ROAD TRIP: A BBM Game

[Fran]

I couldn't resist:

Frannie, WY

Frannie (pop. 168 today) was supposedly named for Frannie Morris, the little girl of a man who ran a post office nearby.  Like so many other towns in Wyoming, the little town of Frannie seems almost timeless.  Other than the modern cars, it looks much as it might have eighty years ago.

[jpwagoneer1964]

Elm Creek, Tx

ELM CREEK (McCulloch County). Elm Creek is formed by the confluence of Big Elm and Little Elm creeks a mile southwest of Fife in north central McCulloch County (at 31°23' N, 99°23' W). Big Elm Creek in turn has west and east forks. Its west fork rises four miles southeast of Pear Valley (at 31°16' N, 99°28' W) and runs north for eight miles to its confluence with the East Fork of Big Elm Creek (at 31°21' N, 99°27' W). Its east fork rises in Cottonwood Canyon in the Brady Mountains (at 31°16' N, 99°25' W) and runs north for nine miles to join the west fork. From that point Big Elm Creek continues northeast for six miles to join Little Elm Creek. Little Elm Creek rises a mile southeast of Lohn (at 31°19' N, 99°24' W) and runs north for 7½ miles. From the confluence of Big and Little Elm creeks, Elm Creek proper runs northeast for five miles to its mouth on the Colorado River, two miles northeast of Fife (at 31°25' N, 99°20' W). The local terrain is flat to rolling with local shallow depressions, surfaced by clay and sandy loams that support water-tolerant hardwoods, conifers, and grasses.

Mark

[MaineWriter]

Kopperl, TX

Named to honor Moritz Kopperl, director of the Santa Fe Railroad, the town shares a railroad history with other Bosque County towns. The history of Kopperl is not unlike hundreds of other Texas towns whose fortunes rose and fell at the whim of railroads and cotton prises - but it did have the good fortune to be the boyhood home of singer/ songwriter Steve Fromholz who used Kopperl as the backdrop for his song "Texas Trilogy" in 1969.

In turn, Fromholz' song inspired author Craig D. Hillis and photographer Bruce F. Jordon to extend the lyrics into a book using the same title as Fromholz' song. Texas Trilogy: Life in a Small Texas Town was published by UT Press in 2002. Despite the title, the book includes other towns in Bosque County and serves not only as a readable history, but also a cultural geography and sociological study of the entire region. Jordan's photos are suplimented by vintage photographs and the book should be an excellent model for other Texas towns who want to preserve their heritage beyond the standard dry text and dull photos of most histories.

Leslie

[memento]

Latex, Texas

Latex is a rural community in Harrison County, Texas located about 15 miles northeast of the county seat, Marshall. The community's name was derived, not from the rubber product, but from the names of the states of Texas and Louisiana (it is located near the border of the two states).

[Meryl]

Gee, this is a big day for SIDE TRIPS---

As I updated the Answers List, I discovered that Edinburg, TX, was played back on Page 25 by Leslie, and I did not catch Mark's repeat.

So, Leslie, the next time you post, go ahead and take a SIDE TRIP! 

Meanwhile, if someone wants to play before Leslie appears, go ahead with the letter "X".

[twistedude]

Xocche, MX--and don't think it was easy!

[MaineWriter]

A side trip, a side trip, a side trip...la di da di dah.... what fun...

Just like Fabienne got the chance to play an unused letter (Q for Quanah, remember that, folks?) I  am going to go for the mysterious and elusive J

as in

JOT 'EM DOWN, Tx

What a name! Jot 'Em Down! Damn, we don't have names like this in Maine...well, maybe we do! LOL. Anyway, a little history in a pecan shell, as they say...

The area was already settled by 1885 when the Bagley School was in operation. By 1905 the one-teacher school had an enrollment of 46. The community appeared on highway maps as Bagley in the 30s.

In 1936 Dion McDonald built a store naming his business the "Jot 'Em Down Gin Corporation" after a fictional business on the Lum and Abner Radio Program.

The state highway department (in a rare display of humor) added the name to their official maps. During the school consolidations of the 40s and 50s, Bagley school merged with the Pecan Gap schools. The community was still shown on TXDoT's detailed county map in 2001.

The next lucky player gets an N

Leslie

[jpwagoneer1964]

Nome, Tx

 Nome, Texas History
"... In an attempt to avoid confusing passengers a new stop, called Buttfield, was established on the Texas and New Orleans Railroad. Although a post office operated under that name from 1894 to 1903, residents and travelers began to refer to the junction as Nome after oil was discovered at Sour Lake (Hardin County) around 1900. The newer name probably referred to the gold strikes, which produced a similar population influx and economic boom at Nome, Alaska, at roughly the same time. ..."

Mark

[Meryl]

Edith, TX

Edith was on what is now State Highway 158 nine miles west of Robert Lee in west central Coke County.

The community began during the 1880s when cattlemen and stock-farming settlers came into the area, and it grew to include a store, gin, blacksmith shop, church, and lodge hall. A post office was established there on February 14, 1890, and named for Edith Bonsall of Ballinger.

An early recreation spot near the community was Dripping Springs, where seeping springs along canyon walls produced a profusion of ferns.

By the 1970s the town was abandoned. County maps for the 1980s show only the Edith cemetery near Salt Creek within a mile of E. V. Spence Reservoir:

[MaineWriter]

Houston, TX

The city began on August 30, 1836, when Augustus Chapman Allen and John Kirby Allenqqv ran an advertisement in the Telegraph and Texas Register for the "Town of Houston." The townsite, which featured a mixture of timber and grassland, was on the level Coastal Plain in the middle of the future Harris County, at 95.4° west longitude and 30.3° north latitude.

Leslie