Hamilton, Texas: The Dove Capital of Texas

The last stop on our journey from Fredericksburg was Hamilton. On the way out, we drove through the middle of town and saw the most beautiful courthouse. I took photos while on the move and they did not do it justice so we agreed to stop on the way home...and we did.

Hamilton was established in 1855 but there wasn't much going on here at first. There were a couple of guys here who got things started: James Monroe Rice and Henry Standefer. They opened a store here, dry goods. It was named for James Hamilton, a South Carolina man who invested in Texas' Independence. Hamilton died in 1857 off the coast of Galveston when his steamship sank.

Slow growth was contributed by the Civil War followed by continued Indian Raids. In fact, there's a memorial to Ann Whitney, a school teacher who was massacred by Comanche Indians in 1867 while protecting her students. The memorial is on the lawn of the county courthouse.

They weren't in a big fat hurry to build a courthouse, either. For the first twenty years they used some other building, including James Rice's store, to take care of city business. In 1878, they built this gorgeous building. I found the photo on the internet. Unfortunately, this courthouse burned in 1886.

They built this one in 1887. Even this photo doesn't do it justice. It looked like a castle when we drove by.

Meanwhile, Charity Rice, daughter of James, married a guy from South Carolina named James Eidson. This guy had been a Confederate General during the Civil War and moved to Texas in 1869. They had a son named Arthur. James Rice and James Eidson co-owned this building, which was erected in 1908. The top floor held offices for James Eidson's law practice with his son. The bottom floor, over the years has been many types of retail. When the Eidson's stopped practicing law, the upstairs was closed off while the bottom floor continued to be retail. In 2002, when the building was sold, the new owners found all kinds of papers from the Eidsons in that upper floor.

The Hamilton Herald-News was founded in 1876 and has been continuously been publishing the newspaper ever since! They have a cool looking building on the town square. The building was originally the Hamilton Bank And Trust. The building was erected in 1912 and housed the bank until 1943. The newspaper moved into this building in 2015.

As mentioned earlier, the Rice family was very prominent. This building was built by Price Monroe Rice, grandson of James. He followed in the family footsteps and was an attorney as well. The upper floors housed his offices and the lower floor was a the Little Dry Goods store.

The Hamilton County Jail is just off the square. It was built in 1938 and, similar to most county jails from that time, the lower floor was the residence of the Sheriff while the upper floor held the jail cells. This particular jail could hold up to 14 prisoners. It served as the jail until 1991. Now it's the Hamilton County Historical Museum. By the time we got to Hamilton, the museum was closed for the day but I'd love to come back and check it out!

This is Hamilton City Hall but it used to be Perry National Bank. E. A. Perry was a guy from Missouri who came to Hamilton Texas in 1881. He was a bank cashier at the Hamilton National Bank for thirty years before he became president of this bank. The building was erected in 1923 and served as the Perry National Bank until the 1950s. I love how this town hangs on to it's history by repurposing rather than tearing down.

Here's another quirky thing from Hamilton. Just north of the town is the Oakwood Cemetery where the grave of Brushy Bill, who in 1949 at the age of 90 confessed to being Billy The Kid, the infamous outlaw. Hmm...so I did a little googling and it said that Billy The Kid was shot in 1881 sooooo...It's still a quirky fun fact.

There's about 3k people that live in Hamilton. The conditions in the area a perfect for dove. Every year they have the "Annual Dove Fest" to open dove hunting season. Hence the name, Dove Capital of Texas. It's definitely a small town. They have a Brookshire's for groceries and the only restaurant chains I saw were Sonic and Dairy Queen.

I liked it, though. As with most places, I would have like to spend a little time here. Hopefully, we'll come through here again. If you're in the area, you should check it out.

Goldthwaite, Texas: The City of Windmills

As you drive along the backroads of Texas, you'll find yourself in some cool little towns, like Goldthwaite. You can't stop in all of them but if it were up to me...

I had planned to make two stops on our way home but WAZE took us on another path and we ended up stopping for gas in Goldthwaite, Texas. From the gas station, I could see the county courthouse and I was excited. 

Goldthwaite is the county seat of Mills County. It was a tiny somewhat lawless village in the 1870s before the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railroad came through in 1885. The first building that was erected was this county jail. The upper floor is where the jail cells were located. The lower floor housed the Sheriff and his family until 1912. 

