Timpson Frontier Days

Every year over the 4th of July holiday the little town of Timpson, Texas (population 1,155) comes alive during its annual Frontier Days celebration.  I had never been before thinking it was some little town rinky-dink festival and, boy, was I ever surprised.  It is small but the enthusiasm of the citizens makes up for the quantity and the whole town just exudes quality fun!  Almost every person you saw was dressed in 4th of July attire.  Of course the Timpson High School cheerleaders wore their uniforms in the school colors, black and gold!

Almost every spot on the parade route is a good place to be.  There are only two major streets in the town and the parade traveled down both of them.  The fellow above I must presume is one of the participants in the gunfight reenactment which started after the parade and he and a couple others dressed in authentic-looking costumes served as a welcoming committee for all the parade participants.  This guy was so photogenic and every photo I took of him he had the greatest expressions on his face to match the body language.  I think the young lady behind him sitting by the sign must be describing the fish she caught last weekend!

Some more authentically dressed parade watchers.

Everyone said this year's was the biggest parade yet.  What was so cool was that everyone knew everyone else, whether spectators or riders in the parade.  Many paraders threw candy for all the waiting children.  It was Mardi Gras in July!  I loved this motorcyclist's headdress fashioned from a baseball cap.

It was a hot and humid day here in East Texas but many people were dressed for the heat and colorfully.

Here's this fellow again acting surprised at the emergence of a candy apple red Corvette on the parade route.

Another person in perfect 1890s attire.  His coffee mug even looks authentic!

Tomorrow:  Classic cars

Happy Birthday America!

The Historic 1885 Shelby County Courthouse

Center, Texas

The Cleaning Crew

Helping the Teacher!

NOTE:  I certainly don't make it a practice of publishing photos of children without their parents' permission but I felt this one was far enough away they were unidentifiable.  And all I will say is it was taken on one of my many road trips I've made throughout Texas in an undisclosed location.

Bell County Courthouse (Texas No. 58)

Bell County Courthouse in Belton, Texas, was built in 1884 in the Renaissance Revival style.  The following year the Fort Worth Daily Gazette reported "Among the many new courthouses built in the state during the past three years, the Bell County Courthouse surpasses all in beauty of design and elegance of finish."  Constructed of a golden-hued stone mined from a local quarry, it suffered the same fate of many historic 19th century buildings during a renovation in the 1950s when its bell tower and clock were removed to effectuate a more modern look.  In 1999 it underwent another restoration to return the courthouse to its former grandeur and the bell tower was rebuilt. Today the goddess Justice has resumed her rightful place on top of the tower.

Modern lightweight materials and modern engineering practices have allowed many of these buildings to be restored to their former condition.  Although not my favorite courthouse, this is one of the most beautiful I've seen in my travels, although it sits on a rather small parcel of land relative to its size.

Belton is 60 miles north of Austin and 140 miles south of Dallas.  Interstate 35 runs through the city.  I had attempted to go to Belton three years before (almost to the day) but due to construction on the interstate, I decided to forgo the visit.  I was quite surprised to find the same construction in the same place on this visit, although not as congested as it had been.  My GPS failed in giving me proper directions and it was an absolute nightmare to get off the interstate and into town, to the hotel, out to dinner, back to the hotel since all the exits I was directed to take did not exist!    I was very happy to leave Belton the next morning.  I can't believe its citizens have put up with this mess for over three years.

This last trip during the second week of June was purely a courthouse trip.  I am attempting to finish my courthouse series because there is a very good chance I will be leaving Texas in the fall.  I hope so.  I've loved my stay here but I am anxious to return to Arizona where my only remaining family is.  I managed to photograph 12 courthouses on this trip and one more trip is scheduled probably this month.  Living on the far eastern edge of the state I am hundreds of miles from most places that remain on my list.  I've put thousands of miles on two vehicles in furtherance of this project and there are a couple out in far western Texas, almost a thousand miles from my home, that I'll probably never get to. Actually, when I return to Arizona, it will probably be closer to visit those towns then rather than where I am now!

So bear with me over the next couple of months while I'm in courthouse overload.  I'll try to interperse a few things in between.

