2017-11-18: Geocaching Close to Home at a Cemetery, a Nice Hike, an Old Bridge, and a Dancing Tree

Hello and welcome back to our Geocaching Adventures Blog. Today was kind of a lazy day. We did get out for some caching and enjoyed the beautiful weather, but stayed close to home in Killeen and Fort Hood, Texas.

Our first stop was a small historic cemetery and ghost town next to the airport. From the historical marker: "Brown (Okay Community) Cemetery" Elisha Ivy, for whom Ivy Mountain Road was named, established a home and store in this vicinity in the 1860's. In the 1870's, a community known as Liberty Hill was developed northwest of his property. In 1896, when the rural settlement applied for a post office, it's name was changed to Okay. Area residents supported churches, a school, and businesses, and Samuel Marion and Mary Elizabeth (Evans) Brown set aside land for a community burial ground formally deeding it in 1907.

As military installations in the area grew, the community of Okay was displaced and ceased to exist in the 1940's. In 1953, the U.S. Government decided to extend the runway at Gray Air Force Base, where the Brown (Okay Community) Cemetery was located, approximately 1,600 feet southwest of this site. The Army Corps of Engineers moved 70 graves, 30 of which were unidentified individuals, to this location and aligned the burials similarly to original positions. The earliest marked grave dates to 1882 and is that of infant David Davis. Today the cemetery is a reminder of Okay Community and the families who lived there.

After looking around at the different headstones, I forgot all about the cache and left without finding it. Oh well. Just means we'll be back another day!

Have you ever found yourself driving down the road and spotting something out of the corner of your eye and you just start laughing? Well that happened on our way to the next cache! Driving down Maxdale Road on the way to the small community of Maxdale, we were passing through part of the Fort Hood Recreation Area. It's just a wooded area set aside for hiking and some off road trails. I think the army base may sometimes perform some training maneuvers there also. But as I was driving though I spotted what looked like an old dead tree doing some John Travolta disco dance moves! Oh I just had to make a u-turn and get a photo. While the picture doesn't quite come alive like the images I had going through my head, perhaps the tree has the Fever on Saturday Nights! Maybe this is what the large walking talking trees from the Lord of the Rings movie do when nobody is around. HaHaHa!

OK, enough of the dancing trees. A short ways further down the road and we arrive at Parrie Haynes Equestrian Center and our next two caches (GC4B0BF, GC4B0BN). The first was by the office. The host there noticed we had been looking for some time and came out to inquire if we were looking for that "Geo thing." I said yes and she pointed out where it usually is but said some kids were playing around there and it may have been moved. Well we expanded our search and eventually found it, returning it to where she had said.

The second cache was a short hike down a trail. There was a trail ride or some kind of horse event going on, so a lot of muggles riding horses everywhere. Most were off in the woods, but occasionally we encountered one or two riding along the dirt hiking trail. When we arrived at the cache location it was in the middle of some trees next to an old windmill and watering hole.

Arriving in the ghost town of Maxdale, Texas, we first stop at the old truss bridge built in 1914 (GCMFXE). Crossing the Lampasas River, it has been replaced by a more modern bridge a short distance away. This cool historic bridge is no longer open to cars. Just the brave pedestrians willing to venture out onto the wood planks, some of which are missing. But there is a geocache hidden out there so of course I'm going! Though it isn't that bad, so I would have gone anyway. As for the cache itself, it hadn't been found in five months. Two of the last four cachers having logged DNFs were experienced cachers too. Even those that did find it had posted about the container being damaged and a wet log. I spend about 20 minutes looking and came up empty. Since this was a historical place and a cool location, and the original hider was no longer active, I decided to go ahead and replace the cache with a new container. I happened to have a magnetic key holder which was perfect for this location. Some disagree with this practice and I'd wouldn't normally do this if there wasn't anything to see here. But I wanted to continue bringing other cachers to this location. 

Crossing over the newer bridge, brought us into what's left of Maxdale, Texas. The area began settlements in the 1860's, it wasn't officially established with a post office until 1883. The town never really blossomed, reaching a maximum 50 residents in 1925. The post office closed in 1926 and the town slowly started declining. The population today is reported at only 4 residents.

