ROAD TRIP: A BBM Game

[Fran]

Acton, TX

Acton is a small community located about seven miles due east of Granbury, Texas.  It is the home of Acton State Historic Site, which is the burial site of Elizabeth Crockett, second wife of Davy Crockett.

[jpwagoneer1964]

New Waverly, Tx

History in a Pecan Shell

In an old familiar story, Waverly, Texas was once content being simply Waverly, Texas. Then came the railroad.

The Houston and Great Northern Railroad Company came through the area and in those times railroads didn’t have the best of reputations. Locals thought twice about granting a right-of-way and turned the railroad's offer down.

In the second act of the old familiar story, the railroad came through ten miles west of town and established “Waverly Station" in 1870. Naturally the people in business and other residents were drawn to the new town to maintain contact with the rest of the world. The station became “New Waverly.”

In the late 1800s Polish families were recruited from Europe and became tenant farmers in the region. Poles also settled in towns like Brenham, Thurber, Malakoff , Palestine and a cluster of communities around Panna Maria SE of San Antonio.


An abbreviated timeline of significant events:
In 1873 a post office was granted.
In 1884 the town had 150 residents.
By 1896 the population had reached 250.
In 1900 the town had a healthy population of 500.
By mid-century it had declined somewhat to just over 400.
The population was about 600 in the 60s – 700 in the 70s, 800 in the 80s, and 900 in the 90s.

The economy is still driven by lumber – an industry that has influenced New and Old Waverly, and Elmira for over 100 years.

And you can purchase this lovely ranch home for $649,000.00


Mark

[Meryl]

Yznaga, TX

[MaineWriter]

Art, TX

Mason County is included in the most heavily populated German part of the Hill Country, with the city of Mason being the northern most town of any real population. Mason, Gillespie, Kendall and Comal Counties comprise almost the entire German settlement area, with just a trace of overflow into Blanco, Kerr, and Llano Counties.

Art is found on detailed maps of Mason County just East of Mason (town). It will appear surrounded by five little crosses - a cluster of family cemeteries.

Art along with Hilda, Loyal Valley and Doss still have a number of beautiful utilitarian limestone buildings. The Germans settling this area were German Methodists, not Catholic or Lutheran Germans.

Leslie

[Fran]

Troup, TX

Troup, also known as Troupe, Troup City, and Zavala, is a small town at the intersection of Farm roads 13, 15, 346, and 347 and State highways 110 and 135, three miles south of Arp in extreme southeastern Smith County.

[jpwagoneer1964]

Powell, Wy


A view of some of the first water flows in the Shoshone Project irrigation canals, providing water to the Powell Valley.
Some of the first water flows
in the area irrigation canals,
providing water for area
farmland.
Photo provided by the
John Hinckley Library at
Northwest College in Powell.

 

Modern day irrigation canal passing through the Powell Valley.
The modern day irrigation canal
passing through Powell.

 
 
John Wesley Powell

 
   

Powell, Wyoming is named for John Wesley Powell.  Many considered J. W. Powell an adventurer, however he always maintained he was not; nor did he see himself as an explorer.  J. W. Powell always held up that he was a scientist, motivated by a thirst for knowledge and a firm belief that science was meant to further the progress of humankind.

John Wesley Powell did, however, explore rivers throughout the Rocky Mountain Region.  Those explorations led to the formulation of some of the fundamental principles of geology.  Powell went on to develop an understanding of the natural conditions that control society in the arid lands of the Western United States and he developed guidelines for the orderly development of the region.

The development of Powell began when workers came to the area to create a flood irrigation system in the valley now known as Powell Valley.  Homesteading began and agriculture became the driving economic force for Powell with the availability of the irrigation water for farm lands.  The Shoshone Project oversees irrigation for approximately 88,406 acres surrounding Powell.  The water supply for Shoshone Project is obtained from surface runoff, mainly snow melt, above Buffalo Bill Reservoir.  Buffalo Bill Dam, situated in a steep narrow canyon between Cedar Mountain and Rattlesnake Mountain, impounds flood waters of the Shoshone River and thereby provides regulation of stream flow for irrigation, flood control, sediment retention, power generation, recreation and fish and wildlife propagation.

The soils of the irrigable area are divided into two broad categories:  (1) residual soils underlain with shale and sandstone containing moderate to excessive amounts of soluble salts which are located in the northeastern par of the Shoshone Project;  and (2) modified alluvial soils underlain by gravel deposits which are predominant in the remainder of the project.

Annual consumption use of irrigation water in the driest years is approximately 2.5 acre-feet per acre.  The historical diversion requirement to meet these demands for water has been about 7.6 acre-feet per acres annually for full irrigation supply.

Agricultural products from the Shoshone Irrigation Project are widely distributed, and include: beans, peas, oats, barley, wheat, sugar beets, corn for silage, alfalfa, other forage, and seeds are  the principle crops grown under irrigation in the area.

