ROAD TRIP: A BBM Game

[jpwagoneer1964]

North Pearsall, Tx

[Meryl]

Lauro Aguirre, Mexico

[MaineWriter]

Eola, TX

The town, formally known as Jordan changed its name in 1902 when the first store was built and the town only had four families. Eola was created during a land boom when county school lands were put up for sale at fifty cents an acre in the 1890s. The sale attracted many Europeans – primarily Czechs.

A two-story schoolhouse was built in 1906. By 1914 Eola had a population of twenty-five which grew to 240 by 1931. In 1940 Eola had a population of 250 and was thriving. It reached its zenith in ’47 when 350 Eolans called the town home. Nine teachers taught elementary and high school classes.

Leslie

[jpwagoneer1964]

Athens,Tx

[memento]

Salmon, Texas

The town had telephone service in 1914 and 100 persons to call one another. The population stayed under 100 persons, sometimes dropping as low as only 10 persons. It rose again to 100 in the 1960s and then dipped back to about 20 - where it was for the 1990 census.Salmon had a post office granted in 1902 - under the name of postmaster S.D. Salmon.

[MaineWriter]

Nubia, TX

Nubia was first settled around 1874 - seven years before the railroad arrived. Settlers were enticed by ads in eastern publications. The town got a boost with the arrival of the railroad and soon the town had all the businesses to insure longevity. A post office was opened in 1888 - but there's no explanation for the exotic name.

Nubia's first school was built in 1900 and the post office closed in 1917. Cotton, maize, wheat and some sugarcane was grown with the cotton being sent to Abilene for ginning. With the building of Camp Barkeley in 1940, Nubia suffered. Land was purchased by the government and compensation was slight. Advances in farming techniques and WWII depleted Nubia's population and by 1947 only twenty Nubians were living there supported by a single business.

Leslie

[jpwagoneer1964]

Atlanta, Texas

     
Mark

[Meryl]

Antelope, WY

[MaineWriter]

Ellinger, TX

Joseph Ehlinger, was born in Alsace, France and actually served in Napoleon's army before its defeat. He at least got to see Moscow. He also was present at San Jacinto and received a grant of land for his service. He had just built a fine house in Fayette County and had gone to Europe to bring his family to their new home. While crossing Buffalo Bayou near Houston, his horse became entangled in wild grapevines and he drowned. The family entered the house he had built for them without Joseph being there to see it.

Charles Ehlinger was Joseph's son and he became a surveyor. He laid out the plat of the original town which was then known as Live Oak Hill and was just north of present day Ellinger - near the old cemetery. He was also the town's first postmaster. His son, Charles W. Ehlinger grew to become a merchant, farmer and a Board Member on the First State Bank of Ellinger.

The Southern Pacific Railroad came through the area in 1873 and missed Live Oak Hill by two miles. In 1880, land was donated and a man named Andrea Ondry, suggested they name it after Joseph Ehlinger.

When the Ellinger post office was opened, it was in Colorado County. Sometime between 1877 and 1889 it became part of Fayette County. The location has changed over the years - at one time it was in the former bank.

The town entertained the idea of becoming the tomato capital of Texas in the 1930s before a late April freeze ended that dream.

Today the blinding lights of modern gas stations distract the Houston-Austin traveler from noticing that there is a community on the north side of the highway.

L

[jpwagoneer1964]

Robstown , Tx

ROBSTOWN, TEXAS. Robstown, at the intersection of U.S. Highway 77 and State Highway 44 in north central Nueces County, was established about 1906 by real estate developer George Paul of Washington, Iowa, at the junction of the Texas Mexican and the Brownsville and Mexican railroads. The town was named for Robert Driscoll.qv It grew rapidly after the development of the Winter Garden Region as a truck-farming area and the discovery of oil in Nueces County in 1930. The population was 948 in 1920, 4,183 in 1931, and 6,100 in 1940. By 1948 Robstown had seven cotton gins, five packing sheds for vegetables, five schools, twenty churches, and 220 businesses. The town incorporated in 1912 and adopted a mayor-council form of city governmentqv in 1948. A ten-acre park and swimming-pool complex was completed in 1963 to expand the municipal recreational facilities. Among the businesses reported in the 1960s were companies related to the petroleum industry, a ready-mix concrete producer, and portable-building manufacturers. The population grew steadily during the 1960s and 1970s, and in 1980 Robstown had 12,100 residents. Since that time the population has remained relatively static, with some 12,849 residents reported in 1990 and 12,727 in 2000. The economy of the town is supported by the surrounding agricultural and petroleum interests.