Ghost Towns on the Brazos ~ Shades of Forgotten Oil Towns and an Old Grist Mill

This post was originally written several days ago.  Since then, the fires that have raged in the PK area south of Graham have ravaged much of the entire area.  As far as I can find out, neither South Bend or Eliasville which both lie on the south bank of the Clear Fork of the Brazos were engulfed.

Some time ago I picked up a bad postcard of Stovall's Hot Well.  It had been over 20 years since I had been out in that area just south of Graham. So, early in April, I took a Sunday morning scout to see if there was anything left of the old place. The weather was pretty good and it was just at the time that the mesquite was leafing out in sharp contrast to the cedar and hardwoods. I went out through Mineral Wells and Caddo and then slanted back on SH67 up to South Bend.  

Trip map ~Click to enlarge map

South Bend is located on a big bend of the Clear Fork of the Brazos river upstream from Possum Kingdom lake. The Clear Fork is pure hell when it floods, but today it was beautiful and placid. This is the river that John Graves paddled down before he wrote the Texas classic Goodbye to a River in 1959. The area south of Graham down to South Bend was locally known as Tonk Valley, since the land was once part of a short-lived Indian reservation where some of the Tonkawa tribes were placed. 

1925 Young County GLO Oil Map ~ South Bend-Eliasville-Reservation

In the early 1920's South Bend was a roaring boom town, filled with activity. The antique map above shows the scope. Oil wells were coming in, found in multiple sands from 1350 to 4250 feet. Some of them were big gushers. It had its own water system, post office, schools, hotels, gambling hells, churches and even a couple of plants to produce casing head gasoline.  

Now, South Bend is just a sad collection of dilapidated or abandoned little buildings that fully justify its ghost town image.

Click to enlarge image

There are still a few buildings more or less intact in South Bend including one restored as a home as well as a small group of mobile homes around the crossroads..

Abandoned Motel at SH67 & FM701~Click to enlarge image

The oil play in the area from Graham down to Breckenridge was so great that the Kell properties built the Wichita Falls and Southern railroad from Graham to South Bend, Eliasville and south to a junction point just north of Breckenridge to meet the demand. The railroad has been gone for over 50 years but remnants remain.

Piers & massive stone abutments for South Bend Main Street Overpass

Not only did South Bend have an oil boom going, but in 1921 one of the deep wells on the Stovall property just across the Brazos river started pushing up hot mineral water!  Instantly "miracle" cures for almost anything that ailed a person were apparently happening after extended immersion in the healing goop. A little resort developed out on the flats northwest of South Bend.

Click to enlarge image

The Hot Well stayed in business until sometime in the 1990's until a fire took most of it out.  I drove out Hot Wells Road to look, but couldn't find anything much.  South Bend and the Hot Well may be gone, but today, the big and little pump jacks are still turning out that $100+ per barrel oil.

The day was still early and the light was good so I decided to run down FM701 toward Eliasville about 10 miles away.  I don't believe that I have ever traveled this road before.  Staying on the south side to start, it more or less follows the Brazos down and the old Wichita Falls & Southern right-of-way meanders along there as well.  At the first crossing of the Clear Fork several miles from South Bend there are some old road bridge piers that remain in place. 

Bridge Piers~ Click to enlarge image

The road is scenic. It winds a little and you catch some neat glimpses of the river as we head west and a little south. There is less cedar and mesquite along this way.

Steel Truss Bridge ~ Click Image to englarge

About 5 east of Eliasville, FM701 crosses back to the south side of the Clear Fork.  Just to the north of the highway bridge is a fine old steel truss road bridge still in place without any decking. 

At this point the road is pretty level but as we get further along the terrain starts getting more broken.  We're just about at Eliasville.

1920 Ad From the FW Star-Telegram ~ Click to enlarge image

Eliasville was a sleepy little mill and cotton town dating from 1874 until the oil boom hit right after World War I. Then, everything changed. Oil brought money. Money brought developers with big dreams. The promise of the railroad coming in 1921 fueled the fire even more.  Lots were sold, good brick and stone buildings were built. Houses erected. Things looked good. 

