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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTransportation Supporting MaterialsOLD MAIN SOCIETY December 9, 1994 Presentation to Community Appearance and Historic Preservation Old Main Society was formed in September of 1994 in order to give students a voice on the issues concerning the ever - changing campus and surrounding areas. The initial mission statement is as follows: The Old Main Society functions to preserve, enhance, and interpret the history, integrity, architecture, character, and beauty of the campus and adjacent property. This committee is named after the first building on campus. It was completed in 1875 on the current site of the Academic building. The original red -brick buildings are recorded in stark contrast to the modern beige -brick buildings on campus. It is important to realize that this committee is not just about buildings. Old Main Society has many areas of concern, as stated in the mission statement. On the other hand, the old buildings influence the character, image, and integrity of the physical campus more than anything else. The Bush Library/Museum, the Special Events Center, and the Big 12 conference will all factor into changing the campus and it's immediate environs as we know them. As you know, plans are underway to demolish Law Hall (1927), Puryear Hall (1927), Deware Fieldhouse (1924), and Downs Natatorium (1932). The only reason the English Annex (1922) is still standing is because of its small footprint on campus, proximity to the utility plant, and most importantly, the fact student groups wanted to use the space from time to time. The Sports Rec Center (1995) will make Deware and Downs obsolete for their current functions, but this does not mean these unique structures cannot be renovated for new uses. I was told demolition of the two buildings will cost over $500,000. Certainly we can do something more positive at that price. Brainstorming makes the possibilities seem almost limitless. Deware Fieldhouse Renovation Ideas: Aggie Sports Museum S WC Museum 1914 -1996 Large offices for student organizations that currently have only cubicle space or nothing at all Dorm for students with classes on West Campus Overflow Diamond- Vision viewing facility for football fans when game is sold out (At current capacity this will happen often when Big 12 conference play begins) Campus Ice Rink for recreation Ice Rink for future Texas A &M hockey team Alternative sports facility Dance club for under 21 students (Most freshmen, sophomores, and some juniors) Downs Natatorium Renovation Ideas: Alternative Silent (Solitary) Study Area Locker space for students living off - campus Small offices for student organizations that currently have only cubicle space or nothing at all We are working on ideas for all four of these threatened structures, but our immediate concern is Law and Puryear, since they are slated to be demolished this summer. At the very beginning, Old Main Society saw five options: 1) Renovate the dorms for central campus student housing. 2) Vacate and lock the dorms until funds are available to restore them. 3) Carefully raze the dorms and develop a remnant park. 4) Allow students to continue living in dorms in their current state. 5) Completely demolish the dorms as if they never existed. Old Main Society did not support the last two options. Neither option required much thought, respect, or creativity. It will probably cost over $300,000 to demolish Law and Puryear. Is this money well spent? The first three options, however, were promising. The first required money now, while the second required money at some future point in time. The third option would raise the cost of demolition. It is viable since one plan for the site is green space. At this time I understand there is no hope to save Law and Puryear. This leaves the third option. A remnant park for Law and Puryear would incorporate the cornerstones and portions of the historical facades, ramps, arches, and other architectural elements into the landscape. Joe Ag, class of `40, could still show his grandsons where he lived the greatest days of his life. We are working with a committee from Student Affairs to preserve the memory of Law and Puryear. Plans are to have architecture students design several proposals for remnant parks. Four prominent structures are slated to be razed in the mid 1990's. Four earlier structures were razed in the mid to early 1950's; Pfeuffer (1887), Austin (1888), Ross (1891), and Foster Hall (1899). There was no Old Main Society at that time to ask the administration to save the relics from another century. They were demolished as planned. I'm sure you see the parallel. Ask any Aggie today if these old buildings should have been saved forty years ago. I believe the majority would answer yes. In 2035, Old Main Society members can ask Aggies if Law, Puryear, DeWare, and Downs should have been saved. Again, I think the majority would answer yes. The problem then lies in asking those in control at the point of no return to reconsider the future implications and fmality of demolishing these historic buildings. I hope there is a possibility to add Old Main Society to the roster of Executive Committees in Student Government. As a three year member of Muster Committee, I can envision Old Main Society fitting in with all the committees. One easily can see how it complements Parents' Weekend, Traditions Council, and the Muster Committee. Other Ideas: Demand more communication from A &M Administration on campus plans and changes before it is too late Better and safer crossing across University Ave. from Northside dorms to Northgate Less streets through campus. I understand a pedestrian mall and park will replace Lubbock St. (Runs in front of Corps Arches Plaza past the Commons) Best use of cornerstones from original buildings (Brass plaques were stolen off these while they were in storage last year in a Hensel Park greenhouse. Certainly we can find more suitable places to store campus artifacts. I have heard these cornerstones will be used in an arrangement at the proposed Development Foundation building). Greening of unnecessary asphalt and concrete areas on campus Moving Amtrak station to proposed reconstruction of 1883 Depot across Wellborn west of the Albritton Belltower 1910 model of campus when Old Main and Mess Hall were still standing Revolving endowment to save designated buildings on campus Class Gifts designated to save historic buildings More intense landscaping Statue at Bolton Hall to mark first ever play -by -play radio college football broadcast Old Main Society platform communicated to Board of Regents, Physical Plant, Facilities and Planning, President's Office Selection of Faculty Advisory Panel Increase membership and awareness Determine feasibility of reconstructing Old Main, Ross Hall, or Gathright. Can any of the buildings from the 1800's be reconstructed in their original sites? Old Main cannot because the Academic Building is on that site. What other possibilities exist? Develop esplanades (medians) with trees ,grass, and statues on the streets bordering the campus Demand more parking (Perhaps the current administration does not know that most cars in the Mud Lot - $1.75 /day or $97 /semester - also pay for A &M parking hangers) [Note: I realize that this does not seem to fit into the current mission statement, but perhaps we can find a way.] Demand better and more reliable transportation from East to West campus - Perhaps this could be accomplished by bringing back the Interurban Trolley (1910)... College of Business relocates to the West Campus Weiner Building for the Spring 1995 semester Matching funds for class gifts A traditional world -class library (Without green and beige carpet on the walls) Cooperate with College Station to improve the aesthetics of the corridors bordering the campus. OLD MAIN SOCIETY BUILDING CHRONOLOGY (As of December 1, 1994) OLD MAIN 1875 1912 Fire GATHRIGHT HALL 1876 1933 Razed FIVE PROF. RESIDENCES 1876 ? Razed DEPOT 1883 ? Razed PFEUFFER HALL 1887 1954 Razed AUSTIN HALL 1888 1955 Razed ASSEMBLY HALL 1889 1929 Razed PRESIDENT'S HOME 1891 1963 Fire ROSS HALL 1891 1955 Razed MECH. ENG. SHOPS 1892 1920 Fire POWER PLANT 1893 1933 Razed 1996 Reconstruction NATATORIUM 1894 1908 Razed INFIRMARY 1895 1916 Razed MESS HALL 1897 1911 Fire FOSTER HALL 1899 1951 Razed AGRI. & HORT. 1900 1963 Razed CHEMISTRY & VET. 1902 1929 Razed BAGLEY HALL 1904 1972 Razed VETERINARY HOSP. 1908 1934 Razed NEW NATATORIUM 1908 1934 Razed GOODWIN HALL 1908 1990 Razed Most recent demolition NAGLE HALL 1909 Extant ANALYTICAL SERV. 1909 Extant LEGETT HALL 1911 Extant MILNER HALL 1911 Extant MITCHELL HALL 1912 1972 Razed BOLTON HALL 1912 Extant 1st football broadcast BOARD OF DIR. 1912 1979 Fire ACADEMIC BLDG. 1914 Extant 1994 - Original windows lost SBISA MESS HALL 1912 Extant YMCA BLDG. 1914 Extant SPECIAL SERV. BLDG. 1916 Extant North of Haas POWER PLANT 1917 Extant PAVILION 1917 Extant SERUM LAB 1917 1972 Razed GUION HALL 1918 1971 Razed Difficult to demolish BIZZELL HALL 1918 Extant FRANCIS HALL 1918 Extant BUTLER BLDG. 1918 Extant FERMIER HALL 1919 Extant PSYCHOLOGY BLDG. 1920 Extant LAUNDRY BLDG. 1920 1966 Razed MILITARY SCIENCE 1920 1933 Razed THOMPSON HALL 1922 Extant ENGLISH ANNEX 1922 Extant AGRICULTURE BLDG. 1922 Extant NEW ASSEMBLY HALL 1923 1953 Razed DEWARE FIELD HOUSE 1924 Extant 1996 Demolition TRIGON 1924 Extant AGGIELAND INN 1925 1966 Razed HEATON HALL 1925 Extant KYLE FIELD 1927 Extant LAW HALL 027 Extant Summer 1995 Demolition PURYEAR HALL 1927 Exert Summer 1995 Demolition CUSHING LIBRARY 1930 Extant Renovating for Archives HART HALL 1930 Extant y WALTON HALL 1931 Extant TAES ANNEX 1932 Extant ADMIN. BLDG. 1932 Extant HALBOUTY BLDG. 1932 Extant 1972 Tower removed SCOATES HALL 1932 Extant ANIMAL IND. BLDG 1932 Extant DOWNS NATATORIUM 1932 Extant 1996 Demolition ANCHOR HALL 1936 1959 Razed UNIVERSITY POLICE 1937 Extant POST OFFICE 1938 Extant 13 CORPS DORMS 1939 Extant BELL BUILDING 1942 Extant MOSES 1942 Extant MOORE 1942 Extant CROCKER 1942 Extant DAVIS -GARY 1942 Extant THE GROVE 1949 Extant 18 HOLE GOLF 1950 Extant MSC 1950 Extant COKE BLDG. 1951 Extant G. ROLLIE WHITE 1954 Extant ALL FAITHS CHAPEL 1957 Extant ARCH. BLDG. C 1962 Extant PRESIDENT'S HOME 1965 Extant 5 The Texas Sesquicentennial Edition BRAZOS COUNTY HISTORY RICH PAST — BRIGHT FUTURE EDITOR Glenna Fourman Brundidge With The Special Editorial Assistance Of Paul David McKay and Paul Robert Scott Co- Editor Langston James Goree, Chairman Brazos County Heritage and History Council FAMILY HISTORY FOUNDATION Bryan, Texas 1986 j RAILROADS AND TRANSPORTATION Sam and Carol Enloe TRACED FROM SOIL SURVEY MAP V. S.DEPT. AGR DEPT.RTMEYIT OF CIVIL ENGL'1EER1NC J. :tole law •tenzle Iv43M /no>On COUNT TRANSPORTATION IN I EARLY BRAZOS COUNTY Sam and Carol Enloe ;o ' 417 418 Thousands of years ago in the area now called Texas, migra- tions of bison, deer, wolves, and smaller animals began to form a trail running northeast and southwest across the land. The trail paralleled the Gulf coast, but was far enough inland to avoid the adverse effects of hurricanes and marshes. It was just far enough south to miss the tiring hills and valleys. The route transversed present -day Texas from the Sabine River in the East to the Rio Grande in the Southwest. By trial and error the herds eventually discovered the easiest fords of the rivers and the best routes. Thus, when the Indians' bare feet padded over the soil in search of game, there was already a well- beaten path. Archaeologists have discovered trade goods from the Caddo Indians deep in Mexico and, con- versely, semi - precious stones from Mexico in "Caddo Country" at opposite ends of the trail. In 1691, with France as a threat, the Spaniards finally realized the importance of access across the great expanse of territory. It was at this time that the blazing and mapping of what was to become the "King's Highway" was decreed. Ironically, once the road was officially in place and a provincial capital established at Los Adaes (near Robeline, Lousiana), the route was used by MAP , .k.,;.,,........ o,., KINGS NISNWAY lam .a- s_. 4'4 it..•4%. - s the French as well as the Spaniards. The French, as traders welcomed the missions and presidios along the route for com mercial reasons. The evolution of this trail into a major thoroughfare is signifi cant, since a portion of El Camino Real - "The King's Highway" now forms much of the northwest boundary of present -da' Brazos County. (See map at end of Chapter). Paradoxically many people used this "well- travelled road," but there was, fo more than a century, almost no settlement along the route. During this period, the primary concern of the Spaniards wa' simply to maintain their borders in order to search for the gok they had found in Mexico and in Central and South America The French, likewise, were primarily interested in economic gain. Both preferred the civilization of Europe to the wilds of th( Southwest. Neither group seems to have had the inbred "west ward push" of the Anglo- Saxons who began settlement of th( east coast of North America. It is significant that the first recorded settlement of the are which was to become known as Brazos County took placE Numbers in ( ) refer to Notes at end of Chapter. 4 O 0 E v 1 J 6 TRANSPORTATIOI` 6 0 El Camino (teal Old San Antonio Road Archives( Dr. W. E. Dunn, Texas Eni. emit) Surveyor V. N. Zirely, C. E. Man Maker, 1:. Cuahundra. C. E. TRANSPORTATION 419 many miles from El Camino Real (now known as O.S.R. — Old Spanish Road or Old San Antonio Road). In the southern part of the county, at or near the site of today's Millican, James Hope and Robert Millican were awarded from Mexico the first title of land in the area (circa 1824). These settlers were part of Austin's original 300 families. The Brazos River as a transportation artery, as well as (no doubt) the richness of the Brazos River Bottom soil, influenced Hope and Millican to settle in this place. It is also quite likely that the presence of other members of Austin's 300, around what was to become Washington -on- the -Brazos (circa 1830), had some impact. The lack of inland transportation caused severe hardships. Roads were rough and dusty - strewn with holes in dry weather and muddy beyond belief in the wet seasons. The mule trains of the Spaniards required only these rough trails, but the ox -carts and wagons of the Anglo- Americans needed better roads. Furthermore, most roads led to fords in the rivers, as was the case of the route most likely taken by Hope and Millican. Andrew Robinson established a ferry just below the mouth of the Navasota River in 1822 (1), which provided the traveller crossing into Brazos County some relief. As Washington -on- the - Brazos grew, other events in the area show, some embryonic beginnings of a network of roads was formed. For instance, in 1833 Henry Farnthrop opened an Inn to serve the travelling public in what would later be Anderson in Grimes County. (2) This, along with the ferry near Washington, indicates that there was enough traffic to provide economic benefit to the entrepreneurs of such accessories. During the decade of the 1830s, settlement in Brazos County and throughout Texas was slow due to political uncertainty and eventually war. On 20 March 1836, Washington was evacuated and many residents of Brazos County joined in the "runaway scrape." (3) Looking today at the landscape of Brazos County, one can imagine the frustration of slow travel these pioneers must have felt. Their choices to depart Brazos County were only three - they could use the poor roads; fight the strong current of the Brazos on a raft, flatboat, or canoe; or try to navigate the snags and sandbars of the meandering Navasota River. In 1842, Brazos County was officially created with its present boundaries. These boundaries are composed of the Brazos River and the Navasota River, with O.S.R. completing the trian- gle except for a small surveyed portion of the northwest side. Boonville, named after Mordecai Boon, was to be the County Seat. During the period from 1836 to 1850, a significant movement was underway in Washington -on- the - Brazos. This movement was initiated by Dr. Asa Hoxley to establish the town as an important riverport. The impact this had on Brazos County transportation was vital. In this era, the problems of building good roads were immense. Houston and Galveston were com- petitors for the economic benefits to be derived from Brazos Valley cotton. (4) Galveston had access to the sea, and access up the Brazos by steamboat. Houston went so far as to propose a plank road to the Brazos, but the vision of sixty miles of pine boards did little to ease the known misery of existing transporta- tion facilities, "whose bottomless mud had killed oxen, mired wagons, and enhanced the vocabulary of teamsters since Aus- tin's settlers first began raising cotton along the Brazos watershed." (5) In December 1842, the sidewheeler Mustang arrived in the temporary capital at Washington, and steamers began making frequent trips to the city. The economy was booming, and hopes of the citizens were that their town would soon become the "St. Louis of the Brazos." There was a small faction which wanted Washington to diversify and become a railroad town by building a spur to the Houston and Texas Central, but river commerce was in vogue, and this group was unable to accom- plish its goal. In fact, a request from the H &TC for funds to build a bridge and secure right -of -way was flatly rejected! The H &TC then directed its line north and built to a railhead at Millican in Brazos County, completing the work in 1860. The decade of the 1850s did see the institution of stagecoach service from Houston through Boonville and north to Robert- son County, but this mode of transportation has been too much romanticized in the media. It was grossly uncomfortable, unde- pendable, and relatively expensive (especially if one had an "inside" seat, instead of riding on the top!). In 1850, Henry Kurten settled in eastern Brazos County and liked it so well that he promoted German immigration to the area. He prospered, freighting cotton from the community he founded. In the northwestern portion of the county during this period, Moseley's Ferry (6), had been established at the point where O.S.R. crossed the Brazos. In addition, commissioners' court minutes began to mention "second grade" roads and "overseers." Second grade roads were twenty feet wide, while first grade (or first class) roads were thirty feet wide. It is appar- ent from this smattering of information that transportation had become important in Brazos County. Overseers for the roads were appointed by the County Commissioners' Court, and even though the job was non- paying, it was eagerly sought. (7) Work on the roads was similar to duties imposed on citizens by ancient Rome. Each county specified a number of days per year (usually five) that each person had to work on the roads. Unfortunately, the "road - working" often became little more than a social occasion, and roads were little better than trails. Some use was made of convict labor in "road gangs," but in a sparsely - populated county with swift justice, this was virtually ineffective to obtain any semblance of good roads. Other roads and ferries began to come into existence as the county developed its agriculturally -based economy. Trails and paths which would later be developed into an important part of the transportation infrastructure were established toward the railroad and the river. Ferries at fords which later became bridges, such as Pitt's, Jones', and Koppe's, were established on the Brazos. Ferguson and Democrat Crossing made access across the Navasota possible. Both Millican and Boonville became centers of commerce as 1860 approached. Brazos County has seen its share of "booms" over the years, but very few influenced commerce and population growth on a percentage basis as did the coming of the railroad to Millican. In 1850 the population of Brazos County was 612 people. By 1860 it had more than quadrupled to 2,776. Leading citizens of Brazos County favored the "iron horse," and the acceptance of the railroad in this area was enhanced by the lack of interest for it in Washington and elsewhere. One prominent property owner in Anderson stated, "No, we do not want trains running through here, for they would scare our mules and our Negroes." (8) In 1861 the Civil War brought to a halt almost all construction in Texas, and the railroad made its terminus at Millican for the duration. Millican became an important trading center as wagon trains met the railroad with bales of cotton, and carried merchandise back across a large portion of the state. The clouds of war did not pall the fervor of some visionaries. Between 1860 and 1861, William Joel Bryan, who gave the city its name, sold 640 acres to A. Groesbeck and W. R. Baker for $3,200, to create a township. (9) The City of Bryan was platted on this property, and after the war Boonville ceased to exist. In fact, the courthouse and the 420 TRANSPORTATION inhabitants of Bryan were in place (see Appendix A) to greet the first Houston and Texas Central train, which arrived in 1867. (10) An excellent account of travel from Houston to this area (prior to the arrival of the H &TC) is found in a letter from Mrs. Sarah A. Dodson to relatives in Alabama: Bryan Station, Brazos County Texas, November 21, 1866 My Dear Friend, [The first portion describes the trip from Alabama via New Orleans, Galveston, and into Houston by steamer.] "... Buffalo Bayou ... is a narrow, shallow, dirty, sluggish stream and did not give me a very favorable impression of Texas. Neither did Houston. for that place is small, ugly, and muddy. Monday we took the cars for Navasota, put up that night at a very indifferent hotel, hired a hack next morning and started for the interior. We travelled all day through a beautiful country, diversified by hill and dale. At night, stopped at another indifferent house; a few feathers on some dry cowhides, formed our bed! I could not help thinking of the "Irishman with his ONE FEATHER on a rock." Next morning there blew up a terrible "Norther" increasing in violence every moment; but we travelled on, and just before dark, reached sister's nearly frozen to death. [Her description of Bryan at that time is of interest -after reflecting on the "bad moral atmosphere" she continues:] ... If we had churches, schools, and good society, Bryan would be a very pleasant little village; for it is situated in the edge of a beautiful, high, rolling prairie, dotted here and there with clumps of trees, and abounding with cattle, horse, sheep, and goats as far as the eye can reach. Occasionally, a mule -eared rabbit crosses your path, and a bird of paradise, a wild goose, or blue crane flies over your head. At every step, curious pebbles and pieces of petrified wood meet your gaze. The town is six miles west (sic) of the Brazos River, and one hundred miles north of the city of Houston. (11) It is probably fortunate that Mrs. Dodson did not delay her trip for another year and ride the train all the way from Houston to Bryan. Had she done so, she might have had an even more jaded view of Bryan society. By then, the lively business town of Millican, with its freight depots, hotels, restaurants, and bank had begun adecline. Bryan had begun its rise as the dominant town in the county. Although the population was only about one thousand people, its central location made it the "Rome of Brazos County" - all roads led there. This was necessary because of the' agricultural economy and the access to the railroad and outside markets. Despite the prosperity brought by the railroad, there were no citizens of Brazos County listed in the Wealthy Texans of 1870 (Texans worth $100,000 or more) compiled by Wooster in his article. (12) The need for the development of roads continued during this period as the community of Wellborn was established in 1867 and "Little Georgia" (later, Reliance) developed in the early 1870s. Again, agriculture and stock - raising were prominent. Bryan was the focal point of the county's transportation net- work, with those muddy, rough roads leading to the iron rails. The H &TC expanded northward through Hearne and Corsi- cana, and construction was completed to Dallas on 8July 1872. (13) Finally, Brazos County had moderately dependable transpor- tation to an east /west connection both to the north and the south. (Moderately dependable, since J. J. Al lhands in The Bo // Weevil, p. 27, calls the H &TC the "Angel Maker," because of its many wrecks and subsequent casualties.) An additional bonus to the completion of the line was that Bryan became a popular stopping point for rail travellers between Houston and Dallas. (14) As the county was adjusting to the impact of the railroad on its transportation system, a series of events was taking place which was to provide one tremendous additional benefit. According to Henry C. Dethloff, in his study of the history of Texas A &M University, the committee of commissioners assigned to locate the college was "largely guided by two motives: (1) to locate as nearly as possible in the midst of Texas' then population mass, and (2) at a central point along the system of railroads already built...so that these carriers could bring the students thither." (15) A joint action by the citizens of the county and the H &TC seems to have solidified the site of the college for Brazos County. With a substantial contribution of land from the rail- road, the county deeded not the 1280 acres required to secure the site, but 2416 acres south of Bryan. Bryan had, of course, wanted the college to be in close proximity to the town. The commissioners, however, had noted the same lack of morality mentioned earlier in Mrs. Dodson's letter, and they placed the college five miles south of the saloons of Bryan. The formal establishment and dedication of Texas A &M took place 4 October 1876, and a dramatic change took place within Brazos County. The focus of transportation was divided. The railhead at Bryan was still dominant, but the college required passenger service. Access and egress from the college to Bryan and other points in the county could not be served only by the railroads, and a road was soon established and well - travelled between Bryan and A &M. The route followed present -day Old College Road and College Avenue to downtown Bryan. For the next quarter of a century, the railroad was the pre- ferred mode of travel, not only in Brazos County, but through- out the rest of the state and nation as well. The aforementioned Coriee system (requiring unpaid overseers to see that each able- bodied male in a county worked on the roads) continued to function, and provided marginal passage for horse and bug- gies. This is exemplified in a reminiscence by Professor Clinton D. Smith, in D. B. Cofer's Early History Of TexasA &M College: The H &TC was the only railroad and supplied two trains in the daytime and two at night, one each way. In the daytime the north bound passed about 12:30 P.M. and the south bound at 4:00 P.M. Those having business in Bryan and no other means of transportation used the railroad, but the train schedule did not give much time in Bryan. The night trains would stop to discharge pas- sengers, but those wishing to take a night train in either direction had to depend on flagging the train with a torch of some kind. Nearly all the faculty members kept a horse and carriage, but the road to Bryan was so sandy and dusty that they preferred the train if possible. Quite a number of the instructors and some of the professors and their wives rode bicycles and they had cooperatively financed the building of a bicycle path from College to Bryan. This was adjacent to the railroad but not on the right -of -way of the railroad. The problem of fences obstructing the pathway was solved by building a narrow stile or bridge over the fence. I think that some people from Bryan also belonged to this club and cooperated with the bicyclists from College in building and maintain- ing the pathway. (17) It is interesting to note that the bicycle, which had such an f TRANSPORTATION impact in the Northeast, had also appeared in Brazos County. It was not only a transportation innovation, but also a forerunner of many of the technical elements necessary for the develop- ment of the automobile. These were cold - rolled steel, accurately - machined gears, ball and needle bearings, and pneumatic tires. (18) Pictures of this era do show cadets on bicycles, and this inexpensive but efficient means of human transport was a vital factor during this period. r xyns� s t i . Bicycle as Cadet Transportation, Texas A &M College - Early 1900s. (Courtesy of TAMU Archives) During the decade of 1880 to 1890, the H &TC Railroad was joined by the Gulf, Colorado, and Santa Fe in the southern part of the county, and by the Hearne and Brazos Valley RR in the northwest part. In 1899 the Brazos River flooded and covered the Brazos Bottom in the county for over a month, destroying bridges and making transportation arduous and dangerous. It also virtually wiped out the cotton crop, and a local economic depression occurred. Nearly nine inches of rain fell in a ten -day period, causing severe hardship in the county. There was, how- ever, one good thing that happened that year— Allen Academy, which was founded in Madisonville, moved to Bryan. This event contributed to the agricultural and educational thrust of the county's economy. The pressure for a better trans- portation network was felt by leading citizens, who persuaded the International and Great Northern Railroad to come through Bryan and Brazos County. It was with great hoopla that the first l&GN train arrived in Bryan on 30 August 1900. With this line, Brazos County was well equipped with rail 421 College Station Depot - 1900. "When President Gathright assumed the leadership ofA &Min 1876 the campus was a blank prairie with no good roads and walks with two large buildings, (Old Main and Gathright Hall) and no town or postoffice. The name College Station was established when a postoffice was formed in 1877 ".. The train ran through the campus, stopping twice daily at the station about 800 yards from the Main Build- ing.... "Picture from Texas A&M Archives and "Those Were The Days." College Station became a regular passenger stop when the H& TC bui /t a depot in 1883. This picture from the 1910 "L ong- horn "shows the gingerbread trim and in the background, cam- pus housing. (Picture courtesy of TAMU Archives.) transportation as the twentieth century began to unfold. How- ever, just as folks were beginning to congratulate themselves on their "up -to- date" system, the first vestige of a new age in transportation appeared in the County Seat. In 1901 the first automobile came to Bryan — a red Oldsmo- bile, called a "Locomobile" by the citizens, owned by Mr. M. Bonneville. It is not recorded whether "Locomobile" was a mistake in pronunciation or identification, or a play on words (for Mr. B. being "loco" to own such a vehicle)! Whether or not Mr. Bonneville was considered crazy, his introduction of this mode of transportation must have had some impact. Just five years later, in 1906, the solons of the city found it necessary to enact an 8 mph speed limit. Surely this wasn't just for the "Locomobile," so others must have joined the fad. During this period, in 1903, the first Texas Good Road Asso- ciation was formed, largely of automobile owners. Ironically, railroads also played a significant part in "good roads" efforts. The Katy Railroad ran "Good Roads Trains" to all parts of the 422 state. While there was some dissension (farmers in Grayson County, who had previously maintained their roads by using a split -log drag after rains, stopped even this, seeing no reason to improve roads for "roadhogs and speed cranks" [19]) many began to see the need for better roads. Carl A. Blasig, in his book Building Texas, notes that the good roads movement did not really gain momentum until the Chambers of Commerce began to push the idea. As early as 1894 the Dallas Commercial Club had urged the construction of a system of all- weather roads, and the importance of better farm to market roads was on the agenda at most commercial club meetings all over the state. In 1905 there were approximately 2500 automobiles in Texas — even at the astounding price of $695 for the 1903 curved - dash Oldsmobile (probably similar to Mr. Bonneville's). Appar- ently, many of these found their way to Brazos County. The full impact on roads of the automobile was not felt in Brazos County, however, because the roads continued to be so poor. Elmer Grady Marshall, in his thesis on The History of Brazos County," says that in 1920 there was not a mile of paved highway in the county, and very few gravel- topped (macadam) roads. Because of these problems, the people of the county, particu- larly Bryanites, sought alternative means of transportation to secure for themselves the A &M College trade. As early as 1904 attempts had been made to establish a rapid transit system. In 1908 some of the leading citizens began a push for an interur- ban line; during 1909, a subscription effort was mounted and a $10,000 bonus was accumulated. On 7 October the Eagle put out a special Trolley edition to announce the completion of the drive. With this $10,000 bonus as incentive, O. G. Gammill from Caddo, Oklahoma, became interested in the project. On 20 January 1910 his company's mule -drawn plows and scrapers began work on the trolley. Work progressed rapidly through the winter and spring of 1910 and on 28 May of that year the first car pulled into the College. To Aggies, the Bryan and College Interurban soon became known as the "Toonerville Trolley." It began with gasoline cars, but was converted to electric in 1915, since the gas cars did not have the power to pull the grade at Hillcrest —often the young men had to get out and help push the car up the hill. The Interurban served well for over a decade as a convenient means of transportation. Citizens who lived on what is now Cavitt Street tell of their papers being thrown from the train, and it had package express as well as passenger rights. From its inception the trolley was popular, and even expanded past Allen Academy and to the Villa Maria Convent. In 1911 the Bryan Commercial Club (forerunner of the Chamber of Commerce) encouraged additional extension of the line so homeowners could build along it. At this time A &M had become overcrowded and a special dispensation was made for some Aggies to live in Bryan, where there was available space and the Interurban cou Id put them on Campus quickly. In addition, professors and other employees of the College could finally live off - campus. Though relatively short - lived, the Interurban had a dramatic impact on Bryan and Bryan - College Interurban, 1910 Bryan - College Station lnteruban, 1910. Picture from "Those Were The Days. "Source: Mrs. Nancy Ne /son Douglass. TRANSPORTATION TRANSPORTATION Crowds frequently waited at the Interurban Terminal on the north side of the campus — some even on the roof of the building. In the background is a "Quality Row" home, that provided on- campus living for selected faculty. Two views of The Texas and New Orleans Railroad, which had ✓ired the H& TC lines, built a bridge across the Brazos in 913)which withstood the devastating flood of that year. The on what became known as the Dalsa cut -off still haul freight from Hearne to San Antonio over this historic iron bridge located only a few yards from the Highway 21 bridge between Brazos and Burleson counties. The "head-on" view taken from Burleson County bank, looking east. Pictures courtesy of Miss Shirlireed Walker, 1985. 423 College Station, tying them into the almost homogeneous cities they have become today. When the H &TC RR took over the Hearne and Brazos Valley RR in 1913, the line was extended to Giddings. The people of Bryan saw the valuable trade of the Brazos Bottom slipping away, and encouraged the H &TC to build another line from Bryan west to the bottom. However, the immediate success of the Interurban must have encouraged Mr. Gammill and others about interurban lines, and they built a road from Bryan to Whittaker (Chance Plantation, on the west bank of the Brazos River) in 1918. The H &TC helped in this effort, and the new line even used H &TC tracks over the Brazos River Bridge. This "trunk" line served to bring the cotton from the valley to the connections with the interstate railroads, and dramatically 'Changed the landscape of Bryan. Unfortunately, the flooding Brazos put the line out of com- mission several times and so seriously damaged its tracks and grade that expenses became too heavy. The line fondly known as the "Peavine" was abandoned in 1923. In 1916, with the combined factors of improved, inexpensive automobiles (Henry Ford's Model T and others); continued pressure from "good roads" advocates; the success of highway departments in states such as New York and California; and improved road - building equipment and technology, the Fed- eral government made its first entry of significance into estab- lishing a national road network. One requirement of the legislation was that funds allocated must be funnelled through a state highway commission. This finally forced the legislature to establish the Texas Highway Department. While it did not immediately affect Brazos County, it is interesting that in the same year the Chamber of Commerce in Bryan was formed, and one of its standing committees was the Highways Commit- tee, headed by Travis Bryan. The Chamber's minutes reflect a constant awareness from this time forth of the importance of roads, streets, and high- ways. Intercity transportation was even encouraged, as re- flected by support before the railroad commission in 1918 for the Green Diamond Bus Lines to operate from Bryan to Waco, as well as frcm Bryan to Houston. The railroads were still much in favor, as evidenced by a resolution of the Chamber to increase the franchise fees for trucks and busses since they would be using tax - supported roads while the railroads had underwritten their own capitalization of roadbeds and equip- ment. In 1923, Eugene Edge, president of B /CS Traction Company (formerly Bryan and College Interurban) complained in an Eagle article that cars were picking up the trolley's customers — not being aware that this was causing financial problems for the company. The trolley line was abandoned during this year, but B /CS Traction continued to operate as a transportation company with busses until the late 1950s. In fact, Safe -T -Way Taxi Company was an off -shoot of B /CS Traction. As the nation, state and county began to upgrade road sys- tems, more funding became available for better roads. The ever - increasing presence of the car, truck, and bus stripped away the significance and importance of the railroad to the county's economy and way of life. Passenger traffic by rail was discontinued in the 1940s, and by 1970 most freight in the county was handled by truck lines. During the 1930s, Highway 6 was finally paved through the county and substantial improvement had been made on the Madisonville Road, which became Highway 21. With this, the county finally had access both east and west. However, the long dominant North /South transportation flow of the county is evi- 424 dent even now in the population concentration along this corridor. The final chapter of transportation in Brazos County to date really began at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, in 1903, with the flight of the Wright Brothers. Interest in aviation is apparent in The Bryan Eag /e as evidenced by pilot and aircraft articles as early as 1909, with mentions of various aviators and allied stories. The Chamber of Commerce minutes in 1918 reflect the encouragement of the group for a coming air show, and in 1932 the Chamber urged the City of Bryan to lease acreage for an airport. Finally, in May 1938, Mr. W. J. Coulter donated approximately 250 acres to the City of Bryan for an airport. In November of that year the county graded the runways. More significantly for the future of the county, in August of 1938 the will of Col. William E. Easterwood allocated funds to Texas A &M for aviation study. This money was bequeathed in memory of Col. Easterwood's Aggie brother, Jesse. With the impetus of Gibb Gilchrist, the Dean of Engineering at A &M, Easterwood Field was established and operated by a local group called Kadett Aviation Company, as a CAA Student Pilot Training Course. The CAA construction was finished in March of 1944, and the Board of Directors at A &M approved the operation through the School of Engineering in October of 1944. Bryan Air Base was a part of the transportation scene during World War II. Though closed after the war, it was re- opened briefly during the Korean Conflict in the 1950s. On 15 August 1951, Pioneer Airlines made the inaugural commercial flight into Brazos County. Pioneer has been fol- lowed by Continental, Trans -Texas (later Texas International), Davis, Rio, and Alamo Airlines. Seemingly, Bryan /College Sta- tion and Brazos County's proximity to Houston and Dallas have eliminated it from consideration as much more than a "feeder" station to be served by smaller lines enroute to the huge interna- tional airports in these cities. In 1985, there is a remarkable difference in all facets of trans- portation in Brazos County. The Texas Highway Department District 17 Office located in Bryan does an excellent job, not only in overseeing construction and maintenance of highway and farm -to- market roads, but also in dramatically assisting the cities and county with superb consultation and planning. The Department's transportation projections and studies have been remarkably accurate, allowing well- coordinated road improve- ment throughout the 'county. Brazos County recently went to the County Engineer Unit Plan, and the benefits are already becoming apparent in better planning and utilization of road maintenance equipment. The two major cities, Bryan and College Station, have been blessed of late with far - sighted and progressive leadership. This has been shown in the street and traffic improvements which are currently being made and planned. There are still weaknesses in public transportation, but the shuttle bus system at Texas A &M has helped in this area. In the future, a cooperative spirit needs to be brought to bear so an airport authority can be created, but this is not an immediate problem. Throughout its history, Brazos County has been confronted with transportation problems, but time and again they have been overcome. It is true that luck has sometimes played a part, but more often it has been the dedication, patience, and fore- sight of the citizens which has paid off. The railroad played a significant role in the growth of the County, and it is said that history repeats itself. As we enter the Sesquicentennial Year, there is talk of a "bullet- train" from Dallas to Houston. Is not Brazos County an ideal route? TRANSPORTATION ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Transportation is a wide and varied field as evidenced by the books, articles, and other material printed on the subject. Due to space limitations, my decision was to handle the assignment in a chronological manner, featuring the four main means of transportation: water, land, rail, and air. This allowed a quick overview of the dramatic changes in our county, not only in the area of transportation, but also in its far - reaching effects on the entire history of the county. I wish to thank all those who were willing to talk to me about their recollections —in particular, the employees of the Texas Highway Department, the Texas A &M Archives, and the Ster- ling C. Evans Library Special Collections who perservered with me to locate much of the material that made the chapter possible. Dr. Peter Hugill, of the Texas A &M Geography Department, assisted considerably in furnishing materials and direction to me. My fellow contributor, Miss Shirlireed Walker, also helped me with data from her chapters. Mr. Pat Mann spent a whole morning sharing expertise gained from his years in Chamber of Commerce work. My father and mother, Dr. and Mrs. S. J. Enloe, and my brother -in -law, Dr. W. C. Turner, head of the English Depart- ment at Mississippi College, helped with material and editing. Glenna Brundidge's gentle prodding, patience, and dedica- tion has been a boon to all of us, but particularly to me. Finally, the article would not have been possible without the assistance of my co- author and wife, Carol. Sam Enloe TRANSPORTATION The two Highway Guides were found in the Sterling C. Evans Library at Texas A &M in the Special Collections section. Both guides are dated 1918 and were used by early motorists in lieu of the road maps that are used today. As the reader follows the printed material from point to point it can readily be seen why the "Good Roads Movement" was necessary before either Brazos County or Texas could become an important force in industry or agriculture. • • • • • • • f 93 _ 57• BIG SPRING � om e e OZONA JUrICYION KERRVILLE •- BDERNE° SAN . ANTONIO HON e9 PEARSALL COTULLA N / • l n n � • Z 5 C T � I �� 7 — .J MIDLAND / � PECOS -- 52, ' / 51 / / gS VAN HORN B S Bir / ARTESIA ALPINE Sti e, y q O \ EDWARD BROTHERS RANCH X31 FORT STOCKTON S HEMPSTEAD WALLER os SEALY• f) NEW BRAUNFELS RICHMOND • o \•�'e / / X12 CUERO / # GALVESTON a `• o / //� BAY CITY f s VICTORIA NTON n 1�' MARLIN 13REMONO r HEARNE aRYAW If. � la BEAUNT dA i PORT,ARTHUR - Touring Bureau THE B.F. GOODRICH COMPANY Akron.O. 1915 EL PASO\ m SIERRA BLANCA ALBUQUERQUE 60 NEW MEXICO A ROSWELL g5 .. HAGERMAN HOPE 11 c NUMERALS SNOW ROUTE NUMBERS APPENDIX c 0 COLORADO INDEX MAP �Jy ' 4 . 