Brown (Okay Community) Cemetery TX3889

Elisha Ivy, for whom Ivy Mountain Road was named, established a home and store in this vicinity in the 1860s. In the 1870s, a community known as Liberty Hill developed northwest of his property. In 1896, when the rural settlement applied for a post office, its name was changed to Okay. Area residents supported churches, a school and businesses, and Samuel Marion and Mary Elizabeth (Evans) Brown set aside land for a community burial ground, formally deeding it in 1907. As military installations in the area grew, the community of Okay was displaced and ceased to exist in the early 1940s. In 1953, the U.S. Government decided to extend the runway at Gray Air Force Base, where the Brown (Okay Community) Cemetery was located, approximately 1,600 feet southwest of this site. The Army Corps of Engineers moved 70 graves, 30 of which were for unidentified individuals, to this location and aligned the burials similarly to original positions. The earliest marked grave dates to 1882 and is that of infant David Davis. Today, the cemetery is a reminder of the Okay community and the families who lived there.

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Captain Raymond Littge - US Airforce WW2 MO653
US Air Force Capt. Raymond Littge Born in Altenburg October 18, 1923 Died for his country May 20, 1949 A member of the 352nd Fighter Group Credited with Destroying 23 Enemy planes Missouri's top ranking fighter pilot of WWII. It earned him the distinguished service cross,silver star, distinguished fighting cross, along with the air medal with 15 Oak Leaf Clusters

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West Union Veterans Memorial IL536
For All
VETERANS

All Gave Some
Some Gave All

Army.....Marines
Navy...Air Forces
Coast Guard
POW.......MIA

In Memory of
All Veterans
Who Served.

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Hugo Victor Neuhaus, Jr. House TX12150

A significant example of the International style of architecture, the 1950 Neuhaus House has a strong horizontal emphasis and expression of private and public space, as well as an integration of living space and landscape. Architect and Houston native Hugo Victor Neuhaus, Jr. (1915-1987) designed the home for himself. He graduated from Yale University in 1938 and then attended the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University, where the faculty included noted European modernists Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer. Following graduation in 1941, Neuhaus served in the U.S. Army Air Force, and he returned to Houston and wed Mary Wood Farish, widow of his cousin William Stamps Farish, Jr. Neuhaus joined the office of C. Herbert Cowell where he partnered from 1949 until the firm dissolved in 1962. During his early years with Cowell, he became the local associate architect to renowned designer Philip Johnson, who had strong ties to Mies van der Rohe, a preeminent innovator of the International style. Neuhaus' design for his own home shows a strong reflection of the modern styles he was exposed to at Harvard and to the work of van der Rohe. The house features planes of solid brick and glass walls. Through the large windows, the indoor rooms share visual space with a plunge pool and terraced outdoor living areas, designed in collaboration with Houston landscape architect C.C. "Pat" Fleming. The Neuhaus home, one of several celebrated Neuhaus designs, was frequently represented as a shining example of Houston's modern architecture, a legacy that continues today.

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Biggs Army Airfield TX6121

Military aviation in El Paso began circa 1913 at what had been the first location of the Texas School of Mines and Metallurgy on Fort Bliss. Used by the 1st Aero Squadron in support of the Punitive Expedition into Mexico, 1916-17, Fort Bliss Field became home to the Border Air Patrol, 1919-21. On January 5, 1925, the War Department renamed it for James B. "Buster" Biggs, a native El Pasoan and World War I fighter pilot killed in France in 1918. In 1926, six years after activation of the 8th Airship Company, the field relocated to Camp Owen Bierne, north of the Fort Bliss cantonment area. During World War II, the Army expanded the runway and added new facilities on adjacent land east of Camp Bierne. With the improvements, Biggs Field became an important training base and headquarters for the 20th Bombardment Command of the Second Air Force. It also served as a key transient point for new aircraft en route from West Coast factories to the European Theater. With the establishment of the U.S. Air Force as a separate military branch in 1947, Biggs Field became Biggs Air Force Base on February 1, 1948. The arrival of the 97th Bomb Wing marked its inclusion into the Strategic Air Command, resulting in the need for further expansion. Declared inactive as an Air Force base in 1966, Biggs once again came under U.S. Army Command, and it is the largest of the Army's airfields. Capable of accommodating all aircraft, Biggs Army Airfield has supported National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) space shuttle ferry flights since 1979. Today, through a variety of aviation activities, the airfield continues to support military operations at Fort Bliss.

