2019-05-03: Moving Day Roadtrip from Texas to North Carolina Day 1 in TX, LA, & MS Cemeteries, Historical Sites and an Old Church

Well it's that time again. I finished up on the wind farm down in South Texas and have to be in North Carolina on Monday to start a solar project. So another roadtrip is ahead of me. Supposed to be 2-3 months there in NC. Unfortunately the wife will still be here in Texas working. But hopefully the time will pass quickly and the next project will be back in Texas. But for now, lets hit the road and see what kinda cool places we can find.

 

My first stop, after Duncan Donuts for iced coffee and a bagel of course, was just outside of Waco, Texas. "Sleepy Hollow" (GC3D0BB) was a cemetery and the location of a geocache. Unlike the typical cemeteries I visit, this one is a pet cemetery! I think I've only encountered maybe one or two pet cemeteries before. This one had a doghouse and a fire hydrant as headstones. One thing I didn't see were any zombie cats or dogs that have been resurrected!

Also a little further east outside of Waco was the "Shootout at the Double EE" (GCGM3X) Ranch Road is a virtual geocache. On April 19, 1993, the FBI and ATF raided the compound of the Branch Davidian Church. After 100 canisters of tear gas being deployed over a 6 hour period, a fire broke out and the compound was engulfed in flames. David Koresh and 75 of his followers, including 25 children, perished in the blaze. Only nine managed to escape. The church has since been rebuilt.

My next two geocaches are in Corsicana, Texas at the Oakwood Cemetery (GC3EXG7, GC4G8EJ). There are nearly 14,000 burials dating back to 1833. There are several historical markers throughout the cemetery as well. One of the caches highlights a native of Huntsville, Texas, Samuel R. Frost grew up in Navarro County and in 1863 enlisted in the Confederate army. After the Civil War, he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1870. In the years that followed, Frost served as Navarro County attorney, county judge, district judge, and state legislator. He and his wife, Mary (Winkler), were the parents of nine children. The town of Frost (20 mi. W) was named in his honor.

Another interment, and a more recent one, is Aaron Dale Allston (1960-2014). He is the author of 13 Star Wars novels as well as many other science fiction, game based fiction and mystery novels, short stories and technical guides for writers.

But the one historical marker that caught my attention was by the grave of David Reed Mitchell. Like myself, he was also a surveyor. From the historical marker: "Born in 1797 in North Carolina, arrived in Robertson County, Texas in 1845. He was a surveyor by trade, and had surveyed the upper Trinity and Brazos river areas in 1844. He became surveyor of the Robertson County land district, as well as the original land of Navarro County and Corsicana.

Mitchell was also a land speculator of sorts, and by 1847 he owned a large amount of land in Navarro County. With two partners, Thomas I. Smith and James C. Neill, he donated one hundred acres on which the town of Corsicana was founded. For a time he operated an inn in the town, sometimes referred to as the "lower hotel" because of its location in proximity to another hotel run by pioneer Hampton McKinney.

David Reed Mitchell married Mary Ann Higgins, and they were the parents of five children. Mitchell continued to live in Corsicana until his death on Oct. 7, 1853. He was buried in Oakwood Cemetery, and the citizens of Corsicana erected a monument at his grave in 1899. Of the three partners who donated land for the city of Corsicana, Mitchell is the only one buried here."

Before leaving Corsicana, I had to stop and get one more geocache here. "The Fruitcake Factory" (GCF11B) is located at the Collin Street Bakery. Yes, that dreaded fruitcake that usually makes an appearance around the Christmas holidays. The Collin Street Bakery is the largest producer of fruitcake in the world. They have been baking since 1896 and are shipping to almost 200 countries around the globe.

Another goal of this roadtrip is to pickup new geocaching counties. I've already completed my Texas counties. Now that I've crossed over into Louisiana it's time to pick off a few more of those. Bienville Parish was the first one with a quick roadside park and grab geocache (GC5BQVX).

My next geocache and county was in Quachta Parish in the town of Calhoun. "Breaker 19" (GC1V79Q) was a creative cache at a CB shop. I posted a photo below and also my first attempt at bringing you a video. Hopefully it works.