415 + 6 Q. , . •I CLAYTON ' .p O`L ' � � /�. 9 • 94 (Q/ 0 CANYON AMARILLO � Sg ,LUBBOCK • GAIL 9 l ALBANY DEL RIO' The predominant North /South inclination of Texas High -, ways is apparent from the Index Map in the Goodrich guide. It is interesting that Goodrich would provide road markers, free of charge on request from motorists, to be placed at key points to assist automobile travelers. The reader might like to compare the slight difference in the two guides giving directions from Houston to Waco- via Bryan - over what eventually became State Highway 6. One can also trace the route from where it enters Brazos County on the 1916 roadmap of Brazos County. 1 `10 CHILDRESS KANSAS WICHITA OKLAHOMA CITY • WICHITA FALLS TEXAS SAN ANGELO LAB -0o NEWTON PERRY AUSTIN SAN / MARC GEORGETOWN Y/ '°' 0 P , KARNES Q� BEEVILLE 0 GUTHRIE e ., my BOWIE 9 9 1) y 9 0, FORT \:P a s ° ti, 59 WEATHERFORD ABILENE CLEBURNE WACO / TEMPLE CORPUS CHRISTI ARKANSAS CITY 1 . I. + I R ARKANSAS OKLAHOMA 0FLORENCE t • DURA DENISON ° T � + 1 DALLAS WAXAHACHIE HILLSBORO `72 TEXARKANA LOUISIANA 0 O 425 426 Miles 0.0 HOUSTON. From Goodrich Building, 611 Fannin St., go west on Texas Ave., one block, turn right (north) on Main St. 0.3 Turn left on Franklin St., brick pavement. (See City Map.) 0.5 Cross Iron Bridge, turn right on Louisiana St., short block, then left on Washing- ton St. 0.7 Pass station on right. 2.2 ® Cross R. R. p. 2.6 End of paved street, straight ahead on shallow road. 3.3 BRRUNNER. (_ Straight ahead on shallow road. 4.2 Turn right with road. 4.8 Jog left and right with road. 5.3 »• Turn right at oil tank crossing two R. Rs. then left C (north) along R. R. 12.2 FAIRBANKS. Flag stop; 0 straight ahead along R. R. 17.8 SATSUMA. Flag atop. Straight north. 0. 24.1 Cross Iron bridge. 25.6 CYPRESS. Station on left. 0 Straight ahead along R. R. 30.0 SWANSON. Straight north 35.3 HO K7.F,y. Station on left. 0 Turn left across R. R. then 0 right along R. R. 36.6 End of shell road, straight ahead on graded sand road. 40.5 WALLER. Straight (north). along R. R. sandy not graded. `45.6 PRAIRIE VIEW. Flag stop; p straight (north). 48.1 Down small grade. Ford creek, then upgrade. 49.3 9• Turn right across R. R. 49.5 'Turn left. 49.6 (;). Turn right. 49.8 C Turn left on Main Street of town. 49.9 Pass reverse fork on right. 50.4 HEMPSTEAD, courthouse on right, straight ahead on Main St. 50.5 0 Cross R. R. p, then go three blocks. 50.7 C> Turn right out of town. 51.1 CO ,Cross R. R. cp Jog left and right, graded clay road. Route 21 HOUSTON TO WACO. Via Marlin. Miles 40 51.5 i. Turn right to R. B. Th left C along R. R. 55.5 0 HOWTH. Flag. eto Straight north. r. 55.7 C> Turn right across R. then C left along R. R 56.2 Bear right away from R. running upgrade. 57.1 Down long hill, fording cre at bottom. Graded and cla 58.2 C Turn left with main tra el, following clay road gra ed. 59.3 Upgrade, then downgrad crossing two draws, ro graded. 60.3 Cross wooden bridge. 61.0 I. Turn right at end of roa 61.3 Q Turn left at cross road negro cabin on left. 62.5 Down winding grade throu woods, crossing two woode bridges at foot, the through stretch of low blac land. 63.1 C Turn left at end of roa across long iron bridge. 63.4 Upgrade, clay road. 64.0 COURTNEY. ®. Turn righ at top of hill followin main travel. 64.3 ass brick school house o left. 64.7 Forks, keep to left. 65.4 C> Forks, keep to right, fol low main travel. 66.7 urn right with road. 67.0 Turn left just after fpass- ing negro school on right. 68.0 og left and right crossing wooden bridge, then up along easy grade, black land. 68.7 olling country for short dis- tance. 69.8 ross wooden brid e, Bandy. 72.0 ross bridge. 72.4 Cross R. Rs. Straight head on graded clay road. 73.0 Turn left at end of road in edge of town. 73.4 urn left one block, then right with travel. 73.6 ass old stone church right. 74.3 VASOTA. Business cen- er, turn left and immedi- ately right between two tone block stores, passing i1 mill on left. P Tu J R C C T P N A t e 0 GOODRICH TESTED TUBES on en p.. R., R. ek y v- d- e, ad d. 5, g h n n k d t g n TRANSPORTATION TRANSPORTATION 427 Miles 74.7 Q. Turn right at end of road, two blocks, then Q left. 75.2 Q Cross R. R. 0; graded clay road. 76.1 Down long grade.. • 76.4 ® Cross R. R. Q. 76.8 Cross long iron bridge. 77.1 Jog right and then left at R. R. along R. R. (black land). 77.4 Jog left away from R. R. 78.0 Pass cotton gin on right. .78.5 IIp short grade._ 80.1 Straight ahead (sand clay road, not graded). 80.5 Curve right across t R. R. Q then left along R. R. 81.8 Through bad gulley, deep sand. 83.8 MULLIGAN, station on left. Turn right Q. to white house. 83.9 .0 Turn left, house on left corner. 84.2 Turn right and left with road. 84.9 Pass road on right. 85.3 .Q Forks, keep to left. Sandy. 86.7 Jog right at R. R. along R. R. 88.6 .0 Curve left across R. R. Q. then right along R. R. 88.8 Jog left away from R. R. 89.7 Through bad gulley. 89.9 Jog right at R. R. running along between R. Rs. 90.7 O. Curve right across R. R. -0 then left along R. R. clay road. 92.4 WELLBORN. station on left, straight (north) along R. R. 93.0 .Q Curve left across R. R. Q. then right along R. R.; graded clay road. 96.5. t,• Turn right ac'osa R. R. .Q then left along R. R. 98.5 Pass College Station on left. 99.6 ©. Turn right away from R. R. then •Q jog left. 102.4 Straight ahead following gas- oline car line. 103.3 BRYAN. Courthouse. From Courthouse go west 2 long blocks. Cross R. R. turn right ( north) on Main St. 103.8 Turn left, cotton gin one block, turn right one block, then left one block then right one block. 104.0 Turn left one block then right out of town. Church on right. Route 21-Continued Milne 1.6 Q Croat R. R. Q; graded clay road. 105.1 0 Pass road on right. 106.7 Pass school house on right, winding road. 108.4 Jog right crossing wooden bridge, then left along easy grade. 109.6 Down long grade cross wood- en bridge. 111.2 Down grade cross two wooden bridges, then upgrade. 111.7 Pass road on right. 111.9 Q. Turn right at white frame house on right corner. (Town of $FpreF 7.EY, mile straight ahead.) 112.2 Turn left and right with road. Rolling country for short distance. 113.4 Q Cross R. R. ®. 113.8 Cross wooden bridges. 116.5 Down long hill crossing wooden bridge. 117.8 Q. Forks, keep to right. 119.0 Turn left and right with road. 120.5 Down long hill. 122.1 Jog right and left at R. R. along R. R. 122.5 Q. Curvo right across R. R. .0 then left along R. R. 124.1 .Q Turn left across R. R. 0. then right along R. R. 124.7 HEARNE. Business center. Turn left one block, then right. 125.0 Across R. R. then turn left '< l around cotton com- press; follow narrow sandy road along R. R. 127.7 •0 Jog left away from R. R. then right ®. (not graded road). 123.6 Pass sc::ool house on left. 129.1 One mile of deep bad sand. 130.4 Down grade; jog left 47) at R. R. along R. R. 130.6 Curve right under R. R. then left along R. R. running up- grade. Bad sand on grade. 132.4 04 Jog right away from R. R. then left .0. 132.8 Cross iron bridge. 133.0 Jog left and right with -road on Beach St. 133.2 CALVERT. Turn left •® on Gregg Ave., crossing R. R. then turn right Q. on Main St. out of town. 136.2 Down hill cross wooden bridge then up hill. TESTED TIREffi "Best in the Long Run" 41 428 i• Miles 136.5 Cross two wooden bridges up grade, sandy not graded. 137.0 c Bear right at reverse forks. 138.4 Briggs Quarters, follow grad- ed clay road rough. 140.6 Down long hill cross wooden bridge then up hill. ' 141.7 ®• Turn right at country store, about - fifteen mail boxes on wagon wheel. 1 HAMMOND. 'Turn left .0 at R. R: along R. R. • 144.9 Jog left• away from R. R. 146.7 Q• Turn right at end of road. 146.8 Jog left at R. R. along R. R. 147.2 WOOTAN, flag station. 149.4 O. Turn right across R. R. then left <9 along R. R. in- to 150.3 BREMOND. At well cupola, turn left. (See alternate below to Marlin.) 150.4 ® R. R. crossing p . 151.0 Pass cemetery on right. 151.3 Cross wooden bridge. 153.3 -0 End of road, turn left. 154.3 Pass church on left.. 155.4 Pass road on right. 155.9 cp Pass reverse fork on left which goes to Woolen Mills.' 156.6 Cross iron bridge. 157.4 Turn left then right. 158.4 Turn right then left. 159.3 Curve right across R. R. then left. 159.5 © Pass road to right (alter- nate way to Bremond). 160.3 REAGAN. (Sta. on left.) Straight on. 163.2 Curve right away from R. R. 163.4 End of road turn left. 165.7 Cross iron bridge. 168.7 Curve left across R. R. then right. 169.6 Pass water tank on Commerce Street. 169-.7 Turn left on Live Oak St.- one block. 169.8 Turn right on Winter St. 169.9 MARLIN. Goodrich Deal- ers Everywhere. ALTERNATE TO MARLIN. kfiles 0.0 BREMOND. At well cu- pola. Straight on. 0.4 Turn left, church on far right. 0.5 Cross R. R. 1.3 Curve left to R. R., then right. 1.6 Turn right passing road to left then right. Route 21- Continued Miles 2.5 Pass road to right. 3.4 Curvo left then right. 4.1 Cross iron bridge. 5.5 Pass road on right. 6.6 Turn left (don't go straight). 7.6 Pass road on left. . 8.7 End of road at R. R. Turn right and follow regular description. Of these two roads both are largely used and the users are divided in their opinions. SODDF CCH TESTED TIRES 42 169.9 MARLIN. From Live Oak St., go west on Winter St. Cross R. R. 170.1 0 Turn right across R. R. and immediately left C. Straight on paralleling R. • R.; through 177.7 PERRY. 0 Station on left. 180.3 Cross bridge. Straight on. 181.9 REISEL Q. 183.2 Turn right and left with road. 184.2 Down grade. Cross bridge. 186.0 Straight on poor road. 157.0 Caution for bad mud hole. 188.0 HARRISON. Turn left '® across R. R. and immedi- ately right 0.. 189.1 Down grade. Straight on gravel road. 189.3 Q Cross bridge. 190.0 Down grade. Cross bridge. Up grade., 192.3 Cross R. R. and curve left. 193.1 © Cross R. R. p . 194.5 Left across R. R., then right 0.. -. 194.7 'Cross R. R. switch. 194.9 Jog left and right with road. 195.5 « Turn left on Ross St. one block, then right, on Spring St. Turn left on Webster St. two blocks then right on Peach St. 196.1 ` q Cross R. R. ® into Elm St. 196.8 Cross long iron bridge, into Washington St. to Fifth St. 197.0 WACO. Court House. See City Map. CD Goodrich Guide Post, CHANGE TIRES. Don't wait until a change is necessary, but put extra Casings in- to service at intervals. You can often save a Tire by shifting it from a back wheel to a front where the wear is not so hard. TRANSPORTATION TRANSPORTATION Texas State Highway Guide 0.0 HOUSTON. Texas and Main Stts., starting point. Go east 4 blocks to Frank- lin St.; turn left. 0.3 Turn left with depot on right, picking up trolley. 02.1 Cross R. R. 05.2 Three corners. Jog right, crossing tracks, immediate- ly jog left; follow along tracks on fine shell road. 17.9 SATSUMA 25.6 CYPRESS. 35. HOCKLEY. Jog left and right, crossing R. R. 40.6 WALLER. 45.7 PRAIRIE VIEW Station. 48.9 Ignore left -hand road. 49.4 Jog right and left, crossing R. R. 49.6 Jog right and left . 49.9 Hurn left, crossing track, jassing court house on right. depot on left. 50.6 HEMPSTEAD. Court house. 50.8 Church on left. Turn right. 51.2 Cross tracks and bear left. 51.6 Three corners; jog right and left. 55.6 HOWTH, Flag Station. Jog right and left, crossing tracks. Follow winding di- rect road to 63.9 COURTNEY. Brick school on left. 64.5 Jog right and left. HOUSTON TO BRYAN 66.4 Jog right and left. Cross bridge. 72.2 Angle across R. R. 72.8 Ignore road from right. 73.3 Jog left and right. 74.1 NAVASOTA. Turn left around court house 1 block, then turn right. 74.5 Three corners. Jog left. 74.6 Three corners. Jog right. 75.0 Angle across - R. R. 76.3 Jog right and left, crossing R. R. Immediately cross bridge. 80.4 Jog right and left, crossing R. R. 83.6 MILLIG'AN., Depot on left. immediately turn right and left, following telephone poles. 88.6 Jog right and left, crossing R. R. Follow winding road. 89.8 Ignore road to right. 90.6 Jog right and left, crossing R. R. I 92.3 WELLBORN Jog left and right, crossing R. R. 96.5 Jog right and left, crossing R. R. 98.5 COLLEGE STATION. Pass between uouege on right and depot on left. 103.1 Turn left, crossing R. R. 103.3 BRYAN. Bryan Hotel on right. liarage on left. Turn right. 103.3 BRYAN. BRYAN TO WACO 00.0 BRYAN. Hotel on right. Go north 6 blocks. 00.6 Turn left and right. Go north 1 block and turn left. 00.8 Turn right. 01.3 Cross R. R. 01.7 Ignore road to right. Fol- low winding direct road to 08.3 Turn left, angling through 08.9 BENCHLEY, crossing R. R. and following same. 10.8 Bear away from R. R., crossing small bridge. Fol- low winding direct road. 16.3 Ignore road to right. 19.8 Jog right and loft, crossing R. R. Jog left, cross R. R. 21.4 Four corners; turn right 6 46.8 blocks. 22.0 HEARNE. (13) 22.3 Cross R. R. with depot on right. Follow R. R. 25.5 Ignore road coming in from left. Bear away from R. R. 28.9 Jog right and left, crossing R. R. 30.2 Jog right and left. 30.4 Four corners, left, crossing R. R. 30.6 CALVERT. Big building on right. Fountain in cen- ter of street. Go north. 36.4 Ignore road to right. 39.1 Three corners; turn right. 41.8 Turn left at R. R. leaving Hammond Station to right. 43.2 Three corners; turn right, left. Jog right and left; crossing R. R. Gin on left. 429 430 Texas State H is hway Guide WACO TO BRYAN - Continued ing. Depot on left. Straight into 72.9 HEARNE. Straight ahead. 73.3 Four corners; turn left, cross R. R., and immediate- ly turn right. 75.1 Jog right and left, cross- ing R. R., and bear away from tracks, crossing small bridge. 78.6 Ignore road to left. Con- tinue on, following winding road, crossing two small bridges. 84.1 Pick up R. R. and follow road, bearing left with R. R. BRYAN T 00.0 BRYAN. Garage on rigth. Hotel on left. Go east 2 blocks, crossing R. R. to 00.2 Turn right with trolley out of town. 04.8 Pass between Agricultural College and depot. COL- LEGE STATION. 06.8 Turn right and left, cross- ing R. R. 10.5 Jog left and right, crossing R. R. 11.0 WELLBORN. 12.1 Jog right and left, crossing R. R., ignoring road to right ld.0 Ignore road to right. 13.5 Ignore road to right. Wind around with road to left. t4.7 Jog left and right, crossing R. R. following winding road, bearing away from R. R. along telephone poles. 19.5 Jog right. 19.7 Jog left. 19.8 MILLIGAN. Depot on right. 22.9 Jog right and left, , .!Tossing R. R. Straight ahead, =ross- ing R. R. 28.3 Cross R. R. 28.7 Three corners; turn right. 28.8 Three corners; turn left. 29.2 NAVASOTA. Turn left at garage 1 block, then turn right to 30.0 Four corners; turn left. 30.5 Jog right. 31.1 'Angle across R. R. 36.9 Jog right. 38.8 Joe right. 39.4 COURTNEY. Brick school on right. Straight ahead. 40.6 Ignore road to right. Cor- (11) 86.0 BENCHLEY. Immediately jog left with depot on your right, follow winding road to 86.6 Turn right. Follow wind- ing direct road. Roads good. 93.2 Ignore road to left. 93.6 Cross R. R. Straight ahead. 94.1 Jog left with gin on your right. 94.2 Jog right. 94.3 Jog left, crossing tracks. 94.4 Jog right, straight ahead to 94.9 BRYAN. 0 HOUSTON tinue straight ahead, fol- lowing winding direct road. 47.7 HOWTH Flag Station. Jog right and left, crossing R. R. 51.6 Jog right. 51.7 Jog left. 52.1 Cross R. R. 52.5 Turn left with church on right. Crossing tracks with depot on right. 52.7 HEMPSTEAD. ahead, going court house on 53.4 Turn right. 53.7 Turn left. 53.9 Jog left and R. R. 54.4 ignore road tinue ahead left. 57.6 PRAIRIE VIEW Station. 62.7 WALLER. 67.9 Jog left and right, crossing R. R. at HOCKLEY. (This is a fine shell road from Waller to Houston). Straight ahead, with R. R. on right. 77.7 Pass CYPRESS Station. 85.4 SATSUMA SIDING. 98.1 Jog right and left, crossing track goining into HOUS- TON on Washington Ave. 101.2 Cross R. R., picking u'p trolley line passing depot on left, winding with trol- ley onto Franklin St. at 103.0. Continue on 3 blocks to Main St. Turn right 4 blocks to 103.0 HOUSTON. Main and Texas Sts. Straight east with Left. right, crossing to right. Con - with R. R. cn TRANSPORTATION TRANSPORTATION NOTES 1) Pamela Ashworth Puryear and Nath Winfield, Jr., Sandbars and Sternwheelers (Texas A &M Press, 1976), p. 12. 2) Dorsey, et al., "Early History of Bryan ", 1962 (for Hood's Brigade Centennial) — Chronology. 3) /bid. 4) Puryear and Winfield, Sandbars and Sternwheelers, p. 4. 5) /b/d. 6) Alford, Mrs. D. L., Jr., "Moseley's Ferry," (unpublished manuscript). 7) Editors, et al., Texas Highways, (Golden Anniversary Issue, September 1976) p. 6. 8) Ben Proctor and Robert Calvert, Texas Heritage, "Ante Bellum Texas - Railroad Fever Across a New State." p. 7. 9) Dorsey Chronology. 10) 1951 Bryan City Directory. 11) History Committee of First Baptist Church, Bryan, Texas, A Better Day is Dawning — The History of First Baptist Church, Bryan, Texas 1886 -1966. (Von Boeckmann- Jones, Austin, Texas, 1967), Foreword. 12) Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Texas Vistas, "Wealthy Texans," pp. 184 -185. 13) Blasig, Carl A., Building Texas, (Springman -King Com- pany, 1959), p. 33. 14) Allhands, J. L., The Boll Weevil, (Anson Jones Press, 1946), p. 27. 15) Dethloff, Henry C., A Centennial History of Texas A &M, (Texas A &M Press, 1976), p. 54. 16) Hugill, Peter J., "Good Roads and the Automobile in the United States — 1880- 1926," Geographical Review (Vol. 72, No. 3, July 1982), p. 332. 17) Cofer, David Brooks, Early History of Texas A &M College Through Letters and Papers (Texas A &M Press, 1952.) 18) Hugill, Peter J., "Good Roads ", p. 327. 19) Editors, Texas Highways, "Golden Anniversary Issue," p. 32. 431 Easterwood Field served as training facility for. pilots • Editor's Note: As the new millennium approaches, it is an appropriate time to look back on our community and reflect on where we have come from. In this continu- ing series of articles from the archives of The Bryan - College Station Eagle, we will look back at those historical moments. This installment looks at the development of transportation in Brazos County. It is by state Rep. Fred Brown, R- College Station, owner of several automobile dealerships in the region. PILOT TRAINING Easterwood Field was established and operated as a CAA pilot training facili- ty by a local group called the Kadett Aviation Company. The CAA construc- tion was finished in March 1944 and the Texas A &M University System board of directors approved the operation through the School of Engineering in October 1944. Bryan Air Base was a part of the transportation scene in World War II, but was closed after the war. It was reopened briefly during the Korean conflict. To qualify for an airline stop, run- ways were required to have lighting, and this was not in the original con- struction for Easterwood Field. THE MILLENNIUM PROJECT 2000 THE BRYAN - COLLEGE STATION EAGLE Lighting, however, was provided in 1948. Pasture had turned to pavement and an airport was born with Pioneer Airlines making the inaugural commer- cial flight into Easterwood Airport, which also marked the beginning of major passenger service for the Brazos Valley. By 1965, passenger service had increased by 46 percent and air freight and air express had increased signifi- cantly. NEW TERMINAL Many changes have occurred at Easterwood Airport since 1984, as the airport has been enlarged and now has a 7,000- foot -long primary runway that will accommodate 727s and DC -9 type aircraft. A multilevel terminal with 33,000 square feet accommodates up to five 727 -type aircraft. Easterwood Airports has commuter lines, freight hauling, three privately owned hangers, rental car companies, cab companies and a pilot training school. The older terminal became the gener- al aviation terminal, and the tower building is operated by the Federal Aviation Administration. With the emergence of automobiles, trucks and bus service, the railroad no longer was of importance to Brazos County's economy and way of life. Passenger service was discontinued in the 1950s and, by 1970, most freight in Brazos County was handled by truck lines. NEXT: A bright future. Marker honors historic railway that tonne cted B and //- A &M The Brazos County Historical Commission will dedi- 4,000, to Texas A &M, which had a student and faculty The plaque states: "During its 15 years of operation, cate a historical marker at 10:30 a.m. today in the 400 population of 750. Passenger trolleys and gasoline -pow - the interurban railway greatly influenced the course of block of College Main to recognize the Bryan and ered rail cars made 10 30- minute trips a day. Bryan's and College Station's urban development: College Interurban - Along the route, landowners built residential subdivi- Today, the two cities merge indistinguishably Jerome "Jack" Zubik, who regularly rode the interur- sions and small farms and the city of Bryan created on the former Bryan and College Interurban Railway, ban with his father from Bryan to Northgate, will be the Dellwood Park. guest speaker. Route." To bolster the railroad's revenue, it added freight ser- The marker will be at the boundary The interurban railway ran from Bryan to Texas vice in 1918. In 1923, the Bryan and College Interurban Charles Schultz, an archivist YTexas A &M H and A &M from 1910 to 1923. In 1909 Bryan Mayor J.T. Railway went into receivership. In 1923 the S.S. Hunter chairman of the Brazos County Historical Commission; Maloney and the city's retail merchants association estate bought the railroad. incorporated the railway. will welcome and recognize guests at the ceremony. The last recorded trip of the interurban took place on Both cities and the county will participate in the cere= In 1910 the first trains ran from Bryan, population April 13, 1923. mony. Page SE Bryan- College Station Eagle By David L Chapman Special to the Eagle Hurried passengers driving up the wide, well - landscaped en- trance to the gleaming new McKenzie Terminal at Easterwood Airport probably have no idea that they are about to set foot on a special area of the Texas A &M campus. Indeed, the 50- year-old port has a rich and colorful past that makes it more than Just a point of departure and arrival. In the summer of 1939, Texas A &M decided to follow the lead of a few of the nation's leading insti- tutions of higher education and combine the romance of flying with the practicality of tha class- room. Glbb Gilchrist, then dean of engineering, requested that his college be allowed to develop an airport on the campus to com- plement the newly proposed de- partment of aeronautical engi- neering. From the beginning, Gilchrist envisioned the airport as serving both a training ground for the ege and as __anicipal air- port for the sur- rounding corn - munity. By the time Gilchrist made his proposal, the Civil Aeron- autics Authori- ty had com- GILCHRIST pleted preliminary studies and proposed a 500 -acre site, 11/2 miles from the Academic Build- ing. Just west of what was known locally as Lake Shlnola. In addition, the United States Army Air Corps intimated that some support might be forthcom- ing because the fleld would serve as a midway point between two of the Army's busiest training bases, Barksdale Field in Shreveport and Randolph Field in San Antonio. Sunday, May 5,1991 Airport cooperation gave way to squabbling IN OUR PAST 1 r A l>J i j' -194 v . Q War breaks out However, before anything of substance could be accom- plished, Germany attacked Po- land on Sept. 1, 1939, adding a new sense of urgency. Thousands of new pilots would be needed for national defense, a task well beyond existing military training facilities. The Civil Aeronautic Adminis- tration immediately inaugurated the Civilian Pilot Training Pro- gram which provided federal fund- ing for ground schools and flight instruction at colleges and unl- verslties. However, there was a deadline for program certification and Texas A &M's airport was only in the planning stages. Unless the school moved quickly, it would miss a golden opportunity to have its students trained at govern- ment expense. Meeting the CAA deadline was not Gilchrist's only problem. The construction and maintenance of a flrat -class aviation facility would be an expensive undertaking. If the proposed airport had to rely solely on Texas A &M for financial support, it had almost no chance of becoming more than another of the little grass strips that dotted the rural Texas landscape. Gilch- rist knew he would need contlnu- ing outside support from the sur- rounding communities. College Station was, at the time, too small to provide any meaning- ful help. Bryan had begun con- struction of the 250 -acre Coulter Field in 1938 with funds provided by the Walter J. Coulter family. In addition, Bryan had Just ap- proved 88,500 in airport im- provement bonds. On Sept. 21, 1939, Gilchrist and Col. Ike Ashburn, executive assistant to President Walton, met with Bryan's city commis- sioners to explore the possibility of making the airport" at Texas A &M a Joint venture. Ashford ex- plained that obviously the city and the school could build a bet- ter facility if they pooled their re- sources. Secondly, the existing Coulter Field was too far from Texas A &M to be used efficiently for student training. The proposed A &M air- port would be about the same dis- tance from the citizens of Bryan as the Coulter site. Therefore, Gilchrist and Ashburn proposed that Bryan contribute its recently approved bond funds to the Texas A &M airport. The plan was so well received that a member of the commission suggested that Coulter Field be sold and those funds contributed to Texas A &M, Walter Coulter, who was at the meeting, agreed with the suggestion as long as the new Texas A &M airport used the Coulter name. The city commis- sioners tentatively accepted the plan and appointed a committee to work out the legal details. It was clear from the meeting that the city leaders of Bryan had, for the moment. "lost Interest" in having their own airport. The next day the Bryan Dally Eagle report- ed that Gllchrist's proposal has been accepted and that there would soon be a new "Coulter Field" at Texas A &M. Unfortunately, this spirit of cooperation was very short - lived. Disagreements, student protests, and a less -than-candid approach to negotiations all played a role in creating a climate of distrust. Correspondence between Gilch- rist and Bryan Mayor Ivan Lang- ford indicates that negotiations between the two bogged down al- most immediately and dragged on through the spring of 1940. Texas A &M wanted the city's participation in all aspects of air- port operation. Bryan wanted to make a one -time donation, leav- ing all future costs and manage- ment decisions to A &M. As nego- tiations dragged on, Texas A &M began construction on the airport in January 1940 and by the middle of February the newly graded runways were ready to train student pilots. At this point, an unrelated ac- tion by Texas A &M students se- verely strained relations between the school and Bryan. In a dis- pute over the distribution of first - run movies, cadets decided to boycott Bryan theaters in partic- ular and Bryan in general. Ac- cording to students who took part in the "stay away from Bryan" campaign, It was extremely effect- ive in placing economic pressure on merchants. Gilchrist later re- called that this action so angered the city commissioners that they were unwilling to consider the airport proposal. That same month, Gilchrist, perhaps sensing an Impasse with Bryan, began a search for a name for the new airport. On May 11, 1940, with Gilchrist's recom- mendation, the board of directors named the new facility for A &M's World War I aviation hero, Jesse L. Easterwood. On May 13, 1940, the Bryan city commissioners permanently tabled the A &M pro- posal. David Chapman is an associate archivist at the Sterling C. Evans Library at A &M. The good of days Local man recalls days of delivering Eagle on horseback By RONNIE CROCKER Staff Writer Modern technology has, without question, made life easier for the American news reporter, but its effect on the average delivery boy is still in doubt. Philip Trant, a spry 99, remem- bers the days in his youth when he delvered papers for the old Evening Pilot and, later, the Bryan Daily Eagle. It was around the turn of the century, and Trant didn't have a Ilicycle. So he made his evening rounds on horseback. That horse, he recalled Wednes- day, could do things that even to- day's most sophisticated General Motors product cannot. "I want to tell you something ab- out the old horse," Trant said. He was a workhorse.... He knew that route just as well as I did." ' Trant, who delivered papers for the Evening Pilot in the late 1890s, sat back in his chair and swore that the horse would guide itself across west Bryan to the 50 or so houses to which Trant delivered the news. Meanwhile, the 10- year -old Trant would be atop the horse folding the papers he had brought along. The horse knew which houses to stop at, Trant said, and would halt in front of the appropriate yards. At that point, Trant would throw the paper, yell "Evening Pilot," and the horse would move on. There's no reason to distrust Trant's memory, even though the man will reach the century mark on Dec. 20. He gets around well enough to walk to the barbershop, and he still mows his own grass. He even clearly remembers a parade through downtown Bryan in 1900. And it hasn't been that many years since he gave up his car. "I haven't driven since I was 93," he admits. Trant might be a little hard of hearing, says his son, Blocker, but he certainly isn't senile. So he can be believed, even when he tells ab- out leaving the Evening Pilot to work on his father's farm for a few months. His replacement asked if the veteran carrier would go along on the novice's first day on the job. "No, I can't," Trant recalls tell- ing the other boy. "But I tell you what I'll do, I'll loan you my horse.... He told me (after the de- liveries), 'Well, 1 didn't miss a one. "' A few months later, Trant re- turned to delivering papers, this time for the Eagle. He said he earned a dollar a week more and his route was bigger — expanding from 50 to 100 stops. The horse, however, re- mained the same. When asked what he thinks about today's carriers throwing papers from cars, Trant smiled, shook his head and said softly, "That's some- thing. Everything is different," Another difference is that, while Trant worked for the newspapers, the Wednesday editions were mailed to readers outside the city. On Wednesday nights, Trant and his lone co- worker worked at the news- paper office getting the papers ready for the next mail run. To make the routine job a little more exciting, Trant and his friend took advantage of the fact that the office was located atop one of Bryan's dozen or so saloons. He said they often would drop down.a bucket by a cord that was attached to the handle. "We'd put a dime in that bucket and jingle that," Trant said, ex- plaining that the bartender took this as a sign to 011 the bucket with draft beer. "We'd drink that beer and fold those Evening Pilots." At that point in the conversation, Trant's pleasant smile became sud- denly mischievous, then grew into a full- fledged grin. Although Trant never kept any of the old Bryan newspapers, he does remember one memorable headline: a Page 1 banner that screamed that the enrollment of A &M College had hit a whopping 500 students. But those were the days when there was a single paved road , Bryan. Those were the days whn, Eagle photo by Dave McDermand Phillip Trent was a turn -of- the- century Eagle delivery boy. for a quarter, a young Trant could hop a train ride to "the college" and back. Those were the days when Bryan was the only city in Brazos County. After his newspaper- delivery days, Trant farmed and ranched for several years before entering the carpentry business. He worked in that trade for 53 years, during which time he helped build pans of the Bryan Air Base and the First Baptist Church. Trant is content, and on Wednes- day, his boyish eyes misted over just once with nostalgia. His voice qui- vered slightly when he lamented the downfall of downtown Bryan. "It just breaks my heart," he said. "I walk down to the barber- shop. It's all vacant, the old places, the theaters. "I sure would love to see old Bryan come alive." Page 14, §ection E ilkur 4 - • , sdlY, ptem;Air 3, .• . . • - Langford eorge Eerguson Places change as time 'passes. But the difference in the College Station of today and the place early this cen- tury is plainly remarkabl From the time College Sta- tion was just a flagstop on the Houston .40d Texas Central Railroa it has clung to Texas- & M like mistletoe cl- ingj a host tree. Texas A&M—Agricultural drid Mechanical College of Texas-.was established by the St ate Legislature in 1876. Over the years, the college, designated a university in 1963, has been the fastest growing of any public institu- tion M the nation. Likewise, College Station's population Iles exploded. The institution provided the base for the founding of f ,the community campus. • - . • • • • • • j `T,SA INTilw ,R*Essiy: . • instrtittr oil StatioirT growth Later the community became stas ready an established . -discipline was maintained— He is now `96 yetis Of age. "second" re tment from a town and it has developed s oppmg.. Center—si sort of underclassmen were virtually He is extremely alert and ac- A&M, the E LoOgfOrd day. into the thriving city .it is general. itcire,,selllng. odds "fenced in" and only seniors tive. He enjoys fairly good Ar and ads. It was 'boated west could "niove about " d reside A&M has provided new of the • an he is obviously dedicated on n s or the cityv the rlegi, cortimunity colege% The striciot m a i tu tr t a g r 2 ,co 5 . co n t Years, increasing ver Th* co the popula- counted about 411 the mended that all f o t now city of Col- ormer professor. .,mayor sions. Many College Station of Texas A&M headed the movement or home con- impressive. o chow the exe Ment businesses also claim an Department of Architecture struction in the community. , He has retired twice,- er ru • A&M related name. from 1929•to 1936 and as a Two relatively small sub- h' fir ement at age 85. In fact, many gttam College Station sions sprung up just south Lalgford served one year as chan he coulrH , would 1 nter was .`igentie tion; provided city leaders' • mostl 'vim; in members establish off . lege Station have beerilfianY: baosmaf,sbeant 4 h en given names to campus housing. campus residences. That was his tenures at TWOS A&M - many streets and subdivi- Langford, a 1913 'graduate the beginnint of the first big have been perhaps more --g W Aans and College ti this lively city to work, to live mg the clty. College Station, was known as College Park, then was named A&M ar- r d returned to played a major role in shap- of- the A&M campus. One pro essor of architecture and quipped. • \. ot a thing,". hk4u9tly and many have become with a population today of the area located between chivist for the next 14 years. Why would He has fairs. heavily involved in civic af-' 47.296 residents, surrounds • Winding Road and Holleman He retired from that at t he made his life, his universit the exceptional Texas A&M Drive. age of 80. 1 By the time, Ernest University- which has now From 1925 to 1929 the Four , years before his wanted them to be., and his town the way hal Langford became one of the nearly 35,,t130 students. Langfords lived on campus, 800 students at the college in By 1942' when Langford but in 1929 they built a home 909, the flagstop had become was elected the third mayor in the College Park area ice, called appropriately 40-fami railway station and post of- of College Station, the where they lived until 1956. 'College St ti " tr - 7 1L O V I s A u trden ts. Langford Street when Station." on. There. — "ley, moved to 1200 ier, however , Langford. „Langford retired as head of --•—• _.......„ _ , f . . been one bf the threeper-:.te Department of Ar chitec- • • • a W ho, , eireirlated-netitieuTi ' lure at A&M. The Langfords king a y&tif,of the people still live there today on the- College-srption incorpore- street named for the College ...,;. on. . t" , Station pioneer. On election day tholssue - In addition to A&M pro. easily.,-passed,..