Recreational activities have become an added benefit of the irrigation system, and the Buffalo Bill Reservoir created to support and supply the water. Situated at the eastern gateway to Yellowstone National Park, Buffalo Bill Reservoir is located on the eastern slope of the Absaroka Mountain Range and is bounded by spectacular Rattlesnake Mountain and Cedar Mountain. The Shoshone River has carved a narrow and precipitous gorge nearly 3,000 feet deep through granite. The combination of canyon scenery, mountain backdrop, and reservoir activities attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors annually.

Water related activities constitute the basic recreation attraction.  Fishing is popular in the reservoir.  Deer, elk, game birds, and waterfowl abound within the Shoshone Project area.

And you guessed it! Powell was also the name of a lite Pickup and early SUV manufactured in California in the mid 1950's, actually based on used 1941 to 1952 Plymouth chassis.

Powell Motor Company (PMC) of southern California had reasonable success as a manufacturer for over 30 years. Best known for their line of motor scooters that peaked in popularity between WW II and the Korean War, they also produced pickup trucks and station wagons in the mid 1950s, returning to scooter/mini-bike production in the 1960s.

There are no known remaining business records from PMC; however, some history has been assembled from available fragments. The company struggled sporadically, and ceased to exist sometime around 1970. The most widely accepted production numbers for Powell vehicles are 1,020 pickup trucks, 300 station wagons, three motor homes, and tens of thousands of scooters and industrial/delivery vehicles.

[MaineWriter]

Lake Victor, TX

 Lake Victor was a mere railroad camp along the Houston and Texas Central Railway at the turn of the 20th Century. The community's name may have been a joke since the "Lake" was actually a borrow pit that was only filled if there was enough rain. The namesake was the railroad crew foreman - Victor Kellogg.

In 1903 lots were sold and both school and post office opened. Lake Victor was prosperous for the next 25 years. From a population of 200 in 1914 it increased to 250 by the mid 20s.

The towns economy was stagnant through the Great Depression and the the 40s but the population stayed more or less the same. The school merged with the Burnet ISD in 1947 and the railroad abandoned their tracks in 1951. The mail was rerouted through Lampasas in 1957.

1966 seems to have been the town's high-water mark with 350 people. By 1972 there were only 200 residents which is where it has remained more or less ever since.

Leslie

[memento]

Runge, Texas

RUNGE, TEXAS
Karnes County, South Texas

State Highway 72
3 miles West of the DeWitt County Line
9 miles E of Kenedy
67 miles SE of San Antonio
9 miles SE of ghost town Helena &
13 miles SE of ghost town Panna Maria on FM 81

Population: 1080 (2000)
Former post office in Runge, Texas
   


The former post office in Runge
TE Photo, April 2001

History in a Pecan Shell

Henry Runge was a banker and merchant. Runge’s Company was instrumental in developing the town in 1887 – the year it was granted a post office. In a few short years it became the largest town in Karnes County. The Runge Town Company managed the town until it was incorporated in 1912. At that time Gus Tips, agent for the Runge Town Company became the towns first mayor.

A school built in 1917 burned in 1930. Gus Tips assisted in the formation of two banks in Runge, and much of the city’s progress is attributed directly to this one man.

A tornado hit Runge on May 6, 1930 killing 27 people and injuring 34. This partially explains the present size of the town’s downtown section. The Runge welcome sign also supports a birdhouse – a nice touch we wish other towns would employ.

Yet another tragedy hit Runge in 1992 when the town’s historical museum was destoyed by fire.

[jpwagoneer1964]

Erskine, AB
 And Erskine was also an automobile, companion to Studebaker only recently beat by Mercedes as auto company longest in business.

Some seventy nine years ago, Albert Russel Erskine,
President of the Studebaker Corporation, came to the decision
that the world automobile market would shortly demand a car of
the European type, built to the standards of the fine American car.

After exhaustive investigation both abroad and in this country,
followed by the building of 15 experimental chassis and bodies
and countless road tests at Studebaker's million dollar proving ground,
a remarkable new-type car evolved by Studebaker engineers.
Because Mr. Erskine was primarily responsible for the development
of this evolutionary new car, the board of directors of
the Studebaker Corporation unanimously decreed that it should
be named the "Erskine Six".

Mark

[MaineWriter]

Electric City, TX

 The town was built in 1926 during the Hutchinson County oil boom. The name is a reference to the Riverview Power Plant, constructed by the Panhandle Power and Light Company to furnish electricity to the oil fields - allowing them to drill at night. Following a 24 hour, seven day schedule, the plant produced its first lights in November of '26.

A camp grew around the facility as the boom continued, and it started evolving into an actual community. It might have remained if not for the improvement of the highway and its proximity to Borger. A few residents stayed and even as late as 1948 five people called Electric City home.

Leslie