Fort Stockton, Texas: The Heart of Pecos County

On our travels through West Texas, we stopped in Fort Stockton, which was actually a fort. In 1859, the US Army sent soldiers to take a post out along the Comanche Springs. It was a very popular rest stop on the road between San Antonio and El Paso. The soldiers were sent to protect the travelers from Indians.

During the Civil War, the US Army abandoned the fort. But afterwards, in 1867, the fort was established once again. This time, it was staffed with African Americans. The Indians called them "Buffalo Soldiers" because the soldiers' hair reminded them of buffalo fur.

Several of the buildings are still there. This inside the enlisted men's barracks. When the troops came back, they built a larger, more permanent fort.

There were three buildings for Officer's quarters. This one is actually a private residence now, which I find a little weird. I assume it's been remodeled and enlarged as the remaining buildings on the fort were quite small. The military post was abandoned in 1886.

After the Civil War, settlers were pouring in. In 1868, Peter Gallagher, an Irishman from San Antonio invested in land in the area. He platted a town and called it Saint Gaul. Unfortunately, his town was bypassed by the Texas and Pacific Railroad. Peter, a Catholic, donated land in 1875 for St. Joseph's Catholic Church. 

The parish started earlier. The first mass was held in 1872. Construction on the building began in 1875 after the donation of the land. It was remodeled in the 1960s.

In 1870, a German immigrant named Frederick William Young moved to town. He owned this mercantile store. The building was originally part of the fort. It housed an officer's club and living quarters for laundresses from the fort. Young, a retired Sergeant, bought the building in 1876. Though he and his family lived there, they operated it as a General Store and Saloon.

It 1875, Pecos County was incorporated and Fort Stockton named the county seat. The citizens didn't like the name Saint Gaul and, in 1881, renamed it Fort Stockton.

In 1883, the county courthouse was built. This photograph of the original courthouse was in the Annie Riggs Memorial Museum.

In 1912, the courthouse was expanded and modified. 

Inside the courthouse, the two staircases lead up to the courtroom. It was pretty cool.

In 1884, Herman Koehler, another German immigrant from San Antonio, opened this store. One side was a General Merchandise Store and the other was a saloon. It became a hotel of sorts when the men were too drunk to go home, they slept on the floor of the saloon.

This is the Annie Riggs Memorial Museum. It was built as the Koehler Hotel in 1901, named for Herman Koehler. Shortly after the hotel opened, Annie Riggs started working there, running it.

Annie Frazier Johnson Riggs was the daughter of George Frazier. He was one of the pioneer families in Pecos county. When the county incorporated, George was elected county judge. At the time, Annie was married to James Johnson. He was elected to county Sheriff but only stayed at the post a few months before he went on to be County Treasurer. (Photo: Annie Riggs. From the Annie Riggs Memorial Museum).

Despite her devout Catholic faith, Annie divorced Johnson and, in 1891, married Barney Riggs. Prior to moving to Fort Stockton, Barney had been in jail in Arizona convicted of murder. During a prison riot, Barney saved the life of the superintendent and was pardoned on the condition that he would leave Arizona and not come back. He took that deal.  (Photo: the lobby of the Annie Riggs Hotel).

Barney moved to Fort Stockton to help his younger brother Tom who had a ranch there. Tom was married to Annie Johnson's daughter, Mary Jane. 

In 1892, A J Royal was elected Pecos County Sheriff and he chose Barney Riggs to be his deputy. But even though he was a lawman, that did not preclude him from feuding with and, in some cases, killing people. Barney and Annie had four children but it was a turbulent marriage and in 1901, Annie divorced Barney. Annie's son-in-law, Buck was handling the settlement. Angry about the divorce, Barney threatened Buck's life and Buck shot him in self-defense. (Photo: The courtyard of the Annie Riggs Hotel).

Barney had no will so the courts awarded his estate to Annie. She used this money to buy the hotel that she'd been managing. She changed the name to the Riggs Hotel and ran it with the help of her daughter, Eva, until she died in 1931. The cost of a room for the night was $1 if you wanted to the whole room. $0.50 if you would share the bed with a stranger. Meals were $.035 (Photo: Rules of the House at the Annie Riggs Memorial Museum).

A J Royal met a rather bitter end. He lost his reelection bid for Sheriff in 1894. But before he left office, he was sitting at his desk. A shotgun barrel poked through the window of his office. Someone called his name and then he was shot. (Photo: The desk Royal was sitting at when he was killed. There is a bloodstain in the open drawer. The desk is at the Annie Riggs Memorial Museum).