-and•-•College \ viding civic leaders like Station officially becatriejta,' Langford, the college and town in 193 8.lingford Was university supplied names to elected mayor after the first subdivisions—College Park, mayor, John FL Vinney, an Southeast College Park and A&M math profes,,sor, was College Hill, located just killed in a • traffic accident; across Texas Avenue from and the second mayor, Frank the main entrance to the C. Anderson, track A&M campus. And streets: In coach, served just one term. addition to Langford others Initially Langford was a include Timm, Orr, Caudill, member of the first city coun- Lawyer. - College Station today has more that 47.000 resIdenis, accor- I cil in 1938. ' , ' ... . ding to figures released by the BryanCollege Station Chamber .4 , Langford explained that of Commerce. As Texas A&M has grown since late In the 19th ' Langford . Served the next one of his and the college century, College Station has grown from a railroad flagstop to .- ficer until 1966,10 years his "first" etire frpom ast success was their staying in 24 years as the city's chief of- Station's council's claim to the bustling city it Is today.. photo by George ' - rment office for extended periods of . Texas A&M, having been t ime. 'Each 's reelected II. th4s ha mayor. knowledge a Col Sta- munity had begun to grow history and his experience between growth a Langford's gradua- were valued, looked upon as ' College Station com- tion's pattern of nd tion and his return to the col- assets," the former • mayor lege as head of the architec- said. tural department. For example, shopping facilities had grown from the general store west of the cam- , • pus to Northgate Shopping . Center, where a corn field had been located prior to the construction of the stores there. Also, some faculty members moved off campus to Bryan before near-by cam- pus housing had been established. Bryan residents - teaching at A&M usually Ernest Langford served on commuted on the Interurban the first College Station City Trolley until the trolley line Council when the town was • Travel' off campus bY named' Mayor'. fir . 1942 i and discontinued. • incorporatedA IS 1 938. Hi MS • students was served in that 'post 14 of the Heparin-4mi of ArchlteclUre it TAW, Is retired-anal," ."4 ErneseLangford, longthne litorirof4011ege Station and fiend W;:,4/////7.; V//' •.; i „.• however. S,trict . Scars, having been reelected living happily in MS favorite towp Station.ln, 1976,;; 71 . • • . '; • 11, times, 0 four years prior.re his "sesond,." f etlrement from A&M,:the.4)///,' Ernest Langford Architecture Center was dedicated on cam- or • — photo hy.George Ferguic."-- tation's community newspaper since 1966 The Brazos County Historical Commission will unveil a Texas State Historical Marker recognizing the significance of the Bryan & College Interurban Railway will be dedicated at the city limits of Bryan and College Station near the inter- section of College Main and Spruce Streets at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 14. The railway operated passenger trolleys between Bryan and Texas A &M for 13 years beginning in 1910 and provided convenient transportation between the two entities as well for those living be- tween them. It enabled students to travel to Bryan to shop and made it possible for A &M faculty members living off campus to get to the campus with ease. It also provided convenient transportation for citi- zens of Bryan to A &M football games and other events on campus and made it convenient for Bryan residents to commute to their busi- nesses near the Texas A &M cam- pus. Texas Historical Marker to • o recognize Bryan and College Interurban Railway Speaker at the event will be Jack Zubik. He and his father regularly rode the Interurban from Bryan to College Station, where they oper- ated a tailor shop at which Aggies were frequent customers. Zubik will relate his memories of riding the Bryan & College Interurban Rail- way. Making application for historical markers and dedicating those mark- ers are a couple of the many activi- ties of the Brazos County Historical Commission to make citizens of the county aware of the significant historical events, people, structures and organizations. These activities also help the Commission to earn the Distinguished Service Award of the Texas Historical Commission. All interested citizens are invited to attend the dedication ceremonies. Funds for the purchase of the marker were provided by the Col- lege Station Historical Committee and the city of Bryan. The marker for the Bryan & Col- lege Interurban Railway is the 41st official Texas State Historical Marker to he dedicated in Brazos County and is one of nearly 14,000 such markers throughout Texas. Other markers recognize historical houses, churches, communities, educational institutions, cemeteries, individuals and various organiza- tions. Nine, or nearly a fourth of those markers, have been dedicated since 1990. This is evidence of a growing interest in the history of Brazos County and increased sup- port for historic preservation by the citizens of the county. All of these markers except the one for Brazos County are easily located by the use of the brochure A Guide to Historic Brazos County, which was produced by the Brazos Heritage Society with some assis- tance from the Brazos County His- torical Commission and is available at the Bryan- College Station Chamber of Commerce Convention and Visitors Bureau on University Drive in College Station. AMICLAYION OK VIM COMMUNITY PAPERS November . 9, 1995 A northbound Amtrak train picks up passen- gers on its morning stop in College Station. The Houston-to-Dallas route will end Sept. 10. ,144 Special arriving in College Station, circa 1910. Sunday, April 23, 995 • Section ‘4. The train doesn't stop here anymore College St'ation loses part of its history with the end of passenger service By SHELLEY SMITHSON -1 1.4 44;sH . Lubbock artist Larry Bridges cap- - tures the International Great * Northern Railroad's All Student .44'7,1•. Eagle e phoicvsnoey Smithson s ince the first batch of strapping cadets stepped off their passenger car and head- ed for the Texas A &M campus in 1872, the local train station has held a special role in Aggie tradition. But from 1960 to 1987, the town named for its train station didn't have one, and now it's in danger of losing it again. Amtrak, the passenger train that has pro- vided transportation to A &M students and local residents since 1988, plans to discontin- ue service to College Station Sept. 10. With no passenger trains rolling through', the depot, the College Station train station may soon stand as an empty reminder of a tradition killed by the modern world of cars, airplanes and budget cutbacks. "A lot of students depend on the train to go home," says A &M psychology student Michelle Nash, as she waits for the silver pas - senger train to arrive. "I go home to Texarkana about three times a year and the train is cheaper than flying and safer than a bus:" But Nash is one of a dwindling number of students and residents who choose to ride the Amtrak trains, which stop six days a week in College Station. Since 1992, the total number of passengers loading and unloading at the depot near Texas A &M has dropped from about 10,600 to just over 4,200. That s quite a contrast to the days.when College Station resident Dick Hervey rode the train to and from Texas A &M. When he came to the university in 1938, passenger trains were the primary transportation for travel- ing Aggies. Most of my classmates came to College Station by train," he says. "We used to go on Corps trips to Dallas, and we'd load those trains up with Aggies." Those cadets who couldn't afford the $3 train ticket could catch a free ride by hiding between the seats, Hervey says. "We'd catch the Old Owl in Dallas," he says, "It left around 11 at night, and we would get to College Station around 4 a.m." Hervey remembers' arriving at one of the two wooden train stations that stood 30 feet apart across from the Albritton Tower. "In the main office of one of the stations was a big potbelly stove, and there were Eagle photo /Shelley Smithson An Amtrak engineer pulling into College Station snags a bag of kolaches from a special pole set up by volunteer station master Harold "Tex" Owens. Years ago, such poles were used to pass instructions to the crew while trains were en route. benches around the walls," he says. "We i get off at the station and walk to our dorms at 4 in the morning. When Hervey returned to College Station a few years after he graduated, the screeching brakes and jolting horns of passenger trams still were a part of everyday I remember 1 put my two sons on that train that was running in the '50s," he says "The train had some problems between h ere and Dallas, and it stalled on the tracks. try Luckily, my friend Gibb Gilchrist, who the President of the university, was on th train, and he looked after them." Byk the late 1950s, automobiles were reps ing the steam - engine trains that had once brought so many students and visitors College Station and Bryan "I think the automobiles just put the trains out of business,'' Hervey says. "There weren't enough people to ride the train „: there was no need for the two little statio and they just tore them down.” The two wood -frame buildings were de ished around 1960. For the next 28 years, there was no passenger train service to Bryan or College Station. Then in 1988, after more than 15 years of discussion, Amtrak decided to run its Texas Eagle route connecting Houston to Dallas to Chicago through College Station. A nam sta- tion was built on Marion Pugh Drive, just down from where the city's two original train depots had stood. By 1992, the College Station depot s aw more than 10,000 passengers annually, returning it, at least partially, to its traditional role. At least some of the students returning home for the holidays and parents visiting for graduation took the Texas Eagle to and from College Station. Local residents, like Charles Phillips, traveled aboard the train to visit children and grandchildren. I like the train better than flying," Phillips says. "It's on the ground for on thing." Passengers waiting for Amtrak at the College Station depot have various reasons for riding the train. Please see TRAIN, page D6 1 Page D6 Bryan - College Station Eagle Train From D1 "I don't like to fly because I can't smoke," says Linda White, an Indiana resident who is vis- iting her daughter. "I've got plenty of time, and I like meeting people on the train." Harold "Tex" Owens says the train is a more civilized means of transportation. "The seats are larger (than those in an airline coach)," Owens says, "and you have a place to sleep and work in your own compartment." Owens is one of several local residents who plan to fight to keep the Amtrak train rolling through College Station. He will attend a public forum set for 3 p.m. Thursday in Union Station, 400 S. Houston St., in Dallas. Others, like Wesley Haba, a conductor on the Texas Eagle route, will also urge Amtrak to continue service to College Sta- tion. "I think discontinuing the route is a disservice to the stu- dents and people of College Sta- tion," Haba says. "I've worked this route for five years, and when we used to have pickups here on Friday, we would have numerous students." Sunday, April 23, 1995 Eagle photo /Shelley Smithson Amtrak train conductor Wesley Haba shakes hands with his old friend Harold "Tex" Owens of Bryan. Owens, a volunteer who tends the College Station platform, has met Haba's train with a warm smile and bags of kolaches twice a week for the last five years. to Dallas route is not a done deal. "In the first phase of cutbacks, several states, like California, came up with the necessary funding• to keep some services," Taubenkibel says. "It's up to the Texas Department of Transporta- tion to decide if they can pitch in -._ 44.. ^r."..irp .. .BET ITOTTIM 'aueuraSuE.I.IE , IeMOTI -pare .II10 MOTI T MOTS a.raM RTnn Li f public hearing April 27, to get input from the public as to the most appropriate role for rail pas- senger service," he says. Unlbss the state decides to con- tribute funds to keep the Houston to Dallas route alive, Amtrak trains will no longer travel through College Station. Amtrak Truman Train makes stop in town Company brings four-cartrain to celebrate Bryan By MARIA KRINSKY Eagle staff writer A train once used for whistle -stop tours by presidents Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower and Gov. Bill Clements will be on display this week as part of Celebrate Bryan. The four -car train features the "Truman Car," officially known as the Edwin Brazelton Snead Car 400. The car was constructed in 1929 and, with the exception of minor touch -ups to the interior of the car, it remains unchanged. Georgetown Railroad Company owns the train and typically uses it for company promotions, but on spe- cial occasions the company allows the train to be displayed, said Dan Scroggins, a cook on the train. The Truman Train visits Bryan this week as part of the city's commemo- ration of its 125th birthday. August is Business Heritage Month. t "We are honored that Georgetown Railroad Company would allow their Eagle photo /Butch Ireland Voncille Cassady, left, and Patricia Lavender, both of Bryan, examine some of the original silverware Harry Truman used on the train he traveled in while campaign- ing across the country. The train will be open for free public tours this week. train to come to Bryan," said city spokesman Joe Brown. "It is an inter- esting and unusual way to spotlight our railroad heritage." The car once used by Truman on his whistle -stop tours was built for M.H. Cahill, board chairman for the Missouri /Kansas /Texas Railroad Company to be used for business- related trips. It was purchased in 1971 by the Georgetown Railroad Company who refurbished the car and renamed it the "Edwin Brazelton Snead" in mem- ory of the founder of the railroad com- pany. Please see TRAIN, Page A7 Train From Al Joining the car is the "Austin," a business car built in 1931 and the "Georgetovx : a lounge car built for the Gulf Mobile and Ohio Railroad Company in the 1930s. The fourth car is a genera- tor car. The cars contain everything from real silver to bone China to poker tables and guides can point out where Truman slept. "People are impressed with it," Scroggins said. "They are impressed with the upkeep both inside the cars and outside." The cars also have call buttons liking the walls that were used by passengers to call porters. :And Scroggins, who has been with the train for 23 years, points out haw the cars were cooled bAck in the 20s. "They would put ice on the top of the train in a hatch and the wind would blow on the ice mak- iug it cold," he said. 'The "Austin" was originally a dining car constructed by A,Inexican Car and Foundry in 1931 for the Missouri- Kansas- Texas Railroad Company. It was rebuilt into a business car in 1949. Georgetown Railroad bought the car in 1971 and named it the "Austin." The original interior remains the same except for minor modifications to modern- ize the galley. The "Georgetown" was origi- nally used in regular passenger train service between Chicago, Ill. and St. Louis, Mo. It was rebuilt from its original configu- ration as a chair car to a lounge car in 1950. The train will be on display 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, 1 -5 p.m. Sunday and 9 -11 a.m. and 2 -5 p.m. Monday through Friday at the Producers Cooperative Association, 1800 N. Texas Avenue. The Celebrate Bryan Business Heritage committee invited the train to Bryan to spotlight the city's railroad history, Brown said. The city was born when William Joel Bryan made a deal with the Houston & Texas Central Railroad to bring rail ser- vice to the area. "We wanted to do something that would get the public excit- ed," Brown said. "The train will appeal to all age groups. It will bring back memories to some people and it is great for children who have never seen anything else like it." After a century, trolley cars return to streets of Bryan By Greg Huchingson PRESS Editor Nearly a century after a trolley system first hauled citizens of Bryan up and down Texas Avenue, public transportation has returned to the Brazos Valley. In the early 1890s, local citizens travelled on a trolley system which operated on tracks. Two weeks ago, rubber - wheeled replicas of those same trolleys began reappearing all over town. And based on the performance of its first two weeks, the new Interurban Trolley System will be a resounding success. "The early returns show this will be a very successful system," said Lyle Nelson, associate administra- tor for transit operations. "This is something Bryan - College Station has needed for a long time. It is about 10 years overdue." The Interurban Trolley System was developed by the Brazos Valley Community Action Agency and Brazos Transit System. The vehicles being used are even called see Trolleys, p.7A Two weeks ago, Brazos Transit initiated the Interurban trolley System as a way to provide transportation to most parts of Bryan - College Station. Thursday, November 23, 1989, Section A, Page 7 JUST SA Y "I SAW IT IN THE PRESS!" Trolleys roll into B -CS with ease from p. 1A "1890 Vintage -Style Replica Trolleys." Fares to ride the ITS are 50 -cents for adults and 25 -cents for children ages 6 -12, senior citizens, and the handicapped. Children under age six can ride free with a paying pa- tron. Patrons can buy a book of 40 riding passes for $20, or a monthly "flash pass" for $25. Peak riding periods, according to Nelson, have been before and after work (6 -9 a.m. and 4 -6 p.m.) and during the lunch period (11 a.m. to 1 p.m.) There are five routes currently servicing 300 different stops in B- CS. Nelson said the system has averaged about 700 passenger boardings the first two weeks, and he expects "in excess of 1,000" per week from now on. "On any new transportation sys- tem, there's going to be an orienta- tion period," said Nelson, who has been with Brazos Transit for four and a half years. "When people get used to seeing these trolleys make stops every hour on the hour, they will want to use them more." Nelson sa'' ITS has not been in operation long enough to determine its exact clientele. While many passengers come from families without a car, some are from fami- lies who do own cars. "People are getting to where they don't like to drive as much as they used to," Nelson said. While some Texas A &M students are utilizing the system, Nelson estimated over 100 high school and even intermediate school students are riding the trolleys to and from school every day. "Most of the student riders live within a two -mile radius of their school and are not picked up by the school buses," Nelson said. Brazos Transit has been in opera- tion for 15 years. Nelson said the company also operates "very suc- cessful" systems in Huntsville, Lufkin and The Woodlands. "We forsee ITS being as useable here as the Metro Transit Systems are in Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and Austin," Nelson said. ITS started on a subsidy from the Urban Mass Transit System, and is not intended to be a revenue pro- ducer. It is intended to benefit the community by enhancing public mobility, much like sidewalks do on a smaller scale. "Studies show that for every dollar spent on a transit will be returned ;I three times, either directly, indi- rectly, or induced," Nelson said. Book traces history of OSR A book tracing the history of Texas' oldest road has received special recogni- tion from the San Antonio Conservation Society. Texas Department of Transpor- tation archeologist A. Joachim McGraw and historians John W. Clark and Eli- zabeth A. Robbins received the society's 1992 publication award for their work on "A Texas Legacy: The Old San Antonio Road and the Caminos Reales, A Tricentennial History, 1691 - 1991." The study was done in conjunction with the 300th anniversary of the Old San Antonio Road, which stretches across Texas from Eagle Pass to the Sabine River east of Milam. Thursday, September 22 , _ l ��cai Governmen Evolution and CoIle (Editors note; This is the third in a four-part series on local government by Dr. Paul Van Riper, professor emeritus of Political Science at Texas A&M University.) By Dr. Paul P. Van Riper Guest Contributor The twin cities of Bryan and r Station, approaching simi- ;ize, have somewhat different pwblems. Bryan had become a village of 300 or so persons when the railroad reached it after the Civil War. In 1866, it was designated the county seat and received a post office, re- placing Boonville. The community was incorporated in 1872 and adopted a city manager form of government in 1917. Its budget is now close to $100 million. However, two- thirds of its revenues and expenditures are related to its electric utility ownership. Bryan is a partner in the Texas Municipal Power Agency. In 1975 Bryan, Denton, Garland and Greenville, four cities with their own power plants, found that they would need additional capacity. The cities had no funds and joined to get a state law creating the Texas Municipal Power Agency as a state authority. It is governed by an un- paid board of eight directors, with each city having two representa- tiv -s. cr receiving bonding power, , Page 5A t Series: Part Three of Bryan ge Station the agency built the Gibbons Creek Power Plant east of Bryan in Car- los. In effect, the capacity of the four cities, plus that of TMPA, is pooled so that demand loads can be adjusted and the excess sold to other cities. Four non -TMPA cities, including College Station, now buy power from the agency. College Station and Bryan have adjusted their respective distribution systems and are fully compatible. Ed Wagoner is the general manager of TMPA and its nearly $170 mil- lion budget. The agency has been a real pioneer in using lignite, of which Texas has an enormous sup- ply, for the generation of electricity at very reasonable costs. Of course, TMPA is not strictly a local gov- ernment agency, and is not in Bra- zos County. Its headquarters are at the plant site in Carlos, in Grimes County. Such, however, is one as- pect of the complicated inter- governmental network in this area. Bryan also has a special housing entity on Beck Street, called the Housing Authority of the City of Bryan. This derives from the Fed- eral Housing Act of 1937 and a state enabling act of the same year, authorizing Texas cities to receive federal housing funds. Legally, the Bryan Housing Authority is a pub- lic non -profit corporation, run by a board of five directors, all appointed see Wixon, P. 5.4 Wixon Valley gets along on $7,000 in tax revenues from p. 1A by the city of Bryan. Otherwise, the authority receives no funds from Bryan. All funds come througlfi Department of Housing and Urban Y' Development. Officially, the au- thority has little to do with the city government. This has been the source of occasional conflict, but there has also been considerable unofficial cooperation. The author- ity receives about 8350,000 annu- ally in rental of its apartments and about 8100,000 a year in grants from HUD. In still another way Bryan is dif- ferent in that, as a result of a 1979 referendum, its police and fire de- partments are under the Texas po- lice and fire civil service law and its special personnel procedures, such as exams for appointments and promotions. There is a separate Civil Service Commission admin- istering a separate personnel system for policemen and firemen. Otherwise, the main functions of both cities have to do with streets, water and sewage services and parks and recreation. While the county provides the health department's building, both cities and the county contribute to its maintenance plus some further health funds. You should know also that both cities can exercise some control over gas rates and cable fees, via special statutes that govern franchises. College Station was originally just that: a rail station for the con- venience of arrivals to Texas A&M. Faculty housing was developed on university grounds. By 1940 there were nearly 100 homes on campus; now only one of these remains. The others were sold off in the '40s and '50s as the community grew up around the university. A post office was designated as early as 1877, but incorporation did not come until 1938. In 1944 the city adopted its present council- manager form of government. In its early years College Station and the university had a very close relationship. The small town used the university power and water fa- cilities; there was cooperation in health care; and officials and com- mittees often met in university buildings. Today this cooperation has greatly shrunk as both are more self sufficient. Texas A&M has its own police and medical service, through College Station still pro- vides emergency medical care to the campus during breaks in the school year. It also provides fire service to the university. The university has its own water supply and its own airport. Currently, the College Sta- tion budget approaches 870 mil- lion, supporting the same basic functions as Bryan. Little Wizon Valley, on the northeast side of Bryan, was incor- porated in 1987. With a population of about 240, it has a mayor -coun- cil form of government composed entirely of volunteers. This most recent municipality in the Brazos Valley operates, u noted above, on an annual budget of a little over 87,000, derived entirely from a 1 percent sales tax. This is the sole tax approved thus far by the citi- zens. The two school systems are well known and only briefly treated here. The Bryan Independent School Dis- trict separated from the city in the middle 1970s. It has a budget of nearly S67 million, with half its funds from the state and federal governments. It services 12,000 students at an expenditure 06 84,000 per student via a force of 942 pro- fessionals and 634 other staff members. This district covers 60 percent of the county and extends a little into Robertson County on the north. I once asked the late Alton Bowen, a former superintendent, about this size. He said that when he was superintendent and school consolidation was underway, he got all he could get, for he wanted maximum revenues. The College Station Independent School District has a budget of close to 840 million, with a lesser proportion than Bryan from state and federal funds. It services at Jut 6,200 students at a cost of some 83,900 per pupil, via a professional staff of 466 and a support staff of 298. This district covers about 30 percent of the county. The southern section of the county, below Peach Creek, is serviced by the Navasota school district (about 10 percent of the county.) The fire districts are in three of the county commissioners' precincts. These have been orga- nized under state law and receive property tax funds as noted above. There are, however, volunteer fire companies in all precincts. The county provides equipment mainte- nance funds for all the fire compa- nies. Some grant support for hy- drant development comes from a subsidiary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, known as the Big Eight Resource, Conservation and Development District and its sub- sidiary (both located in Bryan) known as the Brazos Soil and Water Conservation District�The latter is interesting in that its board of directors is elected by the landown- ers in five local zones, for four four -year terms. Both districts have few funds of their own, but are fund - seeking and assistance coordi- nating units for rural purposes. sp 0���/ S��� S ge_14,47-- xd<45-7- ie31,41-1, ',is / pr r v C ®/ s al e' 46 4 e a/4 a' 7 `19 Cl7 - eLNt /1-76.1-i , 141 V /.1-e S k S 4 5>A} 2 ,-al - ef i ‘ Ai- ?e- / 1'79 �i. -, , �/ (5c h-eA 4,d) ,64(-- d //7 e , 5' "sp- z 4 /74 v / ( '11° I/1 / r/ i 4 J 11- - a G er n re- /fa 1� / v G 7, i�l 1 aY t ° r v ski. �!® / f 4 Ae - -Sri At. 747/1 le,./ 5 4 4/ /30 a .a/-11' S,h e//7 Li tate The bridges of Milam County TxDOT seeking new owners for three historic structures By MICHELLE LYONS Eagle staff writer Three historic Milam County bridges will be available for relocation to private or public prop- erties in about a year. The bridges, dating back to the late 1800s and early 1900s, are being replaced by safer, improved structures. They may be bought by private owners and municipal or other governmental agencies. Elm Creek Bridge, Brushy Creek Bridge and Little River Bridge are being replaced. New owners also may be eligible for limited financial assistance to cover some of the relocation costs. Mike Carpenter, Texas Department of Transportation environmental coordinator, said in a press release that the bridges are still an important part of Milam County. "These bridges are part of Milam County's his- tory and have served the traveling public for a lot of years," Carpenter said. "Even though it is time to replace them with improved structures that are safer, we hope to find new homes for these old bridges where people can continue to appreciate them." Carpenter said the bridges are still safe struc- tures, but they do not meet today's needs. "They are still in good shape. But for the traffic hat utilizes them, they are becoming outdated," .arpenter said. Please see BRIDGES, Page A7 Monday, May 13, 1996 Eagle photo /Dave McDermand Milam County TxDOT maintenance supervisor John Parsons, left, and V.W. Hawk, Milam County commissioner Precinct 1, discuss the histo- ry of Little River Bridge on County Road 106 in Bryant Station. The bridge, erected in 1909, is scheduled to be replaced in the fall of 1997. Bridges From A4 The bridges are being replaced with concrete beam structures, Carpenter said. Denise Fischer, TxDOT public information officer, said the enti- ty receiving the bridge will get up to a $15,000 federal reimburse- ment for relocation. Fischer said the amount is equal to the cost the government would have paid to have the tructure demolished. People interested in moving and maintaining the bridges Must submit a proposal outlining the proposed use of the bridge, the proposed site and how they propose to move it. The proposals will be sent to Austin where they will be reviewed by a panel from TxDOT's Environmental Affairs Division and the Texas Historical Commiss ion. The final decision is then made n Colorado by a national histori- pal advisory board. The new procurers must then sign an agreement stating that they will take necessary precau- tions to maintain them. Failure to maintain the bridge as outlined may result in the state or federal government seizing the bridge. Fischer said the department is excited about the project because it is a way of preserving history. "If at any time we can preserve a historical structure, it is much better than putting it up for scrap metal," she said. "This is new ter- ritory for us. We have never pro- moted a relocation program so aggressively before. "We really want to preserve their legacy." Carpenter said this type of pro- gram probably began when some- one realized that there would be no more historical structures if they continued to be torn down. Even if the structures are not used, he said, they can be still be viewed. "Sooner or later, all we would have left is pictures," Carpenter said. "The government decided some of this needs to be pre- served." Elm Creek Bridge, located on County Road 19, was erected in 1898. The Truss leg bedstead bridge is one of only six of its kind and measures 91 feet. It is sched- uled for replacement in the sum- mer of 1997. The Brushy Creek Bridge is scheduled for replacement in early spring of 1997. The 133 -foot bridge is a Pratt through truss bridge erected in 1911 by C.Q. Horton. It is located on County Road 440. Little River Bridge, located on County Road 106 in Bryant Station, will be replaced in fall of 1997. The 200 -foot Camelback through truss bridge was erected by C.Q. Horton in 1909 for the Chicago Bridge and Iron Company. Both Fischer and Carpenter said information packets have been requested. A deadline has not been set for the proposals. For more information or to get a packet, write to Mike Carpenter, environmental coordi- nator, Texas Department of Transportation, 1300 North Texas Ave., Bryan, Texas 77803 -2760. Getting There A northbound Amtrak train picks up passen- \_ gers on its morning stop in College Station. The Houston -to- Dallas route will end Sept. 10. The train doesn' Lubbock artist Larry Bridges c tures the International Great Northern Railroad's All Student Special arriving in College Station, circa 1910. S ince the first batch of strapping cadets stepped off their passenger car and head - ed for the Texas A &M campus in 1872, the local train station has held a special role in Aggie tradition. But from 1960 to 1987, . the town named for its train station didn't have one, and now it's in danger of losing it again. Amtrak, the passenger train that has pro- vided transportation to A &M students and local residents since 1988, plans to discontin- ue service to College Station Sept. 10. With no passenger trains rolling through the depot, the College Station train station may soon stand as an empty reminder of a tradition killed by the modern world of cars, airplanes and budget cutbacks. "A lot of students depend on the train to, go home," says A &M psychology student Michelle Nash, as she waits for the silver pas- senger train to arrive. "I go home to Texarkana about three times a year, and the train is cheaper than flying and safer than a bus." But Nash is one of a dwindling number of students and residents who choose to ride the Amtrak trains, which stop six days a week in College Station, Since 1992, the total number of passengers loading and unloading at the' depot near Texas A &M has dropped from about 10,600 to just over 4,200. That's quite a contrast to the days.when College Station resident Dick Hervey rode the train to and from Texas A &M. When he came to the university in 1938, passenger trains were the primary transportation for travel• ing Aggies. "Most of my classmates came to College Station by train," he says. "We used to go on Corps trips to Dallas, and we'd load those trains up with Aggies." Those cadets who couldn't afford the $3 train ticket could catch a free ride by hiding between the seats, Hervey says. "We'd catch the Old Owl in Dallas," he says, "It left around 11 at night, and we would get to College Station around 4 a.m." Hervey remembers arriving at one of the two wooden train stations that stood 30 feet apart across from the Albritton Tower. "In the main office of one of the stations was a big potbelly stove, and there were stop here anymore College Station loses part of its history with the end of passenger service By SHELLEY SMITHSON Eagle photo/Shelley Smithson An Amtrak engineer puling into College Station snags a bag of kolaches from a special pole set up by volunteer station master Harold "Tex" Owens. Years ago, such poles were used to pass instructions to the crew while trains were en route. Eagle pholo/Shelley Smithson benches around the walls," he says. "We get off at the station and walk to our do at 4 in the morning." t�; +' When Hervey returned to College Station "a few years after he graduated; the screeching brakes and jolting horns of passetlgeT trains still were a part of everyday life .*.°'"'° i "I remember 1 put my two sons on that train that was running m the '505," he sa "The train had some problems between and Dallas, and it stalled on the tracks. Luckily, my friend Gibb Gilchrist, who the president of the university, was on train, and he looked after them." ' the late 1950s, automobiles were re the steam - engine trains that had on brought so many students and yisitors College Station and Bryan. 