Brokeback Mountain: Our Community's Common Bond > The Lighter Side

ROAD TRIP: A BBM Game

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moremojo:
Cotulla, Texas

--the county seat of La Salle County; town situated on Pan-American Highway. Area has seen sporadic growth due to periods of oil boom, but historically has been a small, underdeveloped community. President Johnson once taught school here, and called it "the crummiest town in Texas". I have long-standing family connections to the place, with maternal grandparents growing up here, and an aunt having been born here.

jpwagoneer1964:
Auburn, Tx

AUBURN, TEXAS. Auburn was sixteen miles southwest of Waxahachie in western Ellis County. Some of its first settlers were from a caravan of 105 covered wagons that originated in Arkansas in 1852. They were attracted by the water supply from the nearby North Fork of Chambers Creek, the flat and tillable land suitable for crops and livestock, and the climate. Jerry Files opened a general store at Auburn. By 1890 the community had a population of 290; by 1900 it had two cotton gins, a corn mill, a blacksmith shop, and two grocery stores. Four church congregations met regularly-Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, and Disciples of Christ. A two-story building, McCarver Chapel, housed a grade school on the first floor and a Masonic lodge on the second floor. An Auburn post office opened in 1877 and operated until 1906, when the mail was rerouted through Maypearl. In 1865 Rezia (or Rezi) Jarvis Banks deeded land to the trustees of the Methodist church, to be used as the site for a church, school, and cemetery. The community name appears first on that deed. Martin P. Nation bought Eureka, a retired world's champion short horse, and brought him to Auburn for breeding. At one time a racetrack was located a half mile from the general store. In 1904 the community reported a population of 136. By the 1940s Auburn consisted of one business, a school, a church, and a few widely scattered dwellings. The 1968 population was reported at twelve. On April 11, 1978, a state historical marker for the cemetery was dedicated as a result of research and documentation done by Cloyd F. Stiles, a great-grandson of Rezia Banks.

Also Auburn is the name of a luxury Indiana made automobile.

Auburn was a brand name of United States automobiles from 1900 through 1937. It grew out of the Eckhart Carriage Company, founded in Auburn, Indiana, in 1875 by Charles Eckhart (1841–1915). Eckhart's sons, Frank and Morris, began making automobiles on an experimental basis before entering the business in earnest, absorbing two other local carmakers and moving into a larger plant in 1909. The enterprise was modestly successful until materials shortages during World War I forced the plant to close.

The 1904 Auburn was a touring car model. Equipped with a tonneau, it could seat 2 or 4 passengers and sold for US$1000. The flat-mounted single-cylinder engine, situated at the center of the car, produced 10 hp (7.5 kW). A 2-speed planetary transmission was fitted. The angle-steel-framed car weighed 1500 lb (680 kg) and used half-elliptic springs.

In 1919, the Eckhart brothers sold out to a group of Chicago investors headed by Ralph Austin Bard, who later served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy for President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and as Under Secretary of the Navy for President Roosevelt and for President Harry S. Truman. The new owners revived the business but failed to realize the profits that they hoped for. In 1924, they approached Errett Lobban Cord (1894–1974), a highly successful automobile salesman, with an offer to run the company. Cord countered with an offer to take over completely in what amounted to a leveraged buyout. The Chicago group accepted.

Cord aggressively marketed the company's unsold inventory and completed his buyout before the end of 1925. In 1926, he partnered with Duesenberg Corporation, famous for its racing cars, and used it as the launching platform for a line of high-priced luxury vehicles. He also put his own name on a front-wheel-drive car, the L-29 Cord.
Auburn Automobile Historical Marker, Auburn, IN
Enlarge
Auburn Automobile Historical Marker, Auburn, IN

Employing imaginative designers such as Alan Leamy and Gordon Buehrig, Cord built cars that became famous for their advanced engineering as well as their striking appearance, e.g., the 1928 Auburn Boattail Speedster, the Model J Duesenbergs, the 1935–1937 Auburn Speedsters and the 810/812 Cords.

Styling and engineering failed to overcome the fact that Cord's vehicles were too expensive for the Depression-era market and that Cord's stock manipulations would force him to give up control of his car companies. Under injunction from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to refrain from further violations, Cord sold his shares in his automobile holding company. In 1937, production of Auburns, Cords and Duesenbergs ended.

The company's art deco headquarters in Auburn now houses the Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Museum. It was made a National Historic Landmark in 2005.

MaineWriter:
Normanna, TX

 The area had been a Mexican land grant back in 1831. In 1874 it was named Walton Station after Sheriff D.A.T. Walton.

Norwegian immigrants moved into the area in 1893, and formed the nucleus of their colony just 2 miles from Walton. When the postal authorities rejected the application for a post office under the name Walton, Normanna was submitted and accepted.

The name loosely translates as "the place of Norsemen" but closer to the true meaning is "far North." Seeing that's where they were from, the name was appropriate.

Normanna has a museum in a building that has served as ranch headquarters, a hotel and a residence. Families descended from the original Norwegian settlers still live in the area.

Leslie

Fran:
Alta, WY

jpwagoneer1964:
Arlington, Wy

Arlington, Wyoming
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places 11/25/83

    The Rock Creek Crossing and Stage Station was in the 1860s one of many stopping points or waystations along the Overland Trail, a central trail among many Western transcontinental transportation routes. As a stage station known as a home station, Rock Creek became a commercial as well as "entertainment" center for immigrants. Joe Bush, owner of the stage station, constructed a bridge at the crossing and lived in a log cabin at the site. To serve the many needs of the travelers, Bush operated a dancehall-saloon, general store, and blacksmith shop from one building. Although travel along the trail declined after the transcontinental railroad was completed, Rock Creek continued to thrive as a supply and social center for growing agricultural and timber interests in the surrounding area. In 1882 a post office known as Rock Dale was constructed at the site and was used as a bunkhouse in later years. The dancehall-store blacksmith shop also served as a school during the 1890s. The owners at Rock Creek station turned to stock raising for economic purposes during the later part of the nineteenth century. Although Rock Creek still served as a commercial and social center, the economic base of the small settlement began to change. Corrals, a barn, milkhouse, and icehouse were built during the 1880s and 1890s. During the early twentieth century, Rock Creek was renamed Arlington but it continued in its dual commercial-agricultural role. Rock Creek's historical significance relates to its evolution from a home station along the Overland Trail to a permanent ranching community. As one of the earliest settlements in Carbon County, Rock Creek contributed in a commercial and social sense to the development of south central Wyoming.

Mark

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