This is the Historic Pecos County Jail. The first jail was built in 1877. This one was built in 1882. The bottom story was the office and residence of the Pecos County Sheriff. The upper level contains the jail cells themselves.

The cells on the upper floor were used from 1883 until 1973. There was no air conditioning or heating so the inmates were exposed to the elements based on whether the windows were open or closed. I can only imagine that it got pretty hot in there in the summer.

This room was part of the Sheriff's residence. The Pecos County Sheriff lived in this structure until 2000. The last sheriff to live here was Sheriff Bruce Wilson with his wife Martha. Some of the old tenants have brought items to put on display. When Sheriff Cliff Harris declined the option to live here, the building was turned into a museum.

Fort Stockton became a ranching and farming community and was on the decline until, in 1926, oil was discovered nearby.

In the early part of the 20th century, the Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railway came to town. The train depot is now the visitor center. They have a pretty elaborate display outside on the grounds depicting the history of the town.

They don't have a "Greetings from" mural, but they do have lots of signage.

This is the mascot of the city (the big bird, not the guy standing in front). It's Paisano Pete! He's a road runner and has been the mascot of the city since 1980.

This is the old Fort Stockton Cemetery. There are no military burials here but there are some local famous folks. Remember Annie and Barney Riggs? They are buried here.

Also buried here is A J Royal, the Sheriff who was murdered in his office. His widow had the word "Assassinated" put on his headstone. This is the only unsolved murder in Fort Stockton or Pecos County.

The Grey Mule Saloon was built around 1899. A J Royal (see above) was in the process of buying the saloon when he was killed. Now it's a wine bar open in the evenings.

Downtown Fort Stockton. 

This building in Downtown Fort Stockton was erected in 1912 and held the First National Bank of Fort Stockton. This bank failed during the Great Depression. The Pecos County State Bank was located here until 1960. Now this building houses a bar. I'm just glad they didn't tear it down.

The Comanche Springs Pool - the Springs started it all. This is where the travelers would stop and rest when coming through the area. It was also the springs that were used by the ranchers and farmers for irrigation. 

The pavilion was built in 1938 over the Big Chief Spring. It was the largest spring in the Comanche Springs system and flowed 65 million gallons of water a day. The pool, as it exists today, was constructed in 1953 and serves as host to the annual Fort Stockton Water Carnival. The first Water Carnival was held in 1936. It is now an annual event observed the third weekend of July. The event continues a long tradition of community celebration, volunteerism and entertainment.

Fort Stockton is off of Interstate 10 and has about 8,400 people. They have your standard low-end hotels like the Holiday Inn Express, Fairfield Inn and Hampton Inn. They have a Wal-mart Superstore and a Lowes Market for groceries. There are a couple of fast food chains but we didn't see any sit-down restaurant chains.

I liked Fort Stockton. I thought it was a cool little town with a big, but violent history. There was lots to see. The Annie Riggs Memorial Museum was very cool and interesting. The tour of the Historic Pecos County Jail was very informative. We enjoyed our time here. If you're in the area, stop in and check it out!

Pecos, Texas: Home of the World's First Rodeo

On our travels through west Texas, we stopped in Pecos. When I think of that town, I think of Yosemite Sam yelling, “I’m the fastest gun north, south, east, aaannnd west of the Pecos!” He was talking about the river, of course. 

Pecos is one of the many towns that popped up along the railroad. It’s about 75 miles west of Odessa along Interstate 20. It originally started as a camp for cattle drives up the Pecos River. The land was once owned by George Knight. In the 1880s, he offered the land to the Texas & Pacific Railway and the company accepted and the town of Pecos Station was born. In 1881, the tracks came through.

In the late 1800s, there were several ranches around and in 1883, a friendly argument was started about which ranch had the best cowboys. 

To resolve the dispute, the cowboys devised a number of competitions. The ranch owners put up $40 as the prize for the winner. On July 4, 1883, the contest was held. This became the first rodeo. The tradition continues with the West of the Pecos Rodeo held annually in June.

Meanwhile, Reeves County was formed in 1884 and Pecos became the county seat. In 1886, the first courthouse was built. 

It was demolished and a new courthouse was built in 1937.

 
By the 1890s, however, the town had a reputation for violence. It was not unusual for there to be gunfights in the street. I read that “Pecosin” was a term coined to mean “to ambush and rob a man before tossing his body in the river.”  Yikes.

In 1896, a saloon was built across the street from the train depot. This is the original building for the Saloon. It had 11 guest rooms as well. I read that it was the scene of a double homicide but there were no details to that story. Perhaps, they are inside the museum.

