ROAD TRIP: A BBM Game

[jpwagoneer1964]

Hamilton, Tx

Sheltered in a pleasant valley of Pecan Creek, the City of Hamilton delights home folks and visitors alike with its scenic beauty every season of the year. Lovely trees, historic homes and buildings surround the majestic Hamilton County Courthouse, the center of life and commerce of the community.

Hamilton County, organized in 1858, boasts rolling prairies, cultivated farmlands, tree-shaded rivers and creeks flowing through hills and valleys as well as small, rural communities. Agriculture continues to play a major role in the economy of the County; but, in addition, a full range of retail businesses, specialty shops, some featuring locally produced merchandise, and professional offices flourish. The County produces limited oil, gas and gravel.

The City has 3 parks with a total of 60 acres. One of them, Pecan Creek Park, a linear greenbelt, meanders 10-blocks through downtown with 3 cameo recreational areas plus a swimming pool enjoyed by families and children. Perry Country Club is a private facility whose golf course and pool are open to members and their guests with non-resident golfers permitted to play golf on payment of a green fee.

Texas Map Hamilton’s moderate climate affords the possibility of year-round fishing, boating and other water sports at City Lake, Cowhouse Creek, the Leon River and nearby Lake Proctor. Deer, quail, dove, duck and turkey hunting draws hunters to Hamilton from early September through early spring. Small game hunting for rabbit, fox, squirrel, bobcat and raccoon is also conveniently available. The annual Hamilton County Dove Festival celebrates the opening of dove season with a city-wide event reminiscent of an old-fashioned county fair and rodeo. Held in early September, the Dove Festival attracts about 5,000 visitors to Hamilton.

The highly acclaimed Hamilton Civic Theater performs five live shows each year beginning in the spring and ending with a children’s Christmas pageant. Under on-going renovation, the Hamilton Fine Arts Center houses exhibits, seminars, art and dance classes and more. There are more than 40 active local civic organizations serving a variety of age groups, community needs, educational and recreational interests.

16 down-home reasons you’ll love Hamilton, Texas:

    * homemade jelly left on your doorstep
    * a breeze through an open window
    * hummingbirds and Morning Glories
    * playing hide and seek by moonlight
    * strolls around the town square
    * expansive vistas of rolling plains
    * fireflies dancing across the yard
    * rocking chairs on front porches
    * storekeepers who know your name
    * homegrown tomatoes to share
    * frogs in your summer garden
    * sunsets of gold and crimson
    * high school marching bands
    * winding country roads
    * friendly, caring people
    * room to fly a kite

[twistedude]

Nuway, TX


(I'm sorry about that, but I have less than kindly feelings towards Texas. I hope nobdy read the things I wrote).

[Fran]

Yek Dzonot, Mexico
(also known as Yoktzonot)

It's a town in the state of Yucatan.

[jpwagoneer1964]

Texline, Tx

TEXLINE, TEXAS. Texline, on U.S. Highway 87 eleven miles southeast of Clayton, New Mexico, in western Dallam County, is named for its location on the Texas-New Mexico line. It began when the Fort Worth and Denver City Railway purchased land from the Capitol Freehold Land and Investment Companyqv and built a division point there for its line in 1888. By the end of that year the town had a post office, a hotel, a depot, and railroad shops. Charles F. Rudolph,qv editor of the Tascosa Pioneer, predicted that Texline would be "the wildest and the roughest and the toughest town of this section," and for a time his prediction was right.

Texline served as the Dallam county seat from 1891 to 1903, when the county government was moved to Dalhart. The county's first public school was begun in Texline about 1892. Charles W. French, an agent for the Panhandle Land Improvement Company, described the boom days and the hardships that his family and other area homesteaders endured due to the lack of adequate medical treatment (until 1907, the nearest doctor was in Clayton) and occasional fuel shortages. Often the only fuel available was coal, which local residents purchased from the railroad. The town was incorporated in 1916, but removal of the railroad shops in 1923 caused population to decrease to 385 by 1940. Nevertheless, Texline retained some twenty-five businesses and several churches. By 1984 the population was 477. The XIT Trail Drivers' Reunion (see XIT RANCH) is held there annually. In 1990 the population was 425.

Mark
 

[MaineWriter]

Echo, TX

First settlement occured in the late 1870s. When the Miles and Gholson ranch sold out in 1881. One William Dibrell bought the site and renamed it Echo. A post office was granted in 1910 and by 1940 there were 75 people living in the vicinity.

The school and post office have been closed for years and the population was a mere 16 people from 1970 to 1990.


There was also an Echo in Bell Country, but that town has been completely absorbed by the town of Temple, TX.

