As I was driving home on some back roads I found myself in Anna, Texas, so I stopped. Anna is one of the many small towns that are right off of US 75 between Dallas and Oklahoma.
Anna, established in 1883, was named for Anna Quinlan, the daughter of George Quinlan who was the superintendent for the Houston and Texas Central Railroad. The Railroad ran right through the town and, in 1885, built a depot.
The passenger depot, built in 1885, is still there. It is the oldest surviving railroad station in Texas. Train service ceased in the early 1960s due to the growth of the automobile industry. The depot is now a museum but its only open on Saturdays from 10 - 2. If you're in the area, stop by.
This is a Mogul locomotive 201, a historic 2-6-0 steam locomotive originally built in 1906.
This is a house of some kind that is directly across the street from Sherley Park where the train depot is located. It has lots of entrances and porches. I did some research and I couldn't tell if this was a single family home or some kind of a duplex or what. Either way, it's a pretty cool looking house.
In 1894, brothers Andrew and Fred Sherley opened up this hardware store. Over the years, the Sherleys were undertakers, sellers of furniture, farming implements and machinery, wagons, grains and groceries. The business remained in the family until it closed in 1979. I'm not sure if you can go in the buildings or not. I didn't see any signage but they appear to be maintained.
On the side of the Sherley Hardware Store, the Beech-Nut sign appears to be freshly repainted. So, someone's paying attention, which is good. It would be cool if this was a historical museum for the town.
The First Christian Church was founded by Collin McKinney and JB Wilmeth in 1846 in Mantua. When the Houston and Texas Central Railroad came by passed Mantua, the congregation split. Some went to Van Alstyne and others here. In 1882, Rebecca Sherley helped organize the congregation in Anna. Services were held in her house until 1886 when it burned down. This church was built in 1890 on the site of her house.
These are the buildings on fourth street in Anna Texas. They are used by the New Life Church. I tried to figure out what they were originally but there isn't a lot of information on line.
I saw this Malt Shop sign as I was driving by. This place was built in 1959 and the sign was the first neon sign in Anna. The restaurant is now Spurlock's Malt Shop. Spurlock's is an institution as well. The original location was in Lamesa and was started by Gilbert Spurlock. When Gilbert retired, his son, Doug took over. Doug's daughter, Kristie opened this location in 2012 a year before her Dad retired. It's a great old-fashioned gathering place. Next time I'm in the area, I'll give it a try. I went by around 2pm and it was pretty crowded.
About 17K people live in Anna. The biggest employers of the town are the Anna ISD, Walmart, Pate Rehab and Brookshire's. There are exits for Anna off of US 75 where there are big chain restaurants and gas stations. If you're in the area, stop in and check it out!