In 1907, it became the Orient Hotel and was run by an ex-Texas Ranger named R. S. Johnson. It is now the West of the Pecos Museum. Once again, we were foiled by a Monday. The museum looks very interesting and we hope to go back. The museum is open Tues – Sat, 10 – 4 and is $5 to go in.

During World War II, there was an Army Airfield training facility in Pecos called the Pecos Army Air Field. This stone cottage is one of the remnants of the Army housing for the trainees. Unfortunately, the base was deactivated in the 1980s, resulting in a depletion of the population.

The Union Pacific Train depot which holds the Rodeo Hall of Fame is across from the West of the Pecos Museum. Unfortunately, in December 2024, there was an accident where a train collided with a semi-truck. The other end of the depot was damaged and, sadly, people were killed.

Santa Rosa de Lima Catholic Church in Pecos. The church was started in a wooden shack donated by local families back in 1889. The church was built in 1924 using stones the parishioners hauled from 15 miles away. It is part of the diocese of El Paso.

Downtown Pecos. I liked Pecos. I liked the vibe of the town and would liked to have spent more time there. It's a big agricultural town. They are famous for their cantaloupes but they grow other stuff like onions, cotton and watermelon.

We stopped through there on the way home. They have a Wal-Mart but it's not a full grocery store, which was surprising to us. The grocery store is called United. They have your standard interstate fast food - McDonald's, Dairy Queen, etc., but it looked like they had a few good looking local spots as well. Pecos also has the distinction of housing the worlds largest private prison, the Reeves County Detention Complex.

We'll definitely be back...just not on a Monday.

Monahans, Texas: The Oasis of the Texas Desert

When you think of west Texas and oil, your mind automatically goes to Midland/Odessa, a little metroplex in the Permian Basin. But about 30 miles west of Odessa is a little town called Monahans. It has about 7,800 people and is the county seat of Ward County. It is also known as the center of the Permian Basin.

In 1880, John Thomas Monahan, an Irishman from New York City and an engineer for the Texas and Pacific Railway was in the area assisting with the expansion of the railroad. In order to proceed, the railroad needed water for the crew as well as the animals being used to build it. They were bringing in water from Big Spring but that wasn't sustainable so, Monahan dug a well in the sand dunes and struck...not oil, but water!

Just outside Monahans is the Monahans Sandhill State Park which is 3840 acres of sand dunes. We didn't go in because it didn't look very inviting. We got out at the visitor center and it was closed but we saw some hearty hikers walking around.

If you drive into the park, and I mean way into the park, you'll find beautiful sand dunes like these. They claim to be the "Largest beach without an ocean". My husband said, "Isn't that a desert?"

Meanwhile, land in Monahans was cheap so settlers began coming in to form a community called Monahan's Well. By 1890, they had a grocery store, a general store and a school.

In 1893, Ward County was formed and a little town called Barstow was named the county seat.

Barstow was established by and named for land promoter, George Barstow. The town was situated on the Pecos River which it used as a water source. Unfortunately, in 1904, an earthen dam in the river burst and destroyed the surrounding farms and ruined the soil. That and a series of droughts that followed caused people to leave. By 1930, there were only 400 or so people left. It was at that time the county seat was moved to Monahans. The courthouse, which had been built in 1893, was demolished in 1939.

Back in Monahans, the name was finalized in 1891 when the post office was established. The "Well" was dropped as was the apostrophe in Monahans. In 1900, James Holman opened the Holman Hotel. He would meet travelers at the train station and take them over to his hotel. The original building was destroyed by fire but it was rebuilt in 1909. That building has been moved to the Million Barrel Museum.

In 1926, oil was discovered. The Roxana Petroleum Company (later owned by Shell Oil) realized they had no way to store the oil. But, they had an idea. In 1928, they decided to build a concrete tank to hold the oil until they could transport it. The tank they designed was huge, about the size of three football fields. The project was completed in three months because construction went on 24 hours per day. When they filled the tank, it did not go well.

First, the concrete was poured in sections so there were seams in between. This allowed the oil to seep through. The wooden cap covered with tar paper that was built to cover the reservoir did not stop the oil from evaporating. And then, there was the biggest issue, the weight of the oil. One gallon of oil is about 80 pounds. The tank was built to hold five million gallons. The reservoir couldn't hold the pressure of the oil. It was filled with one million gallons...once. When the company realized the project was a failure, they pumped the oil out and abandoned the reservoir.

In 1987, the reservoir became the Million Barrel Museum. Unfortunately, we were there on a Monday and it was closed.  It looks like a cool museum. It's open Tues - Sat 10 - 8 and it's free!

The Ward County Courthouse in Monahans was built in 1940 when the county seat was moved here. It's hard to get a good photo because the trees block the building.

