ROAD TRIP: A BBM Game

[MaineWriter]

Opdyke, TX

The town's name is pronounced O. P. Dike - just as you would pronouce someone's name. The someone in this case was probably Charles W. Opdyke, director of the Santa Fe Railroad. It is also suggested that the name could've been after a relative of the man (W. A. Dykes) who had built the town's first cotton gin in 1937.

Opdyke had no 19th Century history. The town got started in 1925 - and it wasn't until 1945 that they had a population of 50. All activities revolved around the gin throughout the 40s and 50s with a service station/general store to serve the needs of the citizens. By the late 50s the Farmers Co-op Gin was the town's last business.

Leslie

[jpwagoneer1964]

Eldorado, Tx

 The Tom Ratliff Civic Theater History

        The picture show building, known as The Lone Star Theater, was built in 1930 by Mr. and Mrs. T.K. Jones.  It was built shortly after the Whitten oil well made history.  Having profited from this venture, Mr. Jones wanted to invest in real estate in Eldorado.  To give the town some class, he built the picture show building.  The construction was done by a Mr. Chidester from Menard who also did other construction work for Mr. Jones.  The advent of the oil well triggered growth in the community and several other buildings on Main Street were constructed about the same time.  Despite the fact that it was a boost to the community, some felt that talking pictures would be the downfall of the town.

        T.K. and his wife sold it to Catherine Creigh Hall in 1944.  It remained in that family until 1961, when Tom Ratliff purchased it from the Halls to house the insurance business he had purchased from his brother Jack Ratliff.  Tom Ratliff modernized the very front of the building only, leaving the auditorium in tact to be used for storage.

        In 1986, Tom Ratliff decided to retire and considered selling the building.  He quoted a selling price which his wife, Winnie Helen considered to be ridiculously low.  She made him a better offer on the spot, and he quickly said, "Sold!"  Tom felt he had made a good business deal, but before the sale could be finalized, he had to put on a new roof and install new air conditioning.  He was not so sure of his good business deal after that!

       In 1986, a community theater group began to produce plays and developed into an organized group called " The Way Off Broadway Players".  Their first show was in 1986.  They became incorporated in October of 1989.

        Shortly after incorporating, the group needed a permanent home and they approached Winnie Helen about the possibility of purchasing the old picture show from her.  To their great surprise and delight she gave them the building on March 16, 1994.  She stipulated that it be called the "Tom Ratliff Civic Theater" in memory of her husband Tom who died September 3, 1991.  The Way Off Broadway Players as well as the community were deeply grateful, and plans for renovation were started immediately.  The renovation was done by Herman Walker Construction of Eldorado.

        The Way Off Broadway Players are a non-profit, tax exempt corporation (501-C corporation).  There has been wonderful support from the community and neighboring communities from the beginning.

 Eldorado was also the name of Cadillacs top of the line luxury personal car, from 1953 to 2002. Cadillac once considered 'standard of the world' now just another higher priced car. Far too many years of complacency by General Motors, lack luster styling, poor reliability causing huge rapir bill by owners, lead many to seek their luxury motoring elsewhere. The final 2002 is nearly idenctical to the model introduced in 1992.

Mark

[Fran]

O'Farrell, TX

O'Farrell is on Farm Road 995 nine miles west of Atlanta in northern Cass County.  It was settled in the 1870s, and a post office was established there in 1886 and remained in operation until 1905.  In 1890 the community had a post office and store run by W. S. Thompson, with a Baptist church and cemetery nearby.  By 1896 it included two stores, a gin, and the church. The first population estimates for the town were recorded in the 1940s, when it had two rated businesses and a population of forty.  In 1983 O'Farrell had a church, a cemetery, a town hall, and a population estimated at twenty. Its population continued to be reported at twenty in 1990.

-- Cecil Harper, Jr., The Handbook of Texas Online

[moremojo]

Lloydminster, Canada

--unique community in Canada, legally existing in both the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan simultaneously. Straddling the border of the two provinces, this is the Dominion's only bi-provincial town.

[MaineWriter]

Raywood, TX

Originally settled in the 1830s, Raywood experienced the various adventures and misadventures of its neighboring southeast Texas communities until the 1890s when a man named Alex Miller introduced rice farming in 1890.

Raymond Harwood was the proprietor of the local rice mill and the town was named by combining his two names. Raywood was platted alongside the Texas and New Orleans Railroad in December 1893. A post office was granted in 1894. The population ranged from 100 to 125 until oil and gas was discovered in the mid-50s.

The late discovery occured when automated drilling methods had long been in place - so the "boom" only amounted to a doubling of the small population.

