ROAD TRIP: A BBM Game

[Fran]

Midwest, Wyoming

Midwest was a company town founded by the Midwest Oil Company.

• Established:   1920's
• Elevation (ft.):   4,851
• Population in 2000:   408
• Population in 1940:   2,510

[Meryl]

Twitty, TX

Named for early settler Asa Twitty, a post office was granted under Twitty’s name in 1912. By 1925 population was estimated at twenty-five and they had a gin, several other businesses, and a school. High school students attend classes in Shamrock.

[jpwagoneer1964]

Yepómera, Mx

[Fran]

Allen, TX

The town was founded in 1870 as a railroad stop for the Houston and Texas Railroad, connecting the railway with nearby farms.  The first railway dam used to facilitate the railway still stands at Exchange Park.  The town was named after former Texas attorney general and railroad promoter Ebenezer Allen.

In 1878, a gang of robbers led by Sam Bass, committed what is believed to have been the first train robbery in Texas at the Allen station.

During the 1990s, children's television shows such as Barney & Friends and Wishbone were filmed in Allen.

[MaineWriter]

Nix, TX

Present-day Nix was originally settled along one of the mail /stage routes out of Lampasas in the 1880s. Prior to that the only activity was being part of the Fort Phantom Hill road (1850s).

A blacksmith and store opened around 1883, with the storekeeper becoming postmistress. Nix's high-water mark was reached in the 1890s when two mills and gins were in operation and two churches established. The population which had been recorded as only 8 people suddenly swelled to 27 by 1896.

It seems to have felt comfortable at this level and stayed below 30 throughout the 1940s. Lampasas County drilled and found oil in the 20s and 30s, and Nix had the dubious distinction of having the only test well to come in dry.

Nix had a store in the late 40s and just west of town was a combination school/church.

In 2005, the old Nix store was still standing - although not in business. Reportedly TxDoT uses the site as a gravel storage area.

This is the Old Nix Store:




Leslie

[jpwagoneer1964]

Xaltocan, Mx

[Fran]

New Mountain, TX

New Mountain, a farming community on State Highway 155 ten miles northeast of Gilmer in northeastern Upshur County, was probably established sometime after 1900. By the mid-1930s the community had a school, a church, and a number of houses. After World War IIqv the school was consolidated with the Gilmer school district, and by the mid-1960s only a church and a few scattered houses remained. The estimated population in 1966 was fifty; thereafter no further population estimates were available.

[MaineWriter]

Neches, TX

J. J. Davis and Murdock McDonald, local landowners, donated the land for a townsite and depot when the International-Great Northern Railroad arrived in 1872.

A post office was opened about the same time - listed on the post office department rolls as "Nechesville."

Neches had a population of 100 by 1884 with a school and all essential businesses (including two steam sawmills and a Masonic lodge).

Just after the Civil War, the nearby Stovall Academy moved into town and was renamed the Neches Normal Institute. This later became Neches High School.

By 1890 Neches had an estimated population of 400 people. The town officially changed its name from Nechesville to Neches in 1892.
Neches, Texas former gas station
   
Neches had a population of 261 in 1900, reaching 400 in the 1920s and 1930s. By 1939 it had reached its zenith at 900 townspeople (estimate).

Increased mobility after WWII took a toll on the population. By 1949 it was down to just 280 and it has declined further to a mere 111 in 1970.

Leslie

[jpwagoneer1964]

Star,Tx

History in a Pecan shell
The town was named after nearby Star Mountain.

A timeline of important events in Star's history:
In the 1880s - the town was laid out by a man appropriately named Street (Alex Street).
1886: The post office was granted and Calvin Skinner was the postmaster. The previously mentioned Alex Street ran a store and a cotton gin.
1905: The zenith of prosperity for Star. First permanent church is built.
1910: Star gets a bank - but after a robbery in the 20s, it is closed.
1944: Star had eight businesses and a population of 171.






And guess what! the sar was also an automobile!

The Star was an automobile marque that was assembled by the Durant Motors Company between 1922 and 1928. Also known as the Star Car, Star was envisioned as a competitor against Ford's Model T.

Like other products of the Durant Motors Company, the Star was an "assembled" car, built from parts supplied by various outside companies. Originally, Star cars were powered by a four cylinder engine; in 1926 the line introduced a six cylinder engine. All factory-installed engines for the Star were built by Continental.

For the early part of the 1928 model year, the Star was known as the Durant Star and was only available with a four cylinder engine. The car was replaced in the later half of the 1928 model year by the Durant 4.

Mark

[Fran]

Rolling Hills, WY

Rolling Hills, Wyoming, in Converse county, is 132 miles NW of Cheyenne, Wyoming, and 223 miles N of Denver, Colorado.  There are an estimated 449 people in the town.