I did like this little sign in front of the courthouse...in case you were lost.

This was the main street in Monahans. There were a few cars driving around but I didn't see any people. It doesn't appear that any of the businesses were going concerns. But, it was a Monday at 5pm.

In retrospect, I don't feel like we drove around enough. I think there were other things to see. There are 7,800 people in that town. The main grocery store is called Lowes Market. There was a McDonald's and, what has to be, the last Bennigan's in the world. 

The biggest employers are the Monahans-Wickett-Pyote ISD, Ward County and various oil and gas companies. They have several of the moderate hotel chains like Fairfield Inn, Hampton Inn and Holiday Inn Express.

One of these days we'll go back and explore a little more...just not on a Monday.

Coppell, Texas: A Great Place to Live

Back in the day when I worked for a property management company, we built an apartment complex in Coppell. Before that, I'd never heard of it. 

It was part of the Peters Colony and was settled in the 1853 by James Parrish who was from Goliad. He and his wife, Eliza. The town was originally named Gibbs Station after Barnett Gibbs, one of Texas' first Lieutenant Governors. In 1888, the St. Louis, Arkansas and Texas Railway came through town thanks in part to New York Financier George Coppell and the town was renamed. For a long time, the town was small, approximately 200 people and was mostly agricultural.

By 1936, the WPA had built a park, some bridges over Grapevine Creek and in East Dallas, a little grocery store called Minyard's had been created. This little building is a replica of the first Minyard's store. It was created in 1932 by a postal employee named "Eck" Minyard. He bought the store for $1,200 mostly to provide jobs to his brothers. They expanded quickly and by 1981, they had their headquarters in Coppell. Unfortunately, the family sold the store to an investment company and the brand was out of business by 2017. Almost 100 years of business.

In downtown Coppell, they have a little historical park that has several buildings that, in theory, you can tour. I drove over there when it was supposed to be open but there was a sign in the window that said, "Sorry, Closed today". Oh well.

This is the home of John & Edna Kirkland. It was built in 1904 for them and their seven children. I can only assume it's in the park because it's so old. 

This is the original business district of Coppell along Bethel Road. The Coppell Barbershop used to be a General Store & a Dry Goods Store. The store next to it, Tattered Style, used to be a post office in 1940.

This second location not too far down the road was a gas station. I love these old buildings and I'm glad they weren't destroyed. I just wish there was more information on their history.

This building (on the right) used to be a telephone operator's shop when it was purchased in 1932 by Floyd and Clayta Harwell. They expanded it a bit and moved in. The building on the left used to be a gas station. Floyd bought the property and used the building as his barbershop.  It's still a barbershop today but it's now run by another fella that bought it from Floyd's widow.

Coppell Train Depot. The train doesn't run through Coppell anymore. They used to be part of the DART cooperative but the voters elected to drop out. Now it's part of the Life Safety Park.

Coppell remained a sleepy little town until the mid-1970s when Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport opened. By the mid-1980s to 1990s all the land that was zoned residential had been built out. I drove around various neighborhoods and the houses are nice and they are large. 

This little part of Coppell is called Old Town and there are these small historical buildings and some shops and restaurants. Coppell also bleeds into Dallas a little where Cypress Waters, a business/residential park off of I-635, is. There is also a commercial base for warehouses as it is close to the airport.

After driving around, I would agree that it is a nice place to live.

Longview, Texas: The Balloon Race Capital of Texas

The Great Texas Balloon Race started in 1978 when a hot air balloon was flown over Longview to promote the opening of the local mall. Since then, it’s become an annual event. In 1985, then Governor Mark White dubbed Longview The Balloon Capital of Texas. As you walk around town, you see balloons like this decorated by various businesses.

But that’s not all that Longview is about. It’s a city in East Texas that was founded in 1870. In an effort to lure the railroad to build close to land that he owned, O.H. Methvin sold 100 acres of land to the Southern Pacific Railroad for one dollar (that sounds like a deal from Trading Places). It was then rumored that when the railroad officials came to survey the land, they were standing on Mr. Methvin’s front porch and uttered the words, “What a long view!”

And so, in 1871, the city of Longview was incorporated. In 1874, it became the county seat of Gregg County, which was named for John Gregg, a confederate general who was killed in action during the Civil War.

The Southern Pacific Railroad did extend the tracks from Marshall but due to financial difficulties, further development was delayed, and Longview was the end of the line for a while. People from throughout East Texas would go to Longview and it quickly became a busy place for trading goods.

Eventually, other railroad lines went through Longview and the area became known as Longview Junction. There were two depots and a horse and buggy service that would transport passengers and their baggage from one depot to the other when passengers had to change trains. This is the Longview Depot which was built in 1939 replacing the station that was built in 1874. Amtrak still has passenger service through Longview.

