ROAD TRIP: A BBM Game

[Meryl]

Yuyi, Mexico



Very nice, Sandy!  You join Fran and Leslie in having posted towns with your own name.  Mark posted one with that's his last name, but I don't recall right now what it was.

[MaineWriter]

Iraan, TX

The name has nothing to do with the country of Iran. Oil was discovered on the ranch of Ira Yates and a contest was held to name the town that would soon materialize. Ira's wife was named Ann. The person who combined the two names won a town lot as a prize.

Iraan today has two newspapers. But as an Iraanian told us (in a confidential tone) "It's the same news." We bought both papers. It was the same news. Different photos though.

Because of its semi-remote location, the school district provides its teachers with housing.

Iraan is also the birthplace of Alley Oop, at onetime an extremely popular syndicated comic strip. Creator V.T. Hamlin was a newspaperman in Iraan when he came up with the idea for a caveman who looked like he was wearing bellbottoms when he wasn't even wearing pants. While virtually unknown now, Alley Oop was nearly as popular as Dick Tracy and Tarzan.

Mr. Oop had a dinosaur named Dinny and there is a likeness of both Alley Oop and Dinny at the 7 acre Fantasyland just west of town amid mulberry trees.

[jpwagoneer1964]

Natívitas, Mx

[Meryl]

Skiff, AB



The grain elevator at Skiff, Alberta, June 2006

Iraan is also the birthplace of Alley Oop, at onetime an extremely popular syndicated comic strip. Creator V.T. Hamlin was a newspaperman in Iraan when he came up with the idea for a caveman who looked like he was wearing bellbottoms when he wasn't even wearing pants. While virtually unknown now, Alley Oop was nearly as popular as Dick Tracy and Tarzan.

I used to love reading Alley Oop!  His girlfriend was Oona. 

[nova20194]

Fort Saskatchewan, AB

Fort Saskatchewan is a city of 14,686 (2005 census) located 25 km northeast of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

In 1875, under the command of Inspector W.D. Jarvis, the North West Mounted Police established Fort Saskatchewan as a fort on the North Saskatchewan River. The fort was later incorporated as a village in 1899, a town in 1904, and a city in 1985.

Fort Saskatchewan's main industries are agriculture and heavy industry. Fort Saskatchewan is part of the largest industrial area west of Toronto. Companies with operations in the area include, Dow Chemical, Sherritt International, Agrium, Shell Canada, and Westaim. These plants are major employers for residents of Fort Saskatchewan and the surrounding area.

Fort Saskatchewan is a booming community that offers many amenities to its residents, while still maintaining its "small town" feel. It has two high schools, four junior high schools, and seven elementary schools. It has a large indoor swimming pool with a hot-tub, sauna, and slide, over 35 km of paved bike paths, three indoor hockey arenas, a museum, and numerous parks. Recently opened, the Dow Centennial Centre, a multi-purpose activities centre, adds a 500 seat auditorium, indoor soccer field, ice rink, and a fitness facility to Fort Saskatchewan's attractions.

Fort Saskatchewan is home to the Fort Saskatchewan Athletics of the Sunburst Baseball League. Former college and professional baseball players make up the core of the baseball club. The Fort Saskatchewan Traders, of the Alberta Junior Hockey League, have also been a long time part of the city.

Fort Saskatchewan is the birthplace of actress Evangeline Lilly, of the television series Lost and such NHL hockey stars as Mike Commodore, Ray Whitney, Richard Matvichuk and Joffrey Lupul. Of these four players, Joffrey Lupul is the only one who has not yet won the Stanley Cup.

[MaineWriter]

Nockernut, TX

Wilson County, population 10

L

[jpwagoneer1964]

Taft, Tx

TAFT, TEXAS. Taft is on U.S. Highway 181 and the Southern Pacific Railroad near the center of San Patricio County. It originated shortly after the railroad crossed the Coleman-Fulton Pasture Companyqv land in 1886 as a flag stop installed at the request of Thomas M. Coleman.qv A company windmill nearby was known as the Mesquital Mill, and when Coleman-Fulton built cattle-shipping pens on the railroad the small company settlement that grew up was known as Mesquital. In 1900, when Joseph F. Greenqv took over management of the company, he decided to build a town at the location. He named it Taft, after Charles P. Taft of Cincinnati, half-brother of President Howard Taft. The change in name took place in 1904, and a post office was opened that year with Imogene Warburton as postmistress. For the next seventeen years Taft was a company town. When Green took charge, all of the land in and around Taft was ranchland. In 1903 the company planted 200 acres in cotton near Taft. By 1909 2,300 acres were devoted to cotton, and Taft was fast becoming the agricultural center for the company. A surplus of buildings was available in Portland, Aransas Pass, and Rockport due to fizzled land booms; Green moved several across the open pastureland to Taft and started the nucleus of a town. A bunkhouse was moved from the ranch headquarters and later turned into a hotel. A school was established in the back of a warehouse, and several businesses were built on the south side of the railroad. The Coleman-Fulton Pasture Company sold improved acreage to farmers.