4= _ "I think the automobiles just put th out of business," Hervey says. "The weren't enough people to ride the there was no need for the two little statiol and they just tore them down." The two wood -frame buildings were de ished around 1960. For the next 28 years, there was no passenger train service to Bryan or College Station. Then in 1988, after more than 15 years discussion, Amtrak decided to run its Te Eagle route connecting Houston to D Chicago through College Station. A train's tion built on Marion Pugh Drive, j ..,, down from where the city's two or,;: depots had stood. By 1992, the College Station depot saw than, 10,000 passengers annually, ret at least partially, to its traditional role. At least some of the students return home for the holidays and parents visi for graduation took the Texas Eagle to from College Station. Local resident;!; Charles Phillips, traveled aboard the visit children and grandchild "I like the train better than Phillips says. "It's on the group thing." Passengers waiting for Amtrak College Station depot have various reaso riding the train. Please see TRAIN, page Page D6 Bryan - College Station Eagle Train From D1 "I don't like to fly because I can't smoke," says Linda White, an Indiana resident who is vis- iting her daughter. "I've got plenty of time, and I like meeting people on the train." Harold "Tex" Owens says the train is a more civilized means of transportation. "The seats are larger (than those in an airline coach)," Owens says, "and you have a place to sleep and work in your own compartment." Owens is one of several local residents who plan to fight to keep the Amtrak train rolling through College Station. He will attend a public forum set for 3 p.m. Thursday in Union Station, 400 S. Houston St., in Dallas. Others, like Wesley Haba, a conductor on the Texas Eagle route, will also urge Amtrak to continue service to College Sta- tion. "I think discontinuing the route is a disservice to the stu- dents and people of College Sta- tion," Haba says. "I've worked this route for five years, and when we used to have pickups here on Friday, we would have numerous students." Discontinuing pickups on Fri- days in College Station could be one reason for the substantial drop in ridership, he says. "It also is due to competition from airlines with their price wars," says Amtrak spokesman Steven Taubenkibel. "The reduced rates have definitely made airlines an alternative for faster travel." The shrinking number of pas- sengers nationwide has con- tributed to a $240 million shortfall by the nation's largest passenger rail company. After Amtrak was warned not to expect an increase in its $1 billion annual federal subsidy, the train company opted to cut 24 percent of the railroad's routes. The route that connects Houston to Dallas via College Sta- tion costs Amtrak $2.3 million to operate, but only brings in $700,000 in revenue. "By eliminating service on that route, it would save Amtrak $1.6 million annually," Taubenkibel says. But Amtrak officials say the plan to discontinue the Houston Sunday, April 23, 1995 Li Eagle photo /Shelley Smithson Amtrak train conductor Wesley Haba shakes hands with his old friend Harold "Tex" Owens of Bryan. Owens, a volunteer who tends the College Station platform, has met Haba's train with a warm smile and bags of kolaches twice a week for the last five years. to Dallas route is not a done deal. "In the first phase of cutbacks, several states, like California, came up with the necessary funding to keep some services," Taubenkibel says. "It's up to the Texas Department of Transporta- tion to decide if they can pitch in money to keep the service." Taubenkibel says the state wouldn't have to match the $1.6 million that the route loses each year, but it would have to make a sizable contribution to keep the Houston to Dallas route running. Department of Transportation spokesman Randall Dillard says it's too early to know if the state will subsidize the Houston to Dallas route. "That Is the purpose of the public hearing April 27, to get input from the public as to the most appropriate role for rail pas- senger service," he says. Unless the state decides to con- tribute funds to keep the Houston to Dallas route alive, Amtrak trains will no longer travel through College Station. Amtrak bus service from Houston to Dallas will pick up passengers in College Station and transport them to Houston, if they're trav- eling south, or Dallas, if they're traveling north. "I'm hoping to take my grand - kids on a train ride before it's gone," Hervey says of the Amtrak train. "I'd like for them to have the experinece and see how I traveled when I was a boy." Texas - - A &M Universfty Pre ss books b area " prints authors a book by� Robert L. � "We're Czechs Skrabanek of College Station, is back in print at Texas A &M University Press. This is the third printing of the book, in which Skrabanek describes his child- hood in the Czech community of Snook. It was initially published in hardcover in 1988 and then in paperback in 1992. A new book in the A &M Press' fall /winter catalog is "The Texas Military Experience," edited by Joseph G. Dawson III. Dawson is an associate profes- sor of history and director of the Military Studies Institute at Texas A &M. He wrote the introduction to the book, in which various authors reevaluate famous personalities and reassess impor- tant battles. Another new offering by a local author is "Texas College and University Handbook" by Lane B. Stephenson, deputy director of University Relations at Texas A &M. Stephenson's book is a compre- hensive guide to 72 public and private colleges and universities in Texas. MARGARET ANN ZIPP its Like This IT IN THE PRESS! " Bryan genealogical group is now selling calendars depicting Bryan in 1871 Members of the Brazos Genealogical Association report a good response to their 1871 -1996 Historical and Genealogical Calen- dar. Some persons anticipate the calendars will become collectors items. The events recorded on the calendar for numbered days of a month tell of incidents which oc- curred in Bryan and Brazos County for the year of 1871, the year of Bryan's incorporation as a city. The upper half of the calendar page fea- tures a person, scene or happening which occurred within the decade. Because of the closure of Bryan Public Library due to fire damage, it was necessary to research in other repositories for local history mate- rial. Calendar committee members found an illustration of Anna Hard - wicke Pennybacker, well -known educator- historian, who was an 1878 Bryan teacher. They also found an illustration of Stephen Curtis, an African- American who was the Brazos County representa- tive to the 1868 Texas state consti- tutional convention. They located an 1876 Brazos legal directory and a Bryan business directory for 1872. The front cover features the Bryan City Hall of 1899. It had an opera house upstairs, with fire department and city offices douwnstairs. back cover has an 1879 map Brazos County. The Houston 8i Texas Central railroad arrived iri Bryan in 1867, so July features an arly railroad map, time table and a train. Another "find" was of two copies of the Brazos Pilot — Extra Edition newspapers detailing an ' 1877 Baptist Convention in Bryan. A &M College is featured in September. Permission for one- time use of the materials was granted to the group. After the Bryan Public Library re- opened the committee was able to add other materials to their collec- tion. The 1871 -1996 Historical and Genealogical Calendar contains over 1,000 names and lists over 300 events including births, deaths, marriages, deed transfers, cattle brand registrations and legal battles. For the calendar, they added person- ality sketches, business letterheads, cards, ads and more. Members of the committee hope the calendar will provide some sense of what ' life ' was like in 1871, and that it may serve as a valuable resource for persons researching their family histories. Calendars sell for $5.50 each, including tax. An index of names is available for $1. The fee for postage and han- dling is $2. There is a limited number of , calendars still available from Brazos Genealogical Associa- tion members, Main Street Book- sellers in Bryan or Carousel Paper- backs in College Station. The BGA is a not - for - profit organization open to all persons interested in genealogical and his- torical research, preservation and publication. For more information, call Peggy Basenfelder, president, at 774 -7153 or write to The Brazos Genealogical Association, P.O. Box 5493, Bryan 77805. Thursday, December 28, 1995, The Press, Page 5A By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID The Associated Press WASHINGTON — The train they call the City of New Orleans will be cut from seven to five days a week, the Broadway Limited to Chicago will end at Pittsburgh and Houston residents who want to ride the Texas Eagle north will have to start with a bus trip to Dallas The cutbacks also mean that there will be no passenger service through College Station, since the area is currently served by trains on the Houston to Dallas route. Amtrak dropped the other shoe Thursday, announcing a series of service cuts scheduled to take place in June and September as the passenger railroad tries to eliminate red ink. Without the cutbacks, which will total 24 percent of the rail- road's routes when complete, Amtrak might have been facing bankruptcy by midsummer, said Thomas M. Downs, president of the railroad. If the savings from reducing service and staff go as planned, Amtrak will have a balanced budget this year and next, he said. Amtrak was facing a $240 mil- lion cash shortfall and had been warned to expect no increase in federal subsidies. Amtrak receives nearly $1 billion a year from the Federal Railroad Admin- Bryan- College Station Eagle 1 111 11 Local &Nation "This is our last anticipated downsizing, we hope," Downs said. "We're down to what we think is the defensible foundation of rail passenger service in America." Downs blamed Amtrak's money problems on years of reduced cap- ital spending on railroads while subsidies were provided to other types of transportation, combined with intense competition from new low -cost airlines. The new cuts are in addition to service reductions announced last December and already in place. Downs noted that the cuts will allow Amtrak to get rid of most of the elderly equipment it inherited 25 years ago when it was created. Some cars are a half- century old and spare parts have to be hand made, he said. The railroad is eager to meet with state officials who are willing to provide money to keep some services operating, Downs said. Wisconsin, Michigan and Vermont, among others, have already agreed to subsidize opera- tions to maintain rail service. Service cuts scheduled for June 11: "Texas Eagle service between Dallas and Houston replaced by bus service. Train would con- tinue to operate between Dallas and Chicago. ■Cit of New Orl y istration, eans between New Orleans and Chicago: elimi- S Friday, April 7, 1995 Page A7 Amtrack rolls back more services, cutting out Bryan - College Station nate service on Tuesday and Wednesday; retain other five days. "Hoosier State between Indi- anapclis and Chicago: eliminate servic on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday; retain other tL . "Discontinue Loop and State House service connecting St. Louis, Springfield and Chicago. "California Zephyr between Salt Lake City and Oakland, Calif.: eliminate service on Monday, Wednesday and Friday; retain other four days. ■Illinois Zephyr between Chicago and Quincy: eliminate service on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday; retain other four days. Downs said Amtrak was not targeting Chicago as a focus of the cutbacks, noting that the city happens to be a connecting point for many trains and thus tends to be involved in almost any major changes. Cuts scheduled for Sept 10 are: "Broadway Limited operating from New York to Pittsburgh and Chicago reduced to a New York - Harrisburg- Pittsburg service. Passengers continuing to Chicago could switch to the Capitol Lim - ted in Pittsburgh. "Cardinal between New York, Washington, Cincinnati and Chicago reduced to Washington - Cincinnati service on Friday, aturday and Sunday. By DAVID HOWELL Eagle staff writer He labored through the Dcpres.-.ior. living on Texas A &M's mainly rural campus. He used to chauffeur Bryan May Tyler Haswell on weekends. He started BRTX, Bryan's first radio station, back ` in the 1930s. He served on one of the last Navy ships be hit in World War II's Pacific the- ater. And he loaned Phil Granvn furniture for his first: campaign office m College Station. His name is Allan Kraft. And the 86- \ear -old businessman is still working m Bryan. Kraft is owner of Kraft Apartments lanagement at 307 S. Main St., the sDusIness . original local home of Blinn College. "I've been in business for quite while," Kraft said matter.- of- factly. as he sat smiling in his cramped office. Looking dapper in a starched white shirt, A &M polo necktie and an A &M plastic visor,' Kraft has actually been m business since the days when downtown Bryan had feed troughs in the street and some area roads were made of Galveston' sea shells. But although Kraft and his various enterprises have been local fixtures for 7E years, he is not a native son. Born in Alton. P.1. in 1908. Kraft's fam- ily moved from Greeley, Colo. to Bryan in 1919, ,titer his father got a teaching _lob at A &M. Horace Kraft was an agricultural edu. cation professor at Texas A &M who was either fired or quit, depending on which Asian Kraft shows off the building that bears his name (above). He still works in his office daffy, above . businesses, just as he has since the 1930s when he began broadcasting from Bryan's first radio static) nning his "theory" is to be believed, said grandson Michael Kraft, 48. "One theory has it that he quit to go into the insurance business," he said. "The other theory is he got in a fight with the A &M president. Bach then. they [professors] didn't have tenure and they were fired left and right." Allan Kraft attended A &M for two year's before dropping out to start work in the radio and electrical repair busi- ness, a career he'd spend much of his life in. But he also moonlighted --- a morti- cian. Kraft worked at Hillier Funeral Home as part-mortician, part- handyman, He worked under the direction of Doc Hil[i er, the home's founder. "I used to embalm the bodies and put them in the caskets," Kraft recalled. "Then I'd drive the funeral car and put up the tent. I'd do most things, actually." When he wasn't at Hillier. Kraft was working on radios. Radios became an occupation in 1925. when Kraft began repairing radios in a second - floor office above where the Main Street Booksellers is now. The old bookstore was owned by Haswell, who looked kindly on Kraft and gave him office space rent -free. But judging by how hard the young Kraft worked for Haswell, he earned the "free" rent. "I was paid 25 cents an worked six days a week Haswell," Kraft said. "And on chauffered him to Houston." Kraft talks of Haswell with re and friendship. He was the only Republican ma the state of Texas," he declared, add his first boss was also one of his best.: And as for Haswell's 12- cylinder, door Lincoln sedan, he can describe. vehicle -- the biggest car in Bry with impressive detail. Kraft worked as an electrical re man for the McCullough I)ansby Co. d ing the Depression. But he harbored desire to he self-employed. "It was tough to get going [in b cress]," Kraft said of the Depressi "You had to work very hard and capital was hard to come by " With such a keen interest in ra and how they work, it was alnros inevitable that Kraft would estabi' Bryan's first radio station, BRTX. In 1932, after filially getting enou money together, Kraft went on the air. Transmitting out of a building across • from the LaSalle Hotel, Kraft used to send a line down to St. Andrews Episco pal Church on West 26th Street and piny its services live. He also played records "['he nearest commercial radio sta -.': Page A8 Bryan - College Station Eagle Sunday, March 19, 1995 Bryan From Al tion was in Houston," he said, proudly. However, BRTX folded after just a few months due to a lack of advertising revenues. "When I built the radio station I could have used a bank loan," he said. "But I didn't have one and the three banks wouldn't help." In 1934, he started his own radio repair and furniture sales store at the corner of 27th and Main streets. It's still there today. Kraft, who still has a sharp wit, despite failing hearing, befriended long -time Eagle pub- lisher and state representative Frances Rountree. "She [Rountree] didn't give me any publicity, but she was quite a gal," Kraft reminisced. Decades later, he would make acquaintance with Phil Gramm, an economics professor and bud- ding politician. "Instead of Dicky Flatt, he [Gramm] should be talking about Father," Michael Kraft joked. "Gramm knew my father well before [he met] Flatt." Still, Allan Kraft is on Gramm's Christmas list and he was invited to the College Station party cele- brating the Texas senator's 1990 reelection. Kraft survived a kamikaze attack on his Navy destroyer, the USS Borey, in World War II's final days. "The gorey Borey," as he nick- From pag( named it, had its antenna hit and, as the radio man, Kraft said he had to climb up and fix it. He was honorably discharged in November 1945, after serving for three years. Kraft has been involved in many local religious and civic endeavors, including helping establish the First United Methodist Church and the Stage - Center theater group. He remains the church's men's Bible class treasurer. Kraft lives in Bryan with his second wife, Maxine. His first wife, Ora, died after a long illness in 1983. Most of Kraft's business inter- ests are now in the numerous local apartments he owns. His company consists of himself, his son and Albert Saenz. But in the old days, Kraft employed many locals and was a loyal boss, said a former worker and close friend. Adolph Johnson, 77, worked as a delivery driver and managed Kraft's furniture store for 35 years, until arthritis in the knee struck. In a time. of racial intolerance, Kraft not only hired Johnson, a black, but kept him on when his bad knee made him immobile. He created a job for Johnson to watch the firm's parking lot and paid him the same wage. "He let me work as long as I wanted to," said Johnson, who is still visited frequently by Kraft, himself suffering from long -term health problems. "I think he's a wonderful man," Johnson said, "because he helped me when I needed it." The good of days Local man recalls days of delivering Eagle on horseback By RONNIE CROCKER Staff Writer Modern technology has, without question, made life easier for the American news reporter, but its effect on the average delivery boy is still in doubt, Philip Trant, a spry 99, remem- bers the days in his youth when he delvered papers for the old Evening Pilot and, later, the Bryan Daily Eagle. It was around the turn of the century, and Trant didn't have a bicycle. So he made his evening rounds on horseback. That horse, he recalled Wednes- day, could do things that even to- day's most sophisticated General Motors product cannot. "I want to tell you something ab- out the old horse," Trant said. "He was a workhorse.... He knew that route just as well as 1 did." Trant, who delivered papers for the Evening Pilot in the late 1890s, sat back in his chair and swore that the horse would guide itself across west Bryan to the 50 or so houses to which Trant delivered the news. Meanwhile, the I0- year -old Trant would be atop the horse folding the papers he had brought along. The horse knew which houses to stop at, Trant said, and would halt in front of the appropriate yards. At that point, Trant would throw the paper, yell "Evening Pilot," and the horse would move on. There's no reason to distrust Trant's memory, even though the man will reach the century mark on Dec. 20. He gets around well enough to walk to the barbershop, and he still mows his own grass. He even clearly remembers a.parade • through downtown Bryan in 1900. And it hasn't been that many years since he gave up his car. "I haven't driven since 1 was 93," he admits. Trant might be a little hard of hearing, says his son, Blocker, but he certainly isn't senile. So he can be believed, even when he tells ab- out leaving the Evening Pilot to work on his father's farm for a few months. His replacement asked if the veteran carrier would go along on the novice's first day on the job. "No, 1 can't," Trant recalls tell- ing the other boy. "But I tell you what I'll do, I'll loan you my horse.... He told me (after the de- liveries), 'Well, 1 didn't miss a one. "' A few months later, Trant re- turned to delivering papers, this time for the Eagle. He said he earned a dollar a week more and his route was bigger — expanding from 50 to 100 stops. The horse, however, re- mained the same. When asked what he thinks about today's carriers throwing papers from cars, Trant smiled, shook his head and said softly, "That's some- thing. Everything is different," Another difference is that, while Trant worked for the newspapers, the Wednesday editions were mailed to readers outside the city. On Wednesday nights, Trant and his lone co- worker worked at the news- paper office getting the papers ready for the next mail run. To make the routine job a little more exciting, Trant and his friend took advantage of the fact that the office was located atop one of Bryan's dozen or so saloons. He said they often would drop down•a bucket by a cord that was attached to the handle. "We'd put a dime in that bucket and jingle that," Trant said, ex- plaining that the bartender took this as a sign to 011 the bucket with draft beer. "We'd drink that beer and fold those Evening Pilots." At that point in the conversation, Trant's pleasant smile became sud- denly mischievous, then grew into a full- fledged grin. Althotigh Trant never kept any of the old Bryan newspapers, he does remember one memorable headline: a Page I banner that screamed that the enrollment of A &M College had hit a whopping 500 students. But those were the days when there was a single paved road in Bryan. Those were the days when, Eagle photo by Dave'McD rm Phillip Trantwas a turn -of- the - century Eagle delivery boy. for a quarter, a young Trant could hop a train ride to "the college" and back. Those were the days when Bryan was the only city in Brazos County. After his newspaper- delivery days, Trant farmed and ranched for several years before entering the carpentry business. He worked in that trade for 53 years, during which time he helped build parts of the Bryan Air Base and the First Baptist Church. Trans is content, and on Wednes- day, his boyish eyes misted over just once with nostalgia. His voice qui- vered slightly when lie lamented the downfall of downtown Bryan. "It just breaks my heart," he said. "1 walk down to the barber- shop. It's all vacant, the old places, the theaters. "1 sure would love to see old Bryan come alive." MN THE DEPOTS. This is the first view of College Station. Ity THE BRYAN DAILY Wire Service of Associated Press _ Serving the Brazos Valley for Eighty -Two Years BRYAN. TEXAS MONDAY, JUNE 9, 1958 THE NEW TAKES OVER —A new Highway Post Office us, operated by Southern Pacific Transport Co., unloads mail at the dock of the. Bryan Post Office. The' mobile vans reple: the old railroad mail cars now That rail mail and ■■i 41 service has been ended. At right Thomas Blackmon, foreman.and Ivan Rider, clerk. both from Houston. sort mall iAt interior of the truck as it rides the roads: Gene Lambert st4n.ds in the dock. III iJotes from A History of the Bryan - Col 1 ege Interurban Railway F. S. Kohlhund A Report for English 301 Made to Ur. J. 11. Shepperd Texas A. and it. College, Au ;us b 20, 1;:::2 Abstract In the fall of 1906 negotiations were taking place between a ht". Kennedy of Houston and citizens of Bryan to obtain an interurban railway. These negotiations failed and in April of 1907 negotiations rots taken up 'with the ConeoJidated Securities Company of Dallas. Those transactions also failed and it eras not until 1910 that a •compares organized by Mr. 0. E. Gammen of Bryan secured a charter and completed the railway. The first cars to run over the new line were gasoline operated but in 1915 the line was charged to an electric railway. Service on this line was discontinued in 1923 because of inefficient service caused by the lack of interest of company officials. Su'm'y After more than four year of negotiating with interested persons and companies, the communities of Bryan and College Station finally obtained their interurban railway. 0. E. Gammon and others of Bryan organized the "Bryan and College Interurban Railway Company" which was chartered on .rch 21, 1910, and operated until the spring of 1923. The inefficient, discourteous service supplied, plus competition with automobiles during Fade 2 Ilotes from A history of the Bryan - College intorurban Railway the last seven or eight years of operation caused it to fail. F t while it was in operation it afforded a quick, convenient moans of trans- portation between the two towns. 1, Books Bibliography Perry, George Sessions* The Stgry of Texas A. and M.; tic Graw41111 Publie! w , YCiik; " 51); pp. 80. .81 Reed, S. G.; A History 02 the Texas Railrce.dst The St. Clam Yubliahrirnapany, Houston, as; (191L1); P. 48 11. I gibPAFERS The Battalion; College Station, Texas; dates, September 26 1906; uctober 17, 1906; October 31, 1906; April 3, 1907; April 10, 1 9 0 7; A-pril 19491 April 10, 191 The Dry, Bulletins College Station, Texas; dates, September 20, --- 7190; September 27, 1923; October b, 1923 The Reveille; College Station, Texas; dates, November 7, 1918; November 17, 1918; January 17, 1919; March 6, 1919; March 18, 1919; April. 12, 1919; April 22, 1919; Jung 1, 1919, June 18, 1919, June 21, 1919 IT'S HISTORY Transportation for corps tripe today; ii 139.t ibat it taws Gale Oliver '05 addressed to Mr. of San Antonia t iq. a . t'40t4 ted 4anu ry 1 Lamar McLennan ',05 : Oklabona.City, writes a corpa trip to San Antonio ia.: 19Q2 for a footbs game betwe .. >A ;e t l7 j Without quotation marks, the xsxtievera1 paragraphs are from letter. left college on tbe,g,`& T. C. about 7t30 A. M. and traveled to ten stead and after a delay of about an hour waiting for orders at going aroun the connection track to get ou' the' Austin Branch of H. & T. on the we.y... Box lunched tirhich had been prepared at the allege were' .sometime before we reached Elgin where: we. were transferred to I never learned rhy this transfer' made, Anyway there was in Elgin... We traveled over the Katy tracks to Stnithvi_11e, Marcos to San .Antonio. We ilad delaye... and it became a7r rent thc't AID WO u 1i atributed he Katy tracks long delay. nce via San Antonio be1'rra_ the street care luit opera ; tinC the conductor veered the Street .,.y Co. to hold the street care at the station to transfer the cadets to whore they were to be housed for the night. Ye arrtved abut 12:30 A. M. at the S. P. station on Austin and Burleson streets. An old livery stable had bowl cleaned out un3 army cots paced side by side ... to bed us down for the night and that is where the St Car Co. de- livered ua ... Needless to say that no one slept that night. Some of the -boys lere more fortunate. Some lived in San Antonio or had trends there •.. some went to the hotel. The next morning about 10 :00 A. M. we paraded up East Com,serce, thence y the Alamo and back on Houston St. to the stable where we we a dismissed. History - 2 - The foot ball game was held at the old International Fai.r Grounds, •:0h. d,-by 4 train operated by the S. A. & A. P. R. R. The round p 2 cents. The game resulted in a tie 0-0 ... • were ready to board the train which left San Antonio over the I.& .51. about 11:30 that - - *orning. That was IMMO trip... January 7, 1963 night arriving in College about 7:00 A. M. the next These notes were prepared in answer to the question of bow people traveled between Austin and College Station via the I &N at the beginning E 1 } of the century. IT'S HISTORY 1. The "main line*' of" the International and sreat Nor :horn Rail- road was completed westward from Hearne in the 1870'.1 Austin was reached on December 28, 1876. 2. The Calvert, Waco and Brazos Valley Railroad Company was chart- ered June 28, 1899, to build from Lewis (now Valley Junctiol) through Calvert to Waco. On May 6, 1900, the charter was amended to make Bryan the starting point. On December 28, 1900, the starting poi t was changed to Spring, 20 -odd miles north of Houston on the Houston -Pal Stine division of the I &3N. In time the CW &BV was acquired by the I&c3N, 'a = which time 65.75 miles of track were in operation between Bryan end Malin. Waco waa reached in 1901. Spring was reached in 1902; regular a was begun on May 1, 1902. 3. For years on end the I &3N ran taro = day trains and t ro night trains through College Station. In going to Austin via the I&3N ono rode the 30 miles to Valley Junction where after a delay of an hour or so he boarded the "main line" to Austin. Waiting in Valley Junction was not so bad as for 25 years or longer, a Harvey restaurant served excellent meals and provided overnight accommodations for tiose who "missed their connections." I recall an interesting incident which happened to me os the CS -VJ run one day 40 -odd yeara ago. I was on my way to Austin on :he day train. Several people boarded the train when it stopped in Bryan. The car in which I was sitting was rather crowded, but I w>:s occupying it single seat when an elderly an approached me and asked if he might sit with me. The train had no more than started when the gentleman asked if bm might sit next to the window. We had hardly changed positions when he- asked we if I knew where the county line was. As it happened I remembered that I had seen a sign marking the Brazos- Robertson county line out near Mumford. I told the gentleman that I was sure I could point out the line to him. He then turned to me and said something like this: "This is t • first time I ever rode a train and will be the first time I have ever be out of Brazos County. Please tell •e whea• cross the county line so tb t I can see what it is like to be in another county." We thou chatted r 15 or 20 minutes. As luck would have it I was able to spot the si,g possibly 100 feet before we passed it. I then said to the gentleman! "batch that sign up ahead there. The moment we pass it you will be out of Brazos County!" I shall never forget the look of surprise which spread over his face when he rode into Robertson County.•. -nor Lis remarks. "Why," he sail, "there's no difference. It a],l,looks alike. I e=pect•d it ,to be anoth r color,." I have often wondered if his„j.dsa of another "color ";a ght in some way have been assoOiatod with,his study of geography long b fore his first trip out of his native county. Coati to think ,o; it,, I !mud r if he ever saw a geography! Ernest Langford Archivist, September 29, 1966 2 II WHEN TEXAS A&M TRAVELED BY TRAIN p Fm picture on front rover. IIA dntt• hno bt•rn Maid to he nbnul it it In the film of A &M',, Photographic Laboratory. a A campus landmark familiar to thousands of 1 cas A &M Former Students has been razed to make v for parking improvements. The last railroad station at Aggieland will be laced with a massive parking lot to accommodate mushrooming number of cars on campus. The frame structure is bowing out in favor of the omobile which led to the death of train passenger ice. Thousands of Aggies have "hit the ground a- ing" at the old College Road stations. Among them was Ernest Langford '13, now bivist for A &M. Fifty -seven years ago Langford ped reluctantly from a Houston and Texas Cen- I train. Recently he watched workmen rip the d ion earthward. The former College Station Mayor seated himself acrosstie and dredged up memories from long ago : 1966 *ft vG, AILROAD REFLECTIONS — Texas A&M • t Ernest Langford '13 fashions a fan from 3 from. the last College Station passenger rail - of and reminisces about the landmark's his - „'housands of Aggies were introduced to the ist this location. Passenger service was dis- in 1958. "In those days students either rode the train or came to A &M by house and buggy," he recalled. "It took me 23 hours to get here from Bertram in Burnet County. I had to change trains at Austin and Hemp- stead. If my ticket had been for further up the line, I would have kept right on going, but I'm glad I stayed." "A. R. Cummins of Burnet, a chap I met on the train," Langford continued, "was the only ihuman being other than Private A. R. Wilson of Burnet that I knew at A &.M. Cummins knew R. G. Sherrard, a Major in the Cadet Corps. Sherrard met us at the train and got us registered and housed within the hou r." Langford mopped his brow in the 95- degree heat and went on : "We made Corps trips for years by train. My freshman year we beat Texas 23 -0 in the rain at Houston. And we beat 'em again that year, 5 -0 in Austin. Touchdowns counted five points then. Louis Hamilton — we called him Louie — ran a rec- ord 90 -yard TD in Houston, then notched a 10- yarder in Austin." "You remember things like that when you forget your birthdays," he chuckled. Back to railroading, Langford commented: "Col- lege Station used to have 12 passenger trains a day. tral Express.' International and Great Northern numbered its trains." "The Owl was a famous night train from Dallas to Houston, or vice - versa," Langford explained. "Sometimes it had 18 cars with double headers (two engines)." Records show the "Owl" was pulled off the line in 1958 after 86 years of service. "I rode the 'Owl' a few days before it was dis- continued," Langford confided. "It had shrunk to one day coach on the end of a freight train." Dignitaries through the years came to Aggieland by train. Among them were Presidents William Howard Taft and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. "The Corps marched -to the station to hear Pres- ident Taft speak about three minutes from the back of the train," Langford reminisced. "Captain Andred Moses, A &M Commandant, prevailed on Taft's peo- ple to stop the train here during a Southern swing in the spring of 1910. Roosevelt stayed the better part of a day for a review in his honor." "One man's guess would be as good as another (See Railroads, Page 8) 5 Front man for Texas A &M's student body, representative of the Aggies to the public, is more often than not a big, dark - haired, quiet - spoken person who has come by the title of "Mr. A &M After Dark." Ted Cathey's business requires him to contact an average of two hundred persons in a six -hour period. He does it without ruffling a feather. "I try to get along on the philos- ophy that you treat people as you'd like to be treated," says the man of precise speech. "It works remarkably well." Cathey is in his nineteenth year in A &M's Housing and Student Information office, a span of serv- ice that saw the department move from Goodwin Hall to the ground floor of the YMCA. Cathey works from five to 11 p.m. weekdays and noon to 7 Sat- urday. "You can set your watch by him," Glenn Bolton, Assistant Chief of Campus Security, said. "He comes through that door to `Mr. A &M After Dark' "He's the most dedicated em- ployee A &M has," declares Sgt. Emmitt Folsom. Housing Manager I tarry Boyer '31 looks at it the same way. Ted and his wife Vicki live in Bryan and have three sons. Larry, 16, is a junior at Bryan High. Merka is an A &M graduate with Mobil Oil Company, and Bob- by works in Baytown. In a typical hour of a typical day, "Mr. A &M After Dark" an- swers eleven personal queries and takes thirteen phone calls. • The native of Hamilton will identify a senior ring found by a janitor, take and send Western Union telegrams, locate Aggie ad- dresses in one of numerous files maintained by Housing, issue duplicate room keys, assist two in- ternational students in locating an off - campus apartment, or give in- formation about an event at A &M. The one -time stockfarmer is often flooded with calls and per- sons waiting, but Cathey maintains a calm manner and precise, mod - er t i s • 1 five." Railroads (Continued from Page 5) on how many Aggies boarded the train here," Langford re- marked. "It would have to be way up in the thousands." A whiz at digging up facts, Langford pointed out that the State Legislature chartered the Calvert, Waco, and Brazos Valley Railroad on June 28, 1899. At that time Calvert was to be the end of the line, but the plan was changed to include Bryan and later Spring, 25 miles north of Houston. Traffic began in 1901. The small original station was expanded about 90 years ago, the archivist noted. "Termites had eaten the foundation to pieces," Lang- -d said. "Carpenters jacked building three feet off the ;ground and replaced 8 -by -8 `pine sills 40 feet long. The t8 in es o ques , regarc ess of how strange or unusual. old sills were so damaged that a man could carry one under his arm. A freight room on the south and a portico on the north were added then." The I &GN was later bought by Missouri Pacific. H &TC has long since been the prop- erty of Southern Pacific. Its lines were in the area before the College was chartered. Work begun in 1860 was in- terrupted by the Civil War. After the war, construction rolled from Millican, 20 miles to the south, and the railroad was opened to Bryan in Aug- ust, 1867. Langford said the H &TC ran the first through train from Houston to Dallas July 16, 1872. Changing times have pushed most passenger trains into museums, but memories linger. The sparks of all the sciences in the world are taken up in the ashes of the law — Finch Buser (Continued from Page 3) He earned the highest rank in all three branches of Scout- ing, and was Scoutmaster of the national Junior Leader Training Program at Philmont Scout Ranch for three sum- mers. A 4 -11 member, he was the youngest Gold Star boy in Texas, and earned numerous county achievement honors. It was as a member of a 4 - dairy judging team that he first visited the A &M campus ( "I fell in love with the place," he remarks). At A &M he marched with the Texas A ggie Band for three seasons, making the trip to Los Angeles when the Band went there. He was for two years in the Drum and Bugle Corps. During his A&M days he was on the Student Senate, on A youth once breathlessly re , ported a man hanging from dorm. It turned out to be a durr,. my. Mousing receives calls fr Chicago and New 'York askin 11, exact score of a football game it progress or a truck driver ri to ask where to unload hay, a d, dressed simply to Texas A &M. Seven students deliver mes, f sages and assist in the offict Each works one day of sev , .sleeping in the Housing offict overnight. Cathey, who sele student help, points to their we with pride. "I tell them there's littl but long hours and hard p , rl and it pays off," he smiled. Exam r,tnrs ple is a former messenger who now Vice- President of a major , company. lfnrr;,, Messages and telegrams ;,re �, r-- livered where phone service 1s,\ available. Buildings and Utilitif, now manages a radio system direct Campus Security work �r (Con Housing formerly used a red.41r- . signal to notify patrolmen of cap Yh i` The light has long since 6 d appeared. But Cathey stay ,,. cteek I' the Arts and Sciences Coup President of the Press Q. Editor of the Battalion, e15- to Who's Who in Arne • Universities and CoIk A, on the Corps staff in his for year. In May 1959 he graduated and commissi Buser is married to former Jurdis Sibley of Arthur; they have t dren: a son, .Joey, 6 daughter, Jennifer, 3.' Little boy in w "Father, did Grandpa you when you were Father (with paddle) : . 1 my son." Little boy: "And did grandpa spank Grandpa he was a little boy ?" Father: "Yes." Boy: "Well, don't you with my help you could come this inherited ism ?" The Texas kre Sta prct 243 n co 'Thnt's yd hurl Three dottc; 'rdind ste(1, to the Vane toced ons - of t R. A eer County que teen: ong Per- e liv gau; T11 -St SPECIAL SU -3J EC'TS THE EAGLE RAILROADS MARCH 2, 1985 The railroad comes to Bryan LIFE & DEATH Bryan was horn, Boonville died, Millican had a rebirth and Washington-on-the-Brazos withered — all because of a rail- road. In the 1850s, Brazos County was not an impor- tant commer- cial center. Boonville, the county seat, Paul NcKaY was sparsely populated. Milli - can was a stage stop with a few businesses. The county had no major industry and not much commerce — nothing to entice the Houston & Texas Central Railroad to include Brazos County in its plans. H &TC planned to have the rail cross the Brazos River from Hempstead to Washington, a community that was thriving with riverboat commerce. (This is the same Washington that is now the site of Washington -on- the- Brazos State Park, where Texas Independence Day will It was customary for a com- munity to donate funds or land, or both, to a railroad, for the privilege of acquiring the rail. But Washington was smitten with riverboats, and citizens were unwilling to give H &TC funds for a bridge and right of way. Consequently, H &TC ex- tended the railroad on the east side of the river. The track reached Millican in 1860, and Millican remained a busy termi- nus throughout the Civil War. Washington missed quite an opportunity — steamboat navigation hit one too many snags, and the town died. After the war, the rail was extended northward out of Mil - lican. The railroad bypassed Boonville by only three miles, but it might as well have been 300 miles — Boonville dis- appeared and Bryan was born. The story of ill -fated steam- boat navigation on the Brazos is detailed in the book Sandbars and Sternwheelers. Written in 1976 by Pamela Puryear and Nath Winfield Jr., it was pub- lished by Texas A &M Universi- ty Press. The Bryan and Texas A &M libraries have it. GO- AHEADISM In September 1867, a Gal- veston News reporter filed a lengthy report from Bryan — "the region ofthe Central Rail -, road," he called it. These ex- cerpts indicate that Bryan's atmosphere was charged with enthusiasm: "The moment• the traveler approaches the region, an entire change of aspect presents itself, and instead of the prevailing lis- tlessness and inactivity which manifest themselves in other Gallery \I{( I :H 'I'c•x.i- : \&.\l I niversily ('ul I('.!( NI.1( <�i�, 'lc xtr� communities, the whole coun- try seems to be animated with energy, life and business enthu- siasm. "There is so much of genuine activity and 'modern go- aheadism' in this company, that its very presence seems to in- fuse its own spirit wherever it goes, and to arouse the dullest and most sluggish natures from natural proneness to apathy, and to put all men of all classes to work in spite of themselves. "Railroads ... are a public blessing, and while their penetration into the country are of such vast importance in adding to the material prosper- ity, they are at the same time benefactors in removing the great burden of inertia from the body politic, and affording the population other subjects upon which to occupy their minds, and something else to do. These things were particularly appa- rent to me as I approached the Flourishing little brand new city of Bryan.... Artptc A railroad in the 19th century could be a matter of life or death for a town. Trains have been chugging past Bryan's backside since 1867. The one above was photographed early in this century. Readers with photographs of old Brazos Valley scenes are invited to bring them by The Eagle, 1729 Briarcrest Drive, Bryan. SCENIC VILLAGE "A year ago there was scarcely a house standing where there now is living a population of three thousand people, with large numbers of quite hand- somely built stores and business houses, commodious hotels, livery stables, saloons, mecha- nical shops and tasteful private residences, with all the evi- dences of an active commerce. "It has all been accom- plished in anticipation of the coming of the road, for even yet the cars do not approach nearer than five miles, and Millican is the true terminus of the road. "The local situation of Bryan is one of the most beautiful and commanding in the State. Situ- ated upon an elevated prairie, slightly undulating, with here and there a slight skirting of timber, it is visible for miles on oa• and appears in the distance ... like a painting resembling a vil- lage on canvas, with its white houses and green trees, ex- tended plains of grass and blue skies.... "Many who are pulling down their houses at Millican to haul them to Bryan will be sub- jecting the same tenements to the same operation, to carry them 'further up the road.' "The position of Bryan is not ... altogether that of an ordinary depot, but, being central to quite a large scope of good sur- rounding country, it will always occupy the condition of a prosperous interior village, and when the terminus leaves, as it will in another year, it will then assume its true position, and its property will sink to its real value." Paul McKay is a staff writer for The Eagle. : Onlookers in College Station view the Daylight as A trip back in time By JOHN P. LOPEZ Staff Writer A young boy was cycling near the railroad tracks in downtown Hearne on Thursday when he noticed a large crowd at the old railroad depot. When someone told him that the 300 people waiting there had come to see a steam - powered locomotive chug by, the youngster laughed. "That's all they're doing ?" he asked. Poor fellow. He didn't realize that the train about to whistle into town was much more than an ordinary train to many people. The Daylight. a refurbished 1940s locomotive, was making its way through the Brazos Valley en route from Oregon to New Orleans, where it will be exhibited at the World's Fair. It is the same engine that pulled the Freedom Train during the nation's bicentennial celebration. And when the Daylight made its short stopover in Hearne before continuing its trek, the full effect of the railway classic was visited on its spectators. With its billowing black smoke, shrieking whistle and old - fashioned cow- catcher, the Daylight prompted many an im- agination to wander. Some recalled childhood dreams of being a locomotive engineer. Others remembered days of football road trips to Austin or picking up a date at neighboring depot. For whatever r•ason, area residents gathered v. ierever there was access to railroa tracks. And they waited for ti -ir own 30- second nostalgia trr+,. The train never stopped outsi e of Hearne on its.way to Dallas.' "I- jj ost cried - hen 1 heard that said .F. "Tex" Wri g h .. Collrke Station. "Ther6' just som thing about those old trains tl* t you can't resist." Wright, a 1933 A M graduate; watched the tra pass by Wellborn Road an Old Main Drive on the campu about the same place the old C llege Station depot was. 4 passes. (wotenni• siwow= + anntrowne ...at r, ■ sorma'.nom Eagle phoio by Dare \1cDermand Steam - powered train chugs through men ories of area residents "That old train helped me remember a lot of things about the old place," he said. And the Daylight did nothing to tarnish that special feeling. The train's bright red, orange and black colors were polished to perfection and the body of the train itself was in top condition. Bob Bower Sr., another Texas A &M former student who watch- ed the train, was impressed. "It sure is pretty," Bower said as the locomotive came into view. "1 remember the first time I got off a train like that I was a freshman here (at A &M) and the first words I heard when I got off was, 'Fish, pick up your trunk, and march to the barracks.' Those were fun times." i i r I J A LAST HOOT BY 'THE . OWL'' , HOUSTON 1St — Ending 86 years of passenger service, the Southern Pacific's night train "The Owl" chugged into Houston from Dallas with a final mournful hoot today. Once a luxury train boasting four day coaches and five . pullmans, it formerly carried -' many notable figures between ; Texas' largest cities. In by- gone days the passengers in- cluded opera stars, vaudeville troupers, baseball teams and top government officials. For its final excursion, The Owl was reduced to a humili- ating :single chair car coupled • to five mart and baggage see tions. Its passengers were about 20 tired travelers who resorted to the "milk run" only because it was the last . night train for Houston. But a loyal little band of railroad enthusiasts remem- bered brighter days. A banner proclaiming, "The Owl, first run 1872, last run 1958," was attached to the train's diesel. u' -n N bt.1.