The first county courthouse was a small temporary building that was on the corner of Fredonia and Tyler Streets.  It later moved to the second floor of W. G. Northcutt Hardware and Furniture store. In 1877, a fire destroyed most of the buildings in the commercial center of town and they were replaced by brick buildings. The Hardware store survived but a real courthouse was needed.

 In 1879, this courthouse was built. Unfortunately, it didn’t take long to determine that there were structural issues with the building. By 1896, it was condemned.

In 1897, this new courthouse was erected on the square. In 1930, when oil was discovered in East Texas, it quickly became obvious that a new courthouse and jail with more space was required.

This courthouse was built directly behind the previous one so as not to disrupt the business of government. As the old courthouse is no longer there, I assume it was demolished upon completion of this new one. It's too bad they couldn't keep it as a museum.

Speaking of museums, this is the Everett building which houses the Gregg County Historical Museum. The building was erected in 1910 to house the Citizens National Bank. Other tenants include Commercial Guaranty State Bank of Longview, Rembert National Bank, American Red Cross and Lanier Clothier. Between 1960 and 1979, the building sat vacant. In 1979, the building was donated to the Gregg County Historical Foundation who then opened the museum.

 

Inside, they still have the bank vault which houses an exhibit describing the bank robbery of the First National Bank by Bill Dalton of the famed Dalton Gang. The event took place in 1894 when a member of the gang presented a note to the teller of the First National Bank. A gunfight broke out and one of the gang members was killed as was a local citizen.

Bill Dalton and the other gang members escaped to Oklahoma only to be hunted by a Sheriff's posse. Bill Dalton was killed. As part of the exhibit, there was this photo of his body. I always thought that a little weird that the dead bodies of these outlaws were photographed and put on display. I guess it was to prove that they'd been killed. Bill Dalton's body sat in the back of a wagon for two hours in the sun, being splashed with cool water as it was taken back to town for an autopsy. The body, as you can see, did not fare well in the sun. But that was the end of the Dalton Gang.

Outside the bank/museum is this lovely clock. It's McCarley's clock and it's over 100 years old. It once stood outside McCarley's jewelry store across the street. The clock was donated to the museum.

The jewelry store was housed in this building. McCarley's was established in 1920 by R.S. McCarley. They sold everything from jewelry to China to silver. Young girls would go there to register their China patterns. In 1933, RS married and when he retired in 1960, his stepson, HC purchased the business. When his HC retired 25 years later, his son, Clint took over. Clint died unexpectedly in 2006 and then HC died four years later. The two remaining sons took over the business. But with no heirs to take over, they made the sad decision in 2016 to close the store. 

One thing about Longview that I thought was kind of cool was Heritage Plaza. It's a square not far from the County Courthouse and it has this sign where John gets to be the "I". 

But it also has a series of brick walls where each side has two plaques per side, 20 in all, that basically tell the history of Longview by decade. That was very well done. 

This is the Franklin Lucilius Whaley House. Frank was one of the original settlers in 1871, which is when the house was built. He was a hardware merchant and also served as the mayor of Longview. The rumor is that this was the fourth house built in Longview and is the oldest standing structure in Longview today. The Whaley family lived in this house until 1979. It was purchased for use as a law firm and continues to be so today.

During World War II, the government built a hospital here for the veterans that also doubled as a prison for German prisoners. It was closed after the war and remained empty until Robert LeTourneau bought it and turned into a Technical Institute to train veterans for jobs. That became LeTourneau University.

We were only there one day. It seemed like there were two Longviews. One was the more modern section of town that had your standard chain restaurants like Texas Roadhouse, Olive Garden, etc., hotel chains, and strip malls. On this side of town is where the history lives. The Historical Society did a good job documenting the history of town but the museum itself was a little "cluttered".  If they had the space, they could have spread things out a little.

Having said that, it's still definitely worth a visit and it's only $5 a person. Longview also had a Fine Arts Museum that had free admission. We didn't go in as there was a lot of construction going on. 

There are about 80k people in this town. It doesn't feel that big. The major employers are Christus Good Shepherd Medical Center, Eastman Chemical, Longview Regional Medical Center and Dollar General. As I mentioned, they have a mall with all the major fast food and restaurant chains. The big grocery stores like Kroger and Walmart are there as well. 

Longview has some good local hole in the wall places as well. We went to a place called Little Mexico for dinner. We got there a little before 5 on a Wednesday and the place was packed. The food was delicious!

It was a nice place to visit but I don't think I could live there.