As you come into Eliasville from the east, signs start warning us of steep grades. Just before the road drops off, a gravel road leads to the left toward some substantial buildings on the bluff. On this Sunday morning, two old churches of good proportion stood facing each other, along with modest old parsonages and what must be the ruins of the old stone school. There were too many folks getting out of church just then so I didn't get any pictures.

Eliasville Business District ~ Click to enlarge image

After a corkscrew drop down the steep bluff I came to the crossroads of FM1974 and the Breckenridge road, FM701 south. This building which looks abandoned, which was probably once a bank and perhaps the now-gone post office and the home of other businesses, is the sole remainder of what once was a thriving little city.  There once was a nice square, but it is now overgrown.  Eliasville had a tendency to catch fire a lot and when the oil business faded, so did the town with little of it ever rebuilt. 

Grist mill shell and dam ~ Click to enlarge image

I headed west for a little ways past the old building and crossed over the Brazos again on a high bridge. I glanced to the south and was surprised to see this old mill and dam, with a number of people enjoying the grounds. I was totally unaware of its existence for some reason.  There is a huge amount of history here that I don't have space to go into. However, discovering it really made my day.

At that point I headed south down FM701 toward Breckenridge and then back on US 180 toward Fort Worth.  A day well spent..

Note:  Thanks to railroad historian Steve Goen for some corrections to several items related to the Wichita Falls & Southern railroad bridges.  The old oil map above does show that the railroad stayed south of the Brazos between South Bend and Eliasville. 

All maps and images from the Electric Books Collection

On Books: Comanche Sundown, The Undertakers Wife & Other Recent Reading

It's been a while since I posted on books. Here's some of the better stuff:

Comanche Sundown by Jan Reid:  Last year when I was reading the non-fiction  Empire of the Summer Moon by S.C. Gwynne, several people suggested that I read this book. In March of this year it was given to me as a birthday present. I was a little pessimistic about the premise of yet another fictional book on the Comanches and Quanah Parker. After all, the Quanah tale has been done to death.  I'm happy to say that this is a great book.

Reid manages to intertwine Quanah Parker, Bose Ikard, Charley Goodnight and all the other improbable characters and suspects of the period into a fabulous tale that leaves you wondering if all this might not have happened after all. Well it didn't. However, I've heard from people that were not very well read on the subject that they just accepted it as the real truth and were surprised to learn it wasn't. When you can put together a story that well, then it's something really worth reading. But keep grounded. Remember, it didn't happen.. 

The Undertaker's Wife by Loren B. Estleman:  This is another birthday book that really hit the mark. I have been reading Estleman since the 1970's and have enjoyed almost everything he does. In spite of being categorized as a writer of crime and western novels, he has a very wide range and has quietly racked up some impressive awards for his writing. Some time ago I posted on The Branch & the Scaffold which was his fictional take on the days of Isaac C. Parker, the "hanging Judge" of Fort Smith, AR. The Undertaker's Wife also has a western theme of sorts but it is more about the struggle of maintaining a marriage under tough conditions. There is also a good back story line with a little mystery to it. I suspect that almost everyone will like this book, as I did..

Fever Dream by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child:  I am a voracious reader and it hurts to wait for books I know will be good to come out in paperback so I can afford them. This is one of the best by Preston & Child in a long series that goes back years. It's kind of a prequel and yet stands all on its own.  Preston & Child separately write fine books, but I believe they do even better when they write together. A very good thriller with a touch of Cajun Gothic.   If you haven't gotten into their books, give them a try..

Dead Watch by John Sandford:  Another one of my favorite thriller writers introducing a new character in his cast.  One that specializes in forensic bureaucracy, if you will. Sandford writes in a relaxed, intelligent way with some real humor, developing good characters with stories that hang together. Always a good read and when you're done, you will probably want to pick up another of Sandford's books. 

Lost Fort Worth Musical Treasures Found in a Heap On The Floor

Several weeks ago I was scrounging around in one of the local antique malls and came across a couple of old pieces of sheet music that have lots of Fort Worth history attached to them.  They were in a bin on the floor.

Click to enlarge image

Many of you will recognize Fort Worth's famous Euday L. Bowman as the composer of this piece.  Bowman was born in Fort Worth in 1877 and lived here much of his life in the city with his sister Mary Bowman. His most famous composition was the Twelfth Street Rag which was written in 1914 and became very popular with recorded versions by many bands, but it didn't became a big popular hit until after World War II.

