ROAD TRIP: A BBM Game

[belbbmfan]

Bragg Creek, Alberta

Near Moose Mountain.

[Meryl]

Komensky, TX

In May 1895 a number of residents, primarily Czech, Moravian, and German newcomers to the area, met at the home of C. M. Karasek on Woods Prairie to plan the construction and operation of a school named in honor of Jan Amos Komensky (John A. Comenius), the noted seventeenth-century Czech-Moravian educator and bishop of the Protestant Moravian Unity of the Brethren Church.

Through the years the school and its supporting facilities grew to accommodate well over 100 students in the first through seventh grades. By 1915 it was recognized as a model for rural schools in Texas. Consolidation after World War II deprived Komensky of its school but not its community spirit. Cotton was last grown in the area during the 1950s, and during the 1980s one farm service center remained to serve the needs of residents, who at that time grew corn, cattle, and hay.

(XYZ Rule applies to next post)

[MaineWriter]

Justiceburg, TX

The town that had been known as Leforrest had a post office operating under that name from 1902 - 1905.

In 1910, Jefferson Davis Justice bought land in the area. He gave the railroad a right-of-way and donated land for the townsite. The town was then renamed in his honor. The railroad came through in 1911 and the people and businesses of Leforrest moved to the new town of Justiceburg.

The population of Justiceburg has never exceeded 100. The closest it came was in 1980 when 76 people were recorded. Many of the people living in the area are descendants of Jefferson Davis Justice.

Justiceburg, TX was the birthplace of Norm Cash (11/10/1934 - 10/12/1986).

Cash, a left-handed hitting first baseman, had a distinguished career in major league baseball, with the Chicago White Sox (1958-1959) and Detroit Tigers (1960-1974).

Cash led the American League in batting in 1961, hitting .361 (he later admitted to using a doctored bat for most of that season.) For most of the rest of his career, he was primarily known as a power hitter for the Tigers; he finished with 377 career home runs, and was a key contributor on Detroit's 1968 World Championship team.

Cash fell overboard while fishing in the Great Lakes on October 12, 1986, and drowned.

[nova20194]

Galahad, AB

Galahad is a small village in east-central Alberta, located just a few miles north of the Battle River valley on the route a former CN rail line. The four streets and three avenues were aligned with the railway (NW to SE), rather than conventional north-south-east-west orientation. The major economic base of the Galahad region is agriculture (wheat, barley, canola as well as raising beef or pork), oil & gas production, coal mining and power generation.

The village hosts modest services including general store, gas station, restaurant, motel, post office, and library. The community received high-speed internet access in 2006. There is no school in Galahad, and all students are bused 16 km to Forestburg, Alberta for all classes (kindergarten to grade 12).

Recreation facilities include a bowling alley, outdoor skating rink, ball diamonds, playgrounds, and a campground (on the former school grounds). Hiking and cross country skiing trails can be found at nearby Big Knife Provincial Park. For downhill skiing, there is a small ski hill called Valley Ski Club is located just south of Alliance, Alberta (22 km from Galahad). Other activities including hockey, baseball, softball, golf, curling and swimming are available in nearby communities of Forestburg, Alberta, Killiam, Alberta, and Castor, Alberta.

Major transportation routes nearby include Alberta provincial highway 36 and Alberta provincial highway 53.

[Meryl]

DuNoir, WY

[MaineWriter]

Roaring Springs, TX

 Roaring Springs was once a part of the Matador Ranch. In anticipation of the railroad coming through, they platted a town in 1912 and called it Ragtown. It seemed like a good idea at the time. When they got their post office in 1913 they were told to get serious and they came up with Roaring Springs - named after a point on Dutchman Creek.

The Travelers Hotel (c.1914) in downtown Roaring Springs is on the Texas Historical Commission's endangered buildings list.

The Quanah, (!) Acme and Pacific Railroad operated from 1913 to 1971.

The high population of Roaring Springs was 514 people - reached in the 1940s.

L

[nova20194]

Sangudo, AB

Sangudo is a village in northern Alberta 120 km northwest of the city of Edmonton on Highway 43. The main sources of revenue for the village are tourism from the Alaska Highway which extends through Highway 43, oil production, and from agriculture which is mostly cattle ranching.

The Pembina River runs through the village.

[Fran]

Olotla, Estado de Hidalgo, MX

Olotla is located towards the very bottom of the map, just left of center.

[MaineWriter]

Abernathy, TX

The town was born as a stop on the Santa Fe when it connected Lubbock and Plainview. The name came from M. G. Abernathy, one of the partners in the South Plains Investment Company - who promoted the town.

Abernathy was initially built with structures from the town of Bartonsite, seven miles NW. A post office was granted in 1910 and four years later there was a respectible population of 300 which increased to 1,500 by the mid 20s. With the arrival of the Great Depression the population dropped to 850 where it remained until after WWII when a small oil boom boosted it to nearly 2,000.

(NB: XYZ rule applies...next player gets an automatic side trip!)

L

[nova20194]

Conrich, AB

Conrich is an unincorporated hamlet in southern Alberta, in the Municipal District of Rocky View.

Conrich is located two miles east of the City of Calgary's eastern limits. (approximately 17 kilometers or 10.6 miles northeast of Calgary's city center, on McKnight Boulevard. It is anticipated that the hamlet will eventually be annexed by Calgary, but current proposed annexation plans finalized in 2006 indicate the new boundaries will stop short of Conrich for now.

Conrich got its start as a flag station for the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway. A flag station was exactly that: passengers wanting to board had to flag the train down. The land for the site was obtained from W.F. Birch. The railroad reached here in 1913, and the name comes from the surnames of two real estate developers, Connacher and Richardson . The Canadian National Railway took over the line in 1918. A post office operated at this site from August 15, 1925 to December 12, 1960.

At the intersection of the rail tracks and Range Road 283 (also known as Rainbow Road), just a mile east of Conrich, is the site of the Brokeback Mountain filming location of "Jack's murder".