2018-04-22: Geocaching Through a Cemetery, Ghost Towns, and an Old Bridge in West Texas

Here we go again, another Sunday and another 360+ miles of driving from Killeen in Central Texas to Monahans in West Texas. My wife lives and lives in Killeen and I work in West Texas as a Construction Surveyor building wind and solar farms. So after working 5 or 6 days every week, I drive eastbound on Friday or Saturday night. On Sunday's it's time to drive back westbound. That's also a time to find some geocaches along the way and do some exploring. So let's get started and find some smiles!

After a quick stop at Duncan Donuts for a caramel iced coffee and a bagel, I begin the journey. My first geocache is at the Garden on Memories Cemetery (GC480M4) on the south side of Killeen. Connected to the Calvary Baptist Church, this fairly new cemetery dates back to 1983 and only has just over 300 interments here. Being in a military community, there were a few military themed grave sites as well.

Passing through Lampasas every week, I see this old building. But I can't find any information on it online. Responses from the Backroads of Texas Facebook Group say it was definitely a church, but haven't gotten any dates or name of it. If any of you happen to know what it might be, please leave a comment. (Update: thanks to the great group over at "BackRoads of Texas", they have posted this link to a KCEN TV News report on the church which was built in the 1940's.)

Continuing on my way westbound, I took Farm Road 580 instead of the usual US-190 out of Lampasas. Soon I arrive at my next geocache called "Double Smiley Cache" (GC10CCX). A quick roadside geocache that gives you one smiley for the find and one smiley photo opp waaaayy up on the hill. You can barely see it in this photo below, but I zoomed in close for the photo at the top of the page. Looks like it used to be one of those large old fashioned TV satellite dishes you used to see more often before the small ones commonly used now.

Continuing down Farm Road 580, I came to the community of Nix, Texas. I guess it could be considered a ghost town, but the population never really took off. From the historical marker: "Settlers came to this site along Fort Phantom Hill Road in the 1860's and established the Village of Nix. Harvey Wallace opened a general store in 1875, and his wife Elizabeth became the first postmaster. Several springs ran nearby, including Dripping Springs near the Nix Cemetery founded in 1878. By 1885, citizens started a school on the Levi Ringer Place. The town boasted a cotton gin, blacksmiths, and stores, and citizens built a new schoolhouse in 1920. Rock quarries and cedar yards begun in the 1940's supported the local economy. Nix schools absorbed Bend, Lynch Creek, Ogles before consolidating with Lampasas in 1952. The historic Nix Schoolhouse later became a community Center."

The highest population ever recorded was only at 27 in 1896. The post office was discontinued in 1906. The general store with gas pumps have been restored, though it does not function as a store and is located on private property. There are two geocaches in town. One called "Why Not #4" (GC15VTB) and the other called "Deliverance #14" (GC193Y4) located at the Nix Cemetery.

Nix General Store

Nix Cemetery

Low Water Crossing
Who says a Prius isn't an off-road vehicle!

Old House in Nix, Texas

Former Schoolhouse now Nix Community Center

Leaving Nix, I make it back to US-190 for three more quick geocaches: "Our First of Many Firsts" (GC7G49E), "Flying Goose" (GC15VRP), and finally a backroad "Deliverance #7" (GC17NE8) which hadn't been found in two years! I almost passed it up because of that. But it was a very rural road and it didn't have any DNF's logged. That just told me that it was probably still there and nobody has made any attempts to find it. So always nice to find a lonely cache!

After finally making it to and passing through San Saba, I turned north on County Road 208 on my way to my next geocache. Then I saw this building with a historical marker and had to stop and investigate.

"A site once famous for its horses and racetrack. Riley Harkey (1832-1920) and Israel Harkey (1835-1914) were Indian scouts in Texas in 1850-53. In 1855 they led their parents, Mathias and Catherine Harkey, to move here from Arkansas with other adult sons, daughters, in-laws and grandchildren. The families ranched, and Mathias Harkey ran a country store for many years.

"Riley Harkey brought to Texas a fine, fleet footed mare, who with her racing progeny drew crowds of enthusiasts to this site for half a century. Other sons and grandsons of Mathias Harkey also joined in the breeding, training, and racing of horses. Stores, blacksmith shop, and other businesses all faced east on a single street overlooking the flat with its racetrack and baseball diamond. There was no post office, but the village was so well known that mail addressed to Harkeyville promptly arrived here.

