waltz across texas

 

This couple took to the dance floor to "scoot a boot" at the live music venue sponsored by the Plains Watermelon Festival.  The spectators sat on bales of hay to watch and eat their watermelons  slices.  The dance moves were smooth; they probably weren't dancing when Ernest Tubbs recorded his hit "Waltz Across Texas" in 1941 but probably have made many twirls to the song since then.

 

Yoakum County 1929 Courthouse

Plains, Texas

8.30/2014

watermelon seed spitter

 

Plains, as it has done for 19 years, celebrates its annual Yoakum County Watermelon Round-up the Saturday before Labor Day. Yoakum County grows about 2,000 acres of watermelon — 300 acres of seeded and another 1,400 acres of seedless watermelon. All production is irrigated. Thousands of folks visit the car show, vendor booths, petting zoo and other attractions.  Many visit the museum located in the 1929 court house and venture upstairs to gawk at the cell block (all two cells!)  Live entertainment, emceed by Ron Robinson, plays under the elm trees and dancers scoot a boot on the courthouse lawn.  And don't forget the 20 food booths from fresh roasted corn to turkey legs and brisket burritos to funnel cakes.  Most popular is the free slice of cold watermelon.  Kids of all ages had watermelon juice dripping off their chins.  Seed spitting, aside from the official contest, occurred with regularity.

 

Watermelon Festival

Plains, Texas

watch that first step

 

This former hotel in Slaton is past its prime.  Paint traces are about all that remain of the exterior staircase.  Slaton started out as a railroad town when Santa Fe purchased the townsite in 1911 and designed its street pattern after the layout of Washington, D.C. Although dismissed by President Washington, Pierre L'Enfant is credited with the national city plan which consisted of a grand avenue and a grid of streets crossed by diagonal avenues.  The "grand avenue" of Slaton was a brick boulevard from the train station to the courthouse square.  The result is that downtown Slaton has irregularly shaped blocks radiating from the square.  That means that many of the buildings on the corners are triangular or the so-called "flat iron."  This hotel, like its counterparts, has a narrow front on the street.  This evening I spoke with a man who had purchased the triangular building across the street.  He wanted the two-story hotel but said it was pretty run down and required too much work.  He was busy installing a bathroom and kitchen as part of a studio apartment.  The real find?  Original tin ceiling when the drop ceiling was removed while opening up the 12-foot interior.

 



 

Slaton, Texas

 

we are gathered here today . . .

 

Even in country cemeteries, simple graveside services have evolved as chapels are built for the comfort of the mourners.  This memorial chapel was erected in 2005 at the Idalou Cemetery.  Begun in 1921 with the donation of two acres for the burial of a family member, the Idalou Cemetery received a Texas Historic Cemetery designation in 2002.  A cemetery is eligible for designation if it is at least 50 years old and is deemed worthy of recognition for its historical associations. The very nature of a cemetery being a landmark of a family’s or community’s presence is considered to validate the criteria of historical associations.  While 93 years may not seem "historic" in some part, on the plains and in Idalou, the cemetery and its gravestones record the passage of time.

 

Idalou Cemetery

Idalou, Texas

rake at red mud

 

The Red Mud Cemetery started in an open pasture.  According to an oral history about Tap Cemetery, as it was once called, persons of the community began to see the need of protection from the livestock as more people were being buried in the cemetery.  "The story goes that Mrs. Manning out looking for her milk cows and Mrs. Airhart looking for her cows met near the cemetery. They stopped for a chat and were the first to discuss the need of a fence around the cemetery. Anxious to get something done about it, there was a box supper held in the Airhart home to raise the money for the first fence to be placed around this cemetery. The post were to be cut out of the Spur Ranch pasture. Each man was to be allowed the privilege of cutting twenty (20) post to be used for this purpose. A work day was set to put up this fence which could be called the first cemetery working ever to be held here, this was in 1904. This was a barbed wire fence, later another box supper was held in the school house for the same purpose and a small mesh net wire fence was put around it. Later in about 1925 a hogwire fence with cedar post was built, some of which is still being used. When this first fence was to be put up, Grandpa Sparks gave an acre of land to be used. W.H. Martin, who owned the adjoining place north of the cemetery gave another acre."  Today a barbed fence and gate still protect the cemetery from cattle.