-ste 1V- rocessions lAre (0 i 1 I f t - I► . A UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Dear Joe: EL:cjs TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS ZIP CODE 77043 September 22, 1969 Thank you for your note of September 17. To wrap the story up completely, last Saturday at about 1:30 p.m. I walked down to the spot where the old H &TC station stood and where I detrained at approximately that hour 60 years ago. I then walked up to the site of Old Main. But the only landmarks I could find were a few old cedars, an old mesquite tree and Goodwin Hall. Everything else along the way is gone. Both railroad depots, the old I6GN tracks; and what used to be the I &GN right -of -way is now four -lane highway 2154. And of course all passenger trains are long since gone; the SP, successor to the old H &TC, ran its last passenger train through here on June 8, 1958. That train was the Owl, at one time one of the most famous overnight trains in Texas. But on its last run - -after 86 years between Houston and Dallas - -the southbound Owl was reduced to a single day coach hooked on at the end of six or eight baggage and freight cars, quite a come— down from the days of three baggage cars, as many passenger •- he .rid three or four .ullmans. And often two engines I appreciate your remarks about Al's feeling toward me. I assure you that I thought a lot of him as a student- - still do, in fact - -and remember him as a young fellow who knew what the score was and why he was playing. With every good wish for you and all of yours, I am, Cordially yours, 4 %1Likr Ernest Langford Copy of letter written to Joe A. Jenkins of Amarillo, Texas. • ilese Israp'•into the question of dust .how people would tirat�►I;tioa :' • t My, first thought was 'that - ;ia and College station in the 1870 ." , r1 l ride the I& li;trom Auatin to 3oarne, the a trop Boarae .to Colls" '`Station.: :But that idea vas ',soon up as' alit' of researsb shooed x 1. The Houston and Texas Central had built 80 miles of track from Bouston' to : Millican by June 1860. 2. Following the Civil tar, 20 . miles of track were laidbtte.en Millican and Bryan by August 3. Twenty nilee of track were' laid between Bryan and 8earnt'44 18 4. Twsaty -tiro 't�ilee ;of.' track aer "a laid tetweca Bistro. } sad lreoon l in 18701 Groesbeck vas ' ,reached 'in lat "l1870; Corsicana .in '1871; `Dallsi io 5. Fira through paaeengir, train from.Aouston to Dallas bras July.16 6. The original' track Brae .laid 5' -6" bet.... ra. Coraicana. Changed 'to 'itandard guage 4' -8g in one gauge. '7. The Washington County Rail Road Company began building froi► Hempstead towarda Brenham in 18571 11 plus miles of track"wire` laid and Chappell Hill was reached in 1859. Ten plus wiles of track were laid from Chappell'�Hill to Brenham eent? »tine wiles of track between - Brenham and Ledbetter sore completed in January .1871. 10. ::Twanty4iveiwore wiles,. ° 'Ledbetter to McDade, completed in September. 1871:: 11. - Twent -ti ve more miles, McDade to Manor, completed in November 12.. Seventeen plus more miles, Manor to Austin, completed in, Dec. Q sw, 4YV,ia, 115 aril i.L VWu'.a Changed to standard 4' -8A in 1877. 13. The '"wain line" of the 1 &3N, building from Hearne westward, reached Austin D0cember 28, 1876. So at least until 18 ?7 p49p44 •bo traveled between Austin ;and College Station by rail. ,went tiia R apetead. J got the Agstia wad Dn otAr.bit ot:histos ie:,the buiidin we tern I lroad - Coapaap . frog ` Anson .to "Llano.. ' 'This ,ra11,road !" bt li for primary purpoea of hauling granite from dsanite Monntain nssr• Marble`_ Till* forth* construction: Of oei capitol building in Austin 2 sixty miles of narrow gauge were built to Burnet in 1862; 16y miles Burnet to Marble Falls in 1889; 29.4 miles Fairland to Llano in 1891_92 23 miles Burnet to Lampasas in 1902 (these 23 miles were abandoned about 10 years ago.), .: ?he narrow gauge was changed to standard gauge soon atta!' the capitol building was completed. Ernest Langford, Archivi September 28, 1966 IT'S HISTORY The business of getting :to Houston and back was not always the sim- ple mattei OrboiPing in a car and taking off. Mr. Elmo V. Cook, county agricultural agent of Travis County, has recently sent to Archives through the courtesy of Mr. David Gault of Austin two let- ters written in 1877 by Mr. Gault's grandfather, David Gordon Mil- ler. Tin ivar 4877-78 was young Miller's first year at Texas A •& 14.1 and along ` ;in December he began to think about going hoot for the Chrietmas On December:10, 1877, he wrote hii < aother, among -other thing , this`nbti`conoerning railroad ftrii- Dear Mother the President announced to us this morning that he had seen' the gentlean in' charge of the Texas `Central at ` Bryan; the rate per smile will be two cts, that is two cts per mile going .6 (two cte returning., i Houston is just one hundred miles the round;ticket will be $4.00. The agent will e out at the College on the 20th of this aonth,to sell tick- ets.so you had better.:een&ke tht'money.,at once... The fur- ,y . .... lough will last term days. P. H. Please. •xcuen: bad writing. r We readily agree with young.Miller'a arithmetic but*e:'take a *cepiion -to his that he be .•xcuaed 'for his d •writing. ';;Tor his pen- manship is superb, beautiful, clear and crisp as if written only yea- , terday. Hie 'aliening and punctuation bother him at times•but there is nothing wrong .i.th.biswriting 'More is the. pity that those -of u of 80-odd years later fall short in the art of good penm -- of thi' kind written by David • Gordon Mi3ler in 1877. The old .Houston and Times Central Railroad in 'building from lioustow:::;.;:;?',' to Dallas reached College Station and IlrYiinAM 1867. ":Dallas Vies reached' in 1872; the first through train NOLuston to was run 41y16, 18724'.'f:! What ultimately came to be known as the International and G,rsat Northern Railroad; began ragialU sir! iCe Ahrti College Station on May '1. 1902. Tracks of the tie rai3.roads; 044' Dally parallel to etch other between ?b. • loss of all passenger revenue and a. decline in ,groigist reVsnuo ,jnisfed two '.rtitids to .begin negotiations about 1960 looking t overdo the sent of the I &GN trackage between the two cities. A petition to' 'abandon about 23 miles between .,College Station 'and . ... - Neivemota as approved 'Or thI 12Ei • Years ago the Southern Pacific boUght.the old g&TC. the•,,Mieeouri - • Pacific bought tbs.', Old WIN, and todai,, thee , .$1 1 .00 3 s ues ...SP ,treicks between . . , Bryan ansi Navaaota,f7and for freight ..servic‘ -golly. SP tracks, wormraised , .• ,.. .. . . about nine feet at - the grade neparatiOn.11966..:': . right.of.,wity... - Of 'th, old ISON reverted - to the college "ant .1*rts . 01 it were used for a/fot; lo ki lane highway and parking ts .jast west of - ' ..-:•• -4,4„',; . . . . . . ,.. . , . . .,-, .• .:;-...,,..,.,-,.,,,,,,,,...,„•-•, .,,, ,--_. . ' •-• ,,,:,.: - 11.0 .... . .. . ,. . . ' • '..•:•. 1 p,cpst 9 .-''' ' '-'• . - , IT'S EISTORT ' 4.4 .. "The #euston and Texas Central :Railroad runs through the g ottadl s daily traifl stopping at the station about 800 yards troy ie taaii, Thus the ool .eae = first announi od • rui.l service to Co11+ge £ itibn , In 490: he crate y y #'#�ab�Rne►3. nad 4�sa� tforth was ]pu�.t►= th�ottg k a buston . c• bean sibOorbsd ` nto rs` t t nS tra *r 3bstw oioatoa „ , Xn its hoyd r tht :OVY. ,ao aaieted of • 'f/4sg... lT'^�^ sees icara � .: pz i r us elided 'op'e a s+tari, 'at eb - coopers �4 " �` s pfa government do ete ottidals. On to "fitu l: run- as the last - pasmebger train to stop at Collegi station ths> • was r ducsd ` to a buail. ati ei is = ch Saar ! , 1 + e. rag ' ag on• to end of five m ail end baggsige care. But * loyal band roadere remeabersd brighter de tim the- train's 8.teeel- Wiled a` banns ',8uubeaan .wan - th e .,f nset; train on the . Houeton- atade the 260 -odd eailee Sh .,as :aany 11 f e * Passenger trains . wao the ,SF's. O I- 'orertAgh Soya 3�aaYi'c, thy► geaop! bi . Mum ITI S H2$TQ T rt Page 4, Section A, Thursday, June 15, 1989 ;Brazos Valley Living Bootmaker carries on A &M, family Pal ch• By Gabrielle Lege PRESS Columnist As the early morning sun ;slowly lights Texas A &M Univer- :sity, and a morning bugle calls, one can almost hear the immortal :words: "Once upon a time long, long ago . . ." The sound of horse and buggy rattle down a little dirt road that separated the campus from a few country stores; the echo of Lawrence Sullivan Ross' footsteps across a campus that lives steeped in legend and faded black and white photos; and sounds of the first Mr. ' Holick in his shoe repair shop in the corp dorms. Nearly 100 years later, the sun still rises on the campus, the paved road is used by cars instead of L horses; President Mobley's steps have replaced those of Governor Ross; and what was a block of three or four country stores is now a neighborhood of shops. Throughout it all, one thing has not changed -- a Holick is still . making boots and repairing shoes for the Corp of Cadets at Texas A &M. The Holick's Boot Makers and Insignia Mfg. of today is a small shop on College Main N. run by Mr. Johnnie Holick and his wife Dorothy. "My father was from Prague, which is now Czechoslovakia," Johnnie began. "He studied in Vi- enna to be a shoemaker. When he left [Europe], he came to Kansas and worked as a farm hand, but he got tired of that and, on hearing that there was work at a timber com- pany in Orange, Texas, he set out for there. About the only real way to get around then was by trains so, he Etf> 'train. One mornit'be woke up to find his car had been switched off at a station. He got off, found out he was in Bryanand decided to stay since he had a great uncle here. "You and I wouldn't be sitting here if it weren't for that. Guess it just goes to show how one thing can change so many lives." Johnnie is a native of Bryan and Dorothy is from Montana. "I was raised in Omaha, Ne- braska and met Johnnie in Omaha and moved to Texas," Dorothy said. Johnnie and Dorothy met and married in 1940 in Omaha while Johnnie was travelling there. "I knew I loved him when he kissed me. "Johnnie was taking me home and helping me pick my sister up from the railroad station. When we went to pick up my sister, we missed the train so, he took me home. I didn't know he was going to kiss me good night but, when he did, I knew I loved him," she smiled. "He asked my parents first be- fore he proposed," she laughed. "I know it's not being done now but, it wasn't done then either. We moved here after we were married and, we have been here ever since. I moved down here first before we were married to see where I would be living and, I fell in love with the little town. It was little then. "If we survive a little longer we will be having our 50th wedding anniversary in two more years," Johnnie grinned. The Holicks have three daugh- ters -- Cookie, Cathy and Billy June. Cookie was a school teacher for 13 years but, now works at the shop, as does Cathy. Billy June lives in Wimbelley, Texas with her husband and, helps run their phar- macy. The Holicks also have seven grandchildren and four great- grand- children. Johnnie was originally a musi- cian. "I worked for theater orchestras. My first job was in Liberty, Texas as a theater musician. I wasn't so good at the way they had to play. "My next job was in Fort Worth as a vaudeville musician. We'd re- hearse for a couple of hours then put on the show," he said. Johnnie played the flute and ' IN THE PRESS.P' tradition "We had to learn several things because we had to switch to differ- ent instruments during a show," he said. "My dad was a musician and he taught us to play but, I had to learn mostly on my own. W nen I was 16, I had a teacher for six months who taught me a lot but, I had to work," he said. Johnnie started playing in or- chestras when he was 11 years old and often played in the Queen The- ater in Downtown Bryan. He would also play in local dance bands and summer orchestras when they had plays at Texas A &M. "I was a musician for about a period of 15 or 20 years," he said. "After a while that kind of thing just faded away. I got into music just when things were about to happen. There was the advent of sound movies and all the theater musicians lost their job. I decided not to take any traveling jobs and came to work for my father who had a flourishing business at the time." Johnnie said that from time to time he misses being a musician but not as much as he used to. Up until he was 67, Johnnie played with local orchestras to fulfill his love of music. Instead of a career in music, Johnnie took it upon himself to travel and learn how to make shoes. In 1932, Johnnie began helping his father make cowboy boots and Ag- gie boots. "I took it as a new adventure; it was something I was very interested in," he smiled. "For a long time we made cowboy boots and orthopedic shoes and pretty soon we had too much to handle and couldn't find any one to carry on so, we quit that but by that time, in 1958, I had started my insignia business and I spent practically all my time on that." The name plates that the Air Force used were sewn onto the uni- form and were ruined in the wash so, Johnnie devised a plastic pocket that held the name tag and could stand up to washing. "I discovered that I was dealing with a close -knit group and every- time someone saw something new they wanted to know about it. It was like someone carrying a banner Johnnie Holick and his wife Dorothy. Johnnie said. He also developed washable insignia for military uni- forms that has been very successful. "The boot- making business was never something you made much money from. It was something you got by with if you were lucky. We never made a lot of money out of it but, we are very proud of it, and we went to keep it going. The insignia business is what has been prof- itable." At the store Dorothy takes care of the payroll and bookkeeping. Johnnie primarily supervises the work done and assists customers with special needs. "I was never fond of being en- gaged in a daily occupation and I often thought that I would quit when I was 65, but I'm 82 right now and still find that I need to be at it and I enjoy doing it," he said. "I have good contact with my customers and I enjoy meeting the Aggies and the young men that come in here. "I had an illness that caused some back trouble about a year and a half ago and had to go into the hospital and have an operation that kept me away from the shop for about six or eight weeks. Some boys representing Aggie groups came to visit me. A group of boot makers came to visit me and you should see the get -well card they sent me. It was a life -size pin -up girl scarcely clad that they had all inscribed." hobbies. Dorothy collects dolls and has six pets -- two dogs, two cats, a turtle and a Cardinal. "We have always had lot of pets. I found the bird as a baby in the street and didn't have any recourse but to take it home. Dorothy has always taken well to animals and she raised the bird. It's been with us about 10 years now," Johnnie said. Dorothy has also made stuffed ani- mals out of leather and done some drawing. "I just started reading up on dolls and going to shows and sales and things about dolls and they just multiplied," Dorothy laughed. "But, I don't collect them any more. I ran out of places to keep them." Besides being a musician, John- nie did some hunting. After a while he began to have mixed feelings about the sport, so he took up skeet shooting. "I went to some world skeet shoots in San Antonio about five or six times and brought home some trophies," he said. Johnnie plans to travel to San Antonio or Houston after he recovers further from his illness to do more skeet shooting. Although the Holicks enjoy their pets and hobbies, they love the business the most. "I am really proud of the boot - making business," Johnnie said. "I have trained many people in it who have in turn trained other people, and I have worked hard. I hope that the business will continue after I "The railroad's coming!" In the middle of the last century, those words created a flurry of ex- citement and an economic boom wherever they were heard. Such was the case in Bryan. In the late 1850s, the Houston & Texas Central Railroad wanted to extend its line through Brazos County, crossing lands held by pi- oneer William Joel Bryan. Bryan, who was a nephew of Stephen F Austin and a member of Austin's "Old 300" colony, offered right -of- way to the railroad for just one dollar. A year later, in 1860, he sold a one -mile square tcwnsite for $3,200 to two of the railroad's di- rectors, who named t'ie new city in his honor. Before long, speculators arrived and the price of real estate around the courthouse skyrocketed. Shrewd local businessmen said "Thanks, but no thanks" to those high prices and built their busi- nesses along the west side of the railroad tracks where the real es- tate was cheaper. Today, Bryan's lack of a traditional town square around the courthouse reflects those business decisions made over 100 years ago. Scarcely had the little town been founded than the outbreak of the Civil War brought any further de- velopment in Bryan to a grinding halt. Although Bryan replaced Boonville in October 1886 as the county seat, it was not until 1871 that the town was even incorporated. After the Civil War ended, rail- road construction was resumed, and in 1867, the first train pulled into town. Another communica- tions link — the first telegraph — was installed that same year. Once it began, rail service to- gether with agriculture — par- ticularly cotton from the Brazos bottom — gave Bryan a prosperity many other Central Texas towns could only envy. Main Street was built wide enough for a driver to turn a five -yoke oxen team and was soon lined with attractive brick 10 Community Access Magazine shops that replaced the original frame stores. Like many railroad towns, Bryan was a rough- and - tumble place in those early days. With two saloons per block and countless gambling halls, a lawman's job was never done. The town's jail, which stood on 15 -foot poles and was known as the Sky Parlor, proved essential in keeping the peace among the grow- ing and often lawless post -war population. But Bryan soon showed signs of outgrowing its "Wild West" begin- nings and becoming a solid com- munity and an important economic force in Central Texas. Religion probably played a part in "taming" the frontier spirit. Bryan got its first Baptist church and an Episco- pal parish before the city was even incorporated, and it had a Catholic church by the early 1870s. Other faiths soon followed. In addition, the town's citizens soon showed a keen interest in ed- ucation. Shortly after Bryan was founded, space was rented in town for private schools. Before long, the Bryan Male and Female Semi- nary was founded under a charter by the state, and in 1872, it was joined by the Odd Fellows Univer- sity and Orphan's Home. Allen Academy, which soon joined the ranks of Bryan's private schools, is now the state's oldest boys' pre- From Iron Horses to Oil Fields The railroad brought . Bryan into being. Agriculture, Texas A &M University and oil made it grow. paratory school. Today, this com- mitment to education lives on in nearby Texas A &M University and a host of private schools and other educational institutions. Bryan's potential was so clear that it attracted this editorial com- ment by the Galveston Daily News in 1867: "... this place is still rapidly settling up and improving, . From present appearances and indications, it is destined to be a place of considerable importance ...." In the early days, the railroad fueled Bryan's economy. A more recent economic boost came from the oil industry. Although many other parts of Texas relied heavily on the oil industry almost from the days of Spindletop, our area did not sec significant oil activity until the 1970s. But between 1976 and 1979, I; We stsa r 0. . 4 i t - - ;;6 tt � T� • oil production in Brazos County soared by nearly 500 percent, and between 1981 and 1982, production tripled. Oil activity peaked in 1983 and has dropped since then. But both because of the economic ac- tivity it created and because the City of Bryan is itself a royalty - owner, the oil industry has helped shape the city's development. From its Wild West beginnings to the recent oil boom days to today's era of aggressive economic develop- ment, Bryan has proven to he a city that knows how to adapt to meet the demands of changing times. The earliest Anglo American settlers in the Brazos Valley were members of Stephen F. Austin's first colony of 300 families. They built plantations along the rich river bottoms and cultivated cotton. • 1821 — Austin's colony arrives, many settling at what will become Washington -on- the - Brazos and Washington County. 1824 — James Hope . and the Millicans receive the first title to land in Brazos County from Mexico. 1830 — Lt. Col. Jose Francisco Ruiz establishes Fort Tenoxtitlan on the east bank of the Brazos a quarter of a league from the Old San Antonio Road. Later that year, he moved the post across the river to some springs in what is now Burleson County. The fort was closed in 1832. — The same year, a law of the Mex- ican Congress annuls the Nashville Company of the Robertson Colony. Dr. Felix Roberts was president and his cousin, Sterling C. Robertson, and Sam Houston were members. — Also the same year, the town site for Washington -on- the - Brazos was laid out, and in 1833, the first home was built. 1832 — The once friendly Indians become hostile to the settlers at the in- stigation of Mexicans. — Also that year, the Nashville Cmmnanv establishes Fort Nashville named after George Washington. — The same year the Congress of Texas creates Robertson County from the part of Milam County east of the Brazos River. 1840 — Caldwell is founded by Lewis Chiles and named for Mathew "Old Paint" Caldwell, an Indian scout and a signer of the state's Declaration of Independence. 1841 — As the result of a petition, Navasota County is created between the northern triangle of the Brazos and Navasota rivers, adding 15,000 acres from Robertson County. — A year later, Navasota County is renamed for its other river, the Brazos. Boonville was the county seat. The town got its name from Mordicia Boon Sr., a relative of Daniel Boone. At this time the people of the county lived in log cabins; they had no jail, courthouse, post office or mail route. They did have Harvey Mitchell teaching the children in the home of Richard Carter. According to Hiram Hanover's county tax rolls; there were 1,161 head of cattle, 127 horses and mules, 76 slaves, 7 silver watches, 2 gold watches, 45 families, 3 clocks and $1,850 on loan for interest. — The first district court hearing also was held in Brazos County in 1841, with Judge ; R.E.B. Baylor presiding underneath - a large tree. The Brazos Valley Almanac Chronology mentioned on Brazos County tax rolls. 1853 — Madison County is formed from Walker, Grimes and Leon coun- ties. 1856 — Dan Mosely sets up a ferry on the Brazos River at the point where the International and Great Northern railroads cross, facilitating trade with other parts of the state. 1860 — William Joel Bryan sells 640 Sunday, January 30, 1983 page 63 Downtown Bryan on a typically hot July 3rd in 1876. was the only man killed in action dur- ing the course of the war. The com- pany disbanded in 1865 at Moseley's Ferry in Brazos County. May, 1863 — Times were so hard that the Brazos County commissioners court ordered the treasurer to pay 75 cents a week for 13 weeks to any family with a son or husband in the war. Dec. 9, 1864 — Brazos commis- the Robertson Colony. Dr. ' Roberts was president and his cousin, Sterling C. Robertson, and Sam Houston were members. — Also the same year, the town site for Washington -on- the - Brazos was laid out, and in 1833, the first home was built. 1832 — The once friendly Indians become hostile to the settlers at the in- stigation of Mexicans. — Also that year, the Nashville 1 Company establishes Fort Nashville p near present day Hearne. f 1833 — Henry Fanthrcp settles and 1 opens an inn in what will later be d Anderson, the county seat of Grimes h County. Anderson was created in 1949 and named after Kenneth Anderson, W the last vice president of the republic, Ri who died in Fanthrop's Inn while on a th trip. - co 1834 - Dunns Fort is constructed a 18 mile off the OSR in Robertson County to combat the Indian situation cc — Sterling Robertson is designated tr empresario of what became known as ro the Robertson Colony. sh 1835 — The Washington municipali- ty is formed, and includes present day sam Brazos County. Mt. Vernon is named Th county seat. G March 2, 1836 — Texas declares its independence from Mexico. The Texas Ro Declaration of Independence and con- to i stitution for the Republic of Texas is drafted at Washington -on- the - Brazos. fur March 20, 1836 — Washington is Gal evacuated because of the approach of He the Mexican army which had overrun frei the Alamo March 6. — During the same "runaway scrape," Brazos County residents evacuated their homes. Millican, 86, died of pneumonia and measles after the flight and was buried on the banks stag of the Trinity. Ho 18j7 — Washington County is form - Cou ed from a Mexican municipality and 1 post office or mail ro They did have Harvey Mit teaching the children in the honk, Richard Carter. According to Hiram Hanov county tax rolls, there were 1,161 h of cattle, 127 horses and mules, slaves, 7 silver watches, 2 gold watch 45 families, 3 clocks and $1,850 loan for interest. — The first district court hear also was held in Brazos County 841, with Judge R.E.B. - Bay residing underneath a large tree. T first county courthouse was finis ater that year. It had no floor or w ows, and wooden pegs instead of na eld it together. 1844 — Brenham is established ashington County and named aft chard Fox Brenham, a member e Mier Expedition. The city is t unty seat and was incorporated 58. 1846 — The second Brazos Coun urthouse is built with a $150 co act. It had river oak boards on i of .and was known as "the boa ant Grimes • County is formed th e year from Montgomery County e county was named after Justi rimes. Leon County also was carved from bertson County, which was reduced is current boundaries. Early 1850s — Henry Kurten o lough from the German Army visits eston and d ecides to stay in Texas settles northeast of Bryan. He ghted cotton to - Mexico during the Civil War, promoted German im- migration and later donated land and built a schoolhouse for the Kurten community. — Al arty as 1850, ecoaches are available from uston to Boonville into Robertson nty. 852 — First grist mill for corn is T er's ead 76 es, on ing in for he h.ed in- ils in er of he in M J ty 18 n- m is P rd se e A n Ba an ext do n the es • died mentioned on Brazos County tax rolls. 1853 — Madison County is formed from Walker, Grimes and Leon coun- ties. 1856 — Dan Mosely sets up a ferry on the Brazos River at the point where the International and Great Northern railroads cross, facilitating trade with other parts of the state. 1860 William Joel Bryan sells 640 acres to A. Groesbeck and TWW.R. Baker for $3,200 to create a c `wnsirip. Bryan was founded to be a central location for the railroads coming into the Brazos Valley area. That same year, the Houston and Texas Central Railroad reached Millican. • Bryan was born in Sainte Geneviev o., Dec. 14, 1815. He was the son ames and Emily (Austin) Bryan. I 31 he moved to Texas with h other and stepfather, James erry. He enlisted in the Texas Army an rved with his uncle, Stephen F ustin. He fought during the siege o xar, but was ill at the time of th the of San Jacinto. In 1840 he married Lavinia Perry d settled at Durazno Plantation, an ension of the Peach Point Plan n. He had seven children, fought i Confederate Army and helped tablish the First National Bank. H March 13 1861 - Robert Calvert and James S Hanna contract with the Houston Texas Central Railroad and two years later Calvert is founded. Feb. 23, 1861 — Brazos County votes 215 to 44 to secede from the Union. Brazos County men form Com- pany I of the 21st Texas Cavalry. Company I was transferred to the front line between Missouri and Arkansas in 1862. T.I. Mawhinney e, of n is Downtown Bryan on a typically hot July 3rd in 1876. was the only man killed in action dur- ing the course of the war. The com- pany disbanded in 1865 at Moseley's Ferry in Brazos County. May, 1863 — Times were so hard that the Brazos County commissioners court ordered the treasurer to pay 75 cents a week for 13 weeks to any family with a son or husband in the war. . Dec. 9, 1864 — Brazos commis- sioners levy a cent tax on every $100 valuation of property. The tax was col - lected in corn, bacon, woof and cotton, all of.- which was distributed to the poor. 1865. - Federal soldiers take over Brazos County, with several hundred stationed in Millican and Bryan. 1866 .- Bryan becomes the county seat, and the post office moves from Boonville to Bryan. - F. 1866 — The First Christian Church is established. An Episcopalian mission d at Millican and a Baptist Assembly, • called the Bryan Baptist Church, are f established in the same time period. e Early religion in the Brazos Valley dates back at least as far as visits from a Methodist pioneer preacher on the Navasota River in 1843. �- Catholic priests visited the area in n • the 1860s. St. Joseph's Catholic Church was built in 1878 partially in e response to a large • Italian immigrant population. • 1867 — The community of Wellborn is established. — And that same year, the Houston and Texas Central Railroad reaches Bryan from Millican, and the first telegraph line is installed. Early Bryan was a rowdy town. It is said that every third building on Main Street was a saloon, with one on every corner for good measure. Everything stayed open on Sunday. • 416a; w DI it LOS v alloy 111111anac .unuay, JanuarystvlY8.3 ........ !Brazos Valley Chronology Zoning got off to a bumpy start from the beginning. Speculators gained control of the lots around the cour- thouse, anticipating to sell them at ex- orbitant rates, but businessmen decid- ed to build west of the tracks along what became known as Main and Bryan streets. Comfortable, two -story homes were built around the cour- thouse. The "Bryan Sky Parlor," or first jail, was built in 1867. The building was 15 feet up into the air and rested on four logs. 1868 — Strained relations between whites and blacks lead to a race riot in Millican. Apparently the riot began with a rumor that a black man had been lyn- ched and his body left hanging on a tree. An armed band of black men formed to march on the lynchers. On their way, they met up with the sheriff and a posse. The sheriff stop- ped to talk to the black minister leading the group. - Reportedly, a black man accidental- ly discharged his gun and a fight en- sued. That day, 500 men from Bryan drove into Millican to fight the blacks. The rioting .lasted for several days and at the end, 20 blacks were killed, and 80 wounded. Four white men were killed. Early 1870s = A colonu of people from Georgia founded Little. Gerogia, later known as Reliance. Nov. 29, 1871 — The Texas Legislature incorporates the City of Bryan. 1874 — Lew Van Hook becomes the first murderer indicted in the county's district court. He received a five -year prison sentence. 1875.— Frank Hammons becomes the first convicted murderer to die on the gallows. Oct. 4, 1876 - Gov. Richard Cole dedicates the Texas Agricultural and Mechanical College. Military training and classes were held in one of the two buildings on the gounds. 1876 — Brazos Pllot begins publica- ++ +44.44+4 '4'4" * Any time of year, • shop Yarbrough's 43 :seasonal gifts 23° party decorations 1 .900pnt ;tPmc tion. 1877 — An annual property 'tax is levied to establish a public school system, and a new county jail is built. 1879 — The Harvey Community, named in honor of Harvey gitchell, is formed. 1880 -1890 — The Gulf, Colorado, Sante Fe and Hearne and Brazos Valley railroads were added and brought settlers to the area. 1880 — The first public school opens in Bryan. 1882 — The First Baptist Church moves to its current location at East 27th Street and Washington. 1883 — The Tabor Communityn named for John J. Tabor, is founded 10 miles north of Bryan. 1885 — Smetana is founded by Bohemian immigrants. 1886 — The First National Bank of Bryan is chartered. 1889 — Bryan Water Inc. and Elec- tric Light Company INc. are con- tracted to furnish water. -- The Merchants and Planters Na- tional Bank is established and later reorganized in 1902 as City National Bank. 1893 — The Bryan Morning Eagle begins publication. 1894 — A &M plays its first football game against Galveston Ball and wins 14 -6, but loses later to Texas, 0 to 38. 1899 — The Brazos Flood of 1899: Between June 17 and . and June 28 average rainfall of 8.9 inches fell over 66,000 square miles, causing the Brazos River to overflow, inundating 12,000 square miles of land. The flood killed 284 people and left thousands homeless. The highest recorded stage of the river was in Hearne. — That same year a smallpox epidemic invaded Bryan, forcing the town to set up a two -room "pest house" built for those who could not be safely quarantined at home. — The Allen Academy, founded in Madisonville, moved to Bryan. 1900 — The International and Great Northern Railroad reaches Bryan. 1901 — The first automobile comes to Bryan. It was owned by M. ' NTERNATI Tr RAVEL S ERVIC Brazos Valley Chronolog Boneville and was a red Oldsmobile, known as "Locomobile" to the natives. — That same year, the Villa Maria Ursuline Academy for Girls moves to Bryan from Galveston. 1902 — The Carnegie Library is founded on a $10,000 grant. 1903 — The Brazos County Bulletin and Brazos County Signal (a prohibi- tionist newspaper) begin publication. — And the same year, the Baptists of Bryan establish Texas Women's College. 1906 — City sets 8 mph speed limit. 1907 Rural free delivery mail ser- vice is established out of Bryan. 1908 - A Board of Health is created for the city and William Parker is elected first county school superinten- dent. — Goodwin Hall is constructed, the oldest remaining building on the A &M campus. The Academic Building and the Old Board of Directors Home were built in 1912. 1909 — The city hall and fire depart- ment, both in the same building, burn down destroying numerous city records. — A sewer system is installed to serve the business district. — The First State BAnk and Trust Company is founded. — And, the Texas Women's College becomes the Bryan Baptist Academy, operated by the Baptist General Con- vention. • 1 1910 — The Bryan - College Sta- tionlnterurban train begins operaton between Bryan and Texas A &M University, a distance of five miles. — The Bryan Eagle becomes the suc- cessor to the Eagle and Pilot. 1911 — The city purchases an elec- tric distribution system and the 11 th grade is added to the public school cur- riculum. 1912 Calvert claims to have the largest cotton gin in the world owned by the Gibson Gin and Oil Co. 1913 — Modern sewage disposal plant is installed for the westernpart of the city, the first auto truck is purchas- ed for the ' fire department, and the Bryan Daily Eagle succeeds the Bryan Eagle. 1914 Tie city sets a 25 -cent registration for automobiles and sets a 15 mph speed limit downtown and 18 mph limit elsewhere. 1915 — Free city delivery of mail begins. 1917 — Brya adopts a commission - manager form of government and Allen Academy becomes a military school. 1918 — The first telephone is install- ed in Bryan and College Station. One is in the J.S. FAwlkes Building and the other in the Company Bank Building. The public can use the phone free of charge. 1919 — Brazos County votes 723 to 559 in favor of prohibition. 1920s — During this decade, College i 1PiJRN Brazos Valley Almanac , Sunday, January 30, 1983 Page E5 Station, before only a flag stop on the railroad, begins developing a shopping area and becomes more of a communi- ty. 1920 — The Warren Oil Company of Illinois erects first oil derrick on J.S. Mooring Plantation near the cotton gin. It later proves t be a dry hole. 1922 — Bryan High School wins the first UIL state championship game Page 66 Brazos Valley Almanac IIIIBrazos Valley Chronology ever played. 192 — Brazos County citizens ap- prove a $1.1 million bond issue to build a highway system. As late as 1920 there was not.a mile of paved highway withiti the county. 1938 — A petition is circulated to create College Station. In 1939 the city received its charter. Its first city hall was above the present University Studio, then'known as Sosolik's. 4 1982 -- Jan. 8 — St. Joseph Hospital officials, citing the area's rapid growth, announce plans for an S8.4 million expansion. Jan. 12 — Schools close in Bryan, College Sta- tion and numerous other Brazos Valley schools after natural gas was curtailed statewide. Jan. 13 — The third day of snow and cold weather continued to disrupt life in the Brazos Valley. Jan. 15 — University of Michigan Head.foot- ball coach G.E. "Bo" Schembechler turns down a reported 10 -year, $2.25 million offer to become had football coach and . athletic director at Texas A&M. Jan. 16 — Bryan Hospital confirms it is also planning an expansion — a $10 million project that will double the size of the hospital and add an emergency room and a maternity ward. A state commission in August approves St. Joseph Hospital's planned expansion, but rejects Bryan's. Jan. 19 — University of Pittsburgh head foot- ball coach Jackie Sherrill is hired as head coach and athletic director at Texas A&M and given a five -year contract reportedly worth $240,000 a year. Coach Tom Wilson is fired and enters private business in Bryan- College Station. Jan. 20 — H.R. "Bum" Bright, chairman of the Texas A&M Board of Regents heatedly denies press reports that he masterminded the fir- ing of Aggie head football coach Tom Wilson and the hiring of Jackie Sherrill as head coach and athletic director. Jan. 21 — District Attorney Travis Bryan III announces that he no longer will cooperate with the plea system devised by the district judges for- cing all cases to be tried before a jury. Bryan and the judges eventually compromised and the prac- tice of plea bargaining returned. Jan. 26 — Dr. Frank Hubert, chancellor of the Texas A &M University System since 1979, an- nounces that he will retire effective Aug. 31. Jan. 29 — College Station became one of the few cities in Texas to employ its own energy auditor, Tim Layne, whose job is designed to help homeowners save money on their fuel bills. Jan.