Max Blach, N. H. Burns and Sam Webb. Charles Hartfield's widow, Lettie Hartfield, joined them as an equal partner and the group completed the structure, probably using Charles Hartfield's original plans. The building was occupied over time by such businesses as a grocery, a general merchandise store, a bowling alley and an auto repair shop. The Albany Masonic Lodge began meeting in the structure as early as 1893, …
Date: April 14, 2006
Creator: Belden, Dreanna L.
System: The Portal to Texas History

Historic Plaque, Lt. Col. William E. Dyess

Photograph of a historic plaque in Albany, Texas. It reads: "Lt. Col. William E. Dyess, (August 9, 1916 - December 22, 1943) "A native of Albany, and a graduate of Albany HighSchool and John Tarleton Agricultural College, William Edwin Dyess was the son of Judge Richard T. and Hallie Graham Dyess. Trained as a pilot at Randolph Field, San Antonio, he led the 21st Pursuit Squadron of P-40s in the Phillipines, where he was when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor in December 1941 and the U.S. entered Word War II. Dyess' actions against invading Japanese forces at Subic Bay, despite few operational planes, and his later role as infantry commander earned him a reputation for bravery and resourcefulness. Dyess was among the men captured at the fall of Bataan on April 9, 1942 and forced into the grueling death march. He survived the malnutrition, disease and torture that resulted in the loss of thousands of his comrades. Almost a year after their capture he and 11 other men escaped and made their way through hostile territory. Dyess reported to the U. S. War Department and Gen. Douglas MacArthur on enemy actions. Through his personal accounts of Japanese atrocities in the Chicago …
Date: April 14, 2006
Creator: Belden, Dreanna L.
System: The Portal to Texas History

Historic Plaque, Parker County C. S. A.

Photograph of a historic plaque in Weatherford, Texas. It reads: "Parker County C. S. A. Part of a colonial grant to S. M. Williams and Stephen F. Austin, father of Texas, but with no permanent settlers before 1850, this county was created in 1855 and named for Isaac Parker, its legislative sponsor. By 1860 it had 4,213 people and in 1861 its voters favored secession 535 to 61. Oliver Loving, a settler, was an official stock raiser, furnishing beef to the Confederacy in the Civil War. He and 18 other men organized a full-time patrol against the frequent, bloody Indian raids. Citizens of adjacent counties took refuge here. In 1864 three local men were charged with treason. One admitted inviting Federal General J. G. Blunt to come from the Cherokee nation and give Parker County protection from the Indians. General John R. Baylor, a local rancher, was an officer in the Arizona-New Mexico campaign to make the Confederacy an ocean-to-ocean nation, and after victories there became Governor of Arizona. He was in the Confederate Congress from 1863 to 1865. Parker County sent the Confederate army nine companies. Its Company E, 19th Texas Cavalry, served in Parsons' Brigade--which fought over 20 …
Date: April 14, 2006
Creator: Belden, Dreanna L.
System: The Portal to Texas History

Historic Plaque, Parker County Courthouse

Photograph of a historic plaque in Weatherford, Texas. It reads: "Parker County Courthouse. Scene of many noted trials. Built 1884-1886. Cost $55,555.55. Fourth courthouse in history of county, organized 1856. An oak on Ft. Belknap Road was Court site that year. In this building practiced S. W. T. Lanham, who was Governor of Texas 1902-1906. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1964."
Date: April 14, 2006
Creator: Belden, Dreanna L.
System: The Portal to Texas History

Historic Plaque, Shackelford County

Photograph of a historic plaque in Albany, Texas. It reads: "Shackelford County. First inhabited by nomadic Indian tribes, Shackelford County was created in 1858 and named for Dr. John Shackelford (1790-1857). The first permanent Anglo-American settlers in this area included J. C. Lynch (1828-1912), a native of Ireland who moved here in 1858; W. H. Ledbetter (1833-84), who arrived in 1859 and later started the Ledbetter Salt Works; T. E. Jackson (b.1820), a merchant who settled in the northern part of the county before 1860; and G. W. Greer (1812-93), who operated a stage station on Hubbard Creek after 1861. During the Civil War (1861-1865), settlers took refuge at "family forts" such as Fort Mugginsville and Fort Hubbard. They gained military protection from frontier perils when the U. S. Army established Fort Griffin in 1867. Griffin, the lawless settlement that grew up around the Fort, attracted buffalo hide hunters and cattlemen driving herds up the western cattle trail. Shackelford County was organized Sept. 12, 1874, with Fort Griffin as temporary county seat. Albany was chosen permanent county seat in Nov. 1874. The county's population increased sharply after the arrival of the Texas Central Railroad in 1881. Petroleum production generated an …
Date: April 14, 2006
Creator: Belden, Dreanna L.
System: The Portal to Texas History

