Jefferson City, Missouri: Rich History, Modern Charm

The scenic route doesn't just take you to places in Texas, it goes everywhere. And this particular time, it took us to Jefferson City, Missouri.

Jefferson City was founded in 1821 on the bank of the Missouri River as the site of the capital of Missouri. It was specifically setup to be the capital of the state and is centrally located between Missouri's two biggest cities. The city was named for Thomas Jefferson.

This is the Union Hotel. It was built in 1855 as the Missouri Hotel. After the Civil War owner Charles Maus renamed this hotel the Union Hotel to reflect his sentiments. It's located near the railroad tracks. In the 1960s, the building was purchased by the state with the intent of demolishing it. There was a campaign spearheaded by Elizabeth Rozier to save the building, which they did. For a long time, the Missouri State Parks used the upper floors of the building as offices while the lower floor was used as the Amtrak passenger station. In 2019, the building was closed due to structural issues. Local preservationists are trying to lobby funds from the state to save the building.

Not far from the Union Hotel building is Lohman's Landing. This building was originally built in 1839 by James Crump. It was later purchased by Charles Lohman who came to Jefferson City in 1848. During the steamboat era, the building was used as a warehouse, the headquarters and living quarters of the wharf master. This building was a grocery store, a tavern, a telegraph office and a hotel as well. When the Missouri Railroad came to Jefferson City, it revitalized the area. It's considered the oldest building in Jefferson City and now serves as the visitor's center.

As I mentioned, Charles Lohman came to Missouri from Germany in 1848. He first landed in St. Louis before coming to Jefferson City. Not only did he own the building known as Lohman's Landing but he was also a merchant. The building on the far right was his store. Two of his sons, Louis and Charles, worked in the store at some point. Louis, built the building next door. The Lohman Opera House was building in 1885 and hosted traveling performers. It now houses a catering company.

Not only is Jefferson City the capital of Missouri, it's also the county seat of Cole County. This beautiful building is the Cole County Courthouse. The first courthouse was built in 1837. In 1896, there was a fire that basically left the stone husk of the building. The new courthouse was rebuilt using some of the stones from the original. The courthouse was designed by Frank Miller. When a fire broke out in 1918 destroying part of the structure, it was rebuilt using Miller's plans. It was completely renovated in 1971.

In 1855, the Missouri Pacific Railroad completed a line from St. Louis to Jefferson City. This train depot was built in 1898. In 1982, the building was purchased by the Union Pacific Railroad.  Passenger rail service by Union Pacific stopped and Amtrak took over. Union Pacific still has freight service to Jefferson City but the building is no longer in use. It was used as a commercial business for a while but it is now closed. It's too bad the city or Union Pacific doesn't open it as a museum. Unfortunately, because it's been neglected, it has fallen into disrepair.

St. Peter's Catholic Church is across the street from the state Capitol. The original church was built in 1856. The current building was dedicated in 1883. The Governor of Missouri is inaugurated on the stops of the Capitol just as the clock on this church strikes twelve noon.

This is the third capitol building for the state of Missouri. The first building was erected in 1826 and sat where the governor's mansion is now. In 1837, there was a fire that destroyed the building. The second capitol was erected in the current location in 1840. Then in 1911, it was struck by lightning and it burned. Construction on the current capitol building began in 1913 and was completed in 1917. 

Inside the building on the first floor is this magnificent staircase that goes up to the second floor.

Also on the first floor is the Missouri State Museum. It's free for you to walk around and check it out.

A view from the second floor. According to our tour guide, the murals on the ceiling were painted elsewhere and then plastered to the ceiling.

There's a very famous painting in the lounge for the House of representatives. It's done by Thomas Hart Benton and he painted this mural on site. It's the only painting in the capitol that was actually painted here. The mural takes up the whole room and it's scenes of everyday Missourians. There were several scenes from the mural that were controversial like this woman changing a diaper. Not sure why that raised a ruckus but there you go. There were also scenes of the slave trade that were controversial. That I understand. 