-29 — Texas A&M President Frank Van- diver reportedly expresses regret at the manner in which head football coach Tom Wilson was fired and offers to resign during a closed -door session of the university's Academic Council. Members of the council, which is made primarily of A &M administrators, respond with an informal vote of confidence. Jan. 29 - Karl Dahlstrom and four associates of the College Station America Law Association are convicted of fraud and conspiracy against the Internal Revenue Service. Dahlstrom is given a NATURAL FOODS 213 West 26th Street Sunday, January 30, 1983 CALICO' five -year prison sentence, a $35,000 fine and five years of probation to serve once he is released from prison. Feb. 8 — College Station school trustees say they've saved taxpayers about S2.8 million by delaying for one month the sale of $15.5 million in bonds. Feb. 24 — Texas A &M University officials knock down the last of the Army surplus bar- racks that served as married student housing at the school for more than 34 years. Feb. 28 — The Magna Carta. the 13th century English document that is considered a landmark in the history of civil liberties, goes on display for three days at Texas A&M. Mar. 16 - "Big Boy," a 1,255 -pound Sim- I mental, is named grand champion steer at the Brazos County Youth Livestock Show. "Big Boy" brings $5,598 at auction for his owner, James "Tres" Watson, a 17- year -old senior at Bryan High School. Mar. 16 — Dr. Daniel Pfannstiel, director of the Texas Agricultural Extension Service since 1976, is fired. Dr. Perry Adkisson, deputy chancellor for agriculture, says he and the chancellor concluded the agency "could benefit from a change in leadership." In June A&M regents name animal science professor Zerle L. Carpenter to the post. Mar. 17 Somerville City Council votes to lease Welch Park, which was threatened in February with closing due to federal budget cuts. Mar. 18 - Iola voters okay a $1.75 million school bond issue — the first such project voters have approved in 20 years. Mar. 23 — Texas A&M regents appoint a com- mittee to oversee the development of a high - technology research park under the auspices of the university. Mar. 23 — Former Purdue President Arthur Hansen, 57, is named chancellor of the Texas A&M University System, effective July 1. Mar. 25 — Brenham City Manager Johnny Smith resigns, and he and city commissioners won't say why. Mar. 27 — Bryan school trustees Travis Bryan, Jr. and Dr. James Stegall are unopposed in their bids for re-election to the school board. Stegall is later elected president. April 3 — In College Station school board elections, challenger Joe Templeton beats incum- bent Herman Brown in a run -off; Chuck Giam- mona wins in a run -off with incumbent Ann Jones, whom he tied in the April 3 election. April 3 — Veteran College Station city coun- cilman Jim Dozier was upset at the ballot box by Lynn Nemec and Bryan city councilman John Mobley was forced into a runoff election, which he later won against Andy Herrera. Bryan voters also approved a $10 million sewer bond issue and legalized bingo. In Brenham, voters toss 10 -year- incumbent Leslie Clayton out of the mayor's of- fice and elect Dorothy Flisowski as the city's first woman mayor. Apr. 8 — For the first time in its history, Col- lege Station opened up a developed area of the ci- ty to oil and gas exploration. Apr. 14 — Jackie Goff is given 90 -year prison sentence for the brutal stabbing death of Thomas Joeph Knoedl outside the Blue Dolphin nightclub. Apr. 27 — Texas A &M President Frank Van- diver appoints an 11- member faculty committee to develop a plan to increase the number of minority faculty and graduate students at A &M. Apr. 28 — Leroy Loesch pleads guilty to — Brazos Valley Chronology charges he forged a bank note. He agrees to pay back First National Bank, where he was formerly the president, and is given a 10 -year probated sentence and ordered to pay a 52,000 fine. May 1 — Thirteen of Allen Academy's 32 teachers are laid off, effective May 31, as a result of the closing of the 63- year-old military phase of the school. May 1 — Phil Gramm easily wins the Democratic nomination for the 6th Congres- sional district. Assistant District Attorney Carolyn Ruffino handily wins the Democratic nomination for the County Court at -Law judgeship. In the other major contested county race, Milton Turner beats Antone Dobrovolny in a runoff for the Precinct 4 commissioner Democratic nomination. May 6 — A proposed constitution for a faculty senate at Texas A&M is submitted to the faculty for comment. May 7 — The headquarters of the Texas Municipal Power Agency will be moved to Carlos by Jan. 1. May 7 College Station school trustees nar- rowly approve plans to begin construction of the Southwood Valley Elementary School. May 10 - Texas Department of Corrections closes its doors to new prisoners, contending that admitting any more would be in violation of a federal court order. TDC reopens its gates after getting the help of a stepped -up parole program and the promise of additional facilities. May 20 — Texas A&M officials confirm that the state attorney general has ruled the university cannot legally lease any part of the main A&M campus — a ruling that effectively kills a pro- posal by a group bf Houston developers to build a Hilton hotel on campus. May 24 — College Station school trustees ask administrators to draft a policy for using drug sniffer dogs in all schools. May 25 — Bryan High School holds gradua- tion ceremonies for about 550 seniors. May 26 — Jim McAlister, former city manager in Huntsville, is hired for that post in Brenham. May 27 — College Station school board awards more than 58.4 million in construction bids for remodeling and expansion of A&M Con- solidated High School and renovation work at two elementary schools and a pre - school facility. All are part of a S15.5 million bid package ap- proved by voters last October. May 28 — About 260• A &M Consolidated High School seniors receive their diplomas. May 28 — The Public Utilities Commission in Austin rejects a Houston Lighting and Power Company request to string a 115 -mile high voltage line across the Brazos Valley. May 31 — A committee of Texas A &M of- ficials developing a university - related industrial park agree that upgrading Bryan- Collge Station airport facilities is a top priority. June 5 — L.B. Kubiak beats Hub Baker in the Democratic nomination for the State Represen- tative's seat in District °13. June 5 — College Station school officials notify trustees that A&M Consolidated High School has several major fire code violations that make the building a firetrap. June 7 — Registration for the first summer session totals a record 13,340 students. June 10 — Three men die at a Bryan oil rig site when they are overcome by toxic fumes in a storage tank. June 11 — Texas A&M regents approve a plan to build a 51.2 million chancellor's residence on the West Campus of the university. The board also approves building a new S8.4 million system administration building just north of the main campus. June 13 — The College Station Community Center opened after a Sl million renovation of the former school building. June 14 — College Station school superinten- dent Dr. Bruce Anderson resigns, effective Jan. 1, 1983. June 28 — Texas A&M President Frank Van- diver confirms that he has requested and received the resignations of two A&M vice presidents. Vandiver abolished the positions held by Vice President for Planning Charles Samson and Vice President for International Affairs T.R. Greathouse as part of a shakeup of the universi- ty's upper administrative structure. June 29 — Hubert Nelson, who for 13 years was the only director of planning Bryan ever had, resigned to go into business with a private developer. July 10 — Cindy Green, a 19- year -old junior at Texas A&M, is named fourth runnerup in the Miss Texas pageant in Fort Worth. July 20 — The state's attorney general sues Bryan-based Trailite Inc., a manufacturer of livestock trailers for consumer fraud and viola- YOU NEED A FRIEND IN THE PHOTO BUSINESS * Lost in the camera Jungle? * Falling prey toward Brazos Valley Almanac tions of the deceptive trade practices act. July 20 — A &M Consolidated Honor Choir returns from Vienna, Austria with a third place award in the International Youth and Music Festival. July 26 — Sandra Parker is named principal at A&M Consolidated High School. Aug. 1 — Wallace Pack 1I prison unit opens in Navasota. Aug. 9 — The Lone Star Gas Co. files a re- quest for an 11.38 percent rate hike in Bryan and an 8.77 percent rate hike in College Station. ' After negotiations between the gas company and the two cities, hikes of 6.7 percent and 5.2 per- cent respectively are agr5ed upon in November. Aug. 13 — Soul singer Joe Tex, 47, of Navasota, dies of heart failure. Aug. 16 — College Station school trustees hire assistant superintendent Dr. Dick Burnett to suc- ceed Anderson as district superintendent. Aug. 20 — Ed Wagoner, the city manager of Tyler, is named general manager of the Texas Municipal Power Agency, a power consortium made up of Bryan and three other cities. Bill Elkins of Greenville, who was president of the board of directors and acting general manager, had earlier announced his retirement from the agency to go into private business. Aug. 31 — The state of Texas files suit against Conroe developer Russell Wiggins because of an inadequate water system at his Cade Lake sub- division in Caldwell. A later agreement gave him 30 days to improve it, but he failed to do it. The case is still pending. Sept. 8 — The Pennwalt Corp. announces plans to refill two Bryan lakes once con- taminated by arsenic during production of agricultural chemicals dating back to the 1940s. Sept. -21 — The Bryan Historic Landmark Commission holds the first meeting on an ap- plication to form the Eastside Historical District, the first such protected district in the city. Sept. 29 — Johnny Neece, chief appraiser of the Brazos Central Appraisal District, announces his resignation because of a personality conflict with two officials in the College Station school district. Later he is replaced by Buddy Winn, the •county tax assessor - collector. Oct. 1 — The Bryan city government is reorganized to place five departments under the direct control of the city manager and six others under the newly created position of deputy city manager. Oct. 15 — A prisoner in the Washington County jail hangs himself hours after he rocieves Sunday, January 30, 1983 Page 67 a life sentence for a hatchet assault on a Lake Somerville camper. Oct. 22 — A Lee County state district court judge convenes a court of inquiry to investigate 531.5 million in oil revenue, , missing from private landowners locally, a Dallas -based oil company and the Defense Department. Nov. 2 — L.B. Kubiak is elected District 13 state representative. He attributes his victory to ' his brother, the lame duck candidate Dan Kubiak. Nov. 4 — Former Robertson County Sheriff Howard Arthur Stegall died of a heart attack. Nov. 12 — The city of College Station is notified that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has granted its wholesale electric supplier a rate hike of about 14 percent retroac- tive to July 11. Nov. 15 — Some Calvert residents claim their kids are eating weevil- infested food in the school cafeteria. A health inspector verifies that. A committee named to investigates allegations of racist remarks by the school superintendent asks that he resign, but the board ignores the request. Nov. 18 — The Texas Historical Commission selects Brenham to join the Main Street historical renovation program, one of five towns selected this year. Nov. 22 — The Bryan City Council begins discussion of a comprehensive franchise or- dinance that would enable the creation of a pipeline network for oil and gas within the city. Nov. 23 — The Calvert school board president resigns, citing family health problems. Within a month, another board member will resign. Nov. 26 — Two cattle stampede from a Bryan meat packing plant- and steer towards College Station. The animals are rounded up a day later. Dec. 6 — Charles Brooks of Fort Worth is ex- ecuted by lethal injection at the Texas Depart- ment of Corrections Walls Unit prison in Hunt- sville. Dec. 8 — StageCenter receives 510,000 in seed money from College Station to start its 5400,000 fund drive for a new 250 -seat theater next to the old City Hall. Dec. 13 — Bryan purchases a 606 -acre tract of land west of the city for 52.14 million for use as an industrial park. Dec. 24 — Five persons are killed when their pickup truck collides head -on with another pickup in the southern end of College Station. Dead are Everett Franze of Bryan, his wife Sher - ran, their son Jody and Sherran's grandparents, Thad and Minnie Davis of Corpus Christi After a century, trolley cars return to streets of Bryan By Greg Huchingson PRESS Editor Nearly a century after a trolley system first hauled citizens of Bryan up and down Texas Avenue, public transportation has returned to the Brazos Valley. In the early 1890s, local citizens travelled on a trolley system which operated on tracks. Two weeks ago, rubber - wheeled replicas of those same trolleys began reappearing all over town. And based on the performance of its first two weeks, the new Interurban Trolley System will be a resounding success. The early returns show this will be a very successful system," said Lyle Nelson, associate administra- tor for transit operations. "This is something Bryan - College Station has needed for a long time. It is about 10 years overdue." The Interurban Trolley System was developed by the Brazos Valley Community Action Agency and Brazos Transit System. The vehicles being used are even called see Trolleys, p.7A Two weeks ago, Brazos Transit initiated the Interurban Trolley System as a way to provide transportation to most parts of Bryan - College Station. Trolleys roll into "1890 Vintage -Style Replica Trolleys." Fares to ride the ITS are 50 -cents for adults and 25 -cents for children ages 6 -12, senior citizens, and the handicapped. Children under age six can ride free with a paying pa- tron. Patrons can buy a book of 40 riding passes for $20, or a monthly "flash pass" for $25. Peak riding periods, according to Nelson, have been before and after work (6- 9 - a.m. and 4 -6 p.m.) and during the lunch period (11 a.m. to 1 p.m.) There are five routes currently servicing 300 different stops in 13- CS. Nelson said the system has averaged about 700 passenger boardings the rust two weeks, and he expects "in excess of 1,000" per week from now on. "On any new transportation sys- tem, there's going to be an orienta- tion period," said Nelson, who has been with Brazos Transit for four and a half years. "When people get used to seeing these trolleys make stops every hour on the hour, they will want to use them more." Nelson ITS has not been in operation long enough to determine its exact clientele. While many passengers come from families without a car, some are from fami- lies who do own cars. "People are getting to where they don't like to drive as much as they used to," Nelson said. While some Texas A&M students are utilizing the system, Nelson estimated over 100 high school and even intermediate school students are riding the trolleys to and from school every day. "Most of the student riders live within a two -mile radius of their school and are not picked up by the school buses," Nelson said. Brazos Transit has been in opera- tion for 15 years. Nelson said the company also operates "very suc- cessful" systems in Huntsville, Lufkin and The Woodlands. "We forsee ITS being as useable here as the Metro Transit Systems are in Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and Austin," Nelson said. ITS started on a subsidy from the Urban Mass Transit System, and is not intended to be a revenue pro- Thursday, November 23, 1989, Section A, Page 7 JUST SA Y "1 SAW IT IN THE PRESS." ducer. It is intended to benefit the community by enhancing public mobility, much like sidewalks do on a smaller scale. .t B -CS with ease "Studies show that for every dollar spent on a transit will be returned three times, either directly, indi- rectly, or induced," Nelson said. Bryan - College Station Eagle EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the first of a series of stories about Brazos County history during the county's year -long sesqui- centennial celebration. By James H. Dozier Special to the Eagle Stephen F. Austin, the father of Texas, had no wife nor children and died intestate. The Supreme Court of Texas divided his es- tate, and Wil- liam Joel Bryan, a nephew, got as a part of his share about 9,000 acres in Brazos County. B DOZIER ryaTt, was from Missouri, traveled to Houston and boarded the Hous- ton and Texas Central Railroad to locate his landed legacy. He hoped off the train at Millican, the end of the railway line and the hot spot of these parts because of its many saloons and houses of ill repute. The record doesn't show if Sunday, February 3, 1991 Page 3E Bryan born through clever land deal IN OUR PAST Bryan lingered, but he did rent a horse and set off to find his land — now known as S.F. Austin Leagues 9 and 10 about 20 miles northwest. He found not El Dor- ado, but acres of bald prairie and scrub oak. Being resourceful and knowing the value of a dollar, Bryan re- turned to Houston and sought out Grosebeck and Baker, trustees who controlled the H &TC railroad, and who, along with a third partm; o,,itcd a private land speculation firm. The land company had a great business edge. It could buy right -of -way land and then sell the land to the railroad because as trustees they determined the route taken by the railroad. This can't -miss arrang- ement gave ole W.J. a pregnant idea that gave birth to the city of Bryan. William Joel made a deal with Grosebeck et al, whereby Bryan would buy the right -of -way from Millican to what is now Bryan and convey it to the land company. He would also lay out the original town site of Bryan, one square mile, 640 acres, subdivided Into 275 blocks, most of which had two tiers of five lots divided by an alley, and a downtown district. He would also give or sell the firm some choice lots, and the com- pany would sell the land to the railroad, and as trustees they would extend the line to Bryan. W.J. Bryan had a surveyor lay out and stake the town site; he bought the right -of -way; he deeded the land to the company and it sold the land to the trustees for the railroad; and the trustees brought the trains to Bryan. Some say that an epidemic wiped, out Millican, but the fatal blow was the railroad extending to Bryan. The saloons and sporting houses followed the rails and the people followed the action. W.J. Bryan said he would lay out Main Street wide enough so four span of oxen with wagon could turn around without the oxen tromping mud on the woo- den sidewalks. Old - timers will remember Main Street before the esplanade halved it. Did the Grosebeck Land Com- pany make a profit? Well, that third partner was William Marsh Rice, and he made enough money during his life to establish and endow Rice University. To my knowledge, ole William Joel did only one thing I could never understand: He named his son Guy M. Bryan, Jr. This column is derived mainly from recorded documents in the Brazos County Clerk's Office. James H. Dozier is an associate profes- sor of finance at Texas A&M University and a history buff. A University Tradition It's a big step, going from a rail- road flag stop to becoming the home of a premier university and a center for high technology. But College Station has taken that step with surprising ease and speed. Although the town was not actu- ally incorporated until 1938, Col - IPae Station's.story began much •er. When the state began look- or a site to build its land grant college, the Brazos County busi- ness community, led by Boonville pioneer Harvey Mitchell, made Texas an offer it couldn't refuse: $22,000 in cash and more than 2,250 acres of land to be provided within 48 hours. So, in 1871, the Agricultural & Mechanical College of Texas was established in Brazos County, and five years later, 48 stu- dents enrolled in its first semester. In choosing the site for the new college, the citizens of Bryan took a realistic approach to human nature. Boys being boys, it was decided that a few miles ought to separate the school from the worldly pleasures of Bryan. So, the Agricultural & Mechanical College found itself on an isolated stretch of prairie, four milts south of town. Social life in College Station was sedate, with hayrides, picnics and dances in faculty members' homes among the most common activities. ''hough some complained that it the new college lacked ex- .—ment, no one could claim it was unwholesome. In the beginning, College Station was only a flag stop on the Hous- College Station and Texas A &M take the leap from railroad flag stop to high tech center. ton & Texas Central Railroad line. Although it was 1883 before a train station was built, the college did get its own post office in 1877. Dubbed "College Station," for its location near the railroad tracks, the post office later gave its name to the city that grew up around the campus. In the early years, students and faculty traveled an unpaved road from College Station to Bryan on horseback, on foot or by buggy, mule or ox cart. Shortly after the turn of the century, the Bryan busi- ness community feared that with- out better transportation between the college and the town, A &M might move elsewhere. A strongly worded 1904 editorial in the Daily Eagle stated that if the college moved, "rats and bats would in- habit the structures that now adorn College Station, and Bryan would take another step backward." The solution to this transportation problem came six years later when the Interurban Trolley, linking Col- lege Station and - Bryan, went into operation. The areas north and south of campus, known as North Gate and South Gate, became busy shopping areas long before the town was in- corporated. But for many years, most of the students and faculty continued to live on campus or in Bryan, keeping the city of College Station's population quite small. That changed in 1939, however, when the administration decided to move the Quality Row faculty housing off campus to ease the pressure for space on campus. So, one year after its incorporation, College Station was faced with its first population explosion. Despite these early challenges, College Station remained one of the most carefulty planned commu- nities of its day. In fact, it is thought to be the first zoned city between Dallas and Houston. Since the time when College Sta- tion was a railroad flag stop and A &M was a struggling college, the town and the university have ma- tured together. Both have focused on technology, and today, College Station is home to an industrial park under development by the College Station Economic De- velopment Foundation, and a Re- search Park being developed by Texas A &M University. In addi- tion, many high technology firms have located in College Station, be- cause of the university's strengths in science, agriculture, engineering and other technical disciplines. Still other high tech firms have been "spun -off" by A &M faculty mem- hers and researchers. In 1988, College Station cele- brates its 50th anniversary. A pic- torial history of the city and an attractive calendar with pen -and- ink sketches of historic College Sta- tion homes have been produced to mark the occasion. Watch for spe- cial anniversary events throughout the year. • Consult your GTE Directory for more detailed information 11 Eagle photo by Dave McDermand ae e - azos County Courthouse since 1966. Borlskje takes pride in service to county * ** `1 would sum it up in one sentence He's the mc-st accommodating man in the courthouse, „ says Joe Barron, a long -time of the Eagle staff Frank Boriskie cam 'nice, and stayed long. The county clerk has hen a in.ture at the courthouse since he was first el 1966, but he was an ; old friend people of the comr rrrrpit sense, I3oriskie and Brazos Count up_ together. ,Boriskie: was born on Ian - I1 1f)10 oldest of live children to a the couple in the Leonard commu 'ty.ar ing It was a corrtmunity of a type and of a' tinre that you might see on late -night west - erns if the movies were. real. 11'e worked from daylight to dark, but We enjoyed it,°' Boriskie says. "It was hide tough, sometimes, but we made it. When you got big enough, you plowed, chopped cotton, chopped corn. 'Of course, we'd have gardens we'd take care of, and we'd raise feed for the cattle and for the mules that we ploti with:' Seventy-eight kie doesn't see much ofthe t land anytr Sure, there's the lawn and the tlovrer be but Boriskie wasn't meant for the fart It wasn't until 1966 that a 56-year- man found the passion that would cc _ surne the rest of his life. 'That was the y a cabal of Bryan businessmen tapped popular grocer to run f 13oriskie answered the Ccall, ,von k the election, and hasn't looked back of. faced an opponent since. No one, after r11 wants to WO a politician who may just be the best-liked man in Brazos County. IIe's so popular, in fact, that talking to the people who know Frank Boriskie, ab - out Frank Boriskie, can be somewhat monotonous. 'They say it in different ways, from different perspectives but they all say the same thing: Frank Boriskie is a nice guy, feted in o t • Name: Frank Joe Boriskie n, In • Age: 78 y grew • Occupation: County Clerk, Brazos County • Lived In local area: 78 years ■ Favorite food: Good fresh, rivq catfish and french fries. • Type of ear: ' '78 Chevrolet Caprice • Last movie watched: "Gone with french Wind" ■ Hobbles: Working in the yard and having a nice flower bed; fishing; sportin • Pivotal event In his life: His election to the County Clerk's ved associate. ed asate. awfully He s Just a ni o re. y nice persona Person, an I Office in 1966, e "I've worked with Frank on elections and things like that for a number of Ii. and I've known him for old years, , years. He is w hat I'd classify as good ear citizen. He's been active in his church work. He concerned with his a Fr s a genuine pet a ellow main. sincere person' In grade school, Boriskie attended a two -room country school house' near his home. While he was an athletic lad, Boris- kie Says, "I was not a hell - raiser, ever. r 1 was a goo 1 wish 1 wo kept my report cards." I went d st to dent. hi h e ool in the eg h_ Sme ol on a hor " % t .r; 4 m iles at have the ttyver got nts liked to feed tm; a er:'' in high school that Boriskie de_ r Please see County, SA s a sch thirsty him and It was Page 6A County From 1A Bryan - College Station Eagle Sunday, June 12, 1988 veloped one of the first loves of his life: baseball. "I was the catcher," Boriskie re- members. "Not too many people got to sea,nd base when they tried to steal." Despite the farm work at home, Boriskie would work stocking groceries on the weekends. When he graduated from high school in 1928, he moved into grocery work full time. "Mr. Griff Cloud, who ran the Piggly Wiggly store on Main Street (in Bryan) came out to our little farm and talked to my daddy and me," Boriskie says. "When we'd laid by the crop, I went on and worked for him." He was with the store six years, the last four the sadder for Cloud's death. The grocer died after making a trip to Houston during a snowstorm to save a few pennies on a load of groceries. "He was a businessman," Boris - kie says. "He tried to get everything as cheap as he could and sell it as cheap as he could ... He got too cold and he got pneumonia and he died. He was 26 years old when he died. I'll never forget that." Boriskie was living in a rooming house in downtown Bryan in those days, paying Mrs. H.F. Wherman $25 a month for room and board. Working for Piggly Wiggly, and later for Humpty Dumpty, as stocker and then manager, was a drain on a young man's time. "Sixty, 80 hours a week," Boris- kie says. "There was no set hours .,ii worked like now, eight hours or six hours or whatever — no 40 -hour work week." Boriskie didn't let hard work get in the way of a good time, though, even as a young man. "We had a baseball club that we played 'round, different teams," Boriskie says. "We'd evin go to sur- rounding counties. We had a pretty good ballclub. My brother was the pitcher and I was the catcher, and he was hard to hit when he was hot." Of course, baseball doesn't a com- plete social 4ife make. "Frank was always active. He was raring to go, raring to get into the middle of things," Zubik says. "But he was never a troublemaker. He was always on the good side." Boriskie says the things he remem- bers most about that time were the dances. Those dances, he says, were perhaps one reason he didn't get mar- ried until 1941. "We didn't like to go steady," Bonskie says. "When you go to a dance — they had tag dances — you'd go and dance with who you wanted to, see. You didn't want to be stuck with one girl all night, maybe. "We went to dances, we did that. A lot of times it was just a house dance, but then a lot of times you went to use the school. "We had Lawrence Welk come through. He was just beginning then. He had a good band. You know what kind he had? Well, when Lawrence Welk would play, it was himself and three other guys and they'd play any- thing you wanted them to play. "And, at times, he'd get out in the middle of the dance floor and dance and play on his accordion. When Lawrence Welk played anywhere, you knew you'd have a crowd." Boriskie didn't play the field for long. He met his wife, Helen, in 1939; they were married two years later, settled down in Bryan and raised three daughters. Frank became the manager of the Humpty Dumpty Store in downtown Bryan, and he• enjoyed his work. Then came 1966 and the retire- ment of longtime County Clerk A.B. Siptak. "A group of friends came and said, `It's time to run, Frank, "' Boriskie says. "1 went and talked to a lot of people, finally got the gump- tion to run, and I filed on the last day of the filing period. They said I was a good public servant at the grocery — my policy was always to treat every- body alike — so I taken after it. "There were three of us (running), and I was lacking 37 votes to win the first round. The two of us went into the run -off, and I won." Boriskie says he's guided his pub- lic career by four principals: `Be honest, tell the truth, do your work and, most important, stay on the job." Ruth McLeod, now an administra- tive assistant in the personel depart- ment at the courthouse, had been a deputy county clerk for six months when Boriskie assumed office. "At first he was like all newly elected officials: He just didn't know much of anything about governmen- tal office," McLeod remembers. "He was a quick learner, but he was a politician above all else — his friendly attitude toward the people and his desire to serve the people and be sure that they got the services they deserved. "I don't know anyone who doesn't look up to Mr. Boriskie; I do, to this day." * Today, Boriskie, 78, pretty much defines himself by his job. He's the county clerk, first, foremost and al- ways. He's lived in the same house on 28th Street in Bryan since 1951, and he doesn't have a lot of interests out- side the office. "I do a little yard work, visit the kids — one daughter in Houston, two in Dallas, three grandkids," Boriskie says. "I don't run wild anymore." Come fall, there's the season tick- ets to the Aggie football games. Dur- ing the summer, he pulls for the Astros. But year round, there's the County Clerk's Office. Boriskie is proud of his office, proud of the computer indexes going back to 1967, to the day he took office, proud of the volume of work he and his nine deputies do. Bill Rafferty, an independent land man who researches titles in Boris - kie's office, says Boriskie "is on top of things." "How many courthouses have we been to in the last year ?," Rafferty says. "Ten? He runs one of the best courthouses in Texas. He does. He has a good staff here, he has good records. "Other counties this size, it's just not as good record keeping, and the people aren't as friendly or helpful. Boriskie is known as "Mr. B" to most of his "girls," and they say he's something of a father figure. Mary Ann Ward, his chief deputy, has worked for Boriskie for almost 15 years. "It's real good working for him," Ward says. "He's got heart, heart and soul . " Judge W.T. McDonald, who re- members shopping at Boriskie's Humpty Dumpty when he was a kid, turns to the Bible when asked about the county clerk. "When Frank Boriskie meets his maker," McDonald says, "I am con- fident the Lord will say to him, 'Well done, thou good and faithful servant Page Al2 Bryan- College Station Eagle Friday, April 22, 1994 By KARA SOCOL Eagle staff writer The College Station railroad depots were com- memorated Thursday morning with the unveiling of a state historical marker — the seventh such mar- ker in College Station and the third on the Texas A &M campus. It was the presence of the railroad that gave Col- lege Station its name. "While this was the seventh marker to be placed in College Station, one could argue that this really should have been the first," Gary Halter, chairman of the College Station Historic Preservation Com- mittee, said during the brief ceremony. The marker was placed on a site adjacent to Old Main Drive near Albritton Tower. The original site of the depots is now part of Wellborn Road. The text on the marker explains the history of the depots and their importance to College Station and to A &M. The area that is now College Station was chosen as the site of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas in 1871, it says, in large part because of its access to the Houston and Texas Central Railroad Line. The line began in Southeast Texas and went' through the area to its terminus in Bryan. Halter mentioned during the ceremony that Aus- tin would have been a prime candidate for they school had it been linked to the railroad. Although no formal depot was at A &M when they school opened in 1876, H &TC made regular stops there for students and faculty, the marker says. The community gained its name through the conduc- tor's announcements. The first H &TC depot was constructed at the site in 1883. Seven years later, H &TC replaced the depot with a new one, and the International & Great Northern Railroad built their own close by. The two depots maintained passenger service un- til 1959 and the last of the structures was razed in 1966, the marker says. Speakers at the ceremony elaborated on the sen- timental value of the railroad to the community. Local &State CS depots honored with state markers College Station Mayor Larry Ringer said that res- idents voted at the depot to incorporate the commu- nity into a town. A &M Interim President E. Dean Gage said that the depots served as both the first and last glimpse of A &M and the community for many students. The railroad also was the primary means of transporta- tion at the time, he said. Thursday not only saw the dedication of the mar- ker, but also A &M's annual Muster ceremony, which honors the memory of Aggies who have died. Gage said it was only appropriate that these two events occur on the same day, especially since this year's Muster honored the A &M Class of '44. Eighty members of this class were killed in World War II. "In many cases, the railroad depot was truly the last view of this campus and this area," Gage said. David Gerling, city liaison to the preservation committee, said the idea to get a Texas Historical Marker for the depots came up in a committee meet- ing about 18 months ago. The application and ac- companying materials were submitted by the local group to the county group, then on to the state, he said. Since a marker couldn't be placed at the original site, the location near Albritton Tower was chosen because it's a high - traffic area where it will be easily visible, Gerling said. Charles Schultz, chairman of the Brazos County Historical Commission, explained that the marker dedicated on Thursday is a "subject" rather than a "site" marker, since it points to the historical signi- ficance of an area, rather than to the structure of a particular building. He added that a committee at A &M has been talk- ing about placing its own markers at the site of his- toric buildings and places on campus. Gerling said that the A &M Class of '94 is consider- ing building a replica of the depot near the original site as its class gift. The two state markers already at A &M pay tribute to the university and to the rows of faculty houses that used to line its streets. Another state marker is expected to honor the Corps of Cadets within the near future. Dedication Ceremony ;,irif 21, 1994 COLLEGE STATION RAILROAD DEPOTS IN 1871 TEXAS GOVERNOR EDMUND DAVIS APPOINTED THREE COMMISSIONERS TO SELECT A SITE FOR THE NEWLY ESTABLISHED AGRICULTURAL AND MECHANICAL COLLEGE OF TEXAS (TEXAS A &M COLLEGE). THE COMMISSIONERS CHOSE THIS LOCATION IN LARGE PART BECAUSE OF THE EXISTENCE OF A HOUSTON AND TEXAS CENTRAL (H &TC) RAILROAD LINE WHICH BEGAN IN SOUTH- EAST TEXAS AND EXTENDED THROUGH THIS AREA TO ITS TERMINUS IN BRYAN (5 MI. NORTH). ALTHOUGH NO RAILROAD DEPOT EXISTED HERE AT THE TIME OF TEXAS A &M'S FORMAL OPENING IN 1876, H &TC MADE REGULAR STOPS HERE FOR INCOMING AND OUTGOING COLLEGE STU- DENTS AND FACULTY. H &TC RAILROAD CONDUCTOR AN- NOUNCEMENTS REFERRING TO THIS STOP AS COLLEGE STATION GAVE RISE TO THE NAME OF THE SURROUNDING H &TC CONSTRUCTED A DEPOT AT .THIS SITE IN 1883 WHICH IT REPLACED WITH A NEW DEPOT ABOUT 1900, THE H &TC DEPOTS, AND ANOTHER BUILT BY THE INTERNATIONAL & GREAT NORTHERN (IGN) RAILROAD JUST EAST OF THIS SITE IN 1900 WERE FOR MANY STUDENTS WHO ATTENDED TEXAS A &M THE FIRST REMEMBRANCE OF THEIR COLLEGIATE EXPERIENCE, RAILROAD DEPOTS OWNED BY THE H &TC (LATER SOUTHERN PA- CIFIC) AND IGN (LATER MISSOURI PACIFIC) MAINTAINED PASSEN- GER SERVICE AT THIS'LOCATION UNTIL 1959. IN 1966 THE LAST OF THE DEPOT STRUCTURES WAS RAZED. Page BE Bryan- College Station Eagle 1 Sunday, May 5, 991 Airport cooperation gave way. to 'squabbling By David L Chapman apecw to the Eagle ¢ Mg outside support from the sur- cooperation was very ehort•11ved. rounding communities. Disagreements. student protests. Hurried passengers driving up College Station was. at the time, and a leas -than- candid approach the wide, well - landscaped en• too small to provide any meaning- to negotiations all played a role in trance to the gleaming new � CC ful help.' Bryan had begun con• creating a climate of distrust. McKenzie Terminal at Easterwood Q ti � 'traction of the 250 -acre Coulter Correspondence between Gllch- Airport probably have no Idea that Oi .