 



 

Red Mud Cemetery

Dickens County, Texas

8.16.2014

bury me on the lone prairie

 

Some leave floral tributes but these young cowboys are honored with ropes.  Each June since about 1904 family members gather at Red Mud Cemetery for the annual cleaning.  The ropes appear recently and reverently placed.  Until 1990s there was also a tabernacle for "dinner on the grounds." In early times there were a number of large elm trees that provided shade. It was a real work morning, hoeing and repairing graves. A huge lunch followed, spread on makeshift tables. After lunch there would be a variety of entertainment; group singing, quartets, duets, and solos The elms trees are gone and a pole arbor replaces the building.  The first burial here, originally known as Tap Cemetery, was a homesteader who was shot over a horse in April 1886.  His wife died of tuberculosis a few months later and was buried beside on the home place..  Located about 11 miles southwest of Spur, one approaches the cemetery across a cattle guard and a few miles along a red dust road.  Good thing the weather was dry, or the road probably would have be "red mud" just like the so-named Little Red Mud Creek nearby.

 

Red Mud Cemetery

Dickens County, Texas

8.16.2014

overachiever

 

There don't seem to be as many sunflower fields this year but I came across this patch on FM 40 in Crosby County.  It was a great vista of yellow against the blue sky.  And then there was this one stalk -- outstanding in his field!

 

Crosby County, Texas

8.16.2014

stairs to the stadium

 

Texas Tech adopts the latest advertising fad.  If branding "Texas Tech" on every surface isn't enough, now the staircases to the stadium boost fan spirit -- if it could be seen when the 60,000 fans pour into "the Jones" for a football game.  The stadium has come a long way since it was first built in 1947 with a capacity of 27,000 and named for Tech President Clifford B. Jones and his wife Aubrey.  Expansions, additions and sponsors (AT&T) have changed the site but the fans have changed as well.  I still remember what I wore to my first Tech  football game as a freshman -- olive green two-piece suit, hose and heels-- and I fit right in with the rest of the student body in suits, blazers and dresses!

 

Jones AT&T Stadium

Lubbock, Texas

for sale

This cute building at the end of the main drag in Spur is for sale.  It may have had many lives, but probably started out as a gas station.  I spent time looking for what "brand" it might have been.  Many of the early filling stations were built according to a company blueprint.  I just learned that the building on the road out of town that I didn't photograph was a Phillips 66 gas station cottage. (Note to self:  If you see it and it interests you, shoot it!).   If you have a clue about this building, let me know -- even my buddy Steve didn't have any information.  For more than you ever wanted to know about gas stations, visit Roadside Architecture.

Burlington Avenue
Spur, Texas

palace theater

The grandest sign in Spur is for the Palace Theatre located on the main street.  According to a thread on CinemaTreasures,  the theater  and sign were originally in Graham, Texas. W.J. Wilke sold the Palace Theatre to movie theater tycoon H. Server Leon in 1946 and he moved The Palace Theatre projectors, seats, screen and sign to Spur into the current theatre building. The sign was handpainted in the 1950s because restoration was too expensive. The man who handpainted this sign is in his upper 80s and currently resides in Spur (as of 2005). The sign was restored to its original colors in 2003 by ACME Sign Co. in Abilene., for the sum of $13,500.00. The theater currently needs a new roof, new plumbing and electrical rewiring.  Fund raisers have been held and special events take place, but a fairy tale ending is probably not in store for the Palace.

 

Spur, Texas

8.16.2014

steve from spur

 

This fellow was going about his business on the sidewalk when I approached with a question.  Of course, we were the only two folks afoot downtown.  Steve was a fountain of information about Spur.  "There had been a two-story hotel next block over but kids got in the empty building to smoke and burned it down."  He's standing in front of what, in one life, had been the domino hall.  Now it's just storage.  I don't know if he were a town character or just a guy willing to talk with me; in any case, both Steve and his stories were interesting.

 

Spur, Texas

8.16.2014

cowboy church

 

Jesus saves souls but not necessarily congregations and dilapidated buildings.  Steve, a Spur citizen who fed me information about downtown, said this building was the "cowboy" church in the 1990s but like the former barber shop and abstract office on the block, it stands empty.  With a population of 1,300 and 10 churches listed in the yellow pages, there is a place for everyone -- just not downtown on Burlington Avenue.