Leslie

[Fran]

Owl River, AB

http://ca.epodunk.com/profiles/alberta/owl-river/2004768.html

[jpwagoneer1964]

Rockne, Tx

 
   

 

ROCKNE, TEXAS. Rockne, twelve miles southwest of Bastrop in southwestern Bastrop County, has its origins in the Meuth community, established by Andrew Meuth in 1846 between the sites of String Prairie and present Rockne. The second floor of the Meuth home was used for Catholic community worship. Eventually the parish split, and seven families began worship at the Rockne site. The first mass in Rockne was held at Phillip Goertz's home in 1876, and the next year Goertz and his wife, Catherine, with Michael and Rebecca Wolf, donated the site upon which the first church was built. The church burned in 1891. The second church was built on ten acres donated by John T. and Rosina Lehman and dedicated in 1892. By this time a small community had sprung up on the Rockne site. It was first called Walnut Creek, then Lehman or Lehmanville. In 1900 St. Elizabeth's School opened; its name was later changed to Sacred Heart. Lehman had a post office from 1900 to 1903, but it later became known as Hilbigville for W. M. Hilbig, a member of an area pioneer family, who established a business in the community in 1922. Rockne received its present name after Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne's death in 1931, when the schoolchildren of the community voted to rename their town in his honor. In 1935 Rockne was identified as an agricultural and cattle-raising community profiting from the development of surrounding oilfields. In 1940 the third Rockne Catholic church was dedicated on the site of the one dedicated in 1892. In the 1940s the population ranged between 150 and 280. By 1950 it had stabilized at 150. By 1976, when the Rockne church was renovated, the population of the community had grown to 400; it remained 400 in 1990. On March 10, 1988, Rockne opened its post office for one day, during which a Knute Rockne twenty-two-cent commemorative stamp was issued.


And of course the Rockne was a line of less expensive casr offered bu Studebaker from 1931 to 1933.
 

The Rockne Company produced automobiles from 1931 through 1933. The story is rather sad with the name serving as a tribute to an individual. In 1931 Albert Erskine, the President of Studebaker, offered Knute Rockne a position as sales promotion manager of Rockne cars. Rockne was a long time friend of Erskine and the head coach of the Notre Dame Foolball team. Rockne was worried that these new duties would interfere with his football program but Erskine reassured him that they would not. Studebaker began by creating a strong, durable, and inexpensive automobile named after the Notre Dame football coach. Just after the first Rockne automobiles began appearing in showrooms, Knute Rockne was killed in an airplane crash. The name persisted and used as a tribute, but most people were unwilling to purchase the car nearly sending the Studebaker Company into bankruptcy. Instead the company entered receivership and was able to continue automobile production. Erskine was removed from his position and he later committed suicide in 1933.

The Rockne automobiles were offered with an L-Head Studebaker six-cylinder engine with a choice of either 66 or 72 horsepower. The Rockne came in two lengths and could be purchased for around $600. Unfortunately, Ford's V8 automobiles outsold the Rocknes due to their stylish design, powerful engines, and low cost.

On April of 1933, the Rockne plant, located in Detroit, Michigan, closed its doors forever. A total of 23,201

Mark

[MaineWriter]

Ebony, TX

Originally called Buffalo (through 1890) the community was renamed in 1891 after their original application for a post office was rejected. (Texas' original Buffalo in Leon County had long had the name.)

A local cowboy named Ebony Shaw was a popular figure thereabouts and allowed his name to be submitted. The Ebony post office opened on January 5, 1891.

Now that the town had a place to pick up their mail and hang out, the population grew to 35 by 1910. By 1930, Ebony was getting downright crowed with a population that soared to 113 people. But, if people were standing in line at the post office, it thinned out pretty fast. The Great Depression was in full swing and soon people were leaving to look for work. By 1940 there were only fifty Ebonites and in 1945 the post office closed. The town was nearly deserted by the 50s and today all that is left is the building above and the local cemetery.

Leslie

[Fran]

Yocop, MX

Yocop is a town in the state of Yucatan.

Nearby cities and towns are:

• Xikinku (1.9 nm)
• Luch (2.2 nm)
• Cozamil (3.0 nm)

[jpwagoneer1964]