Just up the street in Calhoun was the Mount Zion Cemetery. There wasn't a geocache there, but it's still hard to pass up an old cemetery. There are over 500 interments that date all the way back to 1852 belonging to an eight year old boy named Robert Simmons Gaston who died in 1852 while visiting this country with his mother.

Located in Richland Parish, Holly Ridge was established in the early 1900's as a sawmill town in the middle of a large farming area. The company started with making barrel heads and later changed to the lumber industry. The company that owned all the timber land was Chess and Wymond out of New York state. Mr. Franklin leased all the land and cut all the timber. After the timber was gone it became a large farming area owned by the Franklin family. A quick roadside geocache (GC29MH5) in Holly Ridge off of I-20 to claim that county. Some dark clouds overhead isn't very promising though. I did get some heavy rain along the Louisiana / Mississippi state line.

After the rain and crossing over into the state of Mississippi, I jump off of I-20 and drive up into Madison County and the town of Annandale. There I find my next virtual geocache at the Chapel of the Cross (GC29MH5). After John and Margaret Johnstone arrived in Mississippi from North Carolina in 1840, they lost two of their sons that same year and buried them on their land, which would become the Annandale Plantation. John had the idea to build the chapel but died in 1848 before he accomplished it. The Gothic Revival chapel was erected in the 1850's by his wife Margaret L. Johnstone as a memorial to her husband.

Behind the chapel is the cemetery which now contain over 250 interments, the oldest being the two sons from 1840. The geocache page mentions one grave in particular as a question from which you need to answer in order to claim credit for the virtual geocache. But it doesn't give you the history of the grave. Henry Grey Vick was killed in a duel at age 23, just days before he was to marry Helen Johnstone, the daughter of John and Margaret. Helen was said to have worn her wedding dress to Henry's funeral. And legend has it that the "Bride of Annandale" continued to love Henry the rest of her life, even after marrying George Harris, and that her ghost is often seen sitting on a bench near Henry's grave.

Now that the sun is down and it's dark out, my plan is to keep going as long as I can find the geocaches. If I can't find a cache and need the county, then it's time to find a hotel and wait for daylight.

But next up is another virtual cache in Canton, MS. "Casey's Intended Destination" (GCF5FE) was located at the old train depot, now a museum. Canton was the destination of the famous train engineer John Luther "Casey" Jones when his train derailed after colliding with a stalled freight train 15 miles up track. He was traveling at about 75 MPH when he noticed the broken down train cars still on the track about 300 feet ahead near a side track switch.

While he could have jumped off the engine to save his live, as did the fireman on board, he stayed with the engine pulling on the brake and reversing throttle to protect those on the ground and passengers of the other train. He managed to slow down to approximately 35 MPH before colliding with the caboose and 3 of the freight cars when his train derailed. He died upon impact and time was recorded at 3:52 AM by his cracked watch.

I would liked to have gotten some more photos of the outside and down the side with the tracks in view. It was lit up enough. But there were some shady characters hanging out across the tracks on this Friday night. So a quick photo of what I needed for answers and moved on. (answer covered)

From here to the Alabama state line, I found several quick parking lot geocaches in Leake County (GC3CMVJ), Neshoba County (GCV8ZT), and Kemper County (GC7KCNW). Then I continued over into Alabama where I already had the next  few counties. Getting close to midnight I found a hotel in Birmingham for the night.

A long drive today, but I did get to pick up some new counties and see some great places. I especially like that old chapel in Mississippi and wish I got there just a little earlier to get some better photos.

Anyway, tomorrow is another day and another adventure. Do I make it all the way to NC or stop short. Guess you'll have to come back to find out. See you next time...

2019-04-21: A Roadtrip from Oklahoma to Texas and Visiting a Petrified Villa, an 1800's Church, and the Historic Chisholm Trail

So after spending the day yesterday in Oklahoma at the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, today is the roadtrip back to Killeen, Texas. And of course we can't take a drive that far without any geocaching stops. Anybody want to go for a ride with us? There's always room for virtual passengers. Let's fuel up and hit the road.

After checking out of the hotel this morning, I walked across the street to the grassy area by the I-44 onramp. A quick geocache in a tree so close that I just can't leave without finding (GC2W45H).