Over at the Maxdale Cemetery is our last two geocaches, one traditional cache GC298G0 and one virtual cache GCG2EJ. From the historical marker: Established in the 1860's to serve the rural community of Pleasant Grove, this community is one of the oldest in Bell County. Land for the graveyard was given by Frank N. McBryde Sr, whose 1883 application for a post office for the community resulted in the name change to Maxdale. The earliest documented grave is that of Louisa Marlar (1849-1867), although an 1863 tombstone marks the site of a grave reinterred here from another location. Others interred here include pioneer settlers and veterans of the Civil War, World War I, World War II, and Korea.

The one headstone that caught my eye was this one belonging to: "Thorpe and Mosley, Killed in 1876 by John Carver."

That was it for today. Like I said, not a big adventure but enjoyed the wonderful day and saw some interesting places. Until next time...

2017-11-05: A Couple of Virtual Geocaches, Some Cemetery Caches, and a Power Run

Welcome back for Day #2 of caching around Austin, Texas while my wife was busy in a work related seminar. Yeah she got stuck in a boring hotel meeting room while I got to go out exploring and Geocaching!

This first one was just a block away from her hotel but I completely forgot about it yesterday. It's called Texas Virtual Movie Cache (GC2B6C) and that's about all I can really say about it without giving away any answers. A "Virtual Geocache" is a cache that doesn't have a container and logsheet to sign. You gather information from the location and answer the questions in the cache's description. Then send the answers to the Cache Owner and log it as a find online. This one is a building and it was in a movie. If you've seen the movie, then you've seen the cache.

Also nearby was a Challenge Cache. Now a Challenge Cache is like a traditional physical cache. Usually they are pretty simple to find, like a lamp post cache, and not necessarily in a particularly cool location. Like this one for instance. Just an easy micro container in an office park. But the difficulty and/or terrain rating can be high based upon the "Challenge" to claim a find. This one is called AlphaNumeric Cache Name Challenge (GC3MH9W). The terrain rating was a "1" which means wheelchair accessible, basically anybody can retrieve it. However, the difficulty rating was a "4" out of 5. The actual container in reality was probably a 1/1.5. But the difficulty raised because of the challenge: "To successfully accomplish the AlphaNumeric Cache Name Challenge you must find and log 36 caches (on any date past or present) which have names starting with a different alphanumeric character, "A" through "Z" and "0" through "9." So not necessarily an easy task.

Next up was another Virtual Geocache (GC7F71) along with a traditional cache (GCMZXC) in a cemetery. Now because of the virtual, I can't say too much without giving out the answers. It is in an unusual location though. I think this may be the first cemetery I've been to located in a city park. I mean with a playground, walking trails, a pool and more. The one thing I did like was that they took some of the older broken headstones and placed them in concrete to keep them from further falling apart. This one below dates back to 1872. I did find a story about the place being haunted. Supposedly people have seen ghosts placing flowers on the graves. I don't know anything about that. Most of the time when I'm discussing ghost stories with someone who is making the claim, there were other "spirits" being consumed if you know what I mean. I think that's the reason they're seeing things if you ask me! 

Moving on down the road to the south, I decided to grab a few caches within a Power Run. A Power Run is a line of caches close together, most of the time easy to find but sometimes harder, designed to give you a boost in your total number of cache finds in a short amount of time. This one was called Monkey Letterbox Series (GC6FX73), hidden by a cacher who goes by the name of CuteLittleFuzzyMonkey or CLFM for short. I think all of his hides, and he has a LOT of hides, has the word Monkey in the title. So a Letterbox Cache combines Geocaching with Letterboxing. Letterboxes have a rubber stamp in them which you can use to stamp your own booklet (if you participate in that activity, which I don't). I found a quick 10 of them before moving on to more cemeteries.