In 1909 the first dependable water supply on the Gulf Coast was discovered at Taft. Within a few weeks Coleman-Fulton started construction of an agricultural-industrial complex to process farm products. Funds were authorized to build a slaughter and packing house, a cold storage and ice factory, a light plant, a cottonseed oil mill, and cotton gins. Later a feed mill, a cotton compress, and a creamery were added. These industries enabled the company almost to guarantee anyone who bought land over the next two decades a market for agricultural products and enabled Coleman-Fulton to realize higher profits from its farm and ranch land. During the next decade the company town acquired a hospital, a bank, and a new school, which doubled as a meeting hall. In 1909 President Taft spoke in the school. In 1918 the directors decided to sell the entire ranch, including the city of Taft and its utilities, industries, and businesses. In June 1921 a huge auction attracted over 5,000 people, and the city of Taft was launched as a privately owned community. The company sold its last holdings in 1928. Green, who died in 1926, had purchased a considerable amount of choice land and several businesses in the sellout. In 1988 his heirs still owned part of the land. The company's last office, which also housed the two company-owned banks, now belongs to the Taft Blackland Museum, which displays pioneer items from the ranch era.

The city was incorporated in 1929 with Ben Ivey as mayor. In 1935 oil was discovered north of town, and the boom that followed helped Taft survive the Great Depression.qv During the 1930s, when local farmers began planting vegetables, packing sheds were built in Taft along the railroad. Vegetables continued to be packed in Taft until the 1950s, when the last shed was torn down. Two large grain elevators now serve the area farmers, who largely plant sorghum, cotton, and a limited amount of corn. Immediately after World War IIqv Taft enjoyed a residential boom and a growth in its school system. Retail business afterward declined, but jobs opening in industry, on the ship channel, and in Corpus Christi helped keep the population stable. The population in the city was estimated at 3,598 in 1988. In 1990 it was 3,222.

[nova20194]

Taber, AB

Taber is a town in southern Alberta, Canada in Municipal District of Taber. Taber was established in the late 1890s by European settlers on the banks of the lower Oldman River. Taber is an agricultural town of 7,671 (2005) famous for its corn due to the large amounts of sunshine the town and area receive. It has thus taken on the title Corn Capital of Canada, and has an annual "Cornfest" held in the last week of August.

Taber and Notogawa, Japan are sister towns.

Originally, Taber was known as "Tank No. 77," and was used by the railway to fill up on water. In 1903, it is said that the first Mormon settlers from the U.S.A. were the ones to establish a hamlet at the Tank. After the town's post office was built in 1907, the CPR decided to call the town "Tabor," probably after Mount Tabor in Palestine. However, various letters and station heads came out printed "Taber," so the CPR changed the name to make it match the records.

After time, Taber became a successful coal mining town. Coal mining declined in the late 1920's, but picked up in the 1930's after extensive irrigation in the area.

Irrigation helped not only the coal-miners, it also brought with it the production of sugar beets. In 1950, a sugar beet processing plant (Roger's Sugar) was built, which has become a vital part of the town's economy.

On April 28, 1999, Taber gained notoriety when 14 year old Todd Cameron Smith entered W.R. Myers High School and shot two students with a .22 calibre rifle, killing Jason Lang and wounding another 17 year old.

Cornfest is an annual summer festival held in late August, and it includes a midway (rides, booths, and tests of skill) and a stage with performers.
There are also corn-based activities, such as corn tasting and stuffing. Large-scale, local corn producers enter their best varieties inn the 'Best Corn of the Year' award.
Corn stuffing involves two people, one wearing an over-sized coverall. One of the contestants attempts to stuff as much corn as possible into the other's coverall. Whichever team can put the most corn in the coveralls in the allotted time wins.

[MaineWriter]

Ringgold, TX

The town was born with the arrival of the Rock Island railroad in 1892 although people had been living in the vicinity since the 1870s. When the Katy (Missouri, Kansas and Texas) Railroad entered Texas from the north, the two sets of tracks intersected here. This good fortune did not go unnoticed by landowner Joe Harris who quickly laid out a townsite. Named Harrisonia, the name was rejected by postal authorities when a post office was applied for. The reasoning was possible confusion with Harrison.