There were some other geocaches around Lawton with some high favorite points and we wanted to check those out also. This one was a very creative container (GC47ZEA). The geocacher took some time creating this one. You could almost call it "Me and Mini-Me"! Oh, and the name of the road that this coffee shop is located...: Cache Road! Definitely gets another favorite point from us too. It's too bad that the coffee shop itself wasn't open this early on a Sunday Easter morning because we hadn't found our morning coffee yet.

Another high favorite geocache was a virtual cache at the Great Plains Museum (GC81E5). We like museums. But of course not open at this time. So a quick photo by the "long-horn bison"?

Our last geocache (GC5FDZ7) in Lawton, Oklahoma was at the Elmer Thomas Park. It a large park behind the Great Plains Museum. It was called "Circle the Wagons" and it was at an old covered wagon display. A tricky cache to find because the camo blends in really well. One out of three cachers end up logging a DNF. However, I was fortunate enough to find this one. Though I was so intent on finding this one I forgot to take a photo of the wagon.

Driving over to Duncan, Oklahoma for our next virtual geocache (GC1C59) at the Chisholm Trail Heritage Center. The Chisholm Trail was a trail used in the post-Civil War era to drive cattle overland from ranches in Texas to Kansas railheads. The trail was established by Black Beaver, a Delaware Indian scout and his friend Jesse Chisholm, a merchant and part Cherokee. The trail was used from 1867 through 1884. The herds on the trail rides usually numbered around 2500 to 3000 head of cattle each, but have been as many as 10,000 in a single herd. The herds were usually spaced about 10 miles apart for the long journey, which was about a day apart. At this geocache location is a large bronze statue representing such a cattle drive.

Also in the town of Duncan is one that I just couldn't pass up on. Because I work as a construction surveyor, it was a given that I go find a geocache called "The Survey Base Line" (GC6DZZG). "The distinctive checkerboard pattern of land boundaries in Oklahoma and all across the West was conceived by Thomas Jefferson in the early 1780's, long before the rough and rugged character of this vast wilderness had been charted. Jefferson was the grand architect of the distinct western landscape. In the late 1800’s government surveyors were commissioned to survey the public lands for sale or grant to the public."

This cache is located at a historical geographic monument for the Indian Base Line in Oklahoma. The "Initial Point was established by the U.S. Government in 1870. All Oklahoma except the panhandle was then divided into townships North and South and Ranges East and West of the Initial Point. The Indian Base Line is two-tenths of a mile south of this point on Beech Road. Duncan is 41 miles west of the Initial Point. The stones in this monument were taken from the Initial Point."

Our last stop in Addington, Oklahoma is another geocache and historical monument marking the Chisholm Trail Lookout Point (GC5W7H5). The two hills here represented landmarks used by Cattle Drivers on the Chisholm Trail. As they came out of the Red River valley they could see these two hills and used them to drive the cattle north to this location. Originally known as Lookout Point, they became known as Monument Hills. The Chisholm Trail and millions of Longhorns, went just to the east of this hill marked by this monument.

Driving along US-81 now down into Texas, we made a quick roadside picnic area stop to grab two geocaches (GC10MJD, GC431J6).

Arriving in Decatur, Texas, we made a "must-do" geocaching stop for a roadside attraction Americana history. "Petrified" (GC3X4ZF) is located at the Texas Tourist Camp Complex. From the historical marker: Local businessman E.F. Boydston (1888-1945) purchased this site, a former seed lot, in 1927 for $400. Recognizing a potential business opportunity in offering services to the traveling public, he built a wooden shed and gas station in 1927. Travelers were allowed to build campfires during overnight stays, and by 1931 Boydston added three wooden cabins with garages to the camp complex. The buildings were later faced with rock, and more cabins and garages were added in 1935. The original wooden gas station (photo at top of page) was covered with petrified wood in 1935 when the highway was widened and remained in operation by the Boydston family until 1988.