Euday Bowman was also a fine musician as well as a composer. He played by invitation in many Fort Worth venues as well as other places including Kansas City. It was there that he wrote several other compositions named after Kansas City streets as well as this piece, named for the city itself. Bowman also wrote the Fort Worth Blues, Shamrock Rag and many others which were popular with the dance and recording bands of the period. 

The Kansas City Blues was written between 1914 and 1917. This particular copy may have come from as early as this period or a little later.  The cover design and color is striking although the sheet itself is very fragile and tattered.  The music itself is intact. Unfortunately, Euday Bowman sold his copyrights very early on to his publisher for only $100 and did not benefit much from the popularity of his works. At the time of his death in 1949 he was working to regain his intellectual property rights. He is buried in Oakwood Cemetery in North Fort Worth. 

Click to enlarge image

This is an arrangement of the Yellow Rose of Texas which was originally composed in 1858 and which was apparently specially revised for use during the Texas Centennial in 1935 by Mary Daggett Lake and William J. Marsh. Mary Daggett Lake (1881-1955) is a famous name in Texas history as a descendant of one of the original Fort Worth families and a city activist and historian as well as the composer of several published Texas-themed songs. William J. Marsh (1880-1971) was an equally well known musician and composer who co-authored Texas Our Texas, which became the official Texas state song in 1924.

Printed in red at the bottom of the cover sheet is "Especially Featured by PAUL WHITEMAN AND THE KINGS MEN at the Fort Worth Frontier Centennial, 1936".  On the second page is a copyright notice for Lake and March dated 1936. 

This piece of music is in such good shape that I can't tell whether it is a later facsimile or original.  In any case, it's interesting and Centennial related. Once in a while, it pays to paw through the piles of stuff in antique shops and malls. Doesn't happen often, but it is fun to find old stuff like this..

Went to (see) The Wizard! ~ A Sunday Scout To A Place That Might Have Been

A gray Sunday morning but the itch was on me.  I had recently picked up an interesting 1958 Jack County Texas Highway Department map. It got me thinking about some almost hidden places in the Cross Timbers, so I decided to snoop around a little. After Springtown, SH 199 begins to get pretty and the clutter is a little less noticeable.  The real beauty begins as you climb the hill east of Agnes and then pass the little store.  On through a little bit of Wise and then into Jack County and then a turn to the north on FM 1156 at Joplin.  Still gray and a little chilly, but even so this little run up to Vineyard is pretty.  With the old Rock Island ROW on the left, the US 380 intersection brings us to a stop. This is the area on the old map that interests me today.

1958 THD Jack County ~ Click to enlarge

If you enlarge this 1958 map you will see that US 380 from Bridgeport to Jacksboro did not exist at that time. Nor did its predecessor SH 24, until 1968.  There was no road at all on the section between Vineyard to about ten miles east of Jacksboro which I show in red. This means then that Wizard Wells was on the main road (FM 1156) between Jacksboro and Vineyard and then to Bridgeport as late as 1968. I crossed US 380 and headed for Wizard Wells about 2 miles further north.

On the outskirts I passed Jim Ned Road on the right. I have no idea what if any, historical significance is attached to this road.

Click to enlarge image

I passed a number of mostly well kept mobile homes as I turned to the east and then at the main corner, the remains of a small brick store showed up.  This is what happens when you lose a main road through your community.  

Wizard Wells Retreat~ Click image to enlarge

The main building which is now a Holistic retreat, is in excellent shape and there were a number of cars around it.  It is built of brick tile with an entry on the second floor. It stands in stark comparison to the rest of its surroundings.

Click to enlarge image

I drove around in back of the main building and turned up some interesting rubble and remnants from the time when Wizard Wells was a popular place to come and get healed or at least get away for awhile.

Click to enlarge image

Here's the old well and a very good historical marker that tells the whole story.

I decided to nose north on a gravel road and came across the Wizard Wells Cemetery which is very well kept and lays next to a small creek in a pretty setting.  I left the Wells heading west on FM 1156 which was very scenic and showed signs of being a much more important road in the past than it is now.

The loss of a major highway through the town is not the first event that has hurt this little resort.  In the late 1890's the Rock Island railroad built from Bridgeport to Jacksboro and on to Graham. Because of the difficult terrain, they elected to go through Vineyard, thus cutting vital public access to the Wells. The railroad was abandoned in the early 1970's and is shown on the map clip.