"On Nov. 26, 1873, George W. Barnett (1823-1885) gave land for the first school; the schoolhouse was used also for church services and public meetings. The racetrack closed in 1907; the cotton gin burned in 1920, and was not rebuilt; school consolidated in 1929 with San Saba. The last store closed in 1954. A community hall, built 1973, marks site of the town."

From Harkeyville to China! Well not exactly China but the China Creek Cemetery (GC3PC66). With over 700 interments here, this cemetery is still in use today. You'll find many of the Harkey family members buried here. There's also many members of the Ketchum family who were also some of the early settlers of San Saba County.

Green B Ketchum, Sr. relocated with his family to Sangamon County, Illinois from Alabama about 1825. The family then moved to Texas about 1848 with his father Peter Reasor Ketchum, a preacher and rancher, and two brothers and their families. Brother James arrived in Texas in 1846 and uncle Jacob earlier, fighting in the Texas War of Independence from Mexico.

The family went first to Limestone County, Texas for a short stay, then to Caldwell County, Texas where Peter Reasor Ketchum and some others remained, and Green Berry Ketchum moved on to San Saba County about 1855 where they were early pioneers of the County, settling on the San Saba River on the place known later as the Rainey place in China Creek Community.

Now trying to make up time, I drive straight through San Angelo. After a while though and passing caches, it's time to make another stop. On US-87 nearing Sterling City, I turn down a side road for the Sherwood Lane Bridge geocache (GC14VW4). Built in 1920, this 96 foot pony-truss bridge crosses the North Concho River. A single lane bridge that still allows for vehicle traffic or you can use the lower water crossing off to the side. And if hunting for the geocache and you are having a hard time finding it, well somebody has made it obviously clear of its location. And if you still cannot find it, then I think you may need to find a new hobby!

One more quick roadside geocache (GCXRZJ), then straight on towards Monahans. That's all for the day. Just a reminder to Like Us on Facebook or Follow Us on Twitter. Or just Subscribe to my blog directly using the buttons to the right. See you next week.

2018-04-14: Geocaching in Historic Round Rock, Texas

Hello again and thank you for joining us at our Away We Go Geocaching Blog! For today we stuck to one area. We had drove down from Killeen, Texas about 30 miles south to have lunch at our favorite Greek restaurant in Georgetown called Plaka Greek Cafe. If you're ever in the area, you gotta give it a try! Delicious Greek Food Fast!

After lunch we decided to take a short drive down to Round Rock, Texas to grab a couple of virtual geocaches and tour some history. Permanent settlement began in this area in the late 1830s. By 1848, former Austin Mayor Jacob Harrell moved here, selling town lots near the Stagecoach Road crossing at Brushy Creek. A post office named “Brushy Creek” opened in 1851 in Thomas Oatts’ store. Three years later, the name changed to “Round Rock” for a distinctive limestone formation marking a natural ford for wagons. The Round Rock is our first virtual geocache (GCA219) for the day.

With immigration from several states and Sweden, the population doubled during the 1850's, bringing new stores, churches, fraternal lodges and grain mills. The first institution of higher learning, Round Rock Academy, began in 1862. After the Civil War, the former trail and stage road became a prominent cattle drive route. In 1876, the International-Great Northern Railroad developed a new townsite east of the existing Round Rock. A commercial district sprang up along Georgetown Avenue (Main Street) with construction of many limestone buildings. “New Town” quickly eclipsed the established settlement, whose postal name changed again to “Old Round Rock.” For months, the new site was the railroad terminus, bringing lumber and flour mills, cotton gins, blacksmith and wagon shops, banks, hotels, restaurants, stores and schools. Round Rock challenged the state capital for economic control of central Texas, boasting six hotels to Austin’s five and serving as the retail hub for several counties to the west. The railroad also made Round Rock a more cosmopolitan place, bringing new residents from all over the U.S. And all around the world.

Across the street from the rock is the Chisholm Trail Crossing Park. Throughout the park are several statues commemorating heritage. Also located in the park is a micro geocache called Pioneer Muggles (GC7G934) with a 4.5 out of 5 difficulty rating. We didn't have too much time to spend on it and only gave it about 10-15 minutes. So sometimes we have to pass on a cache and walk away with a DNF. This was one of those times.