Mr. Harrison had the choice of resubmitting an invented name or using his wife's family name. His wife's maiden name was Ringgold. The Ringgold post office opened in 1892 when the town had an estimated population of 300. Growth was swift due to the railroad juncture and Ringgold became a shipping point for the area.

The population passed 400 by the mid 1920s. The population remained at 350 after WWII through the mid-1960s but it declined drastically in the 70s. It had been reported at 100 people from the 70s through 2005.

A disastrous grass fire on January 1, 2006 destroyed about half the buildings in Ringgold.

The Ringgold Cemetery after the fire:



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[jpwagoneer1964]

Del Rio, Tx

DEL RIO, TEXAS. Del Rio, the county seat of Val Verde County, is on U.S. Highway 90 and the Southern Pacific Railroad near the confluence of the Rio Grande and San Felipe Creek, 154 miles west of San Antonio in the southern part of the county. The Spanish established a small presidial complex near the site of present Ciudad Acuña, the Mexican sister city of Del Rio, and some Spaniards settled on what became the United States side of the Rio Grande. The developments that led to the growth of Del Rio, however, took place after the Civil War.qv In the arid vastness of Southwest Texas, water was the key to survival; in the vicinity of Del Rio the San Felipe Springsqv provided millions of gallons. A number of developers acquired several thousand acres adjacent to San Felipe Creek and developed plans to sell small tracts of rich farmland to prospective buyers. These investors formed the San Felipe Agricultural, Manufacturing, and Irrigation Company in 1868. The organization soon constructed a network of irrigationqv canals, completed in 1871. Soon they began to sell small tracts of land to newly arriving settlers, who then established truck farms. Residents in the area referred to the slowly developing townsite as San Felipe del Rio. Local lore says that the name came from early Spanish explorers who offered a Mass at the site on St. Philip's Day, 1635. In 1883, after the first post office was opened, the United States Postal Department requested that the name be shortened to Del Rio to avoid confusion with San Felipe de Austin.

In 1885 Val Verde County was organized and Del Rio became the county seat. Early development was dependent on the railroad, the military, ranching and agriculture, government-related employment, and retail business. Other major economic activities were focused on tourism and ties with Mexico. From the mid-nineteenth century to the present the military has played a leading role in the fortunes of Del Rio. As soon as the Mexican Warqv was over, military expeditions into the area began with patrols and the establishment of frontier military camps at Del Rio and Camp Hudson, to the west on the Devils River. Most military activities were controlled from Fort Clark, thirty miles east, near the site of present Brackettville. In the twentieth century the government continued to use the isolated Del Rio area for different types of military training. As World War IIqv started, the army opened a base near Del Rio, Laughlin Field, for pilot training. Later the name was changed to Laughlin Air Force Base.qv Ranching and agriculture have always been an integral part of the economic scene of Del Rio. During the late nineteenth century sheep and goat raisers found the scrub terrain to be an ideal place for their livestock. For many years Del Rio served as a focal point for the wool and mohair industry.qv The development of the railroad in the 1880s served as an impetus to development of sheep and goat ranching.qv During that decade the Southern Pacific, which built a line from west to east, and the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio, building west, linked up forty miles west of Del Rio. In 1990 the railroad still operated and served as a major employer in Del Rio. The town was incorporated on November 15, 1911.

The binational and bicultural population of Del Rio grew from fifty in 1880 to 2,000 by 1890. Thereafter, changes were slow until the 1970s, when the population grew by 40.8 percent. In 1990 Del Rio had a population of 30,705, and in 2000 it had a population of 33,867. Early Del Rio residences and businesses were close to San Felipe Creek. After the railroad developed, housing patterns began to move north of the rail line. By the 1960s the development of retail trade along U.S. Highway 90 brought growth north of the original townsite. In addition, Amistad Dam and Reservoir,qv built on the Rio Grande during the 1960s, also attracted housing.

Del Rio supports a council for the arts. The town's first school was established in 1874; in 1990 schools were administered by the San Felipe-Del Rio Consolidated Independent School District. Southwest Texas Junior College and Sul Ross State University have branch campuses in the community. The area also is host to a sizable winter Texan population. Del Rio has the council-manager form of city government.qv The United States Customs, the Border Patrol, and the National Park Service have had a significant impact on the region.