 

Spur, Texas

8.16.2014

 



turnaround café

 

This post continues the culinary review of Spur, Texas.  The Turnaround Café is located in a former gas station (Exxon maybe?).  I wish I had gone inside to see if the washing bay was being utilized.  Dining rooms appeared to be on the opposite end.  On this side of the building, there is no clue that it's a dining establishment except for the "open" sign and curtains in the window.  The only sign is on the side of the building facing main street.  At noon on Saturday there was a fair crowd, judging by the number of pick-ups.  Situated at the corner of Burlington Street, which is the main drag, and East 6th Street which leads to State Highway 70, I'm guessing the Turnaround Café got its name because you have to turnaround here to get anywhere else!

 

Turnaround Café

202 Burlington

Spur, Texas

8.16.2014

catfish buffet

 

This coming weekend, don't rush to Spur for the catfish buffet at the Hot Iron Café -- the place has been closed for years.  Spur is located in southern Dickens County and is named for the Spur Ranch.  The town was incorporated in 1911, two years after the railroad arrived.  It is the central shipping point for cotton, wheat and cattle.  During the 1940s the town boasted 110 businesses but fewer than half remain.  A stroll downtown, peering through dusty windows, finds many eating establishments, like the Hot Iron, which didn't make it.  Your best bet would be the Dixie Dog Drive-In or the Turnaround Café.

 

Spur, Texas

8.16.2014

counter service

 

Lunch today was at the Dixie Dog in Spur, Texas.  I recently heard Chet Garner, the Daytripper, talk about the Dixie Dog so that became my destination for today's jaunt.  Started almost 60 years ago as a quick stop for malts and burgers, the hamburger stand expanded into a diner in 1960.  A family-owned business, it was "the place" for Spur citizens for decades.  The Dixie Dog re-opened in 2013 under new ownership but maintains the hometown, greasy spoon atmosphere.  I was noticeably the "out-of-towner" in the place; everyone else was greeted by name.  The waitress said she'd seen me taking pictures at the place up the street. I counted three cowboys hats-- the wearer of this one declined to be photographed!  What did I eat?  The Dixie Dog -- a biscuit-battered hot dog on a stick!

 

Dixie Dog Drive-In

Spur, Texas

 

 

 





white collar workers

 

Steak N Shake began in the 1930s in Normal, Illinois in a converted gas station.  The founder Gus Belt had the motto "in sight, it must be right" and so he ground sirloin for his steakburgers right in front of the customer.  Using real milk, shakes were mixed at the counter.  Of course, in today's drive-thru, there was no "in sight."  Employees still wear the soda jerk hats and bows ties from the 1950s.  But back then, there were no breaks to talk on the cell phone.

 

Steak N Shake

50th and Milwaukee

Lubbock, Texas

 



texas rising

 

"Texas Rising" by Joe O'Connell and Blessing Hancock is the latest public art to grace the Texas Tech campus.  It is the focal point of West Village, the newest student housing featuring apartments for upper classmen.  The 9-point steel star glistens in the sun but I'm making a point to return in the evening to see the illuminated sculpture change colors.

 

West Village

Texas Tech University

Indiana and Tech Parkway

Lubbock, Texas

Texas Rising

Texas Rising by Night

 

moo

 

Where else would you find a Purple Bull but in the Art District? 

 

I never saw a purple cow

I never hope to see one

But I can tell you

I'd rather see one than be one.

                     --Gelett Burgess

 

This sculpture is part of the Art on the Llano Project and installed by the Texas Department of Transportation.  Entitled "Purple Bull" by artist Jeffie Brewer, this longhorn has no distinguishing gender markings so the sex is subject to interpretation.  The purple cow replaces the black spare tire which was more BS than this sculpture which does represent the region.

 

 Marsha Sharp Freeway and Avenue L

Lubbock, Texas 

cotton boll

 

My dad spent the last two weeks in the hospital.  After going home today, his first order of business was a drive to check the cotton fields for bolls.  He was pleased with some of the potentials yields.  The crops till need rain, however.

 

Lubbock County, Texas