Speaking of a cemetery, next up on this list was Evelyn Cemetery (GC2X05N) located in Mustang Ridge, Texas. Mustang Ridge known for ranching in the 1800's and a popular stop for herding because of small lakes in the area. Around 1900 residents began farming cotton and that took over until the Great Depression hit. Then people went back to ranching. Sadly there were only two forgotten headstones here along the road at the edge of someones property. This one standing and the other fallen over. This one looks like it could have been 1925, but I couldn't get a good look at them.

This next cemetery cache I couldn't find. At the Burch-Vance Cemetery (GC2X080), most of the headstones have been knocked over. I suspect it was neglected for a long period of time and had become overgrown. But now it is maintained on a periodically. There are 15 graves here from the Burch and Vance families ranging from 1886 through 1940. Perhaps one day, I'll make it back to this area and will find the cache.

Finally to end the day, my last cache brought me to Salem Cemetery (GC1DMVV) next to the Salem Lutheran Church. There are 345 interments there going all the way back to 1884 and still in use to this day. I like these old iron fencing that I see placed around the family sections or even just a single grave. Unfortunately I couldn't find anymore information for this area or even the church itself. 

Well that is all for today. Back to the Omni Hotel to rescue my wife from the boring training seminars! Thanks for riding along. Until next time...

2017-11-04: Geocaching Cemeteries, Ghost Town, and the Texas State Capital

Welcome back! Today's adventure brought us down to the Austin, Texas area where my wife had a business seminar to attend. So while she spent the day in meetings, I used that time to explore some rural areas around Austin. Then after rescuing her after the meetings were over, we took a tour of the capital building in Austin. Let's get started...

After dropping her off, I headed south on I-35 out of Austin to just past San Marcos. Exiting the highway to get to a couple of small family cemeteries a block away, I was delayed by a long slow moving freight train. Looking at my c:geo live cache map, I noticed two caches located just in the shopping center to my right. Might as well make this delay useful! So I gave up my spot in line and grabbed caches GC1PX9A and GC33APV. By now the train had passed and I was able to continue on.

My first planned cache was at the Pitts Cemetery (GC2ZQ9Z). From the historical marker: John Drayton Pitts was born at sea on August 26, 1798. During the voyage of his parents John and Jane Pitts, from England to Charleston, South Carolina. They moved to Georgia during the war of 1812, and John D. married Eliza Permelia Daves in April 1819.

John D. Pitts was elected to the Georgia Legislature in 1841 but later moved to Grimes County, TX. He persuaded his extended family in Georgia to join him, and in 1843 eleven Pitts families moved to Texas.

John D. Pitts served as Adjutant General under Texas Governor George Wood from 1848 to 1849. Pitts bought land here from his friend General Edward Burleson in 1850. And eventually much of his extended family settled along the San Antonio - San Marcos stage route in a community called Stringtown.

Pitts Cemetery began in 1850 with the burial of John Malone, infant son of James L. and Eliza (Pitts) Malone and grandson of John D and Eliza Pitts. Eliza Pitts was buried here in 1851. In 1861 John D Pitts died on his way home from a secessionist convention in Austin, and was buried here. The cemetery was set aside by Pitts' sons-in-law James Malone and Samual Kone Sr in 1875. The cemetery continues to serve as a burial site for the descendants of John D and Eliza Pitts.

Just down the same road was another small nearly forgotten cemetery on private property and difficult to see. The Byrd Owen - Payne Cemetery (GC2ZQ96) is located in an area of Hays County south of downtown San Marcos known as Stringtown. This area was settled in the early 1840's and was "strung out" along the road; thus the name "Stringtown."

Being on private property there's not much to see from the road except an old wooden sign. The Find-A-Grave website shows 9 marked graves dating from 1879 through 1910. There was a Boy Scout restoration project back in 1994. Then again in 2008 by the Hays County Historical Commission. You can see some photos from their efforts at the HCHC website.  