The Texas Lunchroom, a one room frame building, was built in 1929. Renamed The Texas Cafe in 1935 and refaced with stone to match the other buildings in the complex, it was enlarged to provide second floor living quarters. Popular with local high school and college students, as well as families and the traveling public, it was closed in the 1960's after a highway bypass built west of town diverted traffic from this area. The cafe re-opened in 1993. One of the few intact examples of tourist camps built throughout Texas in the mid-20th century. This property is significant for its association with the early development of automobile tourism.

Our last stop, also in Decatur, was for the geocache "Goin' to the Chapel" (GC198AR). The Episcopal Church of the Resurrection is the oldest original church building in Decatur. Consecrated by great missionary Bishop, the Rt. Rev. A.C. Garrett. Erected facing Main Street (2 blocks west of square) in 1889. Known as "the little church with the crosses", by 1912 it had deteriorated, but it was restored and moved facing Walnut Street.

In 1940 the building was sold and used as a mattress factory. Then it was rescued the same year and moved to this location, with the sanctuary placed symbolically to the east towards Jerusalem.

So that's it for today's roadtrip back home from Oklahoma to Texas. Thanks for riding along with us. Feel free to leave your comments and/or share our adventures with your friends. You can find us on most social media platforms:  Facebook, MeWe, Parler, Gab, Twitter, Instagram, MAGAbook, and Reddit. Follow us on any or all of these platforms.

See you next time...

2019-04-20: Geocaching, Hiking, and Exploring the Beautiful Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma

For today's adventure, we are once again Away-WE-Go for this Easter holiday weekend. Most of these blog posts I'm usually by myself on my Sunday drive back to work. Having this long weekend off, we decided to take a drive up to Oklahoma.

If you recall last month on my long roadtrip back from Minnesota, I had stopped at the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge. I mentioned that they perform a live Passion Play every Easter and have been doing it for nearly 80 years. You can read more about that by revisiting my blog page here. Candy and I thought it would be a great idea to go and see it. So we drove up yesterday.

The granite walls of the Wichita Mountains offered refuge to waves of people over many centuries, beginning with Nomadic Native Americans. In the late 1800's, conservationists made plans to re-establish bison and other imperiled species in the region. Looking for the best habitat, they decided that the sheltered prairie of the Wichita Mountains was the ideal location.

This morning we came here to see more of the natural refuge, do some hiking, and hopefully see some wildlife. For our first stop we drove over to French Lake and parked by the Bison Trail for a hike over to the dam. The many dams located in this refuge which form all the lakes were constructed in the 1930's as park of the Federal Work Projects. We hiked the Elk Trail back to the GeoJeep. It was a pleasant, clear, perfect weather morning. Got some nice views of the lake and the dam. The only wildlife we saw was a bunch of turtles and some fish in the lake.

From there we drove south on Indiahoma Road down to our first geocache. The "Heart Rock Earthcache" (GC3AQ2J) is a large outcrop of lava rock forced up from below the surface. Many, many years of erosion created this heart shaped rock on a pedestal that's about chest high when standing next to it. If it wasn't at such an angle, it'd make a great picnic table. While there is a pull-off parking area for the scenic views, there's no mention of this heart rock formation. Just another reason why I like geocaching to find the unique roadside attractions.

Just as we got back to the GeoJeep, we were just in time to see a parade of more than a dozen old tractors going by. Now I'm not really into tractors but seeing some antique machinery being driven down the road was pretty cool.

Back up on State Road 49 through the middle of the Refuge, we come upon Prairie Dog Town. A field of hundreds of prairie dogs running around and popping up and down from their underground city. I wish I had my Nikon camera with me but I left it back in Texas. So I only have this fuzzy phone photo. Takes good pics normally, but not so good when you zoom in close.

Next we drive over to the southside of Quanah Parker Lake to the Little Baldy Trailhead. Crossing the Quanah Creek Dam which forms the lake, we begin hiking the Little Baldy Trail. Little Baldy is one of the rocky hills within the refuge. We hiked up to the top of for the views and for the Little Baldy virtual geocache (GC1E4D).

Returning to the GeoJeep and continuing down the road a few miles we finally saw some bison. So we pulled over, took some photos, and watched for a while.