Well-positioned for growth by its location on major transportation routes, Round Rock became one of the nation’s fastest-growing cities by the late 20th century. Two dozen commercial buildings in Round Rock’s historic downtown were listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

A couple of blocks down the road is our next geocache called Travel Bug Motel 6 (GC42HG1). It had a lot of favorite points so we had to stop. A quick find and we're on our way to the next one.

Our last stop for the day was at the Round Rock Cemetery just down the road. One of the first things we noticed were all the blue bonnets blooming. The "complex" is actually three cemeteries in one: the Round Rock Cemetery, Hopewell Cemetery, and an old Slave Cemetery. There were two traditional (GC3Z43M, GC1B09G) and one virtual cache (GC91B5) in this cemetery complex.  

Walking through the cemetery, I noticed a couple of busted and crumbling crypts. Whenever I see these things I usually think "the zombies have escaped!"

Probably the most famous resident here in Round Rock Cemetery is Samuel Bass. Born July 21, 1851 on a farm near Mitchell, Indiana, Sam was orphaned before he was thirteen and spent five years at the home of an uncle. In 1870, he arrived in Denton, Texas and worked for a while in a sheriff's office. In a few years he bought a little sorrel mare, became interested in horse racing, and had the fastest horse in Texas. One his fame spread, he couldn't get any bets against him to make any money.

So Sam helped drive a herd of stolen cattle to Nebraska where he stayed for nearly a year. Sam used his ill-gotten money to buy a saloon but he was soon restless. On a whim he sold the saloon and bought a gold mine that went broke almost immediately. He took up robbing stage coaches and fell in with some men with grander ambitions. On September 17, 1877, Sam and five others held up a Union Pacific train in Fort Bend, Nebraska. On board was $60,000 in newly minted $20 gold pieces plus $1300 in cash. Now $10,000 richer, Sam headed straight back to Texas.

Sam managed to make it back to adopted home of Denton, Texas boasting of a Black Hills gold strike to explain his sudden wealth. He spent lavishly on his friends and those who helped him hide out in the woods eluding the law. From his base near Dallas, Sam and his new gang held up two stagecoaches and robbed four trains within two months. He and the bandits were the object of a chase across North Texas by posses and a special company of Texas Rangers. Sam eluded his pursuers until his band rode into Round Rock, intending to rob a small bank. There on July 19, 1878, the gang became engaged in a gun battle with Texas Rangers led by Major John B. Jones. Wounded in the gun fight, Sam Bass was found lying helpless in a pasture north of town and died two days later on his 27th birthday.

Historical marker: One-half acre of Old Round Rock Cemetery was set aside for slave burials. Enclosed by cedar posts and barbed wire, sites are marked head and foot by large limestone rocks. Some rocks are hand-grooved with names and dates. White graves here are dated as early as 1851. The first marked grave of a freed slave is dated 1880. Although there are 40-50 known burial sites of freedmen and the burial ground is still in use, no interments of former slaves occurred after the turn of the century. (1979)

So that was it to our spontaneous little adventure to see some of Round Rock history. I hope you have enjoyed the stories and photos. Just a reminder to Like Us on Facebook or Follow Us on Twitter. See you next time!

2018-04-08: Geocaching Across Central to West Texas

Welcome back to AwayWeGo's Geocaching Adventure Blog. For those that don't know, I started using AwayWeGo back in 2005 when my sons were 8 and 10 years old. At the peak of the real estate boom, we sold our house and bought a motorhome. For the next 11 months we just traveled the country from Florida to Maine to California up to Alaska. You can read about that adventure by going to AwayWeGo.US. Click on the "Our Adventures" in the menu for the archives. The AwayWeGo.US is also my Geocaching name.

OK, so much for reminiscing. Today's 360+ mile Sunday drive from Killeen back to Monahans, Texas, had me stopping by a couple cemeteries, an old church, a roadside attraction photo opp, the geographic center of Texas, and has Christmas died?

My first stop was at the Copperas Cove Cemetery at a cache called "Nineteen Forever" (GC1G31T). The hider has a brother buried here who died in 1989 at the age of nineteen.