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Ranger Municipal Airport TX7189

The Texas Department of Transportation's Aviation Division lists this field as the third oldest operating in the state. The earlies documentation for an airplane landing in Ranger was on November 24, 1911, when Robert G. Fowler landed his Wright biplane on the V.V. Cooper, Sr. Field just west of the present airport building, on the eastern edge of Ranger College. Fowler, an early aviator, landed in Ranger during his transcontinental attempt to win publisher William Randolph Hearst's $50,000 prize for the first person to fly across the United States in 30 days. In the spring of 1928, C.J. Moore and various aviation boosters determined to build an airport for Eastland County began searching for a suitable site. They purchased the 135-acre V.V. Cooper, Sr. tract, and officially dedicated the airport on Armistice Day, November 11, 1928. Called Haugland Airport in the 1930s, the airport was renamed Ranger Municipal Airport in September 1939 when the Ranger Flying Service, owned by Russell B. Miller, Hall Walker and O.G. Lanier opened a civilian pilot training program at the airport. Several noteworthy aviation events have occurred at Ranger Field. On June 16, 1931, aviatrix Amelia Earhart landed her Pitcairn Autogiro here. In the 1930s, Ranger Airport served as a midway point for glider races from Grand Prairie to Sweetwater and back. During World War II, Army Air Forces Piper L4 Cub pilots flew into Ranger Municipal Airport on multiple occasions for two to three days of practice in the clear skies around Ranger. Since World War II area citizens have worked continuously to make Ranger Municipal Airport an asset to the city, county and state.

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Arledge Field TX5895

In preparation for the eventual U.S. entry into World War II, Gen. Henry H. "Hap" Arnold sought to expand the nation's combat air forces by asking civilian flight schools to provide the primary phase of training for air cadets. At twenty sites in Texas, flight schools contracted to build facilities for housing and training new pilots. The City of Stamford responded by buying a section of land that was once part of Swante Magnus Swenson's SMS Ranch to be used for an air field. It was named for Stamford businessman Roy Wade Arledge, who headed the committee to purchase the site in December 1940. Construction of Arledge Field facilities began in early spring of 1941 under agreement with the first training contractor, the Lou Foote Flying Service of Grand Prairie, Texas. Coleman Flying School, Ltd. later assumed the contract for the remainder of the war. The field was formally dedicated on May 17-18, 1941. The first cadet class at Arledge Field began on March 15, 1941. Civilian flying and ground school instructors trained the air cadets using Stearman PT-17s and Fairchild PT-19As. Military personnel from the 308th Army Air Forces Training Detachment provided military instruction. Following a twelve-week training course, graduating cadets moved to larger air bases for basic and advanced flight training by Air Corps instructors. The final cadet class at Arledge Field graduated on September 30, 1944. The Reconstruction Finance Corporation transferred the buildings and equipment at the field to the City of Stamford in 1947 for use as a public airport.

