Ozark Trails Association TX4072

Founded in 1913 to mark and promote an automobile route across several states, the Ozark Trails Association was the brainchild of William Hope Harvey of Arkansas, who wanted to improve roads to his Ozark mountain retreat. Thousands of members from Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas and Missouri attended annual meetings of the association, which also sought to promote tourism and educate the public to the need for better highways and roads. The southern route of the Ozark Trail extended across the Texas panhandle through Collingsworth, Childress, Hall, Briscoe, Swisher, Castro and Parmer counties. In 1920, members from these Texas counties and two New Mexico counties met and voted to follow the lead of the national group in placing reinforced concrete signposts along the route in their counties. James E. Swepston of Tulia led this effort and was elected president of the national association at its 1920 annual meeting. The concrete obelisk placed in Tulia (85 feet northwest) originally denoted the distance from Tulia to various towns on the trail. It retains its identity as a local landmark, and in 2000, the Texas Historical Commission designated the Ozark Trail marker as a State Archeological Landmark. The obelisk also is a reminder of the Ozark Trails Association (disbanded in 1924), one of many private highway associations to sponsor automobile routes before the federal government began numbering and marking such highways after World War I.

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Port Arthur - Beaumont Interurban Railway TX10380
Port Arthur-Beaumont Interurban Railway

Electric railways known as Interurbans existed in Texas from 1901 until the 1940s to provide frequent opportunities for the public to travel between urban centers. Interurban service between Beaumont and Port Arthur began on December 16, 1913, lasting until competition from automobiles and buses caused passenger use of the rail line to decline. The Jefferson County Traction Company and the Beaumont Traction Company, subsidiaries of the East Texas Electric Company, owned and operated the Port Arthur-Beaumont Interurban Railway.

Tickets were 90 cents for a round trip. Passengers departed from Port Arthur at a terminal station and maintenance facility at this site and could board or get off the interurban at any of 10 stops along the route. The electric rail cars seated 48 people, but often there were many more on board. The cars could also be chartered for group trips and were popular for weekend excursions. The interurban service was used to evacuate Port Arthur citizens fleeing the 1915 hurricane until the high water caused a power failure. Some passengers were stranded in the cars for 12 hours.

The last recorded trip of the Port Arthur-Beaumont Interurban was August 15, 1932. By that time, private automobiles had become the more popular mode of transportation, while increased consumption and new demands for electricity more than made up for the electric company's loss of the interurban's need for electric power.

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President William Howard Taft Visits Taft TX6343

In 1908, Charles P. Taft, director of the Coleman-Fulton Pasture Company (also known as Taft Ranch) extended an invitation to his half-brother, newly-elected President William Howard Taft, to visit the 165,000-acre Taft Ranch and the Taft community. The President agreed to come in October 1909. Charles Taft and ranch manager Joseph F. Green immediately began preparations for the event.

Green had a nine-hole golf course built at La Quinta, his estate near Gregory where the President would stay during his visit. He also built the 22-room Green Hotel in Gregory to house the press corps and additional visitors. President Taft's special railroad car arrived in Gregory on October 20, 1909. An automobile procession took the presidential party to La Quinta, where they were greeted by Texas Governor Thomas M. Campbell. The following day the President visited Taft, where he spoke to citizens assembled at the local school and enjoyed ice cream at the company creamery. A barbeque and rodeo were held at the Rincon Ranch in the President's honor, and he later visited Corpus Christi, where he spoke to a crowd of 15,000 people.

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Robert and Marie Stubbs House TX12021

Mississippi native Robert Campbell Stubbs (1869-1927) moved to Dallas in 1887 and established a paving business with his father, George W. Stubbs. In 1897, R.C. Stubbs married Marie M. Henke (d.1957) of Berlin, Germany. Dallas' economic growth and the coming of the automobile age after the turn of the 20th century led to a great demand for Stubbs' expertise in modern paving techniques. By 1922, he had patented vibrolithic paving and was noted as one of the chief authorities on paving in the United States. His business success led to the construction of this house in the fashionable Swiss Avenue neighborhood. Completed in 1926, the Stubbs House may have been the work of Dallas architect Otto H. Lang. The design drew upon features of England's Tudor manor houses, a style popular in American residential architecture between World Wars I and II. Hallmark features of the style, including the steeply pitched roof, half-timbered gables, distinctive chimneys and low pointed-arch entry, are present in the house, which was home to Robert and Marie Stubbs and their two children. A separate two-story garage and staff quarters also reflects Tudor characteristics. Following R.C. Stubbs' death just one year after the house was completed, Marie continued to live and entertain here until 1940. The house subsequently was converted into apartments, but was returned to single-family use in the 1970s. Prominently sited at the head of Swiss Avenue, the Stubbs house is a significant part of Dallas' architectural history.