One more before leaving Copperas Cove. A quick guard rail cache called Keyless Entry (GC11JGE), but not what I was expecting.  It kinda threw me off a little. But then it finally hit me like "what's the purpose?" Duh! I guess I should have reconsidered the name of the cache. A round rusty magnet covering the key/cache hole. Nicely simple creative geocache.

Continuing on to Lampasas, Texas, there was a new puzzle geocache (GC7MJC7) that had not yet been found after three days. So a chance at a First-To-Find! Most puzzle caches I take a quick look then ignore because they can be so complicated you need rocket scientist to decode them. But this one wasn't one of those. I arrived at the given coordinates and looked around for some numbers in the line of sight. Getting the information needed, I input the new coordinates which took me over to Hancock Springs Park. At the entrance to the park is the Worlds Largest Spur. After taking a few photos, I found the cache and a nice clean logsheet! YEA a FTF!

Along the way to my next geocache, I found myself on some very rural backroads of Texas north of Richland Springs in San Saba County. While enjoying the drive, I noticed a sign pointing down a side road that said cemetery. Hmmm... so I don't recall another geocache being along this route and I don't have cell phone service to verify. But I gotta go investigate no matter what.

A short distance later, I find myself in the Bowser Community. About 1858 the Abel Bowser family settled at a large bend in the Colorado River about 3 miles north of this area. The developing village, school and cemetery became known as Bowser Bend and by the late 1880's included a cotton gin and store. Due to river floods, Paul Varga donated land at this site for a chapel and cemetery in 1890. In the early 1900's J. T. Martin sold town lots and deeded land for a school one-half mile east. The town of Bowser relocated, but the closure of the post office, gin and school caused it to decline in the 1940's. Recent population has it around 20.

I spotted this old homesite that had fallen in on itself. The only thing that's held up are the two chimneys at each end of the house. I've seen a few of these towering chimneys with nothing else around. In Odessa, Texas, there's even one at the edge of a shopping center parking lot. The only remains of an early pioneer homestead.

Then there's this small church that looks like it's had some additions and improvements over time. The lower right corner of the stone building has a plaque that says: "The Methodist Church, 1941, D. G. Hardt, Pastor."

Finally, I arrived at the Varga Chapel Cemetery which brought me down this way. This is the cemetery I mentioned above on land donated in 1890. Since there wasn't a geocache here already, I decided to hide one myself. Walking around through the headstones, I was looking for something of interest and a reason to highlight this cemetery. Then there it was! Of all the many cemeteries I've been to, I don't recall ever seeing this family name. I found a spot to hide the geocache container and "Bah Humbug! Christmas is Dead!" was created (GC7MRW5).

Remember as a kid when your mother

used to tell you not to eat the seeds

because trees would grow in your stomach?

Well...

OK, time to get back on track continuing on towards the geocache (GC5PFE3) I was headed for! I thought this next one was going to be cooler than it turned out to be. What I did find was a historical marker. It read as follows:

"Five miles northwest is the geographic center of Texas,..." WAIT! WHAT? FIVE MILES NORTHWEST!? So as it turns out, this marker is NOT the geographic center. The TRUE center happens to be located on private property. So NO marker to visit there. Oh well. Here's the rest of the text you'll read on this historical marker just in case it might appear on a Jeopardy question or trivial pursuit.

"...an imaginary point whose coordinates divide the state into four equal areas. In straight-line distance it is 437 miles from the state's most westerly point on the Rio Grande River above El Paso, 412 miles from the most northerly point in the northwest corner of the Panhandle near Texline, 401 miles from the most southerly point on the Rio Grande below Brownsville and 341 miles from the most easterly point on the Sabine River near Burkeville. Maximum border-to-border distance is 801 miles from north to south and 773 miles from east to west.

"Enclosed within the 4,137-mile perimeter of the state are 267,339 square miles or 7.4 per cent of the nation's total area. Fifteen of the 50 states could be readily accommodated within Texas' borders--with more than 1,000 square miles left over. Brewster, in southwest Texas, is the largest of the state's 254 counties with 6,208 square miles, an area larger than the state of Connecticut. Smallest county is Rockwall in northeast Texas with 147 square miles.