�1 Field li In 1938 with funds provided rlet and Bryan Mayor Ivan Lang: they are about to set foot on a O by the alB J. Coulter family. In ford indicates that negotiations n, special area of the Texas A&M s 1� Bryan had Just ap- between the two bogged down al- campus. Indeed, the 50- year-old . � \ proved 88,500 in airport Im- most immediately and dragged on port has a rich and colorful past provement bonds, through the spring of 1940. that makes it more than Just a r �y On Sept. 21, 1939, Gilchrist Texas A&M wanted the city's point of departure and arrival, to j and Col. Ike Ashburn, executive participation in all aspects of air- In the summer of 1939, Texas F 8 Q O J Q assistant to President Walton, port operation. Bryan wanted to A&M decided to follow the lead of -1g � met with Bryan's city commis- make a one -time donation, leav- a few of the nation's leading Men. Q �CENZE � of n explore the posafblhty nag all future costa and manage- tutions of higher education and ma king the airport at Texas ment decisions to A&M. As nego- combine the romance of flying A&M a Joint venture. Ashford ex- nations dragged on, Texas A&M With the practicality of the class- War breaks out plalned that obviously the city began construction on the airport room. Gfbb Gilchrist, then dean of However, before an and the school could build a bet- 1n January 1940 and by the engineering, requested that his substance' .could be com- sou of ty U they pooled their re- fiddle of February the newly college be allowed to develop an pushed. Germany attacked Po- Secondly, the exletln Coulter graded runways were ready to r airport on the campus to corn. land on Sept. 1, 1939, adding a Field was too far from Texan train xas A &M At s pot t, an plement the newly proposed de- new sense of urgency. Thousands to be used eft y tlo lclenti for student n this point, by Texas A & & M stud studeents nts se- se- partment of aeronautical engl- of new pilots would be needed for training. The proposed A &M air- neering. national defense, a task well strained relations between From the beginning, Gilchrist beyond existing mill port would the about the same Ws- the th of Bryan puts over a over t We and Bryan In a die- envisioned the airport as serving facilities, training Lance from the ltizeris cadets ut decided to as both a training ground for the The Civil Aeronautic Admirals- Gilchrist and Ashburn proposed Bryan In as the Coulter site, Therefore, run movies, cadets decided to College and as a Municipal air- ' Sation Immediately inaugurated that Bryan contribute Its recently war and Bryan in genera A for f port the sur- the Civilian Pilot Training Pro- approved bond funds to the Texas cording to students who took part u for corn• grim which provided federal fund- A &M airport. unity . g - - y ing for ground schools and flight The Was extremely effect. lght The plan was so well received in the "stay- away from Bryan" By the time instruction the colle ee and uni- that a member of the commission Gilchrist made „ versltlee. However, there was a suggested that Coulter Field be on m r econ later r e - his proposal, ' a deadline for program certification sold and those funds contributed on merchants. OUcrt later e tYre Civil Aaron - a and Texas A&M's airport was only to Texas A &M: Walter Coulter, called that this action so angered "Utica Author] - in the planning stages. Unless the who was at the meeting. agreed the unwilling con to co that th were ty had cam. GILCHRIST wool moved un quickly, it would with the suggestion as long as the rt propoeel. t° consider the plated prellmin golden pportity to have new Texas A&M airport used the That same month, Gilchrist, ary studies and Sts atuuddentae trained at govern- Coulter name. The city commis- perhaps sensing an impasse with proposed a 500 -acre site, 1St anent elonera tentatively accepted the miles from the Academic Build. Meeting the CAA deadline was plan and appointed a committee BBryan, began a °osearch foray bag, Just st west of what was known not Gllchrtst'e only problem. The to work out the legal details. for the new al rport, On May 1 111. . i Iocailyae Lake Shnaola. �6 construction and maintenance of It was clear from the meeting 1940, with Gilchrist's recom- a first -class aviation facility would that the city leaders of Bryan mettdatl °n she board of directors i„� In addition, the United States be an expensive undertaking. If for the moment, "lost interest" in /IkM'lf Amy Air Corps intimated that the proposed airport had to rely having their own airport. The next ' 940 Tome support might be forthcom- solely on Texas A&M for financial day the Bryan Bryan �tay ission • g because the field would serve su y Daily Eagle report- per tabled co A& 194 to aa e caus , a support, it had almost no chance ed that 011chrlat'e proposal has t man he Army's busiest training basest the littlee gr a stripe ° d tt d would acce and e be a new "Coulter �� filed the A &M pro - Barksdale Field in Shreveport and the rural Texas landscape. Pilch- Field" at Terms A&M. �� - II andolph Field In San Antonio. rlet ]anew he would need confirm- Unfortunate] David Chapman is an associate archivist ; • ' y, this sptrlt of at the Sterling C. Evans Library at A&M. Life is very good for service station owner By DAVID HOWELL Eagle staff writer Increasing monthly sales by 200 per- cent is what most businessmen can only dream of. For Leon Sevcik, it's a reality. Sevcik's Texaco at 2200 Longmire Dr. in College Station has generated enor- mous trade since the business relocated from East 29th Street in Bryan in January 1993, he said. Total sales have rocketed from $50,000 Der month, when what originally was named Auto Service World Inc. opened in Bryan in 1973, to about $250,000 per month now, Sevcik said. In addition, the number of employees 'ias grown from one to 24 at the gas sta- :ion, auto repair and wrecker service 3evcik owns. Sevcik's son, Pat, 27, a 1992 Texas A &M ;raduate, manages the business. Another ;on, Leon Jr., also worked for his father, )ut he died in an accident four years ago. After his elder son's death, Leon and its wife, Mardell, adopted two young thildren. Sevcik said he hopes the 9- and 1- year -old children eventually will work n the firm. "I want to keep it as close to a family iffair as possible," he said. His cotton - farming grandfather hailed c the small Eastern European nation f Moravia, a state within the former 'zechoslovakia. Sevcik's father, Leon Sr., a first- gener- ation American, still retains pride in "the old country," as Sevcik calls Moravia. Sevcik said S still plays waltzes and polkas on the accor- dion at various events, including the Kolache Festival held every year in Caldwell. Although he hasn't been to his ances- tral stomping ground, Sevcik, 50, said he hopes to visit Prague and other places sometime. And his Slavic ethnic roots also encourage him to meet foreigners, he added. "With Texas A &M so close, and so many foreign students and professors here, it's just a great place to meet many interesting people," Sevcik said. Sevcik first got into business with the Firestone Tire and Rubber Co. in Galveston after graduating from that city's Kirwin High School. During his 10 years with the firm, Sevcik said, he rose to become store man- ager and took the branch to one of the top spots among 24 Houston -area Firestones. After Firestone transferred him to its store in Bryan, Sevcik decided to go into business for himself. "I felt if I could make money for Firestone, I could make money for myself," Sevcik said. "You can't put all your own policies into practice when you work for other people." Sevcik said he's confident about the future of his business. "There's a very good possibility sales can grow even more," he said. "The loca- tion is great and Brazos County is a very Leon Sevcik next to a 1925 Model TT Ford truck as his son, Patrick, takes the wheel outside the family's successful gas station,auto repair and wrecker service in College Station. healthy economic area." to buy a vacant lot across from his 10,000 - Expansion also looms on the horizon. square -foot shop so he can add a lute and Sevcik said he is in the process of trying muffler shop. stands Eagle photo /Michael Mulvey S ince the fL Jatch of strapping cadets stepped off their passenger car and head- ed for the Texas A &M campus in 1872, the local train station has held a special role in Aggie tradition. But from 1960 to 1987, the town named for its train station didn't have one, and now it's in danger of losing it again. Amtrak, the passenger train that has pro- vided transportation to A &M students and local residents since 1988, plans to discontin- ue service to College Station Sept. 10. With no passenger trains rolling through the depot, the College Station train station may soon stand as an empty reminder of a tradition killed by the modern world of cars, airplanes and budget cutbacks. "A lot of students depend on the train to go home," says A &M psychology student Michelle Nash, as she waits for the silver pa- senger train to arrive. "I go home to Texarkana about three times a year, and the train is cheaper than flying and safer than a bus." But Nash is one of a dwindling number of students and residents who choose to ride the Amtrak trains, which stop six days a week in College Station. Since 1992, the total number of passengers loading and unloading at the depot near Texas A &M has dropped from about 10,600 to just over 4,200. That's quite a contrast to the days.when College Station resident Dick Hervey rode the train to and from Texas A &M. When he came to the university in 1938, passenger trains were the primary transportation fortrael ingaAggies. "Most of my classmates came to College Station by train," he says. "We used to go on Corps trips to Dallas, and we'd load those trains up with Aggies." Those cadets who couldn't afford the $3 train ticket could catch a free ride by hiding between the seats, Hervey says. "We'd catch the Old Owl in Dallas," he says. "It left around 11 at night, and we would get to College Station around 4 a.m." Hervey remembers arriving at one of the two wooden train stations that stood 30 feet apart across from the Albritton Tower. "In the main office of one of the stations was a big potbelly stove, and there were Eagle photo /Shelley Smithson An Amtrak engineer pulling into College Station snags a bag of kolaches from a special pole set up by volunteer station master Harold "Tex" Owens. Years ago, such poles were used to pass instructions to the crew while trains were en route. benches around the walls," he says. "`` get off at the station and walk to our 4 in the morning." When Hervey returned to College Station a few years after he graduated, the screeching brakes and jolting horns of passenger trains still were a part of everyday life. "I remember I put my two sons on that train that was running in the '50s," he says. "The train had some problems between here and Dallas, and it stalled on the tracks. Luckily, my friend Gibb Gilchrist, who was the president of the university, was on the train, and he looked after them." By the late 1950s, automobiles were replac- ing the steam - engine trains that had once brought so many students and visitors to College Station and Bryan. "I think the automobiles just put the trains out of business," Hervey says. "There weren't enough people to ride the train. so there was no need for the two little stations, and they just tore them down." The two wood -frame buildings were demol- ished around 1960. For the next 28 years, there was no passenger train service to Bryan or College Station. Then in 1988, after more than 15 years of discussion, Amtrak decided to run its Texas Eagle route connecting, Houston to Dallas to Chicago through College Station. A train sta- tion was built on Marion Pugh Drive, just down from where the city's two original train depots had stood. By 1992, the College Station depot saw more than 10,000 passengers annually, returning it, at least partially, to its traditional role. At least some of the students returning home for the holidays and parents visiting for graduation took the Texas Eagle to and from College Station. Local residents, like Charles Phillipveled aboard the train to visit children and grandchildren. "I like the train better than flying," Phillips says. "It's on the ground for one thing." Passengers waiting for Amtrak at the College Station depot have various reasons for riding the train. Please see TRAIN, page D6 Page D6 Bryan - College Station Eagle Train From D1 "I don't like to fly because I can't smoke," says Linda White, an Indiana resident who is vis- iting her daughter. "I've got plenty of time, and I like meeting people on the train." Harold "Tex" Owens says the train is a more civilized means of transportation. "The seats are larger (than those in an airline coach)," Owens says, and you have a place to sleep and work in your own compartment." Owens is one of several local residents who plan to fight to keep the Amtrak train rolling through College Station. He will attend a public forum set for 3 p.m. Thursday in Union Station, 400 S. Houston St., in Dallas. Others, like Wesley Haba, a conductor on the Texas Eagle route, will also urge Amtrak to continue service to College Sta- tion. "I think discontinuing the route is a disservice to the stu- dents and people of College Sta- tion," Haba says. "I've worked this route for five years, and when we used to have pickups here on Friday, we would have numerous students." _ - Sunday, April 23, 1995 111 Eagle photo /Shelley Smithson Amtrak train conductor Wesley Haba shakes hands with his old friend Harold "Tex" Owens of Bryan. Owens, a volunteer who tends the College Station platform, has met Haba's train with a warm smile and bags of kolaches twice a week for the last five years. to Dallas route is not a done deal. "In the first phase of cutbacks, several states, like California, came up with the necessary funding to keep some services," Taubenkibel says. "It's up to the Texas Department of Transporta- tion to decide if they can pitch in public hearing April 27, to get input from the public as to the most appropriate role for rail pas- senger service," he says. Unless the state decides to con- tribute funds to keep the Houston to Dallas route alive, Amtrak trains will no longer travel through College Station. Amtrak tir - aareT uOTUM `luauza2traLre .IaMOTI -OaTa .IfO MOU TTMOTTC Q.TQM c Tan tation's community newspaper since 1966 Texas Historical Marker to recognize e Interurban gnize Bryan and Colle g nterurban Railway The Brazos County Historical Commission will unveil a Texas State Historical Marker recognizing the significance of the Bryan & College Interurban Railway will be dedicated at the city limits of Bryan and College Station near the inter- section of College Main and Spruce Streets at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 14. The railway operated passenger trolleys between Bryan and Texas A &M for 13 years beginning in 1910 and provided convenient transportation between the two entities as well for those living be- tween them. It enabled students to travel to Bryan to shop and made it possible for A &M faculty members living off campus to get to the campus with ease. It also provided convenient transportation for citi- zens of Bryan to A &M football games and other events on campus and made it convenient for Bryan residents to commute to their busi- nesses near the Texas A &M cam- pus. Speaker at the event will be Jack Zubik. He and his father regularly rode the Interurban from Bryan to College Station, where they oper- ated a tailor shop at which Aggies were frequent customers. Zubik will relate his memories of riding the Bryan & College Interurban Rail- way. Making application for historical markers and dedicating those mark- ers are a couple of the many activi- ties of the Brazos County Historical Commission to make citizens of the county aware of the significant historical events, people, structures and organizations. These activities also help the Commission to earn the Distinguished Service Award of the Texas Historical Commission. All interested citizens are invited to attend the dedication ceremonies. Funds for the purchase of the marker were provided by the Col- lege Station Historical Committee and the city of Bryan. The marker for the Bryan & Col- lege Interurban Railway is the 41st AMOCIA77ON OI' 11 COMMUNFTY PAPERS �7 November 9, 1995 official Texas State Historical Marker to be dedicated in Brazos County and is one of nearly 14,000 such markers throughout Texas. Other markers recognize historical houses, churches, communities, educational institutions, cemeteries, individuals and various organiza- tions. Nine, or nearly a fourth of those markers, have been dedicated since 1990. This is evidence of a growing interest in the history of Brazos County and increased sup- port for historic preservation by the citizens of the county. All of these markers except the one for Brazos County are easily located by the use of the brochure A Guide to Historic Brazos County, which was produced by the Brazos Heritage Society with some assis- tance from the Brazos County His- torical Commission and is available at the Bryan - College Station Chamber of Commerce Convention and Visitors Bureau on University Drive in College Station. I c I A C e eAl 1,0 ues ' �� �n )�F, 1995 BRYAN & COLLEGE STATION INTERURBAN RAILWAY BRYAN MAYOR J.T. MALONEY AND THE CITY'S RETAIL MERCHANTS ASSOCIATION INCORPORATED THE BRYAN & COLLEGE INTERURBAN RAILWAY COM- PANY IN 1909, THE COMPANY WAS CREATED TO ESTABLISH AN INTERURBAN RAILWAY SERVICE BE- TWEEN BRYAN, A TOWN OF ABOUT 4,000 PEOPLE, AND THE TEXAS AGRICULTURAL & MECHANICAL COLLEGE (TEXAS A &M), WITH A STUDENT AND FAC- ULTY POPULATION OF ABOUT 750. DAILY SERVICE CONSISTING OF TEN 30- MINUTE TRIPS BEGAN IN 1910 WITH PASSENGER TROLLEYS AND GASOLINE POWERED RAIL GARS. ALONG THE ROUTE LANDOWNERS BUILT RESIDENTIAL SUBDIVI- SIONS AND SMALL FARMS, AND TO PROVIDE AN ATTRACTION THE CITY CREATED DELLWOOD PARK. FREIGHT SERVICE BEGAN IN 1918 TO HELP BOLSTER AN OPERATION BESET WITH LABOR PROBLEMS AND THE LOSS OF PASSENGERS TO AUTOMOBILE RIDER- SHIP. IN 1922 THE BRYAN & COLLEGE INTERURBAN RAILWAY WENT INTO RECEIVERSHIP AND IN 1923 ITS ASSETS WERE SOLD AT AUCTION TO THE S.S. HUNTER ESTATE. THE LAST RECORDED TRIP OF THE INTERUR- BAN TOOK PLACE ON APRIL 13, 1923. DURING ITS 15 YEARS OF OPERATION THE INTERUR- BAN RAILWAY GREATLY INFLUENCED THE COURSE OF BRYAN'S AND COLLEGE STATION'S URBAN DE- VELOPMENT. TODAY THE TWO CITIES MERGE INDIS- TINGUISHABLY AT A POINT ON THE FORMER BRYAN & COLLEGE INTERURBAN RAILWAY ROUTE. SESQUICENTENNIAL OF TEXAS STATEHOOD 1845 -1995 Thursday, Septembecr 22, 1994, The Press, Page 5A (Editors note: This is the third in a four-part shies on local government by Dr. Paul Van Riper, professor emeritus of Poldca! Science at Terns At&M University) g By Di. 'Paul P. Van.Ripat I- Guest Contributor 't:cal Government Series: Part Three Evolution of Bryan and College Station the agency built the Gibbous Creek Power Plant east of Bryan in Car- los. In effect, the capacity of the four cities, plus that of TMPA, is pooled so that demand loads can be adjusted and the excess sold to other Four non -TMPA dues, including College Station, now buy . power The twin'citlifs' OBryaa+ and from the agency. C'Uege Station; aliikaliihIng simi- College Station and Bryan have ;ize, have somewhat different adjusted their respective distribution problems.; tut a Alle4,allk ' " systems and are fully compatible, Ed Wagoner is the general manager of TMPA and its nearly 3170 mil.' lion budget. The agency has been a' real pioneer in using lignite, .of which Texas has an en ormous sup= Boonville. The ply, for the generation of electricity corporated in 1872 =and at very reasonable costs. Of course, a_city _manager 1orm.af TMPA is not strictly a load gov- 1917. - ernment agency, and is not in Bra - Its budget is now close to 5100 zos:Cotinty. Its headquarters are at million.'fiowever, two - thirds of its the plant site in Carlos, in Grimes revenues and expenditures are related County. Such, however, is one as- to its electric utility ownership. pect of the complicated inter- -- Bryan is a partner in the Texas governmental network in this area. a=Iaitmicipal Power -Agenc a 9� I .. has a special housing Bryan, Denton,. Garland rand tybon Beck Street, called the L Gteenville, four cities wi f ousing Authority of the City of own power plants, found thst;they"+' Bryan. This derives from the Fed- 6 wind need additional capacityb*--rnral Housing Act of 1937 and a The cities had no funds and joined ' estate enabling act of the same year, to get a state law creating the Texas authorizing Texas cities to receive Municipal Power Agency as a' _ housing funds. Legally, the t3authority. h is governed by an un- Housing Authority is a pub - lypaid board of eight directors, with W° fitcorporation, run by a h city having two represents- `e�fadi • "� ise7tnf{ . s W► �in V I ey gets along $7;000 in from{. • �. by the city of Bryan. Otherwise, the x - � . y ty ry buildlnrroday this cooperation ' percent of the county and extends • the �dty commissioners' authority receives no funds from has greatly shrunk as both are more little into Robertson County on the precincts:- These have been orga- Bryan. All funds come through the self sufficient. Texas ARM has its north. I once asked the late Alton nized under sate law and receive Department of Housing and Urban own police and medical service, Bowen, a former superintendent, .Property tax funds as noted above. ti Development. Officially, the au- through College Station still pro- about this size. He said that when There are, however, volunteer fire } thotity has little to do with the city vides emergency medial care to the he was superintendent and school companies in all precincts. The government. This has been the campus during breaks in the school consolidation . ; - ,,, he got, county psovides equipment mainte- source of occasional conflict, but year. It also provides fire service to all he could get, for be wanted -name funds for all the fire compa- there haa'also been considerable the university. The university has maximum revenues. nies. Some grant support for hy- unofficial cooperation. The author- is own water supply and its own The College Station Independentdrant development comes from a ity receives about 5350,000 annu airport. Currently, the College Sta- .:School District has a budget of bsidiary of the U.S Department ally in rental of its apartments and tion budget approaches 570 mil- 'close to 540 million, with a lesser Agriculture, knottt`u the Big about 5100,000 a year in grants lion, 'supporting the same basic proportion than Bryan from, state ' Eight Resource, Conservation and from HUD. - functions as Bryan. and federal funds. It services And . Development District and its sub- In still another way Bryan is dif- Little Wixon Valley, on the ' 6,200 students at a cost of iionfe .iidiary (both located in Bryan) ferent in that, u a result of a 1979 northeast side of Bryan, was incor- . 33,900 per pupil, via a professloo' : known as the Brazos Soil and Water referendum, its police and fire de- porated in 1987. With a population staff of 466 and a support staff of }" Conservation District..The latter is pprtments are under the Texas po of about 240, it has a mayor -nun- _298. This district covers about 30 '' interesting in that its board of lice and fire civil service lawand Its _CH form of government composed `percent of the county. The southern directors is elected by iheJ,andown- special personnel procedurea, entirely of volunteers. This most .;sectiefOrthe.countY. below Peach ea in five locaLzorietfor four as exams for appointmentsbwd : recent municipality in the Brazos t.Creek,iss Iced by the Navasota - ,Sour-yeagetins, Bothdisttica have promotions. Then is a separate - Valley operates, u noted above, on ''acbool•dutrict (about 10 percent of ,':few 18116 - of -tICfr & '4 but are Civil Service Commisdoduadmin -3FJan annual budget of a little over the =anal) " fund-seeking and coordi istering a separatepetsoase1 iyatem u5,37,000, derived entirely from a 1 , - ; The fue districts are In three of 'sating units for for policemen and Brag s *hi # sales wt. This is the sole Otherwist., .it , t,, t, .wni ax ofrI approved thus far by the des -' bath cities have to do with Streets, water and sewage services and pub ' : The two school systems are well and recreation. While the • known and only briefly treated here. provides the beano ,if Bryan Independent School Dis- - building, both cities' and the .county Separated from the city in the, contribute to its maintenance middle 1970s. It has a budget'ppff some further health - du' ly 367 million, with -..ft-p• should know also tbit'both ftlei funds from the eat and federal can exercise and ble acme an eats. expenditure 12,000 $4 0 rates and a to o 000 statutes that govetn'fri6ebifee. , 41.fiatr student via a force of 942 pro- ESation'±Wat^baigiva'u asionals and 634 other staff Tail stadia for the; `tleembers. This district covers 60 urivals to Taxis " x' - - housing was developed girl rounds. By 1940 tfu�, 100 Boma on of •. sold off co dlities tb re - ma pastfon healthcare; and mimes often us" Marker honors h t at connected Br an and A &M The Brazos County Historical Commission will dedi- 4,000, to Texas A&M, which had a student and faculty The plaque states: "During its 15 years of operation, cate a historical marker at 10:30 a.m. today in the 400 population of 750. Passenger trolleys and gasoline-pow- the interurban railway greatly influenced the course of block of College Main to recognize the Bryan and /red rail cars made 10 30- minute trips a day. Bryan's and College Station's urban development: College Interurban Railway. - Along the route, landowners built residential subdivi- Today, the two cities merge indistinguishably at a point Jerome "Jack" Zubik, who regularly rode the interim sions and small farms and the city of Bryan created on the former Bryan and College Interurban Railway ban with his father from Bryan to Northgate, will be the Dellwood Park. Route." guest speaker. To bolster the railroad's revenue, it added freight ser- The marker will be at the boundary of the two cities. The interurban railway ran from Bryan to Texas vice in 1918. In 1923, the Bryan and College Interurban Charles Schultz, an archivist at Texas A &M and A&M from 1910 to 1923. In 1909 Bryan Mayor J.T. Railway went into receivership. In 1923 the S.S. Hunter chairman of the Brazos County Historical Commission, Maloney and the city's retail merchants association estate bought welcome the railroad. gn guests at the ceremony. incorporated the railway. elcome and recognize The last recorded trip of the interurban took place on Both cities and the county will participate in the cere- In 1910 the first trains ran from Bryan, population April 13, 1923. mony. At right, a state historical mark- er designates what was once the thriving Italian- American community of Steele Store. At far right, the oldest generation to attend the Perrone - DePuma family reunion was, from left, Rena Depuma Cash, Lula Mae Perrone, Louis Gorzycki, Paul C. Patranella, Joe C. Patranella, Josephine P. Patranella, Josephine S. Varisco, Tony Varisco Jr., Frank Zubik, Rena P. Sinatra, Angelo Sinatra and Mary G. Perrone. Sun ay, May 8, 19 Lifest le Photo courtesy /Penny De Los Santos `a /o1sza c�estio (The force of destiny) Section Eagle photo /Butch Ireland l ► ►►Gi Ivi v../ Lu ..Iv.JLuI l.rl Italian- American families celebrate their deep roots in the Brazos Valley By SHELLEY SMITHSON Eagle staff writer he American dream started out as tragedy for Maria Scardino Perrone. She left Sicily in 1891 with two small children in her arms and a husband by her side. Within several weeks the family landed by ship in New c Orleans. But Maria Perrone's husband was dead. In testament to Maria Perrone's perseverance in a strange new land, the descendants of her children and the children of E Joanna DePuma gathered in Bryan last weekend. More than 170 relatives linked by the Perrone - DePuma bloodline attend- ed. "It's really good to see people, especially young people ... tak- ing an interest in their family's past," Charles Patranella, grandson of John Marco Perrone, said. "Especially the younger ones who now have the privilege of recognizing their heritage and being proud of it." Much pf that heritage traces from Maria Perrone's courage after the death of her husband, Giovanni. Aboard the ship bringing the family to America, he slipped on some steps and c cp broke his neck while trying to help a pregnant woman. > Maria Perrone, the daughter of Sicilian peasant farmers, faced raising two children alone in a country where she knew CD almost no one and did not speak the language. Standing with her children in the crowded Louisiana port, Perrone called out the name of the only person she knew in America. "Signore Licci," she cried over and over. At last, the young widow heard the voice of her Italian friend. With the help of a network of Sicilian friends, she and her family began their new lives as Americans. Perrone eventually moved from New Orleans to an Italian community in the Brazos Valley — Steele Store — that still exists today. In the 1890s, Steele Store boasted the largest rural Italian population in the nation. Another immigrant, Gian DePuma, also the descendant of Sicilian peasant farmers, had also begun a new life in Steele Store. Perrone's children and DePuma's children married, establishing family ties that survive to this day. A family funeral last year made relatives realize how little Please see REUNION, page D3 At right, family portraits were on display during the Perrone - DePuma family reunion last weekend. Counterclockwise from the foreground are photographs of Jack DePuma, Frances DePuma, John M. and Johanna D. Perrone, the DePuma family, John and Rena DePuma and Imaria Perrone Bonanno. Eagle photo /Butch Ireland Reunion From D1 they see of one another nowadays, Patranella said. He spent nearly a year planning the event held May 20 at St. Anthony's Catholic Church. Intricately decorated Sicillian cookies, pastries with names like pignolatti and faccia la vecchia lined the tables. But there was no spaghetti or lasagna, even though Patranella said his family does ;serve Italian dishes at Thanks- ` giving and Christmas. "Everyone voted on barbecue," Patranella said. "Frankly, having spaghetti didn't cross my mind. Plus, everybody would say their meatballs are better." Many of those attending were cousins and nephews had moved ▪ Steele From D1 still tilled using mules and crops were still harvested by hand. 'ATosephine Angonia, who at 91 is e oldest woman living in Steele tore, remembers that farmland • was still being cleared of trees when she moved here with her • husband Tony in 1920. "The roads were all mud then," she says. "I remember travelling lough Steele Store in a horse vn buggy with my parents on our way (from Hearne) to St. Anthony's Catholic Church in Bryan." One old Italian tradition that lingered for several generations in America was arranged mar- riages. Angonia married her hus- band Tony in 1920 after her par- ents intervened on her behalf. "I was 16 -years old and it hadn't even crossed my mind to get mar- ried," Angonia says. "Tony's par - ents had land here, and my par - ''ents thought his family was good. As far as I'm concerned my par- ents didn't do wrong because he was a good husband." Other Italian traditions regarding food, faith and family also persevered. But because their parents wanted their chil- dren to learn English only, first - generation Americans like Fachorn and Angonia never learned Italian. away from the Brazos Valley many years ago. And although many had played together at their relative's farms in Steele Store, most had not seen each other in years. Today, the Perrone - DePuma family tree includes last names like Browning and McCrady. But, still, the Italian influence is strong. Patrick Gendron of the Perrone clan learned to speak Italian and has traveled to the regions of Sicily where his ances- tors farmed. He said he found it disap- pointing that none of his first generation American grandpar- ents spoke their parents' native tongue. "Now, I understand," Gendron said. "They were forced to assimi- late because they were discrimi- nated against, and they didn't want their children to be discrim- inated against." Names like Fachorn, Angonia, Patranella and Bonano fill mem- bership roles of Catholic churches in Brazos, Burleson and Robertson counties. Each year Italian families still honor an ancient Sicilian religious tradi- tion called the feast to St. Joseph, in which recipes passed down from original settlers are pre- pared. Angonia's daughter -in -law is not Italian, but she still has taught her the Sicilian recipes given to her by her mother so many years ago. Although many modern Italian- Americans have married people from other cul- tures in the last three decades, a commitment to family life remains. "Family was always important, always," Angonia says. Some modern Italian - Americans, like Angonia's son Don, and her grandson Donny, have carried on the family tradi- tion of farming, but most have moved from the rural community to take professional jobs in the city. "Farming's a hard life," Fachorn says. "But with the machinery they have now, it's a lot easier for these younger men. But you have to have land and you have to have capital to farm these days." And even those who no longer work on the land still hold a love for the beautiful farm communi- ties where they grew up hearing stories of ancestors who achieved the American Dream. Aging children of Italian immigrants keep ancient family traditions alive By SHELLEY SMITHSON Eagle staff writer F or Sam Fachorn, raising cotton near the Brazos River bottom seemed a natural career choice. His father, a Sicilian peasant farmer, travelled to America in the mid 1890s in the hope of someday owning a farm. "When I was growing up, my father was a ten- ant farmer," says Fachorn. "We worked in the cotton fields all day, not eight hours, but from sun up until sun down." Now 84, Fachorn is tfigingt man living in Steele Storer, an Italian farming community 12 miles west of Bryan. More than 100 years ago, thousands of Sicilian immigrants came to the Brazos Valley seeking a better life for their fami- lies. They found it in the fertile soil and lush land- scape near the Brazos River. Today, their agri- cultural legacy thrives still. Many families still work on the land, selling or buying cotton. Others, like Fachorn, have reaped financial rewards from oil found on the land that made their ancestors prosperous farmers. Like more than 4 million other Italian immi- grants who came to the United States between 1870 and 1912, Fachorn's father, Ignazio Fachorn, sought to break free of the high taxes and class - bound society of his homeland. With th end'or slavery in the United States iti 1865,- Southern plantation owners facing a labor shortage adver- tised for farmers throughout Europe. In Sicily, farming another man's land for a sub- sistence wage was all these peasant farmers could ever expect. But in America, these immi- grants knew that years of hard work would pay off when they finally owned their own land. Corn and cotton planters in the Brazos Valley offered generous sharecropping terms to Europeans who would move to the area sur- rounding the Brazos River. The moist soil and humid climate created ideal growing conditions for these farmers who were used to toiling tired and stubborn land. Fachorn's father settled in Smetana, a farming community six miles west of Bryan. Until he was able to buy the land, he gave a portion of the crop to the land's owner and sold a portion himself. Vegetables and fruits were also grown to feed the family, Fachorn says. "We didn't have any money, and some people don't believe that, but I mean we were poor," he says. "We ate anything that was eatable." Fachorn worked with his father until age 25. Then, in 1926, he moved from the cotton fields of Smetana to Steele Store, another Italian agricul- tural community named for a general store owned by Henry B. Steele. At the time, Steele Store was one of the largest rural Italian settle- ment in the country. Residents call the area "the bottoms," becauge it is located along the second and third banks+of the Brazos Rive*. Although the soil was rich, the immigrants who moved here knew they were taking a gamble living on the flood -prone land. But the fertile soil yielded bountiful cotton crops. When Fachorn moved there, cotton rows were Please see STEELE, page D3 Photo courtesy /Penny De Los Santos First generation Americans Sarah and Sam Fachorn of Steele Store visit the Catholic San Salvador Mission. Built by Italian immigrants in 1908, several families donated cotton from their crops to buy construction materials. The mission is named after the patron saint of Cefalu, Sicily. they see of one another nowadays, Patranella said. He spent nearly a year planning the event held May 20 at St. Anthony's Catholic Church. Intricately decorated Sicillian cookies, pastries with names like pignolatti and faccia la vecchia lined the tables. But there was no spaghetti or lasagna, even though Patranella said his family does ;~serve Italian dishes at Thanks- giving and Christmas. "Everyone voted on barbecue," Patranella said. "Frankly, having spaghetti didn't cross my mind. ;� Plus, everybody would say their meatballs are better." Many of those attending were cousins and nephews had moved Steele Reunion From D1 From D1 still tilled using mules and crops were still harvested by hand. Josephine Angonia, who at 91 is the oldest woman living in Steele store, remembers that farmland was still being cleared of trees when she moved here with her -. husband Tony in 1920. "The roads were all mud then," she says. 'I remember travelling through Steele Store in a horse drawn buggy with my parents on our way (from Hearne) to St. Anthony's Catholic Church in Bryan." One old Italian tradition that lingered for several generations in America was arranged mar- riages. Angonia married her hus- band Tony in 1920 after her par- ents intervened on her behalf. "I was 16 -years old and it hadn't even crossed my mind to get mar- ried," Angonia says. "Tony's par- ents had land here, and my par- `'ents thought his family was good. As far as I'm concerned my par - ents didn't do wrong because he was a good husband." Other Italian traditions regarding food, faith and family also persevered. But because their parents wanted their chil- dren to learn English only, first - generation Americans like Fachorn and Angonia never learned Italian. away from the Brazos Valley many years ago. And although many had played together at their relative's farms in Steele Store, most had not seen each other in years. Today, the Perrone - DePuma family tree includes last names like Browning and McCrady. But, still, the Italian influence is strong. Patrick Gendron of the Perrone clan learned to speak Italian and has traveled to the regions of Sicily where his ances- tors farmed. He said he found it disap- pointing that none of his first generation American grandpar- ents spoke their parents' native tongue. "Now, I understand," Gendron said. "They were forced to assimi- late because they were discrimi- nated against, and they didn't want their children to be discrim- inated against." Names like Fachorn, Angonia, Patranella and Bonano fill mem- bership roles of Catholic churches in Brazos, Burleson and Robertson counties. Each year Italian families still honor an ancient Sicilian religious tradi- tion called the feast to St. Joseph, in which recipes passed down from original settlers are pre- pared. Angonia's daughter -in -law is not Italian, but she still has taught her the Sicilian recipes given to her by her mother so many years ago. Although many modern Italian- Americans have married people from other cul- tures in the last three decades, a commitment to family life remains. "Family was always important, always," Angonia says. Some modern Italian - Americans, like Angonia's son Don, and her grandson Donny, have carried on the family tradi- tion of farming, but most have moved from the rural community to take professional jobs in the city. "Farming's a hard life," Fachorn says. "But with the machinery they have now, it's a lot easier for these younger men. But you have to have land and you have to have capital to farm these days." And even those who no longer work on the land still hold a love for the beautiful farm communi- ties where they grew up hearing stories of ancestors who achieved the American Dream. Brazos County started as Stephen F. Austin colony EDITOR'S NOTE: This is one of a series of articles about Brazos County history being run by the Eagle during the county's yearlong Sesquicentennial celebration. By J. Milton Nance Special to the Eagle The earliest white settlers in what later became known as Brazos County, a part of Stephen F. Austin's first colony — the Old Three Hundred — received land grants in July, 1824. The first person to receive title to land in what is now Brazos County was James Hope on July 10, 1824. Among the other early settlers receiving land grants in present -day Brazos County that month were Robert Millican and his sons William T. and James D. Millican, James Whitesides, William Mathis, John Kelly and Samuel Davidson. The boundaries of Austin's first colony were defined in 1824, and in 1827 Austin obtained another contract to settle more families within the bounds of his original grant. Richard Carter and his wife, Elizabeth, and five children (Wiley, Frank, Elizabeth, Mary Ann, and Eveline) arrived in April, 1831, from Morgan Point, Ala., and settled on Carter's Creek, at a point three miles southeast of what later became Bryan. For years, their nearest neighbors were the settlers near the mouth of the Little Brazos and the Milli - cans to the southwest. In 1827 the northern boundary of Austin's first colony (the Old Three Hundred) was fixed at the Old San Antonio Road (variously known as El Ca- mino Real, King's Highway or Royal Highway). The First Congress of the Republic of Texas on Dec. 20, 1836, created the first 23 counties in Texas with the same names and boundaries that they had borne under the Mexican period as municipalities, except that the Munici- pality of Teneha was designated Shelby County. Washington County included all of the area of present Washington and Brazos counties, about half of present Burleson County, and a part of Lee County. It encompassed all ofthe area between the Brazos and Navasota rivers as far north as the Old San Antonio Road. The inhabitants of the upper part of the area between these two rivers on Jan. 13, 1841, dissatisfied with having to go so far to Mt. Vernon, then the county seat of Washington County, for the transaction of government business, petitioned Congress to create the area into a new county. As a result, Congress on Jan. 30, 1841, created the county of Navasota, to which it added a small tract of land, compris- ing 15,000 acres, lying between the Old San Antonio - Nacogdoches Road, the Brazos River, and Just southeast of old Fort Tenoxtitlan, on the west side of the Brazos River in present Burleson County, gust above where the Robertson - Brazos county line strikes the river. At that time there were only 125 men of age 21 or older in the new county. On Jan. 28, 1843, President Sam Houston approved a bill changing 1 `Q.30 Please see History, 7D NANCE History From 7D the name of the county to Brazos County. The boundaries of the county remained the same. Bound on three sides by the Bra- zos and Navasota rivers, the county had for its northern boun- dary the Old San Antonio Road. The county was formally organ- ized on Feb. 6, 1843. The first officials were appoin- ted by Congress and were Gideon Walker, chief Justice; James D. Overton, dlstrlct clerk; James I. Bowman, county clerk; Elliott McNeil Mil lcan, sheriff; Thomas Bowman, coroner; and Hiram Hanover. tax assessor and collec- tor. William C. Price, William L. MUUean, James A. Head. Robert Henry, and Joshua Seale received commissions as Justices of the peace. In 1841 Tax Assessor - Collector Hanover reported total tax as- sessments for the year of 81,461.76, and for his services he received a fee of 5 percent of the assessment or 673.09. He bought lot 2, In block 2 in Boonville on which he built a house and lived for a while. Hls home was the local post office. When elections were held in 1841, Hanover was elected tax assessor and served as such for 1841 -44. Navasota (Brazos). County was to be a part of the Third Judlcal District, and the district courts of the county were to meet the first Mondays after the fourth Mon- days in March and October. Until a county seat could be laid out and buildings constructed, the district court was to hold its ses- sions, according to law, in the home of Joseph Ferguson at Fer- guson Springs, 14 miles