It was now mid-afternoon and we didn't plan very well. We're now out of water and hungry because we didn't think about bringing snacks or food. We stopped by the Holy City of the Wichitas for a quick look to see what of the situation. People were already gathering and picking out their spots to watch the Passion Play which was still 10 hours away from starting. Candy got a quick look around at the buildings. They had bottled water but nothing to eat. So we needed to go back into Lawton to eat and return later.

As we were driving out we stopped at this structure. Completed in 1927, Benjamin Ferguson and his family lived in this house until 1942. About a half mile to the east is the Ingram Homestead. They were both built out of the round granite core stones that cover the hillsides of the refuge, and both were acquired during the 1901 land lottery held at Fort Sill. They reflect the hard work, ingenuity, and craftmanship of earlier generations.

In 1942, the U.S. Army used the right of eminent domain to acquire the homesteads to expand the artillery range of the adjacent Fort Sill. Fifteen years later the planned expansion was scrapped and the homesteads became a part of the Refuge. In 1981 they were added to the National Register of Historic Places.

After grabbing some dinner and now back at the hotel to freshen up after all the hiking today, we were too exhausted to drive back to the Refuge to sit and wait for the play to start. But now that we have a better understanding of what it would be like, we're better prepared to come back again. Though next time we'll have folding chairs, a cooler with drinks, and plenty of food.

Still a great day of hiking and exploring the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge. Come back tomorrow for the roadtrip home. I've got a few interesting places on the agenda for the roadtrip home. See you then...

Beyond the Alamo, Exploring the Other Four Historic Spanish Missions in San Antonio Texas

Hello friends, travelers, explorers, and geocachers. Welcome back to AwayWeGo's Geocaching Adventures blog. For today's roadtrip, we are going back to San Antonio for a trip back into early Spanish history in North America.

Let's start with a little background. Between 1528 and 1535, Spain sent Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca across the land eventually known as Texas to explore and further claim the region as Spanish Territory. Over the later years, the focus was more to the south. Then in the 1680's with the French starting to intrude from their territory to the east, Spain once again initiated explorers into Texas. In 1686, Alonzo de León led the first land expedition or entrada seeking to expel the French from their colony at Fort St. Louis.

During his fifth expedition in 1690, de León and his chaplain, Fray Damián Mazanet, founded the first Spanish mission in Texas along the Neches River in east Texas. Their successful expedition along the Camino Real Trail created the emergence of San Antonio as a stop for travelers in route from Mexico to East Texas. The first governor of the Province of Tejas, Domingo Terán de los Ríos, undertook another entrada. The Spanish government authorized additional missions among the East Texas Indians. Governor Terán was accompanied by Fray Mazanet and followed the same route as de León before veering further north and passing through the vicinity of present day San Antonio. The two men were the first to visit and name the location.

Under direction of a new governor, Martín de Alarcón in 1718, a new entrada specifically to establish a mission and presidio on the San Antonio River and to deliver supplies to the missions in east Texas began. Because of its location halfway between Spain’s missions and settlements along the Rio Grande River and in East Texas along the French Territory, San Antonio became an important outpost.

The first and most popular of these is the Mission San Antonio de Valero (Alamo) founded in 1718 by Fray Antonio de Olivares. The mission was originally established along the banks of San Pedro Creek but was soon relocated to the east bank of the San Antonio River. After a hurricane destroyed the complex in 1724, it was relocated to its current and final location. Construction began on a stone church in 1744 but it collapsed before it could be finished. Work on a third church, the one that exists today, began around 1756.

Now we all "Remember the Alamo" and its role in the Texas War of Independence. Today it receives more than 2 1/2 million tourists a year visiting from around the world. Many of those also visiting the San Antonio Riverwalk and its many shops and restaurants between The Alamo and the 1730's San Fernando Cathedral Catholic Church. You can read more about our visit to these sites in a previous blog here.

Now we get to the main reason of todays return trip to San Antonio. Most tourists don't even realize that there are a total of five Spanish missions in San Antonio just a few miles apart. There is a walking / biking trail to connect them to the main Riverwalk. However, we decided to drive between them.

Our first stop was at the Mission San Francisco de la Espada. Originally established in 1690 in East Texas, it is one of three missions relocated to San Antonio in 1731. Since water was vital to the mission and survival of the community, the Franciscan Missionaries and their Indian followers built a dam, irrigation ditch, and aqueduct from 1740 to 1745, after laying the foundations of the mission but before the construction of permanent buildings on site.