"Texas elevations rise from sea level along the 624-mile coast of the Gulf of Mexico to 8,751 feet atop Guadalupe Peak in the Guadalupe Mountains. Altitude at this point is 1,545 feet. Terrain varies from the subtropic Rio Grande Valley to the trackless Great Plains, from the lush forests of East Texas to the rugged Trans-Pecos region where mountain ranges thrust 90 peaks a mile or more into the sky. But perhaps nowhere are Texas contrasts more pronounced than in average annual rainfall: from more than 56 inches along the Sabine River, nearly as much as Miami's, to less than 8 inches in the extreme West, as little as Phoenix's."

By now it's after 1PM and I still have almost four hours of drive time plus several more potential FTF's to get near Midland. So I quickly drive through San Angelo all the way to Sterling City. I stop at the DQ to finally get a late lunch and grab the geocache at the park across the street (GC5132R). And well since I've stopped anyway how about another quick one just 2 blocks away (GC52CRT).

Just southeast of Midland and I arrive at "What Am I Doing Way Out Here?" (GC7MPT9), where I find a nice clean logsheet at 5PM. WOHOO a FTF!! I looked up the cache owner and saw she had some more new caches out here in this area.

I found "Finally Got a Signal" (GC7MC5X) and "Down That Long Dirt Road" (GC7MC63), where I managed to get 2nd to find on each of those. Then it was "One Noisy Windmill" (GC7MPT2) and another FTF at 5:30PM.

Now it came down to: do I go after 6 more FTF's in the wrong direction towards Big Spring OR go west towards Monahans for only one more FTF? It had been a long day of driving. So westbound it is to the "Nice Little Pit Stop" (GC7MPT5) at a new Dollar General store for my final FTF at 6PM.

Another hour later and I finally make it back home to Monahans. Thanks for riding along with me. See you next time...

2018-04-01: Geocaching Through Texas Ghost Towns, Cemeteries, Backroads, and a Large Frog

It's that time again. Another 360+ mile Sunday drive from Killeen to Monahans in West Texas. That means more Geocaching to break up the long drive. So let's get started...

My first stop was in downtown Lampasas at a Geocache called "What's with all the puppets?" (GCJC9Z). It was located out on the front sidewalk of this German Restaurant. Inside the restaurant are a bunch of those Marionette puppets hanging from the ceiling, but the place was closed on a Sunday morning so I couldn't enter.

Then I drove to the south side of town and arrived at the Santa Fe Center (GC15R9R). Located inside the shopping center parking lot just happens to be the oldest cemetery in Lampasas County. The Cook Cemetery was established as a pioneer community graveyard in the mid-1850's. The first marked burial here was that of Rebecca Hughes in 1854. The cemetery is named after Arkansas natives William M. and Cynthia Cook who moved to Texas about 1856 and bought the land containing this graveyard in 1861. No recorded burials occurred here after that of J. S. Brown (d.1873) due, it is believed, to major flooding here in 1873. The cemetery has been altered by highway and business development. It was deeded to the Lampasas County Historical Commission in 1978.

Making up some ground, I continue all the way through Brady where I pick up US-87 west towards San Angelo. On US-87 I find my next two geocaches near the ghost town of Pasche, Texas (GC1NVHZ, GC1JH0X). The Pasche community had a post office from 1907 until sometime after 1930. In 1908 promotional literature for the county cited Pasche as one of five Concho communities having a windmill. Pasche became a station on the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway sometime around 1912, when a line was completed from Lometa (Lampasas County) westward to Eden.

In 1914 Pasche had one gin, two general stores, and a population of fifty. From 1925 until 1967, the last year for which a figure is available, Pasche reported a population of twenty-five. In 1936 the community had a school, a church, and a seasonal industry. In 1940 the school, which encompassed grades one through seven, had two teachers and an average daily attendance of eighteen. By 1955 the Pasche school had been consolidated with the Melvin (McCulloch County) school district. By 1970 only a few scattered buildings remained in the vicinity. The only thing I saw were a couple of farm houses.

Driving several miles west on County Road 3034, I arrived at Sudduth Cemetery (GC1NVJ2). The Sudduth Family Cemetery contains only four graves ranging from 1917 to 1945. I couldn't find anything else on this family or the neglected cemetery.