The building served as the county jail until 1977.

Goldthwaite was established in 1885 when the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railroad came through town and was named for Joseph G Goldthwaite, a railroad employee. The Railroad had big plans for Goldthwaite, building their shops here and intending that the town be a division point. The first depot was built in 1898 and used for both passengers and freight. This depot was built in 1916 and used for passengers, converting the original depot to just freight. 

Unfortunately, the townspeople that worked for the railroad didn't want to work with the Black employees. They kind of screwed themselves out of prosperity. Due to the labor issues, the railroad moved their shops to nearby Brownwood. Train service stopped in 1972 and the depot was demolished some time after that. I read that the historical society wanted to buy it for the museum but because of potential structural issues, it was too much of a liability.

This is a photo of a painting of the original courthouse in Mills County. It was built in 1890 shortly after the jail. Unfortunately, it burned in 1912.

The current courthouse was built in 1913 and still stands. As we had only "stopped for gas", we didn't have time to go into the courthouse, plus it was a Saturday so it was closed but I've seen some photos and it looks lovely.

We drove by the Mills County General Store and I looked it up. They have everything! Hardware, guns, clothes, food. I would have loved to take a peek in there.

Another opportunity missed was a visit to the Mills County Historical Museum. It lives in the old Palmer Building that was erected in 1893. In 1906, a second story was added. The lower level used to house the Piggly Wiggly, though I read a rumor the first tenant was a saloon. The second story housed a meeting room, then offices. In 1977, the building was sold to the Mills County Historical Museum Corporation. From what I've read, it looks really cool. They have rooms to represent historical businesses and the visit is free!

There didn't seem to be much happening in downtown Goldthwaite on a Saturday morning. But with only 1800 people living here, there probably isn't much going on at any time. There didn't seem to be any fast food places other than a Subway and a Dairy Queen. No chain restaurants. There was the Dollar General, the General Store, a Family Dollar and a DG Market, which I think is related to Dollar General.

The town is called the City of Windmills due to the "vast number of water pumping windmills needed for early ranching and homesteading." I didn't see any windmills on my drive through but I wasn't necessarily looking.

Goldthwaite seems like a cool little town. If you're in the area, check it out!

Llano, Texas: The Deer Capital of Texas

On the way to Fredericksburg we passed through Llano. John offered to stop but I wasn't prepared. Instead, we decided to stop on the way back through...and we did.

Llano is a cute little town that was established on the Llano River in 1856. It was mostly a farming and ranching community. It's known as the deer capital of Texas because of the high population of white-tailed deer in the area. Deer hunting is a big deal here. The town never really took off until the mid-1880s. 

The first courthouse was a rock structure that was outgrown by the 1880s. The second courthouse built in 1882 was destroyed by fire in 1892. The current courthouse was built in 1893 and is still in use. It's really pretty. I'd have loved to go in but we drove through on a Saturday and it was closed.

On the courthouse square is this building - The Old Southern Hotel. It was built in 1880 by two stonemasons. It was originally 2-story stagecoach stop. The third story was added in 1883 when it was purchased by W A H Miller. Future additions included a kitchen and dining hall where meals were served family style. By then it was called the Colonial Inn. It closed in the 1950s. I'm not sure what, if anything this building is used for now. 

The Lantex Theater was built in 1927. It cost thirty cents for adults and ten cents for children when it opened with the movie "The Fourth Commandment". Today the theater is run by the City of Llano and still shows movies and live shows.

This is the Masonic Lodge. It's located on the town square and was built around 1909, though the lodge itself was chartered in 1860. It stills serves Lodge No 242 today.

This cool looking building is the old Llano County Jail. It was built in 1895 and was known as "Red Top" because of...well, the red roof. The first floor of this building housed the jailer and his family. The second floor had two drunk tanks and four cells. The Third/fourth floor housed the gallows. This was an active jail until 1892 because it no longer met the states minimum prisoner housing standards.. It was condemned in 1985 but saved by Historical Society. I think you can get tours there but not on the day we were there. Rumor has it that the jail is haunted.

This is the O'Henry School Building, part of which was built in 1887 for the kids on the south side of the river. In 1902, it was added on to. It's no longer a functioning school, closing in the 1950s. Maybe they can repurpose it for something.