Purchased by Willetta Sherrill Stellmacher 1987.

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Route 66 in Amarillo TX4365

Commonly called the "Main Street of America" and also the "Mother Road," Route 66 became the first paved transcontinental highway in the U.S. spanning from Chicago to Los Angeles; the route in Texas crossed 7 panhandle counties over 177 miles. Route 66 was popular with automobile tourists. The road was important in the development of Sixth Street and the San Jacinto area in Amarillo, which was the only large urban city on the Texas route. In 1994 the area was listed in the National Register of historic places, and has become the focus of local preservation efforts.

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Site of Dietz Community TX4768

In 1851 Jamaica native Jacob De Cordova (1808-1868) settled here. He selected this spot for its beauty, rich soil and nearby springs. He built his first home, "Wanderer's Retreat". It served as a stage stop on the San Antonio Road and as a mail delivery station. De Cordova, acting as a land agent, sold over 90,000 acres of Texas land including this site. Nine German bachelors purchased the property and it became known as "Bachelor's Hall" and "Nine Men's House". Two brothers, Ferdinand Michael and J. August Dietz, cowboys for De Cordova, bought out the other men and the community became "Dietz". Johann Phillip Stautzenberger (1838-1904) bought the land in 1861, built a substantial house and general store, and became the first postmaster. Formal education began in a small room adjacent to Stautzenberger's store with Frankfort School starting later. "The Frohsinn Maennerchor", a singing group, was organized in the schoolhouse. Later they adopted the present name of "Frohsinn Mixed Chorus of Clear Springs". In 1895 a group of farmers founded present-day Friedens Church in the school building. Consolidation of the schools, closing of the post office, and good roads and automobiles caused this early community to disappear.

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Site of Gorsline's Fashion Livery Stable TX4804

In 1889 Edgar B. Gorsline (1859-1933) and his wife came to Wichita Falls from Indiana. For two years Gorsline operated a grocery and bakery. He opened the Fashion Livery Stable at this site in 1892. Horses and rigs were rented and horses boarded. Carriages were sent to meet all trains and transportation for funerals were provided. Before the automobile era, the Fashion Livery Stable furnished vital services for residents and visitors to Wichita Falls. Gorsline sold the stable in 1907 and the structure at this site was razed in 1908.

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Site of J. D. Earnest Ranch Stage Stand TX4416
During the ownership of rancher J. D. Earnest, this site was used as a rest stop on the stage line between San Angelo and Sonora. Owned and managed by Theodore Jackson Savell (1872-1954), the operation began providing mail and passenger service to the area in 1894. Each weekday two stages pulled by four horses made the 75-mile run. On rare rainy occasions the stage coach up muddy hills. The Savell Line remained in operation until 1909, when mail was first delivered to the county by automobile.

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Site of Old Livery Stable and Wagon Yard TX4853

Established 1897 as Odessa's first livery stable and wagon yard by Francis M. Tallant. Cowmen stabled their horses, then headed for ranch saloon located across from stable. Sold 1906 to C.A. Beardsley, who advertised "good rigs, dray line and prompt attention." Livery stable had saddle horses and animal-drawn vehicles for hire. Wagon yard offered shelter for travelers and their teams.

Automobiles changed life. In 1915, Joe W. Rice bought stable and converted it into a garage, sandstone structure (covered with stucco) still stands.

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Site of Old Opera House TX4855
Site of Old Opera House
(1883 - 1894)

Typical of the efforts of early communities to bring culture to the frontier, the Elks Opera House was also the scene of traveling theatricals, local amateur dramas, and reunions of Confederate veterans. Sometimes called the Barnes Opera House (for owner) it presented "Ten Nights in a Bar Room," "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," "East Lynn," and other popular plays of the late 19th century, as well as musical programs. Modern for the times, it was lighted by brilliant chandeliers and had brown leather chairs extending in tiers to the orchestra pit. The drop curtain was a woodland scene on a flaming red background. When the structure burned in 1894, it was not rebuilt. Several hundred opera houses sprang up in Texas between the decades of the Republic and World War I. Every major town had one, and opera companies from San Francisco, Chicago, and Cincinnati made annual tours, sometimes playing a town two weeks. Opera houses also helped curb the influence of theaters and music halls, whose public reputation unfortunately matched that of the saloons and gambling houses. With the advent of the automobile, radio, and motion picture in the early 20th century, however, audiences declined and the opera house era came to a close.

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