Getting closer to San Angelo, in the small community of Vancourt, I found my next cache (GC130FX). Vancourt is a farming and ranching community on U.S. Highway 87 twenty miles southeast of San Angelo in Tom Green County. In 1908 the community postmaster estimated the Vancourt population as 125. The first business at the community was a stage stop run by William C. and Ida Dickey 1½ miles east of the present site of Vancourt. W. S. Kelly, establishing a mail route for the El Paso Mail Company, applied for the first post office. He named it in honor of his new bride, Mary Ann Van Court.

In 1908 Calvin J. York, Jr., built a general store on the north side of the highway. Until it closed in the 1970's, it remained the only store in the community. The White Swan School, originally 1½ miles northwest of Vancourt, was moved to the community in 1907, on the south side of U.S. Highway 87. The Works Progress Administration in 1937 built a new brick schoolhouse that was used until 1940 (pictured below). A cotton gin had been built in the 1920's west of the school site; the gin continued to operate in the same location in 1988. At that time, businesses in the area near the townsite included another cotton gin, a mill, and two grain-elevator companies.

My next one in San Angelo gave me a bit of a chuckle. My Froggy Friend (GC6Q49M) was made from used tires and located outside a tire shop.

My final five geocaches were quick roadside stops along US-87 between San Angelo and Sterling City. They were: Roll out the Barrel (GC1Y1W7), Body Snatchers (GC1Y2JV), Flying Lone Star (GC513QK), EZMLT (GC5BKYX), and Johnny's Cache (GC5QR80).

That's it for today. Thanks for stopping by. Be sure to follow me by going to  Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Feel free to share my stories with your friends as well. Until next time...

Exploring the Ghost Town of Girvin, Texas and Hiding a Few Geocaches

For my blog post for today, I thought I'd do something a little different than usual. Instead of me finding geocaches and seeing interesting places, this is about me finding an interesting place and hiding caches there.

Shortly after arriving in West Texas in early 2016, I started working in construction on a solar farm just south of Girvin, Texas. Passing through here every day going to and from work, I would often stop and explore a little more as I noticed different buildings. I also researched the internet to find it's history. And on one occasion, I had the opportunity to talk to one of the locals there and learned a rather interesting story which I'll reveal in a moment.

Old Store July 2016

Surprisingly there weren't any geocaches here. As a matter of fact, the nearest cache was at a picnic area four miles up the road. Then ten more miles beyond that. As I learned more and found more I began hiding geocaches so that other geocachers could also learn of Girvins' history.

So going back in time; a community, originally named Granada, began there in the 1890's when cattle ranchers moved into the area. In 1912, the Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railroad completed track construction from Mertzon after crossing the Pecos River. A post office was established on January 31, 1913 and the town was officially named Girvin, after local rancher John H. Girvin. The original town site was located on both sides of the tracks, near the rail station. You can see in the second photo below where I think that train station was once located by the raise ground and old railroad ties lay where perhaps a separate track once was for loading and unloading.

Some of the remaining buildings can be seen through the mesquite on the right.
August 2016

Was this where once laid tracks for the train depot?
August 2016

Old water tower for the steam engines.
August 2016

Soon after the railroad began stopping, the town grew and had a store (pictured at the top of the page), a hotel, a saloon, and a lumber yard. Stock pens were built nearby while awaiting shipment. You can still see some remnants of those below. Look hard enough in the photo and you can also see the geocache I hid there as well (GC6PCFM).

Stock pens. July 2016

Eventually as more and more automobiles arrived in West Texas, you needed a gas station and garage (GC6P64R). The building in the photo below used to be two stories. The gas pumps and shop below, and storage and perhaps even living quarters above. I've seen photos from as recently as 2000 that still showed walls for the second floor above the fuel island to halfway back. Sometime after that an arsonist set fire to the place and that came down.

Remains of the gas station and garage.
May 2016

The first school was a small wooden building. In 1924 Girvin had an estimated population of only 15. In the late 1920's, with the production of oil in the nearby Yates and Trans-Pecos oilfields, Girvin became a hub for the delivery of equipment, supplies, and workers with families. A larger brick schoolhouse was being constructed and was already proving to be too small as one class had to meet in the lumberyard during the 1930-1931 school year. Oddly enough though, that is the one public building that is still maintained today. It is used by those few remaining residents as a community center and voting place (GC6QRXC).