This was really cool. Just across the Llano River from downtown is the Llano County Historical Museum and about 30 feet away from that is this old Dabbs Hotel. It's across from the Railroad Depot and was built in 1907. It was a hotel and, briefly, a bordello. It is also reported as having been a hideout for Bonnie and Clyde in the 1930s! Now it is a bed and breakfast.

Across the parking lot from the Dabbs Hotel is the Llano Train Depot. The Railroad came to Llano in 1892 in the form of the Austin & Northwestern Railroad. Iron was discovered in Llano and the railroad was used to transfer it out. Unfortunately, the deposits weren't big and the business was abandoned.  The depot burned in 1961. It was rebuilt and is now the Llano Depot Visitor's Center. There's also a little museum in there.

In 1900, the Llano County Historical Museum used to be a drugstore owned and run by a German immigrant named Louis Bruhl. Inside is the soda fountain from the drugstore. The store closed in 1957 and, later, the building was donated to the historical society. Unfortunately we didn't have the time to go in.

I love this view of the Roy B Inks Bridge.  Named for a former mayor of Llano, the Roy B. Inks Bridge was built in 1936 after the previous bridge was washed away in a flood. There appears to be a walking trail along the banks of the river and had I the time, I'd have loved to take a little stroll.

This cool looking building is the Badu House. It was built in 1891 during the boom days of iron production. It was built to house the First National Bank of Llano. In 1898, the building was purchased by NJ Badu. Badu was a local minerologist and used the building as his residence. His family lived here until 1980. Now the first floor is used as an event center and restaurant.

There are about 3.3K people that live in town. Their fast food options include Taco Bell and a Sonic but no McDonald's! They have a Dollar General and a Lowe's for grocery shopping and no big chain restaurants. The biggest employer is the Llano Independent School District. If you need a place to stay, you can check out the Dabbs Hotel (B&B) or the Days Inn.

Llano has some cool stuff going on as well as some interesting history. I would love to have spent more time there to check out the museums, walk along the water and just absorb the vibe of the town. I'm hoping we'll stop there again.

Meanwhile, if you're in the area, check it out!

Fredericksburg, Texas: Polka Capital of Texas

Fredericksburg, Texas has long been on our list of places to visit. Everyone we know has been there and they all agree, it's worth the visit. 

One thing I find about the small towns in Texas that we visit is that they all want to preserve their history. And Fredericksburg is no exception. They have tons of homes from early settlers as well as an entire museum to give you the history of the town.

This particular house was built in 1845. It's at 511 Main Street in Fredericksburg. Wouldn't I love to go into this house? It's one or two rooms on the bottom floor. The stairs go to the attic where everyone slept. It's private property but it's typical of the type of house that was built at the time that Fredericksburg was settled.  Here's what happened.

In rural Germany, things were bad. Crops were failing, bad political climate - this was in the 1840s. So a group of people got together and called themselves Adelsverein and they bought a huge plot of land in the Republic of Texas for the purposes of setting up a German colony. People started coming! But as they began arriving in Galveston and then on to Indianola, the supplies they were promised were absorbed by the US Army due to the start of the Mexican American War. It was a mess. People were stranded and supplies were low.

Finally, this guy named John Meusebach took over. He scouted the land and started bringing people to Fredericksburg in 1845. This is the Vereins-Kirche, one of the first buildings erected in their new town of Fredericksburg, which was named for Prince Friederich of Prussia. This isn't the original building. That one was built in the middle of Main Street and was eventually torn down. Fifty years later, feeling remorseful about the tear down, a replica was built well off the main street. It's part of the Pioneer Museum.

Most of the settlers were farmers or ranchers. But all the churches and shops were "in town". So a lot of families built what they called Sunday Houses. 

These were one room homes where the family would stay overnight while they came in town to go to church, get supplies, and socialize. This house belonged to the August Weber family. August was a farmer who was born in Fredericksburg. The house was moved here to the Pioneer Museum in 1972.

The Kammlah Store from the front. The Kammlah homestead included this store, their house, a smokehouse and a barn. It's the basis of the Pioneer Museum. Several generations of Kammlahs lived here over the years. They were one of the founding settlers. The museum is awesome. There are several other buildings that were moved here, like the Schoolhouse from White Oak Community, and an old bathhouse/barbershop. But what's cool about it is that each of these buildings belonged to a family and the museum tells you about the family and the building.

