Traces of Tx (today)

[Shakey Jake]

To most of the world, Texas is known as a big state in the southern United States,
But to Norwegians, it is also a word that frequently crops up in everyday conversation - often in the phrase "Der var helt Texas!" [That was very completely/totally Texas!].

[Hatchdog]

^^^^^^^^
How dare they?

[Shakey Jake]

Johnny Paycheck, Merle Haggard and George Jones (September 12, 1931 – April 26, 2013). George was born in Saratoga, Tx. Saratoga is an unincorporated community in Hardin County. It is located approximately 26 miles (42 km) northwest of Beaumont and adjacent to the Big Thicket National Preserve. Saratoga was originally named New Sour Lake.

[Shakey Jake]

I posted this last year as well but it's a good one so, here it is again:
On this day in 1896, in El Paso, U.S. deputy marshal George A. Scarborough shot constable John Selman, a celebrated gunman and gambler who had just left the Wigwam Saloon. Selman died the next day on the operating table. Scarborough was acquitted of murder but was forced to resign his position as deputy marshal. Selman, perhaps best known as the man who killed John Wesley Hardin in 1895, had himself been a notorious figure since the 1870s. Four years to the day after Selman's death, Scarborough died at his home in Deming, New Mexico, following a gun battle with rustlers in Arizona.

[Shakey Jake]

Traces of Texas reader Davey Schrank kindly submitted this nifty photo of his great great grandfather with his family on "the old ranch" on the Willow CIty Loop north of Fredericksburg. Davey didn't say when this was taken but it appears to be about 1900, give or take. I'm not sure of the purpose behind the stacked rocks, either. Any guesses?
Thank you, Davey! I love this!
Source: Traces of Texas Facebook group

[Shakey Jake]

Here's an early picture of the Chicken Ranch brothel just outside of LaGrange. The brothel operated from 1905 to 1973 before it was shut down by the Fayette County sheriff under pressure from the DPS and television activist Marvin Zindler.

[Shakey Jake]

Here's another entry sourced from the Traces of Texas Facebook group:
The first German to settle in Texas was Johann Friedrich Ernst, a former soldier and postal clerk in Oldenburg, Germany, who obtained a land grant to immigrate to Austin's colony in 1831. He left Oldenburg in September, 1829 after apparently embezzling funds from the post office there. But Texas was a chance for him to start anew, with no past. A letter from Ernst to a friend in Germany described his wonderful new life in Texas and influenced other Germans to immigrate. With his kindness and encouragement to the newly arrived from his old country, he became known as the "father of the immigrants."
Sidenote: The Handbook of Texas Online notes that the diversity of German cultures in the state was striking:
"Even in the confined area of the Hill Country, each valley offered a different kind of German. The Llano valley had stern, teetotaling German Methodists, who renounced dancing and fraternal organizations; the Pedernales valley had fun-loving, hardworking Lutherans and Catholics who enjoyed drinking and dancing; and the Guadalupe valley had atheist Germans descended from intellectual political refugees. The scattered German ethnic islands were also diverse."
Shown here: an early photo of the Schmitz Hotel in New Braunfels

[Shakey Jake]

Our youngest son took off for Kerrville yesterday where the "path of totality" for the eclipse was traveling. I thought it was supposed to be cloudy but the weather cleared up in time. Here's some of his pictures he took. They posted in reverse order but that's okay.
Jake

[Shakey Jake]

On this day in 1965, the Houston Astros played the New York Yankees in exhibition baseball in the Astrodome, the first event in the new domed stadium. The Astrodome, the first fully air-conditioned, enclosed, multipurpose sports stadium in the world, was first approved by voters in 1958. Roy M. Hofheinz had led in developing it. Over the years it was the home stadium of the Houston Astros and the Houston Oilers, among other teams. It also hosted such varied entertainments as bullfighting, rodeos, and, in 1992, the Republican National Convention. After the Oilers moved to Tennessee to become the Titans and the Astros moved to a new stadium, the Astrodome continued in use as part of an entertainment complex, the Astrodome Convention Center. (all of that greenspace around it is businesses and hospitals now.)

[Shakey Jake]

Elgin, a city with a history rooted in a significant flood along the Colorado River during the early 1870s, owes its establishment to this natural event. This flood prompted the Houston and Texas Central Railroad to re-survey a railway line from Manor to Austin. It altered its original route from McDade southwest towards the Colorado River between Bastrop and Webberville.
Officially incorporated on May 13, 1872, Elgin was named after Robert Morris Elgin, who served as the Railroad Land Commissioner then. During this period, a new North-South railway line was established, positioning Elgin advantageously with two major rail lines and a notable presence of eight daily passenger trains.
The turn of the 20th century marked a phase of growth and prosperity for Elgin. A prolific cotton harvest in 1900 spurred the establishment of five operational cotton gins and a cotton oil mill, indicating a flourishing agricultural sector. Additionally, three brick manufacturing companies in the vicinity earned Elgin the moniker "The Brick Capital of the Southwest."
This growth trajectory extended into the 1920s, a period marked by the construction of numerous brick commercial buildings that contributed to Elgin's architectural landscape. Presently, Elgin boasts a population of approximately 8,000 residents, reflecting a proud and evolving community.