The vast walled complex consisted of the church building, the two-story priests quarters, workshops, storage facility, a friary, and Indian quarters surrounding an open courtyard. The stone rooms which served as the Indian housing were built along inside the fortified wall. By 1762 three sides were lined with these houses.

Then we drove over to the Mission San Juan Capistrano. Like Mission Espada, it was also relocated to San Antonio in 1731. In addition to its early history, the mission compound itself was constructed in a similar form, including a church and plaza surrounded by a defensive wall formed from stone Indian quarters. By 1756, the mission’s first church was completed in addition to a convent building and a stone granary.

By 1762, a second church building was under construction, though the Native American converts were still living in temporary jacal type housing. Mission San Juan was never as successful as its counterparts. One reason was that the Spanish government did not allot the mission sufficient lands to cultivate food and to engage in ranching activities. The mission was also subject to repeated Apache raids, which reportedly occurred more frequently there than at other missions.

Next up was the Mission San José y San Miguel de Aguayo, founded by Father Antonio Margil de Jesus in 1720. Approval for its construction was granted in order to serve several Native American groups who would not settle at Mission San Antonio de Valero (the Alamo) because they refused to live with other Native American groups already residing there. As with the other missions, the primary goal of the Spanish missionaries at Mission San José was to convert local Native American groups to Christianity and to assimilate them into Spanish society.

Approximately 240 Native individuals were assigned to the mission upon its commission, but a deadly epidemic dramatically reduced the Indian population to 41 by 1739. Many different groups of Native Americans who belonged to different bands and who would have self-identified by different names settled at the mission during the eighteenth century. The Native American residents of the mission were the predominant labor source utilized in the construction of structures in the complex and were also tasked with preparing the land for agriculture and constructing the associated system of irrigation canals known as acequias.

The mission was originally founded on the east bank of the San Antonio River south of the Alamo; however, it was relocated three times. It was moved to its current location on the west side of the river some time prior to 1730. Many of the structures on site prior to the 1760's were temporary in nature.

As seen in the scale model below, which Candy is taking a photo of, you can see how the mission was enclosed behind stone walls to defend the residents from attack by hostile native groups unaffiliated with the mission. Like the others, the mission compound also included a stone friary, a granary, gristmill, and various artisan workshops, including a carpentry shop, blacksmith shop, and weaving workshop. The complex also included Indian quarters that were primarily located along the compound’s walls. These dwellings were simple limestone structures with one main room and a kitchen.

Finally we arrived at Mission Nuestra Señora de la Purísma Concepción de Acuña (Mission Concepción). This Mission also had a virtual geocache as well (GC4083). Located approximately three miles south of downtown San Antonio. Another mission relocated from East Texas to San Antonio in 1731. The location was selected based on its proximity to the San Antonio River, which allowed for irrigated agriculture, and for its location near the presidio at San Antonio, which offered military protection to the mission occupants. Upon the mission’s foundation, approximately 300 Native Americans were settled on its grant. Construction of the main church building took around twenty years. It was finished in 1755.

The mission was a self-sufficient, self-contained village surrounded by irrigated agricultural lands. The mission faced challenges from its establishment. Many of the converts died of disease, and the facility was regularly threatened with attack by hostile Native American groups unaffiliated with the mission. Mission records from 1762 indicate that church officials had baptized 792 Native Americans and buried 596 in the same year. Twenty years later, there were only 77 Native Americans residing at the mission. 

Due to the church’s lack of success in achieving their mission and other political factors, the mission was secularized in 1794. At that time, there were only 38 Native Americans residing there, and the Spanish government divided the mission’s agricultural land between them. After secularization, the mission compound was abandoned and quickly fell into a state of disrepair. An 1821 description of the property indicates many of the buildings were in ruins and that the acequia system was no longer functioning. As late as 1854, cattle were housed in the church. By the late nineteenth century, concrete steps to preserve the property had been taken. It was first rededicated as a church in 1861 after restoration by the Brothers of Mary. By 1913, the Catholic Church had initiated a number of restoration projects on the property. Further preservation efforts were under taken in the mid 20th century.