Jumping back onto I-35 south, I get to New Braunfels and my stomach starts reminding me that it hasn't gotten any food yet! I spot a Golden Corral sign and take the exit. After satisfying the stomach, I open the app to see a parking lot cache right there. So naturally you have to grab it also to commemorate the meal right! (GC6ZHQW)

Taking some backroads south to get a couple of new caching counties reminded me of why I prefer driving over flying. Even when traveling long distances, I prefer to take a drive. Geocaching can take you to some interesting places as a destination. But it's the Adventure of getting there and seeing the unexpected. Like this relic from the past. An old Willys Jeep Wagon now used as a billboard for a salvage company. Somebody needs to restore that piece of history. Or perhaps an upgrade retro-rod with modern powertrain and interior conveniences. 

Further down the road in the town of Stockdale was this old Jeep sitting neglected at the corner property of another business.

OK, back to geocaching. My next stop was at the Stockdale Cemetery (GC5G6W8). Based on the historical marker: Before the Stockdale Cemetery was begun in the 1870's, most burials took place in private, family graveyards. About 1873, however, a young man who was not related to any of the local settlers was thrown from his horse and killed. To provide a place for his burial, Dr. T. M. Battle gave one acre of land at this site, and the burial ground has been used by Stockdale citizens since that time. Additional acreage was either purchased or donated over time.

The earliest marked grave in the Stockdale Cemetery, that of Sallie A. Pope, is dated 1873. Many early settlers are buried here, including the towns founder and Texas Ranger, John R. King (next photo), and the first schoolteacher Martin West. The cemetery also contains the graves of numerous war veterans and victims of the post-World War 1 flu epidemic.

From there I go down to a very rural tiny town called Gillett in Karnes County. I'm not sure if it's considered a ghost town. At it's peak it only had a population of 200 and now down to about 120. But it did have several abandoned buildings, stores, and even this two room jail that sat back in the overgrown brush and trees that you could barely see it from the road. The front room was used as a courtroom and the back was jail (GC1MC5N).
The site was first settled around the time of the Civil War at the junction of the San Antonio-Victoria and Helena-Seguin roads. In 1869 Carl Edward Riedel constructed a dam on nearby Ecleto Creek to power his sawmill, gristmill, and cotton gin. The small settlement that developed was named in his honor, but when the community applied for a post office in 1871, postal officials inexplicably changed its spelling from Riedelville to Riddleville. By 1882 Riddleville had, in addition to Riedel's industries, a Methodist church, a school, a physician, and two general stores. Daily mail came from Helena and Luling by hack. By 1895 the town had a third general store and congregations of Methodists, Baptists, and Cumberland Presbyterians. Among its most notable residents were author and industrialist Max Krueger, horse-trader Sarah Jane Scull, and pioneer airplane builders Prentice and Arthur Newman. Gunfighter John Wesley Hardin also reportedly resided there for a time.

In 1905 residents petitioned to change the town's name to Gillett in honor of E. G. Gillett, a lawyer and newspaperman in Runge who encouraged the town's development. During the early 1900s Gillett developed into a trade and social center for northeastern Karnes County. In its heyday between 1910 and 1920, Gillett had a post office, a school, a hotel, a cafe, a meat market, a barbershop, a pool hall, a wagonyard, a cotton gin, a physician's office, a blacksmith shop, a Woodmen of the World lodge, two general stores, two drugstores, and two saloons. A community church served congregations of Baptists, Methodists, Lutherans, and Cumberland Presbyterians. With the advent of the automobile, three garages were built at the community. Gillett's population grew to 200 by the mid-1920s but declined markedly during the drought of the 1950s. The community's school closed in the 1970s. In the early 1990s Gillett was a center for a cattle-raising area. The former school building was used as a community center.

I headed over to the cemetery to check it out. There wasn't a cache there, there's only one cache in town and that was by the jail. But I still can't pass up the cemetery visit. I was kinda odd that most of it was kept up and mowed while other parts overgrown. You can see in the first photo the two towering headstones near completely hidden by the brush. When walking through these old cemeteries, it's not uncommon to see a lot of infant and toddler graves. However this more recent 2008 headstone really caught me off guard. Imagine having triplets. Delivering one 4 days before the other two. Only to have life for one day. Then a few days later the other two are born. One lives a couple of days and the last only a couple of weeks. I can't imagine what they must have gone through. Another headstone not far away is another who had a long journey in this world of 120 years. We'll never understand these things until we take that first step into eternity ourselves when all things become clear. 