Historic Victoria - Part 2

The O'Connor-Proctor Building on one corner of the courthouse square has been a bank, a church, law offices, a hardware store, a paint store, clothing store, and photography studio.  It was used as an emergency hospital during the influenza epidemic of 1918 and as officers' quarters during World War II.  Today it is the home of the Victoria Junior League and serves as a venue for social events. Built in 1895 at a cost of $7,721 it is constructed of St. Louis red brick and trimmed with Kerrville (Texas) white limestone.  Originally the first floor contained one large room and vault and the second floor housed three offices, that of rancher T.M. O'Connor, the legal firm of the brothers Venable and Fred Proctor, and the dental office of Dr. William L. Ward.  Each suite had its own marble lavatory.

The 1892 Allnoch building seems to enjoy a refurbished second floor but the first floor is boarded up.  I found references to the Allnoch family on the Internet but nothing specifically other than they were related to the Mitchell family whose home was featured in yesterday's post.

Fraschio "Frank" Fossati, an Italian immigrant opened his first delicatessen and saloon in Victoria in 1882.  The present day building was constructed in 1895. It is the oldest delicatessen in Texas and one of the oldest restaurants in the country.  At one time the deli offered live music and many famous musicians have played here, including Willie Nelson.

We stopped by Fossati's for a cold drink and had we not had lunch just a couple hours before, we would have tried out their menu.  They offered the usual deli fare and a good selection of various beers.  Well-known throughout the state, a visiting Texas governor was once told as he prepared to enter the establishment, "Sir, out here on the street you are Governor.  When you step inside, you are just another customer."  The Fossati family continues to operate the business 133 years after its establishment.  That's just downright amazing!

A twin pair of angels guard the graves of a family plot in Victoria City Cemetery.

A miniature version of the sculpture "Grief" by Frank Teich is found in Victoria City Cemetery.  This replica is about half the size of the original work which is located at the Scott Cemetery here in East Texas not far from my home.  That sculpture was featured in this blog in December of 2012 and can be seen here.

Historic Victoria - Part 1

St. Mary's is the second oldest Catholic Church in Texas (the oldest is the San Fernando Cathedral in San Antonio which I had the privilege of seeing and photographing last December), having been established in 1840.

In 1866 five sisters from a group of nuns in Brownsville came to Victoria and established a convent called  the Monastery of Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament after their original order in Lyons, France, and one year later opened a school which eventually became known as the Nazareth Academy .  Today the school is in more modern quarters behind this building.  The Academy attained high school status in the early 1900s,  now has students K through 8th grade and is one of the oldest Catholic schools in the state.  This building was constructed in 1904 and is next door to St. Mary's about one block south of DeLeon Plaza.

Three blocks from the courthouse sits this beautifully detailed Queen Anne house, built by Joseph D. Mitchell in 1893.  Mitchell was a successful rancher, civic leader, legislator and naturalist who also enjoyed national recognition as a conchologist and entomologist.  The house eventually became a mortuary after the death of Mitchell and his wife and in 2009 it underwent a complete restoration and now serves as office suites for several local businesses.

I know nothing about this beautiful home and simply took the photo because of its beauty with the gated drive, wrought iron fence, and luscious pink azaleas which were in full bloom at the time of my visit to Victoria.

Next door to the Mitchell House was this house with a very unusual "spider web" door.  The house was very pretty but my eye was drawn to the doorway and I didn't take any other photos.  My research later revealed that originally it belonged to Thomas D. O'Connor, a legendary cattle king who lived in Victoria. It is still occupied by descendants of the original owner.

TOMORROW:  Historic Victoria - Part 2

De Leon Plaza - Victoria

The old Victoria County Courthouse, unlike most of its sisters throughout the state, actually sits across the main square rather than in the middle.  Victoria's square is known as DeLeon Plaza, named for Martin DeLeon, the Spanish empressario who founded and named the city.  Victoria is one of the cities in Texas over which the six flags which have governed this land have truly flown, the Spanish flag, the French flag, the Mexican flag, the flag of the Republic of Texas, the flag of the United States of America, and the Confederate flag.

In the photo above, you can see a portion of the new (1967) Victoria County Courthouse to the right of the retired structure.  The two buildings are connected by a walkway and today the only entrance to the historic courthouse is through the present courthouse.

There are plenty of places to rest on the plaza, which is shaded by beautiful ancient live oak trees. The red building in the foreground is the Rosebud Fountain and Grill.  It's been there since 1910 as a drug store, a book store, a stationery store and a diner. This corner is considered to be the oldest drug store corner in the state, having been the site of a drug store since 1847.