In 1978, the missions became part of the San Antonio Missions National Historic Park, and the National Park Service in 2002. In addition to the above ground structures, the mission is also significant archeologically. Archeological investigations on the property have uncovered evidence of the original convento as well as the original adobe church from circa 1745 and the location of the former Indian quarters. There is also archeological evidence of an earlier mission-related occupation in the area south of the mission walls. Archival evidence suggests this occupation site could represent the original location of Mission San José or of the elusive and short-lived Mission San Francisco Xavier de Najera.

So I hope you've enjoyed this tour of the San Antonio Missions. If you're ever in San Antonio "Remembering the Alamo," please remember the other four as well. Besides they are WAYYY less crowded!

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Discovering the Ghost Town of Oakville Texas and Researching Its History

Hello Friends, Travelers, and Geocachers. Welcome to another day in our AwayWeGo's Geocaching Adventures. Today I want to invite you along this roadtrip as I stop to explore a South Texas ghost town called Oakville.

It started out as my usual 360+ mile Sunday drive from Killeen, Texas down to Roma in the Rio Grande Valley. I was driving down I-37 and exited off the highway to get two geocaches in the Oakville Cemetery (GC2KPBH, GC78PKP) on the west side of the Interstate. From the historical marker at the Oakville Cemetery: "Donated in 1857 by Thomas Wilson, who also gave land for Main Town Square. The property was originally part of the 1831 McMullen McGloin land grant from Mexico. Among graves are those of J.T. James, the founder of Oakville; early pioneers; and organizers of Live Oak County."

As I was driving up the onramp heading south, I noticed out the corner of my eye across the east side of the highway all the old buildings of the town. That really sparked my interest so I continued driving down the Interstate six miles to the next exit. Then got off and made a u-turn another six miles back to Oakville.

Arriving in the Coastal Bend of Texas in the early 1800’s, Irish immigrants became the first settlers of a region that includes what is now known as the town of Oakville. At that time the community was referred to as "on the Sulphur" because it was on Sulphur Creek. It was also called Puenta de la Piedra ("Rock Bridge") by Spanish gold seekers, because two miles east on the Nueces River the San Antonio-Brownsville road crossed a natural rock bridge. After the Texas Revolution, Oakville was a station on the stage line from San Antonio to Corpus Christi. It had become a bustling place of commerce because it was the crossroads of ox-cart caravans and mule trains that crawled the muddy roads of Texas between the coast of the Gulf of Mexico and Brownsville to San Antonio. Oakville was the half-way point and merchants & travelers used it as a rest stop on such long, hazardous journeys of the day.

Oakville became county seat after Thomas Wilson offered 640 acres for a townsite; residents accepted the location on September 8, 1856. The name was taken by the court from a newspaper advertisement of business lots. Oakville had the county's first post office, established in 1857, and the first courthouse was built. The Oakville Baptist Church, constructed in 1856, had 128 members by 1857.

During the Civil War and for some years afterwards, Oakville and the surrounding region became a "hotbed of lawlessness." Looking through old newspapers, I found this article from the "Austin Weekly Statesman" October 5, 1876: "The state of society about Oakville, a frontier village, has been simply terrible. The people are divided into two classes; one, permanent, cattle-growing farmers; the other, horse and cattle thieves. They have shot and killed one another until honest men feared to tell the truth, and to punish red-handed villainy was impossible."

Historian Walter Prescott Webb described Oakville as "a hard country where civil authorities were helpless and took no notice of any outrage." As the county seat, Oakville grew into a thriving town that shipped cattle, horses, cotton, and wool, with a dozen or more stores, two hotels, a livery stable, a steam gristmill and cotton gin, a school, and two churches. However, with this boom of activity, the thought of the Wild Wild West that TV shows and movies were made of come to mind.

Growing to over 400 in population, there were 7 saloons in Oakville to provide the cattle crews plenty to drink and entertainment. Many stories of drunken cowboys, a lot of liquor flowed and many thrown in jail to sober up. Some of this spilled over into frontier violence in the form of horse thievery, cattle rustling and murder.