This is the Gallery for the House of Representatives for the state of Missouri. On the far right wall is a gnome. Nobody knows why it's there or who put it there. 

On the front steps of the capitol is a statue of the city's namesake, Thomas Jefferson.

The Governor's Mansion was completed in December 1881. It's located on the site of the original state capitol. It was built using labor from the the nearby prison. Governor B. Gratz Brown was the first governor to live in the residence and it has been home to the Missouri State Governor ever since. It has three stories and 13 bedrooms. Originally, there were no closets or bathrooms. You can tour the mansion for free but only on certain days of the week.

Not long after establishing Jefferson City as the capital of Missouri, lawmakers determined that they needed a prison. The Missouri State Penitentiary was built in 1836. It's located on the Missouri River less than two miles from the capitol. I operated as a maximum security prison from 1836 to 2004 making it the oldest continuously operated prison west of the Mississippi.

The wall and guardhouse that went around the prison. The prison was known as the "bloodiest 47 acres in America" due to the high number of assaults. The prison housed several notable inmates such as James Earl Ray, who assassinated Martin Luther King, Jr. He was incarcerated in 1959 for armed robbery. In 1967, he escaped by hiding in a bread box in the truck that drove between the prison bakery where he worked to the Renz Farm.

Another famous inmate was Pretty Boy Floyd. He was incarcerated at MSP in 1925 for robbing a payroll truck of $12,000, his first offense. He was released in 1929. After that he became a notorious murderer. You can tour the prison itself but keep in mind, there's no air conditioning so plan accordingly.

Directly across the street is the warden's house. Built in 1888 using prison labor. It was named the Colonel Darwin W. Marmaduke House after the first warden to live there. Currently, the house is occupied by the Jefferson City Convention and Visitor's Bureau. The back garage area and basement houses the Missouri State Penitentiary Museum.

The museum is pretty cool. It's $2 to get it and they have all kinds of artifacts from the prison. This was the warden's office. If you don't have the 2 - 3 hours for the prison tour, stop by here and check out the museum.

Also in Jefferson City is the Carnegie Library building. Andrew Carnegie funded 33 libraries in the state of Missouri and this was one of them. It was built in 1902. Carnegie donated $25,000 under the conditions that the city purchased the land on which the library sits and the city council had to maintain the library. The library was in service for almost a century before it was replaced by the Thomas Jefferson Library building. This building was scheduled for demolition but public outcry saved it. It now houses the Cole County Assessor's office.

The Jefferson City bridge built in 1953 replacing the original bridge that was further downstream. The bridge spans the Missouri River which is the longest river in the US, beating the Mississippi River by a mile.

We stayed mostly in downtown Jefferson City. I liked it quite a bit. It was very walkable. There are about 43K people that live here. The biggest employer is, of course, the State of Missouri. It's a lot different than Texas. It was very hilly and green. There were tons of older houses downtown some of which had been turned into businesses. There's also a ton of history here.

If you're nearby, stop in for a visit. There's lots to see.

Galveston, Texas: Queen City of the Gulf

In all the times that I've driven down to Galveston, Texas, I can't believe I haven't added it as part of the scenic route. Especially in light of the fact that we love this city!

Galveston is a city with tons of history. Before it was anything, it was a hideout for the pirate, Jean Lafitte.

There's a historical marker and the ruins of his house, Maison Rouge. He lived in Galveston from 1817 until 1820, when he was asked by the United States Government to leave the island. Upon doing so, he burned his home, the fort and the village.

By 1860, Galveston was the "Ellis Island of the West". This is the immigration station in Galveston.  The station itself opened in 1906. Between 1907 and 1914, over 50,000 immigrants came to the US through Galveston. This building was erected in 1933 and was in use as an immigration station until 1940.

In 1900, one of the worst natural disasters struck Galveston. A hurricane demolished the city killing between 6000 and 12000 people. These two dorms for St. Mary's Orphanage were practically on the beach. The buildings were demolished by the waves. All ten of the Sisters of Mercy were killed. Only three of the ninety plus children survived.