This is the Gillespie County Courthouse. Well, it was back in 1882. Inside, there's a central hallway that runs north and south with two staircases that lead up to the second floor. Upstairs was one large courtroom with a jury room in the corner. It was designed by San Antonio architect Albert Giles who also designed two other buildings here in Fredericksburg. In 1966, this became the Pioneer Memorial Library. I'm so glad they didn't tear it down!

In 1939, this more "modern" building was erected and became the new Gillespie County Courthouse. Personally, I prefer the earlier version.

As I mentioned before, Fredericksburg has many historic buildings. So many that there's a whole book about them. A Guide to the Historic Buildings of Fredericksburg and Gillespie County by Kenneth Hafertepe. It gives you the history about the majority of buildings in town, including this one. This was the general store built for John Schandua in 1898. The controversy was that John engaged the Masons to help him with the understanding that the top floor would be a place for them to meet. Schandua was Catholic and couldn't join the Masons without being excommunicated. 

Most of the Germans that came over were either Lutheran or Catholic and for a long time, they shared the Verein Kirche on alternating weekends to have their services. The Catholics were the first to build their own church. The first Marienkirche, or St. Mary's Church, was built in 1848 by Peter Schandua (brother of John from the shop above). This church was built in 1860. When it was replaced in 1906, this church became part of St. Mary's Catholic School.

Right next door to Marienkirche is the new St. Mary's Catholic Church. As mentioned above, it was built in 1906 and is still going. 

Another of the very interesting buildings in Fredericksburg is the old Gillespie County Jail. It was built in 1855 and sits on the street behind (but within walking distance) to the Courthouse. When the new courthouse was built in 1882, they people decided on a new jail as well. Of course, the fact that there was a fire in the old jail where a prisoner was killed probably helped that decision. There were four rooms downstairs which included three for the Sheriff and one as a lockup and then jail cells on the top floor. I can't imagine what it would be like living there as wife of the Sheriff with bars on the windows. They give tours of the jail but only on the first Saturday of the month.

In 1855, there was a small hotel on this site when it was purchased by Charles and Sophie Nimitz. After they added on, the hotel had ten guestrooms, a dining room, a ballroom and a nicely finished parlor. Charles and Sophie were the grandparents of Admiral Chester Nimitz, commander of the Pacific Fleet during World War II. When Charles died, the hotel was sold in 1926. If finally closed in 1963. The next year the building was acquired by the Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz Naval Museum, Inc who wanted to honor the native son. It is now part of the National Museum of the Pacific War. It's devoted to Chester Nimitz, his history and his role in the war.

Right around the corner from the Nimitz Hotel is the main building of the National Museum of the Pacific War. This portion of the museum tells the story of the war in the pacific in its entirety and is very well done. If you plan on going and you want to see the whole thing, get there when it opens at 9 and plan to stay the whole day. You can come and go with your ticket.

Inside they have short videos that tell about different battles, various planes and even a Japanese submarine! This is a plane is an FM-2 Wildcat that was built by General Motors and was used in the first 18 months of the war. It was flown from the airfield taken from the Japanese by the US Marines in Guadacanal.

The third part of the museum, also within walking distance, is called the Combat Zone. Here they have demonstrations including battlefield reenactments and weapons and equipment demonstrations. There's a hanger that has a plane that was used during the war along with its history.

Also in the combat zone is an exhibit about the PT boats. They have acquired and restored PT 309 and it's on display here.

The last part of the museum is outdoors. It's a walkway between the Nimitz Hotel and the actual gallery. It has plaques dedicated to various people, ships, platoons, etc. It's very peaceful and humbling to walk through here.

We enjoyed our visit to Fredericksburg. Only about 11K people live here but it's bigger than it seems. They have an awesome H-E-B and a Walmart. They have your standard fast food joints, though no chain restaurants that I saw. When it comes to Bed and Breakfasts, you have a really nice selection. There are hotels as well but mind when you go. The weekends are expensive. Tourism is big here. Main Street is cluttered with cool shops, bars and restaurants along with old historic buildings. I love that they have preserved their history and repurposed buildings instead of tearing them down.

It's definitely worth the visit. If you're in the area or need a little weekend getaway, check it out!