ROAD TRIP: A BBM Game

[belbbmfan]

Normandville, Alberta

[MaineWriter]

Eddy, TX

Bruceville and the separate community of Eddy both became stations on the Katy Railroad (the Missouri, Kansas and Texas) when it built through McLennan County in the early 1880s. Lucien N. Bruce became Bruceville's namesake when he donated land for the depot. The railroad connection drew population from Mastersville, a town that could ill afford to lose it. Soon Bruceville's population was approaching 30 - many of them coming from the doomed town of Mastersville.

A Bruceville school district formed in 1904. Banking in Bruceville was short-lived. Although a bank started in 1907, a drought, forclosures and unpaid loans caused it to close in the late 20s - even before the arrival of the Great Depression.

Bruceville had a respectable population of 500 throughout the 30s and 40s. However after WWII, increased mobility allowed people to seek work in distant cities. The town declined by half in the late 40s and by 1970 there was only a reported population of 25 people. Clearly something needed to be done if Bruceville was to be saved from becoming a ghost. They found an ally in their neighboring town of Eddy - two miles distant.

Before the Katy Railroad arrived, Eddy, Texas was Marvin, Texas. In 1883 railroad superintendent Everett B. Eddy had the honor of replacing Marvin (whoever that had been). Eddy was a little smaller than Bruceville - with 150 residents shortly after it was founded. Still, it was quite independent with its own newspaper and essential businesses.

During the 1890s Eddy surpassed the population of its neighbor by several hundred. Bruceville and Eddy's future merger may have been fortold when, in 1928, the two communitees consolidated their schools - a first in McLennan County. Eddy's population was just under 500 in the 20s. By the mid-1940s the population was down to 350. With the construction of I-35 in the early 60s, commuting to Waco and Temple became easier. In the 1960s the population doubled to 600. The towns incorporated as one in the mid 1970s and the population rebounded to over 1,000 by the 1980s. Bruceville-Eddy incorporated in the mid-1970s and the population soon increased to over 1,000 people. It has since inrcreased to 1,490.

[Meryl]

Yucote Acres, TX

[jpwagoneer1964]

Spring Valley, Tx

Also a city near where I live in San Diego.

Spring Valley, Texas, in Harris county, is 8 miles W of Houston, Texas. The city is part of the Houston metropolitan statistical area (MSA). About 3,611 people people live in Spring Valley.
The People and Families of Spring Valley

In Spring Valley, about 74% of adults are married. Homes in Spring Valley tend to contain married couples.
Wealth and Education

In 2000, Spring Valley had a median family income of $109,020. Overall, families in Spring Valley are likely to be financially secure. Not many of the people of the city are below middle class. Spring Valley does not have a large underclass. It turns out that people in the city tend to be educated, and a lot of them are college grads. As it happens, more people than usual in Spring Valley are able to work from their homes. It turns out that the city is home to a lot of successful single people.
Political Inclinations

The Democratic party was the top fund-raiser among political parties in Spring Valley.
Spring Valley Housing

Of the houses, apartments, etc. in Spring Valley, about 95% are lived in by their owners, not renters. The average property tax bill in the city is higher than that of most other communities in Texas.
Commuting

In Spring Valley, 93% of commuters drive to work. One alternative to driving in Spring Valley is the public transportation system.

[belbbmfan]

Yareni, Mexico



The town of Santa Ana Yareni is located in the Eastern (and northern) Sierra Madre mountain range, at an altitude of 7500 feet.
 
 
The town of Santa Ana Yareni 
As you can see in the photo, Santa Ana Yareni is nestled at the base of a mountain, which is called I’iya Reni (Blood Mountain) because of the red color of its soil. The ya of Yareni is a shortened form of i’iya, which means ‘mountain’, and reni means ‘blood’.

There is a legend which tells how Santa Ana got its name. Cosamaloapan, the patron saint of the neighbouring town of San Miguel Aloápam, became angry with the inhabitants of the town because of their disrespect for her. She punished them by causing the nearby river to overflow, carrying the people of San Miguel to the base of this mountain behind Santa Ana. Their blood turned the soil of the mountain red.