This is currently the Bryan Museum. Originally, it was another orphan's asylum that was built in 1895 by Henry Rosenberg. This building was also damaged during the storm of 1900 but was rebuilt in 1902. The Orphanage closed in 1967. In 2013, it was bought by JP Bryan and he converted it to a museum. 

One of the most iconic buildings in Galveston is the Bishop's Palace. This home was built in 1892 by Walter Gresham. He and his wife had nine children. The house survived the hurricane. In 1923, the catholic diocese purchased the house and the Bishop Christopher Byrne lived there until 1963 when the house was opened to the public. Located on Broadway Avenue, The Bishop's Palace was in the highest spot on the island. During the 1900 storm, the flood waters rose 15 feet submerging quite a bit of the city. After the storm, the entire island was raised about 17 feet by pumping sand underneath the buildings.

Directly across the street is Sacred Heart Catholic Church. The original building was erected in 1892 but was lost in the storm of 1900. This building was erected in 1903.

Also part of the Holy Family Diocese in Galveston is St. Mary's Cathedral Basilica. It was completed in 1848 and survived the hurricane of 1900 with minimal damage.

Holy Family diocese in Galveston has five churches on the island and St. Patrick's is one of them. The church was built in 1877.

During the 1900 storm, several people went to the church to wait it out. Unfortunately, the church collapsed during the storm and those inside died. The photo above shows the church after the storm. The photo is part of a collection in the Galveston Historical Museum, which is housed in the Old Galveston County Courthouse. It's free and definitely worth a visit.

Another of the iconic buildings on Broadway is the Moody Mansion. The house was built by Narcissa Willis in 1894. When she died, William Moody bought the house for his family. The house survived the storm of 1900. The Moodys were a very prominent family in Galveston. He was a banker and financier. After her father's death, Mary Moody Northen lived in the house until she died. The house is now a museum and well worth a visit.

In the 1920s and 1930s, Sam and Rosario Maceo ran Galveston. They owned a club called the Balinese Room. The club itself was at the far end of the pier that went 600 feet into the Gulf. In the back room of the club was a gambling room. The Texas Rangers tried for many years to raid the place but failed every time. When the band would see the police coming, they would play the song, "The Eyes of Texas are Upon You". That was the warning. By the time the authorities got the the gambling room, all evidence of the illegal games was gone.

The original Balinese room closed in 1957. In the 1970s, it had been reopened as a dinner club by Johnny Mitchell. It was reopened again in 2001. Then in 2008, Hurricane Ike destroyed the entire pier. All that's left of the Balinese room is this pier pergola. 

The Grand Galvez Hotel opened in 1911 as the Hotel Galvez. It's across the street from the beach.  In 1940, WL Moody bought the hotel and updated it to include a pool. From 1941 - 1944, the coast guard commandeered the hotel to use as its wartime headquarters. In 1965, the hotel was closed for remodeling. It survived Hurricane's Carla, Alicia and Ike. And, of course, there are rumors of hauntings. I've always wanted to stay there but have not yet had the pleasure.

At one point, Galveston was called The Wall Street of the South. On the Strand, which is the street closest to the bay side water front, there were banks, wholesale houses, cotton factors, grocers, commissions merchants and dry goods companies.  The building on the left was Hendley's Row. Built in 1850, it's actually four buildings with a brick wall between them. That was to help prevent fires from spreading from one building to another. The buildings were erected for the Hendley brothers who were merchants and cotton factors. During the Civil War, the building served as a watch post. Now it contains stores and restaurants on the first floor, offices and/or apartments on the upper floors. And, of course, there are rumors of hauntings.

This is the Grand 1894 Opera House. It has survived all the hurricanes that have hit Galveston. It's now a performing arts house. We saw a play there during the Dicken's on the Strand festival. 

We were in the upper balcony so we got some nice pictures. The play we saw was "A Christmas Carol".

The play fit into the whole "Dickens on the Strand" theme. It was a cool theater and I was very glad that I was able to go inside and see it. It's over 100 years old. I love that Galveston is all about preserving its history.