Maryetta Store & Station

Maryetta School ~ Click to enlarge image

After a barbecue sandwich at the Dairyland in Jacksboro I decided to head back by the northern route on SH 59 which was the original main road between Jacksboro and Bridgeport. Just north of the bridge across the West Fork of the Trinity, I came to the crossroads that was Maryetta and added a couple to the collection.  

The Square at Chico 

The final stop was at Chico.  Although this is a dusty, depressing little town that spawns the gravel trucks that clot SH 114 and SH 199, the little town square has some interestingly old buildings and the area is well kept.  Absolutely deserted on this day. 

It was spitting a little rain and getting chillier so I headed down to Bridgeport, picked up SH 114 and beat it for home. 

All images from The Electric Books Collection

Wheelspin ~ A New Fort Worth Map CDROM ..For No Good Reason At All

Back on this page now after a couple of weeks of fairly intensive effort involved in publishing a new CDROM full of Fort Worth maps.  Well.. really just one map on 344 pages, plus three supplementary maps that have been published before. I call it: The 1924 Plat Map of Fort Worth. Snappy title isn't it? 

This volume has become one of the most important references I use in pursuing the general and map history of Fort Worth after World War I. While it certainly isn't suitable for a wall hanging or a coffee table it has a special place in my library. I've had it for a number of years and because its relative scarcity made it expensive, at least for my limited resources, I had to spend a some time thinking about making the investment when it became available.  It has been worth every cent that I put into it. 

Click Here for eBay Store

It's a big, heavy, hardbound book that has had lots of use and has been re-bound at least once. The black and white pages are about 11" by 14". There are over 350 pages counting the excellent Guide Maps and the Index pages. Every single part of Fort Worth that was in existence in 1924 is included as are some adjacent lands.  It is all done in standard plat map format which means that a casual viewer will instantly become bored beyond belief and may be in danger of losing some eyesight.    

Click to enlarge map

As I came to realize how useful this set of maps was to me, I began thinking about getting them into digital form and onto CDROM so that others could use it. After all, that's one of the things I do. I guess my real ambition is to somehow get all of the hundreds and hundreds of Texas and southwestern maps I have into a form where everyone can see and use them, rather then just let them sit unseen in my storage. Of course reality eventually hits me and I realize that only a fraction of them are ever going to make it to hard disk. At last count there are something close to 500 megabytes stored with a few more added every day. 

Click to enlarge Index

As I was considering putting this volume on CDROM, there were many obstacles to face.  How to find time to scan this huge number of pages which would require time on a large, relatively slow flat bed scanner?  More importantly, what would I do with it, if I ever did get it published in a useful form?  After all, there was less than zero possibility that anyone else would be interested in a highly specialized reference tool like this.  With considerable doubt, I began scanning pages as I had time and decided that I would make up my mind about its public fate whenever I could look at the finished product. That was several hundred hours ago. And here we are now..

Click to enlarge map

A small tour: This is Page 1 of the plats. Obviously it shows the area around the Tarrant County Courthouse including the Trinity Bluffs and the river below. There are a couple of interesting features on this page alone. Look how now-forgotten Franklin Street dropped off the side of the bluff where Heritage Park is today.  It didn't connect with Henderson, because Henderson wasn't built yet, but did continue on along the river bank to its own bridge across the Clear Fork. And then there is Bridge Street that once connected the Trinity Bottoms to the lower bluffs with the Wire Bridge. The bridge was still  there, although the it was probably not in use at that time. Ford Street which connected to the river at what once was the original low water crossing is still shown. 

Those that follow public transportation in this period will see that the map shows the complex Northern Texas Traction streetcar and interurban tracks in the Uptown area. In fact this set really is the only map of the period with an accurate picture of the car lines.  The railroads are also well detailed. 

Click to enlarge map

Another of the plats shows the upper Samuels Avenue area which is under strong development today. The trolley still runs down Samuels by Pioneers Rest Cemetery. The grand homes with the Trinity overlook along Samuels Avenue were still in their prime. 