east of present -day Bryan. The court met under the cottonwood trees near the springs in good weather. OskS Sot L) Bryan - College Station Eagle Sunday, February 17, 1991 rage 7D qutred an election to be held In sioners Court in 1868, only five died before he was tried. '. the county on the first Monday in Brazos County men were incar- March, 1841. cerated in It. Four of these were The Congress appointed five accused of murder, but each case commissioners to select a site for got a change of venue, escaped, or a county seat, by a vote by at least three members of the commission to acquire by gift. or otherwise, 100 to 320 acres of land within five miles of the center of the county for "a seat of Justice." The county court. at its first session after the election. was to appoint "five discreet county commissioners who, after giving bond and security such as the court may require and being duly sworn." were to take title to said land, supervise the surveying or laying out of a town or county site, ' "or out lots, selling the same, Mandl letting out public build- ings." The law specified that the county seat was to be named "Boonville" in honor of Mordecla Boon. The committee to select a suita- ble site for a permanent county seat picked a piece of land owned by Elizabeth E. Parrot, wife of the late John Austin and future Mrs. William Pierpont, situated about three miles east of the center of the present city of Bryan. Parrot agreed to sell 150 acres for the town site at 81 an acre to be paid out of the first money derived from the sale of town lots. r .. At the July, 1841, tern of the dlstrlct court, RlchartCarter, John H. Jones, and Hiram Han- over were appointed to survey the town of Boonville and to serve as a board of commissioners to auc- tion ofTthe lots. J. MIltor) Nance Is professor emeritus of the department of history at Texas A &M University. Cemetery an instrument of faith By JIM WYSS Eagle staff writer WASHINGTON COUNTY — If you were to drive through the Brazos Valley this morning and hang a right on Sweed Road, following it down' past Sweed's Place, you might happen upon the Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic Church. Inside you would find a hall packed with people named Sweed — and a handful of Boy Scouts. More about the Sweeds later. This particular group of Catholic Boy Scouts from the Bryan- College Station area have come to this rural Washington County community to help clear and clean a cemetery — full of Sweed ances- tors — and at the same time earn a reli- gion badge called the Ad Alteri Dei. "We're trying to teach the boys about their spirituality," explained one of the troop's leaders, Dave Moore, who was supervising the ax- wielding Scouts in their cleaning efforts. "And to show them that their (Catholic) faith goes way beyond just now." Hence, these Scouts have come to this church, the oldest Catholic church in the Austin diocese, mainly as an act of kind- ness and goodwill, but also as a history in their faith. nbling through the thick under - orusn — that the Scouts and three gener- ations of the Sweed family have yet to clear —little shattered headstones dating back to the 1800s poked through the leaves. Lorraine White, who at 62 is one of the youngest ot what has been Sweed on to her orally, she can trace the cemetery land back at least 160 years to a man named "Spain." According to White, Spain was the Catholic driving force in that area and it was he who started the church and donated the cemetery property to the original Sweed generations ago. When asked about her out -of the- ���1�n�W11vi�1�1�'�'�11 %IAN\ t\ Eagle Bryan Boy Scout Adam Wooderson clears the grave site of Amy Sweed who born born i n 18 and died April 10, 1955. Sweed's grave was one of many that was cleared by Scouts near Washington on Sat- urday. This weekend's cemetery - clearing project is part of the requirements to earn the badge of religion. ordinary (for a Sweed) last name, White return the favor. was quick to explain, "That's just my married name. I'm a Sweed, too." The Boy Scouts have worked for eight The Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic weeks on this badge and are reflective Church which, according to some, was about their experiences with their faith. established at least 100 years ago, was a "I've learned about what God wants tight -knit family affair from its incep- from his people," said 13- year -old Arturo tion. The Sweed family members were its Alonzo, who described the Scouts' visits parishioners and as the Sweed clan grew to retirement communities and packing so did the church. of box lunches to give away. As a result, the Sweed family cemetery Adam Woodenson, 12, says he has was in essence the local Catholic ceme- learned a lot about "being charitable" tery. during the last eight weeks. Moore, the Scout troop leader, came into contact with the Blessed Virgin None of the boys seemed particularly Mary Catholic Church several years ago. worried or squeamish about working in a At that time he was so struck by the hos- graveyard. pitality of the church that when he had Paul Gregg, 12, perhaps summed it up the opportunity to do something positive best: "No, this is really cool, as long as it's for someone h e kn ew exactly where to daylight." Mail carrier marks centennial of tradition o-z 94 Postman's granddaughter to celebrate rural postal employees' anniversary with - buggy ride . PALESTINE, Texas — Wanda Bishop of Bois d'Arc can remem- ber the stories her grandfather would tell her as a child about his job delivering the mail. "He would tell me a mail carrier was so important to people," the 17 -year U.S. Postal Service employ- ee said. "I don't know if that's why I became a letter carrier." Tuesday was the 100th anri.iver= sary of rural letter carriers. On Saturday, Mrs. Bishop will make a half-mile portion in the ' northern part of Anderson coun ty by horse and buggy as her grandfather once did. Her route includes the area ' once covered by her maternal 1. grandfather, Tom Vannoy, who delivered the mail in the early 1900s by horseback, horse and buggy, then car before leaving the Postal Service for farming. "I can remember sitting on his front porch, we would be waiting for the mail to come, and he would talk to me about getting stuck and dealing with dogs chas- ing him," Mrs. Bishop said. In her grandfather's day, the letter carrier was often the only contact some country residents had, she said. He would carry them groceries and medicine, and give them rides. Today, rural letter carriers serve as a "Post Office on Wheels," mailing packages for customers, selling stamps and money orders, she said. "One of the things I love about being a rural letter carrier is it gives you an opportunity to serve people," she said. Mrs. Bishop learned one of the ¢. By CINDY POLK Associated Press AP photo Letter carrier Wanda Bishop practices delivering mail by horse and buggy to Ben Brownlow in Monfalba, Texas. Tuesday marked the 100th anniversary of rural letter carriers and Bishop will commemorate the occa- sion Saturday by making part of her route the traditional way. customers on her route was also on her grandfather's route. The woman remembers hearing Mrs. Bishop's grandfather singing along his route, which Mrs. Bishop does also. She's been told by family that when her grandfather was detained by bad weather he would have to spend the night at a customer's house and finished his route the next day. When the weather is bad, Mrs. Bishop sings old hymns and quotes scripture, with one of her favorites Psalm 56:3 — "What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee." At first she thought Palestine Postmaster Charles McShan would think she was crazy for suggesting the idea of a horse - and -buggy run, but when he announced the Postal Service was promoting rural letter carriers on their anniversary, he told her to go for it. She's been practicing in a pas- ture with the horse and antique buggy, which is owned by her brother, the Rev. Charles Grasty of Neches. She decided to trade in her right -hand drive Subaru for the horse and buggy on a less traveled portion of her route. "I thought it would be safer because I'm trying not to get killed at the same time," she said. L 4 DA•ir<1.1 Mt. $WIM* S.A. 717. - - vitrmrr v••••rm""rrii Arcrille 3 . 441 11■51.034 MAR • 61 offr) I217n.12J ! C.J e irpe +rirlrirJriru cRaR172_f.1212 rara wit Nutqafrix. kao CJ „cR.Cca SEPT. 1949 4St/414, S.A.TpX. , ,PT 1,19 S. .AJEX. I ; T 9 ON COLLEGE STATION PARKS & RECREATION CALENDAR ',Arab i Y LEI, Thursday, September 14, 1989 'he Battalion "I never dreamed that A &M would ever be its present size. I've seen changes that were unimaginable." 1 James Boone, Class 01'21, talks about his experiences at Texas A&M. Boone attended A&M with the grandson of Lawrence Sullivan Ross. By James A. Johnson "He (Clark) got to where he In comparing past and present non, especially from thou like him- OI 7he Battalion Statl . dreaded bad weather," Boone - studenu. Boone says he is concerned self, who graduated from the Unive- called, smiling. A the lack of independence he no- risty decades before. When most Aggies want to learn of being a al witness the birth of the uc "I remember my We wbeedn , he h the school , was a more about the history of Texas Twelft o Y father sendin g going Man me off . h that's b ee n en "But , oC A &M, they a y excitin n simply check out a "It was an unusual) to d," ," a midnight train from c Boon e been proven wrong." of "Twelfth Man" or take g ex- oral and had he rne rI been know e b - per rlh headlines in 1917, decarin reading a t ick rour through University Ar- Wly� "And even though Coach Bible fore But that was howl earned. freshmen class enrollment h had to get Gill to play with no expe- "In the last few years, I've seen cord-breaking 600. But one Bryan resident who grad- Hence. we still managed to have a many parents accompany students "1 never dreamed that A &M oared from A &M in 1921 can give first -rate ball team." to register or pay fen. They're miss- would ever be its present size," you an eyewitness account of many For any football fan, that stood to ing out on a part of Brown up." Boone exclaims. "I've seen changes of fn the traditions adry it ons which have fas- reason. The Aggies went undefeated When A &M considered becoming that were unimaginable." old. young and during Boone's freshman year. co-educational, Boone remembers Indeed. a number of changes They did not have a s Ingle point there being a great deal of opposi. have taken place since 1921. When James Leroy Boone is not your av- scored against them in 10 Barnes, erage retired A &M graduate. One of and he remembers one game in par - the few living alumni from the Class titular when they mauled another of '21, Boone, who is 91, is what you school 100.0. might consider an authority figure "We may not have attracted the about the University's history. same crowd as the games do now," Because A &M was strictly a mill- Boone said. "But the noise was al- tary school when Boone was an un- ways there." dergraduate, he recalled other Boone. like all other students Southwest Conference schools using then, was a member of the Corps of their non - female status as an excuse Cadets. He said that he is pleased to lure high school graduates away with the way the Corps has main - from A &M. rained basic traditional values, but When Boone' entered A &M in he u surprised to hear o many cons- 1917, he attended school web Law- plaints in recent years concerning rence Sullivan Ross Clark, the hazing. grandson of Lawrence Sullivan According to Boone, life as a (Sully) Ross. freshman in his day was worse than Then, as now. freshman cadets it is today. experienced hazing, and the young He recalled one cadet being Clark was no exception. But Clark's crippled for several months after his superiors found it propriate superiors gave him a "shoe shine," a keep his hazing in the o family. term in Corps lingo which referred Boone recalled how Clark began to applying shoe polish to a fresh - to wish he were not the elder Rose man s shoe before setting fire to it. grandson. On rainy days, it was "His foot was so badly burned that Clark's duty to hold an umbrella he didn't wear a shoe for six over his grandfather's statue (which months," Boone said. He added that still stands in front of the Academic the incident lead to the expulsion of Building). the four men responsible. 6 he fiat enrolled here in 1917, the original Guion Hall was still stand - g. He saw the second Guion Hall built across the street from the origi- nal one that same Hart year. fterrmore than 70 stands where the first Guion Hall was built. Gosh, I've lived through two Guion Halls," he said with surprise. "Not too many people an say that." Despite all the changes the school has made since Boone 's college days, the valuable lessons which students learn from their experien a here are abundant, he said 11 Photos by Frederick D. Joe Aggie reminisces about A &M history, progress y, p g ass "Always, if you wan ns A &M, you had that great fraternal feeling fit other Aggies," he said. "Aggies are taught to be servants to their com- munities. They They have and always shirk ays w will have that can-do attitude." While he resides comfortably in his apartment at Walden Retirement Community n Brvan. Boone contin- ues to make frequent visits to his alma maser. Texas A &M has magnetism." he said. "No matter how long it's been since you've graduated, you always have a desire to return." • Elaine Gibson /D2 ■ Mn Landers /D3 ■ Youth Lines /D4 ■ limes to Remember /D7 -D9 ) eB fly A smashing time in jolly England R ecently I went to England on a selfless humanitarian mission to sell books. It was a very relaxing •trip until about 35 minutes after the :plane landed at Heathrow Airport, - which is when a British person cheer- fully informed my wife and me that terrorists had been shooting mortar bombs onto the runway. Really. They have political organizations over there that, having apparently received pub- lic- relations advice from Charles Manson, believe that the way to garner public support Is to bomb and mortar the public. "Hey!" the public Is apper- ently supposed to respond. "Homicidal loons are trying to kill me! 1 am feeling supportive toward them!" Shortly after we arrived, there were two more mortar attacks on Heathrow. None of the bombs detonated, but I was starting to wonder about the qual- ity of the airport security. I envisioned squadrons of Scotland Yard detectives wearing Sherlock Holmes hats, crawl- ing on hands and knees, scrutinizing every blade of glass through powerful magnifying glasses, not noticing trucks rumbling past them with large signs that said "CAUTION! MORTAR BOMBS!" Don't get me wrong. I live in South Florida, and we have our problems, too. The very week I was In England, a German tourist, checking out ofa South Florida hotel, complained about an odor in his room, which turned out to be emanating from — I am not mak- ing this up — a corpse under the bed, (Apparently he failed to put out the little doorknob sign that says "MAID: PLEASE REMOVE CORPSE. ") But we Annth Floridians pride nureelvas nn our mortar.free runways, which ena- bW us to guarantee that our tourists will be safe and secure. Unless of course they are foolish enough to ac' tually get off the plane. A nyway, the mortars were scary, but we had a MUCH scarier experience In England: Somehow — probably be- cause of another massive screw up at the CIA — we got invited to dine at the U.S, ambassador's residence. We were the only people on the guest list whose titles were "Mr. and Mrs." Everybody else was something like "The Lord Earl of Gwebbing and Her Worship. fulhood the Viscountess Lady Buffing- ton Prawn - Armature." So when we ar- rived at the ambassador's residence, which is approximately the size of Wales, but with more bathrooms, we were feeling socially intimidated. Fortunately the ambassador and his wife were extremely nice, which was reassuring, as was the fact that they had three dogs (one main, two back. ups) with no sense of etiquette what. soever ( "I know! Let's sniff the vis- countess!"). Nevertheless, when it came time to eat dinner, I developed severe Table Manners Paranoia. I es- timate that there were 27 forks at my place setting alone. Plus, It turns out that at these formal dinners they have rules about whom you talk to: Before the main course, you're supposed to talk exclusively to the lady on your left as though she is the most fascinating human on the planet, but when the main course arrives, you're supposed to drop her like used chewing gum and talk to the lady on your right. It's amazing to watch the changeover. All heads in the room swivel simul- taneously, like synchronized motorized elves in a Christmas dis- play. Of course I didn't know about this, so midway through the dinner I sud- denly found myself having an ani- mated conversation with the back of the head of the lady on my left, who, despite having been, only moments earlier, my closest personal friend, no longer seemed m realize that I existed. (To this day, she never calls, and she never writes.) • Speaking of exciting social adven- tures: Several nights later, we were at a party, and the host came up and said, "I'd like you to meet Selman Rushdie." Really. Apparently Selman has turned into a major party animal. So there 1 was. chatting with him, try ing to ap- pear cool, but in fact wondering if I would have been safer Just staying at the airport. "So, Selman!" I wanted to say. "Perhaps we would be more com- fortable if we were lying facedown on the floor away from the windows!" But other than these few anxious Please see BARRY, page D3 • Dave Barry is a humor columnist for the Miami Herald. Write to him c/o Tropic Maga- • tine, The MP"' Herald, One Herald Plaza, : Miami 331 Lifest le Home, sweet Aggieland In the early 1900s, families lived on the A &M campus, giving kids an idyllic place for childhood fun and frolic Wally Anderson stands atop bit fire engine near Houston Street on the Texas AAM campus. Tho photograph was taken In 1934 ByJODYBATES Special to the Eagle A s a child growing upon the Texas A&M campus in the 19209 and '305, Red Cashion had a scheme for acquiring free peanuts at the movies. "I'd get to the Assembly Hall early, and I'd pick up a peanut off the floor and throw it at an Aggie," says Cashion. "U- sually, about five Aggies would throw pean- uts back at me, and 1 would put four in my pocket and throw another back. By the time the show started, l had a pocket hill of pean- uts." Growing up on the Texas A &M campus — which was small and isolated in the flat several decades of this century —held enormous charms for young chtidren who didn't have to worry about wars or depres- sions. All of the college's social, recreational and cultural events were part of the life of children of A&M faculty or staff members. The campus was Isolated —eight miles from Bryan, the nearest town — so the col- lege provided many goods and services: dairy products from the creamery, laundry service, ice at the college power plant, facul- ty housing bull[ on campus and a private school —first grade through high school. "Everyone knew and cared about each other, like a big extended family," says He- len Thomas Perry, an artist who now lives near College Station's Thomas Park, which Is named after her father. "The children were always welcome in every home and of- fice— even on roller skates." Unlike today, the campus back then was home to families and children, and scenes of domestic life were carried on where unl- versity activities and buildings now are lo- cated. "We all lived around the drill field and south of that," says Bill Hensel, whose father was Fritz Hensel, former head of the A &M landscape art department for whom Hensel Park was named. "Until I was 8 we lived Inc house that backed up to the woo- den bleachers at Kyle Field. I loved to ride my bike down the ramps." Later, his family moved to a house at the comer of the drill field. "We got to see all the parades and military reviews from our porch." Hensel says. Perry's childhood activities included her winning a silver cup at the College Horse Show, taking hikes to the Fish Tank, parti- cipating in bonfires and yell practices, fol- lowing the Aggie Band down Military Walk and enjoying Cokes with high school chums at Casey's in the YMCA. "A &M was woven into the fabric of our Lives," she says. Perry says that in the summers, the kids on the south side of campus would challenge the kids who lived north of Simpson Drill Field to water fights. Dr. Frank Anderson Jr., an opthalmolo- glst, remembers dirt -clod tights, acorn fights and firecracker cannon battles as major ac- tivlties of the boys in 1930. Helen Thomas clowns around on the statue of Lawrence Sullivan "Sully' Ross outside the Academic BWlding at resat A&M University. "Once B Wy Gammon and 1 held off the rest of the neighborhood from the workshop behind the Gammon house," Anderson says. "Our opponents marshaled behind a piece of plywood, which Sam Rae, Billy's brother, supported by one exposed finger. A direct hit on that finger by an acorn fired from our firecracker cannon resulted in the collapse of their installation. "This may have pointed Sam Rae toward diplomacy. Before he retired, he had become an ambassador." p felfTer Hall, built in 1887, was the high school. "That was an unparalleled ex- perience," says Perry. "The walls were pink and the bricks fell out— what fun it was! On graduation night I climbed the water tower and nearly fell off." Not all pranks had a happy ending, however. Red Cashion tells this on himself: "The train brought coal for the power plant on campus. It was a spur line that ran right alongside the poet office on University Drive. Somehow, I piled up enough stones on the rail and managed to singlehandedly overturn a steam engine pulling the coal cars. Luckily, in those days It was Just con- sidered a prank by that red- headed kid." Jim Cashion, a retired public school prin• cipal, says summer was his favorite time. "You couldn't go barefoot though, because of the goathead stickers that were every- where. They were so tough they would punc- ture your bike tires," he says, adding that students with push mowers provided the only 'landscaping" effort during the sum- mer. In the 1930s, trash was collected and plied high, Then held in place with a law logs for the bonito) on Simpson Drill Field. "In fall we played touch football; basket• ball in the winter; and softball in the sum- mer," Jim Cashion says. "With a 73 peas we could spend the entire summer in the Downs Natatorium swimming pool. It was the most comfortable place in a town with- out air conditioning.' Jim's brother Red says he made sure "our mother got us up from our nap before 3 p.m. because that was when the pool opened, and I wanted to be the tint in line and first to Jump into the glassy pool and make waves." The Cashion boys' father was a minister who headed the campus YMCA, the social hub for all the college students. .. "If it wasn't academic, it was at the Y," says Red, who now heads Anco Insurance in Bryan. "Because the students couldn't at. ford to leave until summer, the Y and faculty homes were the center of entertainment and aoclaliuIng- "We'd entertain students on Inc weekend with homemade ice cream. As the smallest, I sat on the three -quart freezer, while all the big kids had to crank, a tough Job! "The faculty always took time with the students and were contributors to the com- munity," Red says. "They took a personal hand in all the programs on campus, a sig- nlficant factor in A&M'a greatness." Campus life helped supplement the allow- ances of some of the youngsters. Anderson Please pro CAMPUS, page 85 • Jody Bates Is an Independent journalist and local teacher. Section Campus From 01 recalls using his bicycle to take messages from the telephone center to students in the dorms. A round trip was worth a dime. Red Cashion used his big wa. goo "I rented it out to Aggles at the end of term to load their trunks for summer stor. age or to take It to the train sta- tion." he says. One of the rules for rent- ing the wagon is that I had to ride and they had to pull — R CASHION all for 25 cents." Jim Cashion recalls a near dis- aster averted by the proximity of his family's home to the college hospital. "Red and I were playing with a baseball Inside the Y; I threw and it hit Red's face. We ran across to Mrs. Cleghorn, the nurse at the hospital, and she stitched him up before we went home to Mother." Nancy Reynolds Tiner, whose father, Dr. E.H. Reynolds Sr., signed the charter to establish the city of College Station in 1939, lived where the Memorial. Student Center Is now. • "I loved to watch the Angle Band march on their way to the football field," she says. Tiner remembers the special trains that brought football fans to Aggie games. "One time the Aggiea caught the Baylor Bear mascot and painted it maroon and white, then paraded it down our street." These were the years of the Great Depression. They were quiet times but we had lots of fun w i t h o u t money." Hensel r says. "We al- ,. ways went down to the train station in the evening to see who might be arriving on the fast train — HENSEL the Sunbeam Special — a streamlined train from Dallas to Houston." Mary Leland, a local music teacher, remembers "walking to Old Main with my Dad each day for the mall. It was ow special time to talk," Leland says her favorite game was played at night. She tells of theatrical productions put on by campus chidren after the sun went down. We would make up plays, get the costumes together and put a curtain across 8 clothesline. Flor- ence Richey was the Instigator," Leland says, adding that the boys always loved to 'play dead' and have lots of sword fights." Frank Anderson says, "Tom Le- land lived next door and had an affinity for chemistry. He used their garage for a lab. I once asked too many questions about the contents of his bottles. He replied, 'one was Deuteronomy, the other Leviticus.' I retained those names . until Sunday School in the basement of Gufon Hall gave me new insights. Tom later became head of the chemical engineering department at Rice (University)." "Summers were quiet and de- Ilghtful," says Mary Bolton Eck. $99 Complete Eyeglasses VISION CARE PLANS • OVERNIGHT SERVICE EVE EXAMS Av... nouro..mw tim013 0 ata.n„MWaMaraaa Post Oak Mall 764 -0735 les, whose father became presi- dent of A &M after she was grown and married. "All the faculty fam- ilies eat on their lawns or porches in the evening breeze and visited one HIBSCH another. No one entertained formally in the sum- mer because all the kitchen help and maids went to work in the cotton fields. Basically, every. thing stopped until after the harvest and the students returned to campus in the fall." Bolton says because there weren't any hotels, the faculty wives served as hostesses and chaperons for all the big social events. "Sometimes we would have five or six girls packed into the house for the Thanksgiving dance or at graduation," Bolton says. "We stored all their crinoline slips on the roof for lack of space." Mary Munson Hirsch re- member& gathering sticks and wood at the curb for the Aggiea to take to the bonfire. She says she could watch the cavalry horses perform drills on Simpson field from the windows of her two- story house. Munson Street was named after Hirsch's father, a civil engineer. ing professor who did the survey. ins for the College Hills area de- velopment in 1939. "Located where the Corps dorms are now was the house we used as an elementary school," Hirsch says. "I was In second grade when we moved off campus to a new facility on Timber Street. It was quite an event for our community." Hirsch recalls that the people who came off the trains for foot- ball games would atop at her porch and ask for a drink of water. The arrival of the fast evening train was a regular draw. She says she loved going to the train station to watch the people. The Influx of people coming to the football games created havoc in College Station. "It was bedlam," says Knox Walker, whose father, a clvll en- gineer, was superintendent of building and college utlltles. "There were only two cam- pus police be- cause It was normally a quiet campus, but football games brought thousands of WALKER people. "In 1837, Franklin D. Roosevelt came on his presidential train, with his touring car on a flatbed. They unloaded It and drove him to Kyle Field where the student body, faculty and citizens from the entire county were gathered to hear him talk." Walker says he vividly re- members Wally Anderson, dressed in a white Palm Beach linen suit, but barefoot, run. ning out and Jumping on the running board of the touring car to shake hands with FDR. In 1940, Wal- PERRY ker says, It was decreed that A&M faculty and staff would no longer be provided Any Prescription Any Frame' Yea isN iwy hes Wdioe deliper Iran ma a Garlic La Milk, Oki Cam, d Olne Marne (y. MUM RON Pin'), d any Pwaipom with ea& seem, Wood or eiAul Firms Ise. G.plm papa 999 (Yoh. W le MS/ Rey is opds sea See wades far 966. A'cva/ opi ,What's fol.M 1, It DE M � OR T' ,, a Eagle with housing for 915 per month. "R was a mad scramble to get housing off campus," Walker says. "Many bought the house they lived fn and had it moved to the south edge of campus." This marked the end of an era during which faculty families hosted formal dinners in their campus houses. These affairs were attended by men in tails be- PISIItluab . c( n 6usin for cSisif us! as 6 For cuelpmer service c.11 Lilkstyle A coslumed birthday parry In 1933 honored Helen Thomas and Paul Manglesdod. AI- tending were (back row, from left) James Yarnel, Duke Thornton, Charles Kent, Sam Rhea Gammon, Peggy Medina, B.J. Lloyd, Jack Marsh, Dick Richards, Nelwyn Mahn, (middle row) Belly Harriet Irwin, Martha Jane Porter, Grace Schrader, Marjorie McMII- lan, Elizabeth McNew, Tom Leland, Mary Jane Fuller, Betty Vezey, Mary Beth Winkler, (front row) Cynthia Lancaster, Paul Manglesdorl, Helen Thomas, Marie Schrader, Stan- ley Vezey and Ella Frances Cofer. All these children grew up on the campus of Texas A&M because their lathers served on the faculty or stall. fore 1920, In tuxedos in the '20e and suits in the '30s. "Bridge parties, music practice and performance, poetry compo- sition, painting, discussions and visiting were significant parts of life in many of those houses," says Frank Anderson Jr. "There was a special quality of life in the campus community In those years." anda I re I Brazos Natural Foods 3902 014 College ltd. qiiii Bryan 846 -4459 Bryan - College Station Eagle Robin defies Mac on `GH' By NANCY JOHNSON Eagle news services All My Children: Livia and Tom were devastated when Alec was given custody of Jamal. Ter- rence told Julia that their re- lationship Is over. Erica Insisted it's over between her and Dimltri and she's going back to modeling. Another World: Carl and Ra- chel both wondered about their future together. A hyperactive Cass avoided any closeness with his daughter, Charlie. Atli ran away because of Amanda's re- lationship with Grant. As the World Turns: Craig kissed Samantha. Shannon saw a man who had been following her and Royce. Jessica was upset with Duncan, who suggested that he help Craig smuggle his children out of Montego before they are harmed. The Bold and the Beautiful: Ridge was in shock after Taylor was killed In a plane crash in Cairo. Macy couldn't tell Sally about her feelings for Anthony because it will break Sally's heart. Connor charmed Darla. Days of our Lives: Laura be gan hearing voices in her head. John, who Is Stefano's prisoner, was forced to watch Tony and Kristen making love on closed circuit television. Carrie and Austin made love for the fret time. General Hospital: Laura was • Adult Costume Rent the Kids Favorite Purple Dinosaur •Kids Parties •Promotlons •CtturclVSchool Functions ( also - reserve lots bunny for Easier NOWT) Ct_JO$roRMAL WEAR and COt,TUME RENTAL 1901 Texas Ave, Brvan 779 -4444 Sunday, April 24, 1994 Pato D6 Soap kidnapped by thugs who work for Frank Smith. Robin defied Mac's authority over her life. Bobble confessed to Monica that she has' •' feelings for Damian- Maxie is still. - very a Guiding Light Michelle, who Is upset about Ed's romance with Eve, tried to get Eve in trouble at the hospital. Holly told Roger, who talked about raising Peter, that she doesn't want to be a mother again. Loving: Ave came out of her coma and remembered Harry's visits, but thought it was another - worldly encounter. Curie was upset 'm see Dinah Lee wasn't wearing her wedding ring. Angle U worried that she could be HIV. One Life to Live: Todd helped • blind woman, Sarah, who encour- aged him to go back to Llanvlew and get Rebecca. Rachel and Ke- vin realized their romance L over - Max ignored Luna's plea for him to return home, The Young and the Restless: Marilyn insisted she lau't stalk- ing Blade. April was indicted for Robert's murder, Kay realized Victor hired Jed to work at the ranch so Jed can keep an eye on N1kkL • Nancy Johnson Is a syndicated columnist plllllIIHI 11111 1111111: 11 / (141111 _ /dr 1111111/111 \, 1111 1111111111'11 .•kits con 1100 Tulip Choir or wrought iron. Reg. 1125. $92 Vandal dal e8 eatal and widrer. Reg. 5115. $100 Dynasty Chair is mahogany rattan. Rag. 5125. - $92 Pkkld Pis. dal 4 whitewashed. Reg. $115. $68 Chiorarl Chair comas in whitewash, black, green, blue or ten.cotto. Reg. 585. $152 rile Top Table 4 wlMewarred pine. Reg. 5190. $360 Cheirndord Table is solid northern Europm pine- Iteg. 5450. We have what you need to satisfy your appetite for change. All Pier 1 dining tables and chairs are on sale this week. We have a varied menu of solid wood, graceful ' �;" I � II �� I _ j taste. At 20% off regular prices, you can get your fill, for less. ( • metal or tropical rattan. You can even mix and match to suit your � i n for a change $132 ei+drr block Table is rased rabb.wad. Reg. 5165. 168 reel Clair 4 soMd beedaaod- Sea Sae. $100 Whitewashed Rattan Table Base. Rea. 5125. $56 Glees Top is 36' round. Reg. 570. $80 Whaewa.hsd Ronan Dining Choir. Reg. 5100. 48-4586: College Station: 1402 Harvey Rd., 683.0353. Shop Monday 10 - 8. Sunday 12.6. - $132 e6dr prattle Tabs. Reg. sus." $60 Some Barbara Dieing Choir. R.g. 976, Selection may vary by .store. fads, pillows, glass tops .old separately. Sale prices gooel through Saturday, April 30, Local State Living history inspires students By KELLI LEVEY Eagle start writer Ben Foster spent much of last school year giving some Bryan teens the old "I walked three miles to school" routine. And he described what it meant to work 10 -hour shifts for two bits (25 cents) a day. "I didn't know what eight hours was," the Bryan native said proudly. "When I was in school, I had chores to do after- wards. When I wasn't in school, I worked. The only time I saw home during the day was Sunday morning." The chatty 102 - year -old was one of three elderly Sherwood Health Care Center residents the Bryan High students spent hours interviewing for a class project. Students in the school's year -old Com- munity Service elective class recorded the residents' oral histories on videotape. Ellen Nelson, who coordinated the project with fellow Bryan High teacher Ruth Whitely, started the oral history project as an extension of the "Adopt a Nursing Home" program. Nelson said the teachers first considered the oral history project as therapy for the elderly resi- dents, but they soon found out it helped the students, too. "Some of the students were reluctant to even enter a nursing home because of their preconceptions," she said. "They realized there are many bright, alert, de- lightfitl people in there. It also made them realize what treasures they have in older people. "Toward the end of the year we asked Ben Foster (seated, front) recounted his living history at Sherwood Health Care center to Bryan High students as part of an oral history project the school took part In. Pictured with Foster are (from lett) Sherwood Social Services Assistant them about it and they all said, 'I'd do it again.' ' Courtney McGee, an 18 -year -old who graduated in May, said she didn't really look forward to the project at first. "It was one of those things they tell you you're going to do and you smile, but you grit your teeth," she said. "But it turned out to be pretty interesting, and a lot of us got pretty attached to those folks." The students spent 10 hours a week on campus working on their projects and 15 hours a week outside the classroom. Other projects included shelving books at the Carnegie Library in Bryan and serv- ing as a Lamaze coach for a sister-in-law. In addition to interviewing Foster, the students spent time with Alvis Atkins and Dorothy Doty. Atkins has moved to College Station, but Foster and Doty were at the Sherwood center for an impromptu reunion on Friday. "Those kids came to see me a lot," Fos- ter said. "I liked talking to them and spending time with them." And 69- year -old Doty, who has always worked with young people, called the students "real sweet." All three subjects in the videotape received a copy. Extra copies are in the Barker Oral History Library in Austin, which honored the students for their work; in the Bryan High and city librar- ies; and at the Brazos Count Historical Commission. I've seen it several times," Foster said. "I gave my copy to my niece and she said she looks at it from time to time." Eagle photo/ Kyle Burma Eva Pinney, recent Bryan High graduates Melanie Jackson, Antoinett Lewis, Elena Almanza, Sherwood resident Dorothy Doty and Bryan graduate Tiffany Harris. Sherri Shutt, Sherwood's activity di- rector, said "adopting" nursing homes has become a popular service project for several organizations. "It has really been good for the resi- dents because they look forward to theft coming," Shutt said. "And it's good for people to learn more about nursing homes. The whole concept has changed. It used to be a place to put people to die, but now it's more of a place where they can be near their peers. "They play dominoes and cards and we go to Brenham to eat ice cream and to the winery to sip wine — that's one of their favorite things to do." Eva Pinney, a social services assistant, said the students learned about history from the people who lived it. • By JIM WYSS Eagle staff writer As the belching, heaving mass of metal crept methodically toward the College Station platform, camera - toting gawkers swarmed around the locomo- tive oohing and aahing. Is there somebody famous on the train ?" one of the on- lookers asked. No, the celebrity IS the train. The world's largest operating steam locomotive pulled into town Saturday, throwing local train aficionados into a tizzy. "The thing's a monster," said Evelyn Garland of Houston, in obvious awe. "It really makes you yearn for a time we've lost and the civility of riding a train that's a work of art." Built fn 1943, the engine • alone measures over 122 -feet- long and weighs more than a million pounds. Its wheels are six feet in diam- eter and the engine can travel at 70 miles per hour. In short, the Union Pacific "Challenger" No. 3985 is a mon- ster. Jake Devries has been riding trains for most of his 86 years. Considering that he's logged over 105,000 miles on the rails, you'd think he wouldn't get terribly excited about a short little trip from Houston to College Station. But when he heard that the Challenger was making the run he drove all day from San Antonio to share the ride with some 700 other enthusiasts. "Its got a steam locomotive on the front of it — that's all it takes to get me here," he said, laughing from under- neath his train conductors hat. "It's a living breathing thing." Well, aren't just plain -jane regular trains living breathing things too? "N0000l," he said adamantly. "They're just a box on wheels with an engine on it." Swapping stories with fellor "train nuts", as he call them, Devries said the best trip in the United States is the 13 -hour stretch from Denver to Salt Lake City. I'd like to tell all my Amtrack friends that that's the best trip there is," he said. You go straight through the Rockies and it's beautiful." And make sure you travel when there's a full moon," said another ■ rail -buff. You don't want to The E Steam -ins into College Station . miss the scenery." Built for fast freight service, the Challenger is one of 105 of its kind built for Union Pacific between 1936 and 1943 and is the only operating engine of its class in the world today. It was retired in 1962 and placed on display near the depot in Cheyenne, Wyo. In 1981 a group of Union Pacific employee volunteers restored the locomotive to running condition in 1981. The Challenger originally burned coal, but cinders from that fuel had a habit of starting brush fires in parts of Wyoming and California and so it was converted to use No. 5 oil, said train buffs. Saturday's trip which was such a spectacle that traffic on Welborn Road stopped as people pulled their cars over to get a look at the moving museum, was sponsored by the Gulf Cnost chap- ter of the National Railway Historical Society. At left, Jake Devries, a'train nut', watches the steam engine Challenger pull into College Station Saturday. Photos by Butch Ireland