Blogs from Nacogdoches, Texas, United States, North America - page 3

In 1845 the Republic of Texas chartered the Old Nacogdoches University Building as one of the first six colleges in Texas. This university building was constructed in 1858-1859 (Texas was a new US State then) at a cost of $10,500 USD. Classes started there in 1859. The "Red House" is where they started classes in 1845; and classes were held in other buildings all at or near the downtown Nacogdoches Square until the university building was completed in 1859. In 1904 All of Washington Square was deeded to Nacogdoches Independent School District (NISD). The Rusk Building (also called the "Old Red Building") was added to Washington Square in the 1910s as the first Nacogdoches High School. The other nice buildings were added later. In 1939 the "White Building" was finished as the new Nacogdoches High School ... read more

On January 20, 2019 I was invited to watch the Lunar Eclipse at Walters Tree Farm, about nine miles East of the City of Nacogdoches. I was there after sunset and was ready to shoot in a dark place behind the out building. I shot a pic before the eclipse to show a pine tree and some oak trees. I started shooting with the stages of the eclipse and it was hit or miss with the pics that I show here. I got some halfway eclipse shots and a mostly eclipse pic using my inexpensive Walmart tripod. This took a few hours, and by time of totality the moon was directly overhead; making my tripod useless. I used my zoom and free-handed some three second exposures of pics of totality. You'all know that we do not ... read more

I was driving North to Nacogdoches and wanted to avoid the big traffic-jam at the South Nacogdoches Loop 224. The construction costing many millions of dollars was offset by very bad engineering that I call rickie parries folly. The sign on US Hwy 59 said County Road 525, but I knew it was Press Road. This is a dirt road with little traffic that follows the railroad to Lone Star Feed. There is mostly private property with some nice places to pull of the old road. There are some nice people there that would chat with me usually at the two railroad crossings. They told me that trains still use these old tracts, but they do not often see a train. I passed several pipeline (ROW) right of ways I got to the first railroad crossing ... read more

The Liberty Bell is a very nice restaurant with bar. It is located on East Main Street on the East Side of the Nacogdoches Square. This is where Nacogdoches has very old brick buildings and brick streets. We had a family and friends gathering there. The food was good but I did not order an alcoholic drink. We stayed and enjoyed a live band for more than an hour. After that we had a short photo shoot outside and then went home. I am fairly certain that the Liberty Bell, and the other fine old downtown brick buildings, were designed by Diedrich Rulfs. With new management, The Liberty Bell was later renamed as Cowboy Jacks Saloon. (Good name)... read more

Pioneer Park is a thirty acre City Park on the South side of Nacogdoches. Like all Nacogdoches City parks, it is well maintained and open free to all in the daylight hours. There are three large covered pavilions, with picnic tables, that can be used by several small groups of visitors at the same time. There are rest rooms and children's playgrounds. There is plenty of wide open space for solitude and walking and bicycling. This is a nice place to visit in the shade or in sunlight. For historic value they have a Sherman medium tank that was used in WW2 to fight against heavy tanks in Europe. Everything in the tank is welded shut and not functional and not movable. I had a little fun with the Sherman tank. Note: I stand corrected, that ... read more