Almost every courthouse in the South has a veterans monument honoring native sons who fought in the Civil War.  Victoria has perhaps the most unique of those monuments, which typically depict a young boy in uniform carrying a rifle.  This sculpture was crafted by noted artist Pompeo Coppini, who made an agreement with the local chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy that if they would let him design the statue it would be a more fitting tribute to the men who fought than any other Confederate statue in the state.  He was paid $5,000 for his work which was completed and erected in 1912.

(NOTE:  This is a photography blog and I make no comments of a political nature on any subject, or at least I don't intend to.)

The four streets surrounding DeLeon Plaza are filled with many restored 19th Century buildings.

Providing all that great shade are the many live oak trees, which are much older than the plaza itself.  I was intrigued by the fact that a number of them have exposed root systems which have simply been surrounded by concrete to create walkways and curbs and show no evidence of having damaged any of the trees.

And who could resist taking a photo of young lovers relaxing and resting on a warm spring day in such a beautiful setting!

TOMORROW:  The buildings of historic Victoria

Victoria County Courthouse (Texas No. 57)

The Victoria County Courthouse in Victoria, Texas, has been retired since the 1960s, having been replaced by a more modern structure in 1967.  It had been slated for demolition but was saved due to overwhelming support from local citizens, but it sat crumbling and further deteriorating for 30 years until those same citizens decided it was time to do something about it.  Through private donations, a bond issue, and local inmate labor, the nearly $6 million renovation was completed and the courthouse rededicated in 2001.  It has been named one of the ten favorite courthouses in the state.

Constructed:  1892
Architectural style:  Romanesque Revival
Architect:  James Riely Gordon
Materials:  Blue Muldoon sandstone and limestone according to one source or Texas granite and Indiana limestone according to another

Victoria is a beautiful community of 62,000 people.  It is known as the Golden Crossroads due to its location within a two-hour drive of Corpus Christi, Houston, San Antonio, and Austin.  It was established in 1824 and is named for General Guadalupe Victoria, the first president of independent Mexico.

Over the next few days I will feature some of the sights which can seen in the city.

St. Mary's of the Assumption

St. Mary's of the Assumption in the community of Praha is the home of one of the famed painted churches my cousin and I visited on our wildflower and painted churches trip in April.  Unfortunately we were unable to view the inside because of a renovation which is currently taking place.

Praha was once a thriving little town settled by Czech immigrants in Central Texas.  Today it's population is 25, although many parishioners from surrounding areas call this their mother church.  The church renovations are scheduled to be complete by August 15th in time for the annual Feast of the Assumption homecoming festival when literally thousands come for the festivities which have been held on August 15 of every year since 1855.

Other than being the home to St. Mary's, Praha's only other distinction is being the town which suffered the largest ratio of war deaths during World War II than any other place in the U.S. when nine young men from Praha gave their lives between February 1944 and February 1945 fighting to defeat the Axis powers.  All good Czech boys, their names were Robert Bohuslav, Rudolph Barta, George Pavlicek, Jerry Vaculik, Joseph Lev, Eddie Sbrusch, Edward Marek, Adolph Rab, and Anton Kresta.  Three identical memorials have been built in their honor on the grounds of the church and they are remembered in services each Memorial Day.

Nesting Phoebes in the Carport

Ray Nell's Gift

Crinum Lily

This beautiful Southern heirloom lily was a gift to my mother a number of years back from her oldest niece, Ray Nell.  Mother had remarked on an occasion that it had never bloomed.   My cousin died suddenly last February and of course Mother went to her final resting place last fall.  This week the lily started blooming.  It's absolutely beautiful.  She had planted it up by our road on the edge of turn-in to the driveway.  I suppose the real reason it decided to bloom this year was because of all our rains over the past six months.  The spot she chose is too far away from the nearest water spigot to be able to water it during dry times.  It's a very common plant in the South and thrives here because of the heat and the amount of humidity.  I would love to take it back to Arizona with me when I return but it belongs here.

* * * * *

SOUTHERN NAMES

Don't you just love those two-word, languid names that once were so prevalent in the South?  My cousin Ray Nell had one of those names.  She was the oldest of four girls and I suppose Aunt Lillian and Uncle Huey were dreaming of a boy as their first child and back in those days everyone took pot luck with what might be coming on that birth day.  And for 82 years she was known as Ray Nell, not Ray, not Nell or Nellie, or some nickname.  