Former school, now a community center. August 2016

Unfortunately, in 1933 a new highway from Fort Stockton to McCamey bypassed the original townsite about a mile to the south, and Girvin immediately began to decline. The community reported five businesses and a population of seventy-five in 1939. In 1944 the Panhandle and Santa Fe Railway, which by then owned the track through Girvin, razed the section of the Girvin depot used for freight; and the passenger station was closed in 1955. By 1963 the estimated population of Girvin had declined to thirty, with only two businesses reported. And by 1967 the original townsite was abandoned all together. A few of the businesses and residents had moved down closer to the highway (now US-67), but even they eventually left. In 2000 the population at the new site was still estimated at thirty.

One of the those businesses which remained open until the very end was the Girvin Social Club (GC6P62F). This small red building was once a popular place. A cafe and saloon, it finally shut it's doors in 2011. The first pic below is a painting of what it looked like in it's peak. The second photo is what I saw back in 2016. Now, I'm back working on another solar project west of Girvin and am happy to say that it's back open again as McKee's Bar.

https://www.gboutwell.com/paintingdetails.aspx?id=418

The Girvin Social Club July 2016

McKee's Bar December 2019

I read another article about a Arno and Mildred Helmer purchased the railroad depot in 1956 after it closed. Then moved it down near the new highway where they opened it as the Girvin Store and Post Office. That was where most of the traffic was passing through now. It was also remodeled so that the Helmer family could live in it as well. It was said to be next to the Social Club and these two buildings are across the street on the next corner. I'm not sure exactly which one it was, but my guess was that it's the white building below. There was also a gas station on the corner and that would fit more of the yellow building with the rail car. I'll need to stop at the bar one day and see if any of them know. I do know that the yellow building below is where some of the remaining residents meet on Tuesday nights, hang out, and play poker.

Maybe former gas station? December 2019

Perhaps the former rail station converted to post office, store, and house.
December 2019

And finally I come to the Girvin Cemetery (GC6QRW8). While there are dozens of graves there, most are unknown and are just iron crosses. Only six still have headstones which have names and dates. And it isn't maintained. The few headstones that are identified range from 1917 through 1941.

Now remember at the beginning I told you that I talked to one of the locals when I first started working nearby in 2016? One of the interesting headstones is a double sided headstone for J. W. Steele and J. P. Ryan who both died on Feb 9, 1927. I Googled the names but came up empty. I heard the story from the resident about 2 boys who were passing through town and killed in a car accident near one of the Pecos River bridges. They were buried as unknowns before the families came looking for them several months later. The families followed the route towards their intended destination asking people if they remembered seeing them. The people of Girvin told them the story of the accident and they matched the description. Could these be the two boys? I don't know. I haven't been able to confirm the names or date. If you have any information to add, please forward it to me.

Girvin Cemetery August 2016

Update 03-19-2020: I found a newspaper story from the Fort Worth Record-Telegram dated March 1, 1927. The first sentence doesn't make sense to me, but I'll post exactly how it's printed:

ANOTHER BODY FOUND IN PECOS

Two Men Identified as River Recedes
and Discloses Second Victim of Mishap.

"SAN ANGELO, Feb 28, -- The with a wound on his forehead and the Sunday in the Pecos River at the Girvin bridge, according to late advises today from McCamey. Both Ryan and J.W. Steele, pipe line workers for the Southern Crude Oil Purchasing Company, met death when their roadster missed the bridge on a curve in a rain and sleet storm and was hurled into the stream.

"Steele's body was found Friday and a wound on his forehead and the absence of money led to a search for a companion with whom Steele was said to leave McCamey for Pyote. This man's identity was not known until the second body was found. Besides a time check identified as Ryan's, there was about $50 in his pockets. Receding of the water three feet disclosed the submerged car Saturday."

August 2016

August 2016

Well that's about it for my trip through historic Girvin Texas. I'd like to recognize a few websites recommend them to you for even more information: Texas State Historical Association and TexasEscapes.com . Both of these are excellent resources for Texas history. And as always, be sure to Like my https://www.facebook.com/AwayWeGoUS page or follow my blog directly using the buttons on the right column of this blog. Until next time...