Historic Plaque, Walter Prescott Webb's Formative Years

Photograph of a historic plaque in Breckenridge, Texas. It reads: "Walter Prescott Webb's Formative Years. Noted historian Walter Prescott Webb (1888-1963) came with his family to Stephens County at the age of four. Over the next seventeen years, Webb received an education in frontier life that formed the basis of his intellectual development and his theories on the role of the Great Plains in American history. Webb's father, Casner, was a rural schoolteacher and farmer. As he moved to different teaching assignments, the family moved with him. W. P. Webb thus was exposed to the physical geographical variety within the county that was so important to his western thesis. His neighbors were prime sources of frontier lore. Although Webb's public school experiences were infrequent, it was during these formative years in Stephens County that he developed his love of books and his desire to attend college. Also during this time, Webb was contacted by William Hinds of New York, who was to become his benefactor and a great source of encouragement for the young scholar. In 1906 Walter P. Webb received his teaching certificate and spent the next three years as a rural educator. In 1909, at the age of …
Date: April 14, 2006
Creator: Belden, Dreanna L.
System: The Portal to Texas History

Historic Plaque, White Elephant Saloon (Blach Building)

Photograph of a historic plaque in Albany, Texas. It reads: "White Elephant Saloon (Blach Building). The land on this site, Lot 9, Block 3 of the original town plat of Albany, was purchased in 1882 by noted local restauranteur Charles Hartfield. He planned to build a restaurant next door, and the pending establishment was much anticipated by local diners. Shortly before his death in 1884, Hartfield sold the lot to Alabama businessman Max Blach. Blach was vice-president of the Albany Water Company. He and partner N. H. Burns brought a system of running water to the town in 1884. Blach began construction on this one-story native stone structure in March 1884. The building was completed in April and leased to J. R. Davis, who put it to its most infamous use. The White Elephant Saloon opened for business on May 1, 1884. Among its instantly popular features was a white elephant display which was removed from the rooftop early in the establishments heyday. The perpetrators were believed to be citizens who disapproved of the saloon's raucous business. Despite its popularity, Davis announced his intent to close the saloon in February 1886. The Blach building soon was leased to W. M. …
Date: April 14, 2006
Creator: Belden, Dreanna L.
System: The Portal to Texas History

[Historical Marker: John Richard Winters (January 23, 1908 - August 11, 1997)]

Photograph of a historic marker for John Richard Winters (January 23, 1908 - August 11, 1997) in Palo Pinto, Texas. Text: Tax-Assessor-Collector for Palo Pinto County from January 1, 1947 to March 31, 1987. Longest tenured Tax Assessor in the State of Texas at the time of his retirement. Active participant in civic affairs and community projects throughout the county: Sea Scout Troop Leader; President of the Mineral Wells Junior Chamber of Commerce; Charter member, Captain and Secretary of Palo Pinto County's Sheriff's Posse; Secretary of Palo Pinto County Livestock Association and its FFA-4H Club Junior Livestock Show; Palo Pinto Masonic Lodge; Mineral Wells Masonic Lodge; Old Settlers Reunion. President of Tax Assessor-Collectors Association of Texas in 1862. Retired from U. S. Army as Chief Warrant Officer after 21 years of service in Europe in World War II and active reserves. Instrumental in County Contribution to state-wide screw worm eradication program; re-introduction of wild turkeys into Palo Pinto County; publication of Palo Pinto County History Books; Centennial Celebration; Erection of Historical Markers in Palo Pinto County. Remembered for his untiring efforts to promote Palo Pinto County and Improve the quality of life for all its residents throughout his 89 year …
Date: April 14, 2006
Creator: Belden, Dreanna L.
System: The Portal to Texas History

Jackson Warehouse, Albany

Photograph of the Jackson Warehouse in Albany, Texas. It is a one story wooden building, with a car parked in front.
Date: April 14, 2006
Creator: Belden, Dreanna L.
System: The Portal to Texas History