As the production work went on, I combined the 344 city maps into a single large PDF file that would run on any Windows or Mac computer as long as they had the Adobe Reader version 7 or later installed. Almost every computer running today has this program.  With the Adobe Bookmarks activated, navigation through the pages turned out to be pretty easy.  The Guide Map which are indexed to the pages and the other Index pages are separate so they can be easily printed to help navigation. Things were going pretty well.

1920 Fort Worth ~ Click to enlarge

I found I had a little room left on the CDROM so to give some balance I added a section with three more full Fort Worth and Tarrant County maps dated from the 1920 to 1925.

Wheelspin....

Now that the CDROM was done there was still the question of what to do with it.  Because of its specialization, none of my stores would be likely to display it.  I let things spin for a few days and then just decided to park it in my Amazon store and eBay store, available if anyone wanted it......

I'm glad I took the time and did the work, and now I'm glad it's off my mind so I can get on to other projects that are hopefully not quite so obscure..

All images from the Electric Books Collection

Sam Street's Great 1895 Tarrant County Map ~ A Look Deep Inside

In 1895, long time Fort Worth resident and business man Sam Street published what was to become one of the most important maps of Tarrant County. It is considered the benchmark reference for Fort Worth and Tarrant County in the late 1890's.

Click to enlarge map

When one first looks at the entire map, the effect is overwhelming.  There is so much detail and even on a fairly large sheet, the text and script is so fine that it is very hard to pick a point to start. A good glass is very useful to pick out the detail.  This gets very tedious.  That is why the digital map scans are so important. A good high resolution scan reveals details that are often overlooked or ignored. I have selected a few clips from inside this great map as examples.  Red dots have been added to highlight specific places.

Click to enlarge Title

This map was originally printed in several sizes. Some time ago I found what is one of the smaller printed copies that had been closely trimmed to about 17"x 17". Except for the smallest script, it was very readable.  Later owners have added comments and colored portions. 

Click to enlarge Legend

As far as is known, Sam Street was not a professional mapmaker or surveyor.  This map and his later map of Dallas County should be considered as primitive's even though their content is unmatched by any of its other contemporaries. Using the Tarrant GLO ownership map, he laid in over 3000 separate details by hand.

Arlington Heights ~ Stove Foundry ~ Click to enlarge map

Because of space limitations Street did not try to detail inside the city limits. This clip shows West 7th Street out past the city limits which were on the east bank of the Trinity at this time and then the angle southwest onto Arlington Heights Boulevard. The streetcar line and Lake Como are also shown.  Notice that Ye Arlington Inn is "burnt".  The Stove Works which started in 1891 and gave its name to Stove Foundry Road is marked.  The location is just to the east of today's Vickery and Montgomery Street intersection. 

Glenwood ~ Poly ~ Handley  Click to enlarge map

In 1895 Handley and its gin was a long way from downtown Fort Worth.  The Interurban was about 7 years in the future. The road was mostly mud and seldom graded, but the T&P railroad did come through. In between Handley and Glenwood was the now seldom remembered community of Manchester Mills which later became a part of Polytechnic Heights.  The map shows the Palace Stables, Polytechnic College and Tyler Lake. Notice how Street indicated areas that were wooded at the time.

North Fort Worth ~ 1st Stockyards ~Click to enlarge map

It is generally not well remembered that the first stockyards in North Fort Worth started up in the early 1890's and continued off and on until Swift and Armour came in 1901. The Packing House location a little south & east of where Swift is today is shown as well as the Stockyards Hotel, and the early streetcar line that came out over a rutted North Main up to around 20th street and then angled off to cross Marine Creek.  

West on White Settlement Road was a Powder House just about where the road drops off the low bluff into the Clear Fork plain. Street has at least one other powder house on this map. New Cemetery was the common name of what is now a much larger Oakwood. 

On the east side is Drumm's Nursery on the Birdville Road and further south in Riverside is the Brickyard which was the namesake for the Brickyard Crossing near 1st street.

06-14-1901 Fort Worth Morning Record 

Sam Street and two sons are buried at Oakwood Cemetery in Fort Worth.

The clips above show just a fraction of the detail that Sam Street put on this map. Days could be spent analyzing and referencing it to other sources.  After completing a Dallas County map in 1900 he died in 1901 leaving an historical legacy that he probably could not have imagined.  

Map images from The Electric Books Collection..