I had another cousin whose real name, swear to God, was Bob Wayne.  Well, that's not so unusual you might say.  Come on, HER name was Bob Wayne.  She was called Bob Wayne but as time went on and she moved to the city she became known as Bobbie.  Of course, she just moved further into the South to Louisiana so the geographic location probably didn't have anything to do with the name evolution.    

I went to school with two sisters who were both named Barbara.  I guess that was their mother's favorite name.  They were close in age and were distinguished by their middle names and they were called Barbara Ann and Barbara Allen (yes, her middle name was spelled A-l-l-e-n).  In later years she was just called Sister.  Of course back in those days there were no Jennifers, Stephanies, Tiffanies,  Kathys, Brendas, Lindas, Melindas, Belindas.

Then there's the names for the boys.  I have a cousin whose name is Jimmie Ray (not Jimmy) and what do we call him?  Jimmie Ray, of course.  What else?  Then we've all heard of Billy Bob, Johnny Mack,  My mother's youngest brother's name is Joe Buck.  The story is my grandmother's neighbor named him.  I guess after seven kids she just couldn't come up with another name, or maybe because she had five girls she just didn't know any middle names for boys.  

My neighbor's name is Howard Lee.  If anyone ever called him Howard, we wouldn't know who they were talking about.  My dad's name was Howell Bennie.  Howell is sort of a neat name, unusual, but Bennie?  Ever known anyone named Bennie?  Anyone who ever called him by his first name usually called him Hal because -- well, just because.  He spent most of his life with a various nicknames, Shorty and Bucky being the most common.

Nicknames are a whole 'nother story.  We won't even go there.  But what's your favorite memory of names and the person they belonged to?  Isn't it weird how our name eventually becomes part of the fabric of our lives?  Can you even imagine calling your best friend Christina something like Kate or Joyce?  What if your son changed his name from Jeff to Wilson?  Huh?  It just doesn't work, does it?

Post Office Murals - 9 (Brady, Texas)

Another reason for stopping in Brady was to see the Post Office mural.  It's called Texas Immigrants and was painted in 1939 by Gordon Grant.  It portrays a group of early day settlers into this area of the state who have turned to view a band of Indian hunters pursuing buffalo across the landscape.  Artists who were commissioned for murals for the nation's post offices were given no funds for travel expenses, and Grant, who lived in Santa Barbara, California, could not afford to travel to Texas to research the area in order to choose an appropriate subject.  Instead, he relied upon library research of the Brady area and his own correspondence with the local postmaster, and his mural was accepted by the community as one of incredible authenticity.  He received $620 for his effort.

Architecture of the Old West

In my way of thinking, some of Texas' old jails are more beautiful than its old courthouses.  The old McCulloch County Jail in Brady is just one example. Designed in Romanesque Revival style like the courthouse featured in the previous post, this three-story red brick beauty was built in 1909 a few blocks from the courthouse.  The first floor served as living quarters for the sheriff and his family and occasionally deputies.  The second floor housed prisoners while the third floor consisted of the twin towers.  The underside of the third floor had a hanging ring with a trap door to facilitate the quick demise of bad guys.  The fate of this jail, like so many of Texas' other historic jails, was to become a museum and today houses the Heart of Texas Museum.  Lying "Deep in the Heart of Texas," in 1963 the Texas legislature declared that the geographical center of the state was five miles west of Brady.

Another building on the courthouse square in Brady is the old (and new) Palace Theater.  It was built in 1927 across the street from the courthouse and showed movies in this bustling little Old West town until 1955 when the 450-seat theater was closed.  It became a jewelry store and then later sat vacant for six decades.  In 2007 the building was declared one of Texas' twelve most endangered historical places.  Due largely to the efforts of local citizenry, the Palace was refurbished and reopened in 2014 with an audience capacity of 176 complete with the most modern digital equipment.

McCulloch County Courthouse (Texas No. 56)

Original construction:  1899
Restored and Rededicated:  2009
Style:  Romanesque Revival
Material: Sandstone
Interesting Fact:  Although there appears to be a place in the tower on each of the four sides of the building for a clock, the courthouse has never had a clock.

The county seat, Brady, claims to be the geographical center of Texas.