Moving on to another type of memorial and another new caching county. A newly erected memorial paying tribute to those Dewitt County residents who served in Vietnam and crosses with a photo for each who "gave all" in combat (GC67G39).

Moving onward to continue picking up needed caching counties, brought me to Goliad County and the little town of Weesatche, Texas. Established in the late 1840's to early 1850's, it was originally called Middletown because it was halfway between Goliad and Clinton. The post office was established on November 22, 1855, but confusion soon followed thereafter with another Middletown, Texas town in Comal County. The residents decided to rename their town Huisache for the sweet acacia tree in the area. The new post office was named in May 1860, but misspelled as Weesatche to match its phonetic pronunciation.

The first cache was located at the Woodlawn Cemetery near the center of town (GC27R6Y). The second at the St. Andrews Lutheran Church Cemetery on the south side of town (GC27R77). You can see from the first headstone pictured below the influence of German and other eastern European settlers there were in early Texas history. The St. Andrews Lutheran Church was organized in 1891 by Rev. Theordore N. Ander, who left Ander, Texas to become the regular pastor.

While it may look like a set from an old west movie or TV show, these really are the original storefronts from the 1800's along Main Street in Weesatche, Texas.

Finally making the u-turn and heading back up to Austin, I pass through Luling, Texas and a quick virtual geocache (GC8655). I won't give you any clues about the virtual, but I will tell about this historic old west cabin. The Rev. William Johnson (1822-1889), farmer and Baptist minister who came to Texas in 1833, built this shotgun-style cabin near Tenny Creek (11 miles NE of Luling). In the 1870's, family included five children. His son W. E. (Billie) became a physician in Tilmon.

Since 1893, the Jeff Connolly family has owned Johnson's land. T. B. Coopwood, M.D. used this cabin as an office in the late 1890's. Mr. and Mrs. Jett Connolly donated this house in 1972 to be relocated in this public park.

Now that I've picked up my wife, we head to the State Capital building for a walk through. There is a lot of history here and the surrounding grounds. We were running out of time plus we were both hungry! We did manage to grab four of the virtual caches outside (GCA4F6, GC588B, GC142B, GCB231) before calling it a day and headed to dinner and home.

2017-10-29: An Old Spanish Fort, A Ghost Town, and Baby Head Cemetery

Today is Sunday which means our time at the house in Killeen is coming to an end. Gotta make the 360+ mile drive back to West Texas and get ready for work tomorrow. And of course we'll be making a few stops to Geocache along the way. 

Our first stop in the Texas Hill Country of Llano County was because of an unusual name. A Texas ghost town by the name of Babyhead and the Baby Head Cemetery (GC51AGX). From the historical marker: "According to local oral tradition, the name "Babyhead" was given to the mountain in this area in the 1850's, when a small child was killed by Indians and its remains left on the mountain. A local creek also carried the name, and a pioneer community founded in the 1870's became known as Baby Head. The oldest documented grave here is that of another child, Jodie May McKneely, who died on New Year's Day 1884. The cemetery is the last physical reminder of the Baby Head community, which once boasted numerous homes, farms, and businesses."

There are other stories and theories and to this day no one really knows the truth. If you are as curious as I was, you can find out more at The Mystery at Babyhead Mountain by Dale Fry.

Continuing westbound on Highway 29, the next caching county needed was Mason County. We stopped in the historic small town of Art, Texas (GC6KP9A). Not exactly a ghost town but not really much of a town in size. Interestingly though it still has a post office with a population that's always been in the teens and twenties.

Heinrich Conrad Kothmann (1798-1881) and his wife Ilse Katherine Pahlmann (1810-1905) and their family sailed from Germany to Indianola, Texas in 1845. Among the first families to settle in Fredericksburg, the Kothmanns were issued a 640-acre land grant in Mason County in 1848. In 1856 they moved again and were among the first immigrant families in this area called Willow Creek. A trained cabinetmaker and musician, Kothmann began ranching and acquired another 640-acre tract of land. Located on their former homestead, the Kothmann Cemetery is all that remains of the original ranch site. It contains only five graves, all of Kothmann family members.