Leslie

[jpwagoneer1964]

Duncanville, Texas

The origin of Duncanville can be traced as far back as 1840, with the community's beginning as a small settlement. It was not until some forty years later, with the construction of the Chicago, Texas and Mexican Central Railroad connecting Dallas and Cleburne that Duncanville began to emerge as a town. The coming of the railroad to Duncanville changed the community. The railroad line connecting Dallas to Cleburne was to be completed not later than April 15, 1881. With time running short to complete the railroad on time, a shortened method of railroad construction was adopted at an open field owned by James R. Horne and G.H. Finley. Doing this allowed the railroad to arrive in Cleburne two hours ahead of the deadline and a switching station was later built in the open field. It was called Duncan switch.

In 1881, Charles Nance arrived by train at Duncan Switch to visit his sister, Mrs. William Horne. Finding the area much to his liking and envisioning a bright future for this part of Dallas County, Mr. Nance made the decision to stay in this area. He formed a partnership with Chris Horne, for fifty dollars purchased a lot from G.H. Finely, and built the first building, Nance Brothers, at Duncan Switch.

In August of 1881, Nance forwarded a petition to the Post Office Department in Washington, D.C. to establish a post office. Residents at that time were receiving their mail at post offices in Cedar Hill, Wheatland, or Jim Town. His application was returned with a notation to choose a different name because there was already a post office in Jasper County, Texas with the name of Duncan. There had been individuals in the community who had refused to sign Nance's original petition and many others who were hard to convince, so he simply added "ville" to Duncan, so it now read Duncanville. The petition was returned to Washington and, in early October 1881, he received the order to open the new post office under the name Duncanville.

With Mr. Nance as the first postmaster, the post office opened in the general store and the first mail bags were received October 1, 1882.The growth and development of Duncanville occurred along the railroad tracks. In 1883, a large two-room depot was constructed immediately adjacent to the railroad tracks. Over time, businesses began emerging along the east side of the tracks. The first businesses to be established were the cotton gin, two general stores, and a doctor's office.

Mark

[Fran]

Entrance, AB

[memento]

EBENEZER, TEXAS
Ebenezer is a tiny rural community located off Recreational Road 255 about thirteen miles northwest of Jasper in northwestern Jasper County. Settlement began in the area by 1860 when pioneers William P. M. and Mary Ann Dean established a family graveyard. In 1861 they gave land for both the cemetery and the Ebenezer Methodist Church. Circuit-riding ministers used the log building for both Methodist and Baptist congregations. A new building replaced the structure after it burned in the 1890s. In the early 1900s a third building served as both a church and schoolhouse. Highway maps of the 1930s showed the school in Ebenezer that served area farming families. Sometime after this the school closed, and the church was deactivated in 1965. Though Ebenezer was still shown on maps in the 1990s, no population estimates were available in 2000. The Ebenezer Methodist Church and Ebenezer Cemetery received Texas Historical Markers in 1986 and 1987 respectively.

[MaineWriter]

Rock Crusher, TX

 Near the Bachelor Prong of Hords Creek, the railroad had built a large steam-driven roller-type rock crusher for creating roadbed material.

A post office was open from 1912 to 1914, when the town had two stores. The town reached its population peak about this time with 400 persons, most of them employed moving, crushing and hauling away rock.

In 1916, three schools combined to comprise the Rock Crusher school district.

In the 1920s and 1930s Coleman county roads were supplied with gravel from the crusher.

During the Depression, the town was down to 150 inhabitants. The crusher was removed and the large hole which was left became a small lake.

The town was deserted by the 1960s and the lake was filled with silt.

Leslie

[jpwagoneer1964]

Richland Hills, Tx

    
 
Welcome Home!

The City of Richland Hills is a vibrant, progressive community strategically located in the crescent of Northeast Loop 820 and Texas State Highway 121 in Northeast Tarrant County. The convenient location provides residents easy access to all of the amenities offered within the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex.

The roughly 8,132 residents also enjoy some of the best housing values in north Texas in stable, well-kept neighborhoods with large lots and attractive, affordable homes. With forty-nine percent of city revenues received from sales tax and property taxes paid by businesses, residential property taxes are among the lowest in Tarrant County.

The City's schools are in the acclaimed Birdville Independent School District (BISD) {http://www.birdville.k12.tx.us/}. Within a ten-minute drive, Tarrant County College {http://www.tcjc.cc.tx.us} offers a wealth of classes. Several major colleges and universities are also within easy driving distance.

The City has a well-equipped Library and Parks and Recreation Department. The City offers a wide variety of activities including preschool, youth, adult and senior citizen classes, plus special events and building rental. Three public parks offer tennis courts and jogging trails.

Richland Hills accommodates more than 320 businesses which includes two of the top twenty largest industrial parks in Tarrant County. Both Midway Business Park and Richland Industrial Park front State Highway 121. Businesses also have access to the vast labor force in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex with the Richland Hills Trinity Railway Express Station {http://www.trinityrailwayexpress.org}. The North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) {www.dfwinfo.com} projects the rail station to be the second busiest stop on the line between Fort Worth and Irving.