According to the 2000 INEGI census the population of the town is 1,004. Many of the inhabitants of Santa Ana Yareni have emigrated to Oaxaca City, to Mexico City, and to various parts of the U.S.A.
 

[MaineWriter]

Illinois Bend, TX

Illinois Bend was named after homesick settlers from Illinois - who moved to Texas in 1862 - during the Civil War. Before their arrival it had been named Wardville after a local landowner - C. M. Ward. The name was changed to Illinois Bend in 1877 when a post office was granted for the community. Illinois Bend had a population of 300 by the mid-1880s.

Illinois Bend suffered the death-blow of never having a railroad connection and the population shrank to a little over 100 persons by 1910. The Illinois Bend post office closed and after WWII the population declined to less than 70.

L

[nova20194]

Delacour, AB  (northeast of Calgary)

[Meryl]

Redbird, WY

(Welcome, nova20194) 



South of Mule Creek Junction and Redbird, U.S. 18-85 south approaches Wyoming 270 west to Lance Creek. Photo taken 09/04/04.

[jpwagoneer1964]

Durant, Tx

DURANT, TEXAS. Durant, two miles northwest of Clawson in northwestern Angelina County, was the last sawmill town established in the county on the Cotton Belt line (officially known as the St. Louis Southwestern Railway). Around 1909 Louis C. Odum built a small mill at the site on the railway; Durant was often referred to as Odum's Town because Odum was not only a sawmill owner but also a county commissioner and the first postmaster at the community. The local post office opened in 1909 and was closed in 1915. Durant was named for the Durant Lumber Company, which at one time operated a mill there. From 1909 to 1915 the town served as a shipping point for lumber and farm goods. In 1912 Odum sold his sawmill to Arch Carraway, who moved a mill to a site near Durant from Nacogdoches County. Carraway went out of business when the area timber supply was exhausted, and the community subsequently declined. The population of Durant was listed as five in 1910 and twenty-five in 1920. In 1945 the settlement had one business and a population of twenty-five. The population was again reported as twenty-five in 1965. By the late 1980s Durant was an abandoned railroad station.


And Durant was once a automobile. the yellow one pictured belongs to Lance Haynes of San Diego and I have seen this car at several auto events over the years.

The Durant was a make of automobile assembled by Durant Motors Corporation of New York, New York from 1921 to 1926 and again from 1928 to 1932. Durant Motors was founded by William Crapo Durant (also known as Billy Durant) after he was terminated as the head of General Motors. Billy Durant's intent was to build an automotive empire that could one day challenge General Motors.

The Durant automobile is considered to be an example of an "assembled" automobile because so many of its components were obtained from outside suppliers. From 1921 to 1926 the vehicle was powered by a four cylinder Continental engine. The vehicle was directed at the Oakland automobile price point.

Production of the vehicle was suspended for the 1926 and 1927 model years. When the Durant was reintroduced, the car was redesigned and powered by a six cylinder Continental engine; some of the early vehicles were marketed as the "Durant-Star". Bodies for the vehicle were supplied by Budd Company. In 1930, some Durants were built with all steel bodies, also supplied by Budd.

Durant Motors was found insolvent and automobile production ended early in 1932.

[MaineWriter]

Toyah, TX

Toyah currently has two businesses. A gas station and a tire repair shop. Most of the residents work 18 miles away in Pecos. At one time there were over 1,000 residents of Toyah, a fact that is proven by its substantial brick buildings.

The telephone directory shows 40 subcribers not including county and state agencies/offices.

The town dates to 1881, the year that the railroad came through. Stagecoaches connected Toyah with Fort Stockton that same year. The town enjoyed a brief period of prosperity when it became a shipping point for cattle. Later, the town of Toyahvale (south of Balmorhea) became more popular since it was nearer the ranches.

From just before WW I until the depression, Toyah's population remained over one thousand people. That figure was cut in half and the decline was on by 1931.