Along with a few other German families, a log church was built in 1958. In 1875, they raised a stone church which also served as a school. Otto Plehwe purchased a newly established general store from J. A. Hoerster in 1886. Plehwe thought the area needed a post office as well as a store and the government agreed. Postal officials even went with Plehwe’s suggested name, one the new post master thought had a nice ring to it: Plehweville. However, not an easy name to remember or pronounce, many residents were happy with it and many letters would get lost by the postal service.

In 1890, a new larger Methodist Episcopal Church was erected and is still in use to this day. The stone building was still used for school up until 1945 when the rural schools were consolidated to Mason. By 1920, Eli Dechart had taken over as store owner and post master of Plehweville. He recommended the new name for the post office of Plehweville, Texas be Art, Texas – Art being the last three letters of Dechart. The government agreed and Plehweville became Art.

One thing I forgot to do was get a photo.

The next Geocache was in Menard County, the ghost town of Hext (GC5AD72).  It was known as Maringo (Marengo) when the area was settled in the 1870s, but residents changed the name to Hext in the late 1890s in honor of Joseph Robert Hext. A local post office was established in 1897 with Ennis Stark as postmaster. In 1914 the community had a cotton gin, a hotel, two general stores, and 125 residents. A Church of Christ had been organized in 1904, and a Baptist church was established in 1916. By the mid-1920s, population estimates for the community had fallen to forty; they rose to sixty in the late 1940s and remained at that level through the mid-1980s. The community reported sixty-four residents in 1988. In 2000 the population was seventy- three. Today the postmaster stated that the post office serves 49 residents through its boxes and route deliveries. It is one of the smallest in Texas. At one time Hext had a school.

Also in Menard County is the Presidio de San Saba (GC6P54K). Once known as Presidio San Luis de las Amarillas, a fortress constructed in 1757 by a Spanish force led by Captain Don Diego Ortiz Parilla. The presidio, which was subsidized by the Spanish crown, had a threefold purpose: to protect the nearby Mission Santa Cruz de San Sabá, to assess the validity of rumors of rich silver deposits in the area, and to guard the Spanish frontier against the threat of Indian encroachment. Both in physical size and number of troops, the Presidio was the largest and most important military installation in Texas for its time.  The fort's companion site of the Mission Santa Cruz de San Sabá was built a few miles downstream.
The presidio and its accompanying mission were the first place that Europeans in Texas came into conflict with the Comanche Indians and found that Plains Indians, mounted on Spanish horses and armed with French guns, constituted a fighting force superior to that of the Spanish colonials. The course of history was changed at the Mission and Presidio; eventually, the Spanish withdrew from the frontier creating other lines of defense along the Rio Grande. The Presidio only lasted another decade and a half, abandoned by decree of the Viceroy of New Spain in 1772. Over one hundred and fifty years later, the 1936 Texas Centennial Commission contracted the reconstruction of the Presidio in an effort to recapture the region’s past, and the northwest portion of the Presidio rose once again. Today, Menard is helping to preserve and interpret the archeological remains that surround this community. Travelers may observe the ruins of the Presidio reconstruction where archeologists have spent several years uncovering artifacts pertaining to the site and the Spanish Colonial period in Texas.

Our final stops for the day were in Schleicher County in the town of Eldorado, Texas. One cache was at the Eldorado Cemetery (GC27D82) and by the Courthouse and Old Jail in the town square (GC163MG). County Courthouse marker: Constructed in 1923-24, this courthouse replaced an earlier building on this site which burned in 1917. Designed by noted architect Henry T. Phelps of San Antonio, the 3-story Classical Revival structure features four half-round giant order Doric columns which support a large entablature. Native stone for the building was obtained from nearby quarries. The 1905 Schleicher County Jail was built with limestone by T.S Hodges. Built with a gallows, that was never used, the jail was vacated in the early 1960's.

It was a beautiful day. We got to see some interesting places and learn more about Texas history. Thanks for reading about our adventures.