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Harlingen Army Airfield and Harlingen Air Force Base TX5462

With the depressed economy of the 1930s, Harlingen leaders sought to attract Federal funds to the area. In May 1941, in preparation for what would become World War II, the U.S. War Department accepted the city's offer of 960 acres for a military airfield and flexible gunnery school. The area's flat topography, impractical for artillery training, was ideal for aircraft operations. Additional land was procured along the coast to use for combat maneuvers. The Harlingen Army Gunnery School received its first students in August 1941. By 1944, the facility was nearly 1,600 acres in size. Accommodating at peak times up to 9,000 trainees. Among those stationed at the base were Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP). The field closed in 1946; following the war, numerous buildings were sold to area residents and businesses. In April 1952, with the U.S. involved in Korea, the Government reactivated the field as Harlingen Air Force Base, with the primary mission of training navigators. New facilities included a hospital, and base and area residents followed local and national events in the Sun Lines newspaper. In 1961, the U.S. Government announced numerous base closures, including the base in Harlingen. By June 1962, when the last class graduated from the school, more than 13,000 navigators had completed their training in Harlingen. The base closure, which removed millions of dollars from the local economy, severely impacted the city. Base facilities eventually served as a regional airport, which became the Valley International Airport in 1970. Portions of the base have also been used for an industrial air park, the Texas State Technical Institute (now College), the Marine Military Academy and the Rio Grande Valley Museum.

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Rockport School TX12153

Rockport School has served the town of Rockport for many years as both an educational and community institution. It dates to 1935, during the era of the Great Depression. One of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal programs to combat the Depression was the Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works, later the Public Works Administration (PWA), part of the National Industrial Recovery Act. Workers completed construction on the Rockport School, labeled Project Number 2813, under the PWA, and local bonds helped to subsidize the government project. The district had the structure built on the site of an earlier Rockport school, a wooden structure dating to 1892. When the new school opened, it housed eleven grades before adding the twelfth a few years later for full accreditation. Rockport School served the community for many years while undergoing several changes. After World War II, a former Army Air Forces building provided space for a gymnasium and classroom addition utilized until the late 1950s. After construction of a new high school in the city in 1953, district officials converted this building into an elementary school and renamed it Rockport Elementary. In 2005, after the school closed, it became a community center. This Zigzag Moderne building features a dramatic stylized sunburst over the entryway. Other features include a running course of brickwork detailing and symmetrical, regular massing.

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Warrensburg MO564
JOHNSON COUNTY
WARRENSBURG

One of Missouri's early western prairie towns, Warrensburg was founded in 1836 as seat of Johnson County, organized in 1834. The town is named for Martin Warren, a pioneer settler, and the county for United States Vice President Richard M. Johnson.

Warrensburg was incorporated, 1855. In the Civil War, though largely pro-Southern, it was occupied by Union troops as a post and supply base. After the Pacific Railroad (now Mo.Pac.) reached here, 1864, the town centered around the station and the first town site became "Old Town." In the 1870's, quarries were opened near town in a huge sandstone deposit. Among buildings of this Warrensburg Sandstone are those on the College Campus and the courthouse.

Central Missouri State College, here, was founded, 1871, as the State Normal School for the Second Normal District of Missouri. Warrensburg and Johnson County gave 16 acres and raised $145,000 to win the school. It was one of the first two state normal schools in Missouri. The college maintains an Educational Museum and Essig Musical Instruments Collection.

Warrensburg, seat of justice and trading center for a grain and livestock farming county, lies in territory ceded by Osage tribes in 1808. First settlers in the county, largely from the South, came in the 1820's.

Points of interest here in Warrensburg include the College Campus and the Old Courthouse where Senator George G. Vest delivered his famous "Tribute to the Dog" in his plea to the jury in one of Missouri's most colorful damage suits. South is Pertle Springs, early resort and convention center. East, near Knob Noster, are Whiteman Air Force Base and Knob Noster State Park.

Warrensburg was the home of Francis M. Cockrell (1834-1915) a native of Johnson Co., Confederate General, U.S. Senator, 1875-1905; and Thomas T. Crittenden (1832-1909) Union Colonel, Governor of Mo., 1881-85. Here also, for a time, lived Wells H. Blodgett (1839-1929) Union Colonel, State Legislator; Carry Moore Nation (1846-1911), Clara Cleghorn Hoffman (1831-1908), leaders in temperance movement; John W. (Blind) Boone (1864-1927) Negro musician; and George MacCurdy (1863-1947) a native of Warrensburg, anthropologist.

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