It took Texas Ranger Captain McNelley to clean up the lawless element in the 1870's. The Texas Rangers cleared out the outlaws in the region and brought them to the Live Oak County Jail in the county seat of Oakville, for justice. The standing historic jail was the third jail used in Oakville, the first two proving inadequate. The first one was a mud structure and the second of wood; both of one story construction. It was decided that something had to be done - for one, angry citizens could shoot the prisoners dead thru the jail bars in the absence of the Sheriff whilst he was away handling business.

The stone jail became a source of community pride. It was the latest design, the state-of-the-art in incarceration at the time of its construction. At two stories tall, it provided for safe lock-up in the upstairs cells until the judge arrived and provided formal offices for the Sheriff downstairs in which to conduct business. It also allowed for the sheriff's or jailer's family to reside on the first floor should they elect to do so. This important building served as the county’s jail from 1887-1919. The jail was constructed of hard native 22” sandstone, rough-hewn blocks, hauled by ox-cart from a nearby quarry.

For the burgeoning community, a jail of this stature was literally an advertisement and enticement to incoming settlers that Oakville would be a success in that it promoted civility and safety for it’s residents. The "modern" stone Oakville Jail of the 1880’s symbolized the arrival of the law to Oakville and to frontier Texas where previously only the six-shooter, rifle and the Texas Rangers administered justice to the wild and woolly lawless. Many a badman came to lament the day he entered the Oakville Jail. It is told that over 40 men hanged in the notorious sprawling live oak “Hanging Tree” outside on the Town Square.

Law and order once again established, Oakville's location as the halfway point between San Antonio and the Gulf Coast continued to create a boom of activity and business. The county's first free school building was established in 1881, and in 1899 Oakville established the county's first independent school district. The Oakville First National Bank, opened in 1905 by Dudley Blair and Lee Hinton, was also the county's first. The population of Oakville reached 400 in 1885, fell to 320 in 1892, then rose to a maximum of 450 in 1914.

Oakville's demise came just as many a ghost towns did in the west.  About 10 miles to the south, George West had plotted and named a town after himself. He courted the San Antonio, Uvalde, and Gulf Railroad to lay their tracks through his town and succeeded in 1913. The residents of Oakville began relocating to George West. And in 1919, George West became the county seat when its founder offered $75,000 to build a new courthouse there. State highway maps of 1936 showed a cemetery, two churches, a school, and several businesses and residences at the site. In 1940 the community reported a population of 350. By the 1970's only the Baptist church, the post office, three service stations, and scattered dwellings remained.

The State of Texas designated the town of Oakville a historic landmark in 1936 and placed a granite marker there. In 2004, the Oakville Jail was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Since the 1970's when Albert and Mari Davila first spotted the two-story stone jailhouse rising up out of the surrounding live oak and cactus. Over the following years, every time they'd pass by on their way down to Padre Island, they would stop for another look and exploring what appeared to be an abandoned town square. They eventually fell in love with the jailhouse and wanted to turn it into their vacation retreat house. They found the owners and purchased the Oakville Jail along with the abandoned town square in 2005.

With no windows or doors, they discovered many critters now calling it home as well. It was a slow process clearing up and cleaning out, but in 2007 restoration of the jail was completed. Locals had been admiring the work and inquiries into renting the jailhouse for special events and overnight stays began coming in. One by one the Davila's have been restoring old structures and adding to their number of rooms to rent. You can find more information about the restoration and photos at their website oakvillejail.com.

So that's it for another edition of my blog. I really enjoy finding these once forgotten treasures like the Oakville, Texas ghost town and sharing them with you. I'm also glad to see that someone has taken an interest and begun to restore the town square into what a typical pioneer town square might have looked like back in the 1800's.

For some reason, the closing theme song of the Beverly Hillbilly's TV show is running through my head. Yeah I know it's got nothing to do with Texas. But I'll leave it with you as anyway, though slightly modified: 

"Well now it's time to say good bye to You and all your kin.

And I would like to thank you folks fer kindly droppin in.

You're all invited back next week to this blog of mine,

To have a heapin'helpin of these words that come to mind.

Geocaching it is. Explore a spell, Put the hiking boots on.

Y'all come back now, y'hear?"