2017-10-28: A Crumbling School, Cemetery, a Bridge, Dinosaurs, and Chocolate!

Welcome back and WOW what a day! Today we have everything from a crumbling school, to a cemetery, an old bridge, going way back to the days of dinosaurs, and finishing the day with decadent CHOCOLATE! So lets get started...

After finishing up work yesterday in West Texas, we made the long drive to Killeen last night. Today was a day for geocaching and exploring. After breakfast, we made our way up to Bosque County for our first cache and a new county. The Mosheim School (GC15B39) is a crumbling landmark of an era faded into the past. The town formerly known as Live Oak was settled in the 1850s with Jonathan Dansby given as an early (if not the first) settler.

A man named Jeff Howard built the first store in 1886 and submitted the name Mosheim for a post office which was granted the following year. In 1896 Mosheim had fifty people, a school, and several businesses. The population went from 171 in 1904, to 100 by 1925 and then reached its zenith in 1941 with 200 Mosheimers. It remained close to 200 until the late 1960s when it declined to 75. The town lost its post office in 1976.

The school was built in 1923 and by 1970 it had closed it's doors. Looking at various photos of the school online, the taller section above the entry along with the roof had collapsed sometime between 2013 and 2016. There's a really good article at the KWTX website talking to two locals who grew up and went to that school.

Just up the road is the town of Clifton, where we found our next two caches at the cemetery (GC6RW7N, GCT7BK). Clifton was founded in the winter of 1852–53, when the families of Samuel Locker, Monroe Locker, Frank Kell (whose grave and statue in the photo), and T. A. McSpadden settled in the vicinity. The town was named Cliff Town after the limestone cliffs that surround it. Over the years the name was altered to Clifton. The site was originally on the banks of Clear Branch. The Masonic hall and a log schoolhouse were the first public buildings. The post office was established in 1859. The First Presbyterian Church of Clifton was organized in 1861 and is the oldest church in continuous service in the county. The Baptists built the first church building in Clifton in 1884–85. After the Civil War J. Stinnett built a flour mill that was powered by the Bosque River. It was replaced in 1868 by a limestone mill, which was eventually converted to the electric power plant that provided the first electricity for Clifton homes. A three-story school known as Rock School was built around 1870 and served the community for more than twenty years. In 1893 a new building was constructed on property donated to the Clifton school system.

In 1880 the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway built a station a mile south of Clifton. Merchants moved their businesses closer to the railroad station, and the town thrived as a business and trade center. The Merchant Exchange and Flour Mill, the first steam flour mill in the Bosque valley, was established in 1887 or 1888. The Clifton Record, a newspaper that began publishing in 1895 under the ownership of W. C. O'Brian, continued to serve the community through the years. Clifton also served as the county seat between 1890 and 1892. Clifton Lutheran College, later known as Clifton College, opened in 1896. The community was incorporated in 1901. An earlier attempt at incorporation in 1891 failed when the election results were declared invalid. A fire on December 23, 1906, destroyed a large portion of the business district, which was eventually rebuilt. The Clifton Volunteer Fire Department was organized in 1907. The town's need for a hospital was met by Dr. V. D. Goodall and Dr. S. L. Witcher in 1938. The Lutheran Sunset Home for the elderly was established in Clifton in 1954. The town had an estimated population of 204 in 1904 and 3,195 in 1990. It had 100 businesses in the 1980s. In the early 1990s an exotic-animal preserve open to tourists was located southwest of Clifton on Farm Road 3220. In 2000 the population was 3,542 with 262 businesses.

After leaving the cemetery, we headed to the north side of town to visit a piece of history before it becomes history. The Clifton Whipple Truss Bridge (GC6RW6C) was built in 1884. Still in use as one of only two bridges crossing the North Bosque River east of town. It had asphalt over the original wooden planks. But it's days are numbered. You can kinda see in the photograph, they're building a new modern bridge right next to it. And the word is when the new one is completed that the planks will be removed making it impassable. That's a shame. I like these old bridges. They should at least leave it for pedestrians, fishing, or just because.