Galveston is such a great town. We usually go in the winter when there aren't many tourists. This year we went in July. It was not nearly as crowded as we would have thought. We're told the beaches aren't nearly as nice as those in other places, which is fine with me. We liked to walk on the seawall but not necessarily go in the water. The seawall was built after the 1900 storm as sort of a barrier between the Gulf of Mexico and the city itself. 

About 54K people live on the island. They have two big grocery stores: Kroger and Randall's. They also have a few one-off grocery stores. When you drive down Broadway, you still see a lot of the grand homes but, for as many that have been saved, there are just as many that have been torn down and replaced by parking lots or tire stores. 

There are several fast food chains but not many chain restaurants. For an island with only 54K people, they have a ton of good restaurants! Gaido's has been there since 1911. It is still run by the same family (fourth generation!). The food is good. Other restaurants include the Original Mexican Cafe, Shrimp N Stuff, Boulevard Seafood, and Mario's Seawall, just to name a few.

Every time we go down, we think we need to move here. Once we get through Houston, we know that we're close and the excitement of getting there builds. The vibe of the city makes you think of "Island Time". When we see the bridge, my body and my mind start to relax. I know it's going to be a lovely time.

Dalhart, Texas: The XIT City

As you drive north on US 87 you leave Hartley county and enter Dallam County. As you do so, you go through a little town called Dalhart, so named for both of those counties.

Dallam county was founded in 1876 and was named for James Dallam, a lawyer for the Texas Republic. The county was organized in 1891 and a little town called Texline was named the county seat because it sat on the Fort Worth and Denver City Railroad line. In 1882, the Texas Legislature needed a capitol building so they made a bargain with the Farrell Brothers of Chicago. The brothers would build a capitol for the State of Texas in return for three MILLION acres of land in the Texas panhandle. That land became the famous XIT Ranch.

Then in 1901, the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific railroad built a line that cross the Fort Worth and Denver City right at Dalhart. In 1903, the county seat was moved from Texline to Dalhart and this courthouse was built.

Dalhart grew pretty quickly resulting in the need for a new courthouse. In 1923, this courthouse was erected. Dalhart became a shipping center for the XIT Ranch. The Ranch was eventually dissolved in 1912 but it was the biggest ranch in the world.

Dalhart has the distinction of being closer to the capital of six states than it is to its own capital in Austin, Texas. It's 570 miles from Austin but only 260 miles from Santa Fe, NM; 313 miles from Oklahoma City, OK; 348 miles from Denver, CO; 448 miles from Cheyenne, WY; 467 miles from Topeka, KS; and 544 miles from Lincoln, NE.

The La Rita Theater was built in the early 1920s and served as a movie theater. It survived the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression. By 1957, it had closed and fallen into disrepair. In 1989, the Dalhart Community Theater bought the building and restored it as a performing arts theater.

This is the Mission Twins Theater building which was built in the 1921. The brick building was covered in stucco to make it look like an adobe building. As the name suggests, there were twin theaters and movies were shown here until 2010. Then the building was gutted and converted to a church.

The back view of the courthouse with this gorgeous clock. I couldn't find when it was installed.

Downtown Dalhart. 

This cool looking building was built in 1929 as a Chrysler Automobile Dealership. Over the years it has housed other dealerships as well as an auto parts store and a USO building. It has housed the XIT museum since 1975. It started as the annual XIT Rodeo and Reunion when someone suggested that it be a permanent exhibit. After a couple of hiccups, it opened in time for the 1975 annual rodeo. The museum is open Tues - Sun and has several different exhibits. The next time we drive through, I'm hoping we have time to stop in.

Dalhart may be small (the population is 8500) but I think it's the biggest town in the area. They have all of your standard mid-level hotels (Hampton Inn, Holiday Inn Express, etc) and most of your chain fast food restaurants. The grain elevators are right off the highway as you drive through. The Hilmar Company has a cheese processing plant in town and it's also the home of a State Prison. The big grocery store is the United Supermarket (not even a Walmart!)

I liked it up there. It's a bit dusty but I thought the town to be kind of quaint. If you up in the panhandle of Texas, check it out!