Blogs from Texas, United States, North America - page 15

DAN BLOCKER Bobby Dan Davis Blocker rolled into the cosmos in DeKalb, Texas on December 10, 1928 tipping the scales at 14 pounds. At the time of his birth he was the biggest baby ever born in Bowie County, Texas. His folks were Shack Blocker and Mary Arizona Davis. Shack moved his family to O’Donnell, Texas, south of Lubbock and opened a store. Dan was raised there and got his book learning at Texas Military Institute. After a year among the Baptists at Hardin Simmons University in Abilene he transferred to Sul Ross State Teachers College in Alpine where he played football, performed in rodeo, and was a bouncer in a bar. He graduated from there in 1950, and a short while later found himself drafted into the Army for service in the Korean War. At ... read more

According to Wikipedia, the Texas State Railroad started construction near Rusk, Texas; built by inmates of the new Rusk Penitentiary to transport raw materials for the iron blast furnace at the Penitentiary. The building of the Texas State Railroad and the Rusk Penitentiary are linked with both located in the Rusk area (Cherokee County), and both starting operations in 1883. In 1906 the railroad reached Maydelle. Then in 1909 the railroad was completed to Palestine in Anderson County. Now the Texas State Railroad is operated as a scenic tourist train line through the countryside. The real story about the Texas State Railroad is from the old Rusk Penitentiary (1883-1917). Now the old penitentiary is located in the Rusk State Hospital (a medium security prison). I thought there was no chance for my entry; and they were ... read more

VERNON, TEXAS If you ever find yourself at loose ends in Vernon, Texas on a sleepy Saturday afternoon you might find it amusing to visit the Red River Museum. The museum has a couple of old ladies who volunteer as docents. One of them is 75 and the other is 80, and both of them are full of stories. The elder of the two gave me a personally guided tour through the entire facility, since no other tourists were there. She was quick to point out that both Roy Orbison and Jack Teagarden were born in Vernon. Roy had a fine singing voice, and was seldom off key with it. He was born in the hospital, but it is no longer the hospital. The town of Vernon has a Roy Orbison Park that they are quite ... read more

According to TexasExcapes.com, Wesley Love purchased much land North of Jacksonville, Texas (in Cherokee County) and planted a six hundred acre peach orchard in 1904. When Love died in 1925 his wife donated twenty two acres of the land to the State of Texas for a state park. Texas never acted on that gift. In 1934 the City of Jacksonville purchased that twenty two acres and another twenty acres (including what now is Love's Lookout) and developed both land tracts as city parks. Very soon afterwards Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal invested in building a park, picnic area, and an amphitheater for services, plays, concerts, and other events. (The New Deal was a good plan by Roosevelt to put people back to work in our Great Depression.) The park had a swimming pool and a dance hall. ... read more

I was driving to a small town of Keatchie, LA to visit a friend South of Shreveport, Louisiana. I found on my Texas road map the small community of Deadwood, Texas not far out of the way to my destination in Louisiana and decided to see Deadwood without Wild Bill Hickok. I drove North on US Hwy 59 and about three miles South of Carthage where I turned East on Farm Road 2517. I drove East about ten miles and passed over the Sabine River. After about five more miles I got to the community of Deadwood, Texas at the intersection of FR 2517 and FR 31. I stopped there at an abandoned parking lot cuz I saw no trace of Deadwood at the highway intersection. I drove a short distance South on FR 31 and ... read more