Around the corner from the bridge was this rock structure. Wasn't sure what it was as there were no signs or anything. Perhaps a part of the old mill? So I began to Google for answers. Not even close to being an old mill. The City of Clifton offered the State of Texas 80 acres of land along the Bosque River for a state park. The state never accepted the donation, and the area remained a city park. Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Company 878 arrived in June 1933 to begin work on the park. The CCC built picnic and fireplace units, a semicircular seating area, entry portals, concession building and latrine all out of limestone. The CCC left their camp in Clifton in January 1934. This is what remains of the abandoned latrine!

Then there's this building on the corner. The sign says "First Chance," but I couldn't find any information on it. Then Bryan Davis from the BackRoads of Texas FB Group was able to help me out. He sent me this information: "My late friend Anna (Wood) Compton knew a lot of local history. Not sure many will recognize this photo from 80 years ago. This was a popular stopping point just before crossing the Bosque River on the west side of Clifton, where the old Whipple Truss Bridge stood. Anna lived here with her parents in the 1930s and her dad sold bait and tackle, picnic supplies, barbeque, cigarettes, and other goods. The Wood family lived in a back room partitioned with a sheet from public view. What fascinated Anna and me was that nothing appeared being done to preserve the limestone structure which was her childhood home. I've been told it is the oldest structure in present-day Clifton, pre-dating the move of Clifton to its present location with the arrival of the railroad about 1881. I recall Dan Orbeck and Ferman Grimm saying their families also owned the structure at various times. I'm sure there are issues with it being in a flooding zone, but I hope some measures are being taken to insure this landmark, which has survived some 150 years and numerous floods, receives proper preservation."

Thank you Bryan. I never thought the building would have been that old! Here's a picture Bryan sent me from back in the past:

From there we drove north on up into Somervell County and a town called Glen Rose. The town had a couple of statues around the courthouse square.

Also in the town square, is the tiny Hopewell Post Office and our last cache for the day (GC9B44). There are (or were) Hopewells in Franklin, Houston, Red River, Smith, Upshur and Williamson Counties. Somervell’s Hopewell is now covered by Squaw Creek Lake. Fortunately, great effort was taken to preserve a part of the forgotten community by moving its tiny post office to Glen Rose to sit on the courthouse square next to the museum. It's short history lasted from 1901 through 1904.

From there we drove over to the Dinosaur Valley State Park. In 1908, a flood of epic proportions roared down the Paluxy. It washed out all bridges and culverts on the river and scoured the riverbed. A year later, nine-year-old George Adams discovered something amazing in the river:  large, three-toed tracks - theropod tracks. Nearly 20 years later, a fossil collector for the American Museum of Natural History in New York named R. T. Bird saw one of the theropod tracks in a shop in New Mexico. He decided to come to Texas and check out the site. While exploring in the river, he was amazed to discover what looked like sauropod tracks, along with the theropod tracks. The tracks were the first proof that sauropods walked on land. The park opened in 1972 to preserve these valuable dinosaur track sites and to allow people to learn from and enjoy them. They also have some nice hiking trails along the river.

Getting late in the afternoon, and both starving by this point, we stopped in the town of Hico for dinner at the Jersey Lily's Mexican Restaurant. It was pretty good. The town is also known for this legend that supposedly Billy the Kid really wasn't shot and killed in his young life. But lived out a long life under an alias here in Hico. But what we REALLY liked best about this whole town was a visit to Wiseman House Chocolates! While at the restaurant I was looking up other things and town and saw this place. We just had to go visit after dinner. And it was a good thing we did!

They had this pure hot chocolate that was the best hot chocolate we've ever tasted. Something about taking pure melted chocolate, adding a tiny bit of water to keep it from hardening, and sipping it from a shot glass. So rich and delicious that's all you really need. The best chocolate I've ever had. We ended walking out with over $100 worth of several different types of chocolate, including this pure chocolate high healed shoe for Candy! I think it'll just be displayed in our kitchen forever. I can't see eating this shoe. Does chocolate go bad? Guess we'll never know.

Well that's the end of a wonderful day! I thank you for reading and following along in our adventures! Until next time...