ROAD TRIP: A BBM Game

[MaineWriter]

Texon, TX

Texon is located about 3 /10 mile south of Hwy 67 on FM 1657. Here you'll see a derrick and the well-preserved remains of Santa Rita #1, the well that brought in the huge Big Lake Oilfield. Historical marker will provide details.

There are two "ghost towns" in Reagan County. Texon has the greater population. The other is Stiles, with only the ruins of the recently torched former courthouse (Christmas Eve 1999).

Texon was a planned community that at one time had a population of over 1000. The Big Lake Oil Company was sole owner of the property. Sidewalks, street signs and mailboxes with two or three wooden structures are all that remain. Two homes appear to be occupied and strangely enough, as if anticipating a rebirth, the street signs are new reflective ones, in some cases standing alongside the old wooden ones that they're replacing. The postal service has also installed a new mailbox looking out of place among the five-foot tall weeds.

It's obvious that there is recent activity with the wells. Hoses and wires follow the grid of the former yards where deer and jackrabbits now graze undisturbed and unfrightened by visitors. The abundance of these creatures along with roadrunners, makes Texon a good spot for observing wildlife.

Leslie

[jpwagoneer1964]

Noonday, Tx

[Meryl]

Yecapixilac, Mexico



Yecapixtla (also called Yecapixilac) in the State of  Morelos, Mexico, is a beautiful town that was conquered by Moctezuma between 1440 and 1460. During its conquest the Spanish and natives fought a great battle. In 1529, Charles V left this town to Hernan Cortes.

Yecapixtla is the place where the Augustinian convent of San Juan Bautista was built and also where you can admire the gothic rosette and the bas-reliefs on the facades, just some of the fascinating examples of XVI century architecture.

Yecapixtla is also very popular for its delicious "cecina" or cured meat, one of Mexico's famous traditional dishes.  The main festivity is the "tianguis" or market day which takes place on the last Friday in October.

[MaineWriter]

Circle Back, TX

The name comes from a ranch whose brand was a circle on the back of cattle.

From 1918 to 1954 the settlement a dozen or so houses and a six-grade school. Naturally there was a store/post office and a gas station. In 1949 the community, reached its high water mark of about 100 people.

When the store burned in 1954 it pretty much finished the town – since it was also the post office.

By 1980 the population was 49 and a few years later only the Baptist minister and his family was left.

Circle Back is 66 miles NW of Lubbock.

Leslie

[moremojo]

Karnes City, Texas

--the county seat of Karnes County.

[belbbmfan]

Yatzingo, Mexico

[MaineWriter]

Oak Forest, TX

Oak Forest reached its high water mark (population-wise) about 1896 with 200 residents. There was a blacksmith, a hotel and a general store as well as a piano teacher and a doctor. The Handbook of Texas reports that they "enjoyed daily mail delivery by 1914" and that "Thereafter its population declined sharply." We have to wonder what was in those letters.

There has been no business conducted in Oak Forest since 1965 and the scattered resident population adds up to about 25.



Leslie

[jpwagoneer1964]

Tye, Tx

[moremojo]

Eskota, Texas

--small community situated in Fisher County. Here is something I found relating to this place on the Handbook of Texas Online:

Eskota, on Sweetwater Creek in southeastern Fisher County, in 1881 was a shipping point on the Texas and Pacific Railway for Dan and Riley Trent's ranch. The community's post office was established in 1888 and received its name after the "Eskota" rather than the "Trent" station marker sign was delivered. Eskota is a word of Indian derivation. The settlement prospered for a time as the only railroad town in the county. Its two-story hotel served train crews and other travelers. In 1947 Eskota had fifty people, a church, a store, and a section house. By the early 1980s it had one business and was on the Missouri Pacific. The community still existed in 1990.

[Fran]

Avenir, AB