I don’t recall learning Texas history when I was a child. I suppose that my private school didn’t deem it necessary. It wasn’t until I was teaching fourth grade that I began to glean a bit of information about our state, but even then my knowledge was somewhat incomplete. My mother-in-law, on the other hand, was filled with stories of our great state. Her relatives came to Texas before it was even a Republic and settled on about three hundred acres just north of present day downtown Houston along what is now the I-45 corridor. She grew up in the days of the city’s growth, attending public school and learning how to proudly sing Texas Our Texas. She celebrated Texas Independence Day as though it was the fourth of July. She was quite proud to have descended from one of the pioneer families of our great state and often regaled anyone willing to listen with recitations of how the place we call Texas came to be and the part that her grandparents played in its earliest days. Continue reading “Who Knew?”
Category: Travel
Road Tripping
With the exception of a few months I’ve lived in Houston for all of my life. I love the city and its suburbs but like many natives I have at times underestimated our fourth largest metropolitan area . Perhaps I have taken its assets for granted because I have been distracted by the demands of living. Only now that I am retired am I learning just how exciting our fair city and the little towns that surround it actually are. In fact, there are times when so much is happening on a given day that it is impossible to partake in all of the incredible events. At any moment there is more than enough to do and much of it is available at little or no cost. I particularly enjoy the historical aspects of my town that I have heretofore only superficially known.
In the northern shadow of downtown Houston lies Washington Avenue. For much of my life it was a dirty and depressed area akin to skid row. We used to drive as quickly as possible beyond its reach on our way to visit my Uncle Louie in what has of late been dubbed Northside Village. As we skirted past Washington Avenue I was unaware that it is home to two of the most fascinating cemeteries in the city, Glenwood and Washington. Glenwood opened in 1840 and was the first planned cemetery in the city. It became the final resting place for some of the city’s most famous citizens including Howard Hughes. The next time you visit the Hughes Hangar watering hole you may want to entertain your friends by explaining that the inspiration for its name is resting eternally just down the street. Continue reading “Road Tripping”
The Haunted Magnolia Hotel
What better way to begin Halloween week than with a dark rainy weekend and a visit to a haunted hotel! In the middle of old downtown Seguin on South Crockett Street sits a two story structure that resembles a box, something created without much thought of architectural loveliness. It is the Magnolia Hotel, an establishment that began as a stage coach stop with a couple of rooms and evolved into a full fledged hotel when a second story was added. Opened in the eighteen forties, the hotel has a colorful history that is the stuff of dark secrets and rumors. Although it was at one time a gathering place for parties and other celebrations it was also the site of some of Seguin’s most tragic moments and thus over the years the stories of ghosts and hauntings in the place grew. By the nineteen nineties the Magnolia Hotel had been abandoned and boarded up. Only critters and drifters inhabited its rooms and, some say, a long dead tortured soul or two. Continue reading “The Haunted Magnolia Hotel”
The Journey
We have a tendency these days to travel quickly from one place to another. Planes are often our preferred mode of transportation. There are obvious benefits to leaving Houston in the morning and enjoying dinner in San Francisco. Making our way across long distances by car takes so much longer and requires a certain amount of patience. Still there is something far more intimate about a road trip. It allows us to begin to truly understand the geography and the people of our country. We get a better sense of the grandness of this nation and the hard working spirit that keeps it moving from day to day. Continue reading “The Journey”
The Place of Peace
When the newly formed Confederate States fired on Fort Sumter to begin the conflict known as the Civil War citizens gathered on the verandas and balconies of the homes along the Battery in Charleston to celebrate what they believed would be a very short engagement. Almost a year later the battles lingered on and it would be three more years before the bitter feud between what had once been united states finally ended. The cost would weigh heavily on both sides, especially in terms of the lost treasure of young men.
In 1862, both Confederate and Union armies had been gathering in a place that was unfamiliar to most people. In Corinth, Mississippi the convergence of two railroads provided the main supply routes between both the north and south and the east and west of the Confederate states. It was imperative to the rebel troops to hold that city in their grasp. It was also understood by the federal troops that to gain a foothold there would be a major blow to the Confederacy. Continue reading “The Place of Peace”
All It Takes Is A Little Love 