Peerless, Tx

PEERLESS, TEXAS. Peerless, also known as Gay's Mills, Hilldale, and Fairyland (Fairy Land), was a farming community on Farm Road 71 eleven miles northwest of Sulphur Springs in northwestern Hopkins County. Eli Lindley moved to the area in 1842. In the 1850s a small settlement developed there; it was called Gay's Mills for a water-powered flour mill operated by John D. Gay. In the 1870s the community was known as Hilldale, but its post office, established in 1880 with J. A. Leeman as postmaster, was called Fairyland (or Fairy Land). The latter name is said to have derived from the idea that the young girls at local dances looked like fairies, and that the local hilly terrain made the community seem like a fairyland. In 1885 the town had several steam gristmills and cotton gins, a broom factory, a church, a district school, and an estimated population of 400. Around 1891 the town name was changed to Peerless. This name is said to have been adopted after a family named Cotton planted a brand of potatoes called Peerless. Heavy rains prevented the harvest, and the overripe potatoes began to rot, giving off a pungent odor that wafted through the community, prompting the new name. By 1900 Peerless had two churches, two gristmills and cotton gins, and a population of 250. In 1905 the town school, still called Fairy Land, had two teachers and an enrollment of forty-six. The post office closed sometime after 1900, and during the 1920s the population dropped to 150. In the mid-1930s Peerless had two churches, a school, a cemetery, three businesses, and a number of scattered houses. Its population remained at a constant level until after World War II;qv in 1948 the town still had a population of about 150. After that time no further population estimates were available. In the late 1980s Peerless still had two churches, a cemetery, and two businesses.

Peerless was the name not one but two different auto campanies.

Peerless Motor Vehicle Company
Related Entries

    * Automobiles
    * Bicycles
    * Cleveland
    * Ohio
    * Oldfield, Barney

 

The Peerless Motor Vehicle Company was located in Cleveland , Ohio.  The Peerless Company originally built clothes wringers and bicycles but, in 1900 began producing its first automobiles. In its early years, Peerless was known for its innovation in automobile design.  It was the first American automobile manufacturer to mount the engine in the front, using it to power the rear wheels through a solid drive shaft.  This design dominated the American automobile industry throughout most of the twentieth century.

To promote the company and its products, the company hired a famous race car driver, Barry Oldfield, to drive one of its cars.  The car soon earned the nickname the "Green Dragon."  Oldfield set a number of speed records in the Green Dragon, making Peerless a respected name in automobile manufacturing.  Over time, a number of "Green Dragons" were built to advertise the company.

Soon, Peerless began to promote its automobiles as luxury cars.  The companys slogan became "All that the name implies."  Advertising for the car described "an interior resembling a cozy and luxuriously furnished drawing room."  The focus on luxury meant that only wealthy Americans could afford to own a Peerless.  Unfortunately, although Peerless had been known for its technical innovations in automotive design in the early years, it began to stagnate by the 1910s and 1920s.  Eventually, Peerless no longer focused on the luxury market and began to manufacture automobiles for mainstream markets.  The company changed its slogan to "Now Theres a Peerless for Everyone."

Like many American automobile manufacturers, the Great Depression proved to be too much of a challenge to the Peerless Motor Vehicle Company.  The company built its last cars in June 1931, although some of these cars were sold as new models in 1932.
 

 The Peerless was based on the TR3 components, The bodywork ; first in aluminium (1957)  later in polyester (1958 - 1960) Engine of the TRIUMPH TR3 - with a 4 speed overdrive. The car was never a success , the factory went bankrupt back in 1960.

Produktion : from 1957 to 1960

PEERLESS and WARWICK GT's : What is a Peerless?

In 1957, race car designer Bernie Rodger, along with John Gordon designed the prototypes for a new sports GT car. The production car became a 4 seat coupe, somewhat resembling a cross between an Aston Martin and a Bristol. They have a space frame made from square tubing, glass fibre body and are based on Triumph TR3 running gear; engine, transmission, guages, suspension/steering. But they have a DeDion rear, with a Salisbury differential, and sliding half-shafts. Two of the of the first production cars, with their engines furnished by Triumph's competition department, were prepared for the 1958 LeMans. One car ran, and finished 16th- that car is still in daily use in England.

Peerless cars were (mostly) built in 1958-59. There were 249 Phase 1's, and about 44 face-lifted Phase 2's. After Peerless parent company went under due to finiancal troubles, Gordon went on to develop the Chysler engined Gordon-Keeble, while Rodger resumed production under the name Warwick GT in 1960-62, with a tilt-up front end, and other styling changes. In a marketing effort similar to the Sunbeam Tiger, and AC Cobra, and predating the Triumph TR8 by more than 15 years, at least 2 Warwicks had their Triumph engine replaced by the aluminium Buick 215ci V8. These cars were shown to American investors, but failed to stir up enough interest, and soon Warwick ground to a halt as well, after producing only 39 cars.Some additional Phase 2's were later made by individuals from leftover Peerless components sold at auction.

More than 70 Peerless and Warwick GT's are known to have been imported into North America, both by dealers, and several individual owners. Many are still around today,several are being restored, and a few are being vintage raced. The only known remaining Warwick V8 is currently completing restoration in the US.

 Mark