2009 Welcome to Wise.indd - Wise County Messenger
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2009 Welcome to Wise.indd - Wise County Messenger

2009 Welcome to Wise.indd - Wise County Messenger 2009 Welcome to Wise.indd - Wise County Messenger

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Follow us on twitter.com/ wcmessenger Follow us on Go to www. my-wise.com, or search for “WCMessenger. com” at www. facebook.com iWCMess com Because sometimes you need your news on the go. Made for iPhone DEBORAH BLACK Insurance Agency Specializing in Medicare Supplements Also offering: • Health • Life • Annuity • Long Term Care Office: 940-627-4919 Cell: 817-475-3568 RICHARD BLACK Insurance Agency Specializing in Commercial/Business • Property & Casualty • Group Health & Life • Dental • Long Term Care Office: 940-627-7822 Cell: 940-627-9748 304 E. Main • P.O. Box 234 • Decatur Family Owned & Operated for 29 Years Dine-In & Carry Out • Mesquite BBQ With All the Trimmings • Fresh Salad Bar • Desserts • All You Can Eat Homemade Dinner Rolls... The Best in Wise County! • Let Us Cater Your Next Event 401 N. US Hwy. 81/287 Decatur - 940-627-7227 Mon - Sat 11a.m. - 9 p.m. Sun 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. Birk Hendrix Plumbing Inc. RESIDENTIAL & COMMERCIAL New Construction • Remodel • Services 817-489-5550 Master License # - 5122 www.birkhendrixplumbing.com SERVING CUSTOMERS SINCE 1968 Now serving the following Counties: WISE • PARKER • JACK • MONTAGUE • TARRANT 107

WISE COUNTY Historical Markers Alvord Lodge No. 512, A. F. & A. M. 113 N. Wickham Street, Alvord Prominent founding member R. W. Johnson led efforts to organize Audubon Masonic Lodge No. 512 in the village of Audubon (seven miles northeast) in 1879. The lodge moved to Alvord in 1886 where members built a second floor onto a schoolhouse to use as a lodge hall. The name was officially changed to Alvord Lodge in 1890, and in 1991 a new two-story stone lodge hall was erected at this site. The Masons met on the second floor and a local bank rented the first floor until 1984. The lodge continues a tradition of public outreach to the Alvord community. Aurora Cemetery About 1/2 mile south of FM 114 on Cemetery Road in Aurora. The oldest known graves here, dating from as early as the 1860s, are those of the Randall and Rowlett families. Finis Dudley Beauchamp (1825- 1893), a Confederate veteran from Mississippi, donated the three-acre site to the newly formed Aurora Lodge No. 479, A.F. & A.M., in 1877. For many years, this community burial ground was known as Masonic Cemetery. Beauchamp, his wife Caroline (1829-1915), and others in their family are buried here. An epidemic which struck the village in 1891 added hundreds of graves to the plot. Called “spotted fever” by the settlers, the disease is now though to have been a form of meningitis. Located in Aurora Cemetery is the gravestone of the infant Nellie Burris (1891-1893) with its often-quoted epitaph: “As I was so soon done, I don’t know why I was begun.” This site is also well known because of the legend that a spaceship crashed nearby in 1897 and the pilot, killed in the crash, was buried here. Struck by epidemic and crop failure and bypassed by the railroad, the original town of Aurora almost disappeared, but the cemetery remains in use with over 800 graves. Veterans of the Civil War, World Wars I and II, and the Korean and Vietnam conflicts are interred here. Indian Captives Dot and Bianca Babb From Chico, take FM 1810 about two miles east to marker Two of Texas history’s best-known Indian captives, 13-year-old T. A. “Dot” Babb (1852-1936) and his 9-year-old sister Bianca (1855-1950) were stolen by Comanches from their home near here in September 1865. While at play one day, the children were surprised by a raiding party of 35 to 40 Native Americans. Mrs. Babb was killed and Dot, Bianca and Mrs. Luster (a visitor) were taken to Indian Territory (present Oklahoma). After helping Mrs. Luster escape on the way, Dot was very nearly executed, but so stoic was he in facing death that the Native Americans admiringly spared his life. For the next two years Dot and Bianca lived, in different tribes, as adopted Comanches. Bianca later recalled that the Native Americans held a feast - with coffee, a luxury - upon her arrival and that they colored her blonde hair with charcoal and buffalo tallow. Dot, after a winter as the squaws’ flunky, asserted his male rights and thereafter spent his time taming horses. He was taken on raids against other tribes and showed signs of becoming a fine warrior. After two years, the children’s father ransomed them and a joyful reunion occurred. Both Dot and Bianca spoke with sympathy, however, of many Indian customs and of kind treatment during captivity. Toll Bridge and Old Bridgeport West of Bridgeport at FM 920 and Trinity River Bridge When Butterfield Overland Mail traversed this area (1858-61) on St. Louis to San Francisco route, a crossing over West Fork of the Trinity was a necessity. Colonel W. H. Hunt on Feb. 11, 1860, obtained a charter and built a toll bridge here (50 yards west). The Overland Mail ceased operating as Civil War began. The bridge soon collapsed. However, a settlement had begun here, and in 1873 Charles Cates, a Decatur merchant, spanned the river with an iron bridge. When the Rock Island Railroad built to this point in 1893, town moved but retained historic name. Bridgeport Coal Mines Located at 8th and Hovey Streets, Bridgeport Once a staple of Bridgeport’s economy, coal was discovered here in later part of 19th century. Diggers hit vein 60 feet deep while seeking water. Mine No. 1 lies under northeast Bridgeport, and entire area is honeycombed with tunnels and shafts. Wise County Coal Company was chartered Aug. 23, 1882, by C. D. Cates, J. C. Carpenter, J. G. Halsell, J. J. Lang, H. Greathouse, and D. Waggoner. The firm was bought in 1900 by Colonel William H. Aston of Virginia. Renamed Bridgeport Coal Company, it had 500 employees at Zenith. Mines closed in 1929 due to increased use of oil and gas. Bridgeport Lodge No. 587, A.F. & A.M. Located at 1012 Halsell Street -Bridgeport On Dec. 12, 1884, the Bridgeport Masonic Lodge was granted a charter by the Grand Lodge of Texas. The 27 charter members consisted primarily of local coal miners, ranchers and businessmen. The group met in a tin building on the old Town Square until about 1900, when a second building was completed. A two-story brick building was purchased from Dr. K. L. Buckner in 1925. From its beginning the lodge has been active in community affairs, with its membership providing civic leadership and support for local public schools. Brown Hotel East Decatur Street, Chico Located one block east of Chico’s public square, the Brown Hotel was developed in several stages beginning in 1888 and lasting through 1910. The Brown Hotel exemplifies the type of lodging once found in numerous small Texas towns near the turn of the century. In 1876 J.T. Brown, builder of the hotel, purchased the land on which Chico is located from R.C. Mount. That year the town of Chico was laid out by Brown, an immigrant from Chico, Calif., near Dry Creek, a tributary of the West Fork of the Trinity River. Over a decade later, Brown built his hotel near the public square. Although another hotel, The Chico, which no longer stands was built, the Brown Hotel was an important social center for the community. In about 1908, R.L. Morris, a banker from Mississippi, purchased the hotel. Morris, who established a bank and mercantile store in Chico, retained ownership of the hotel until his death in 1965. He made the hotel his permanent residence. Butterfield Overland Stage Line Marker located at north city limits on Old US 81/287, Decatur Through Decatur passed the Butterfield Overland mail line connecting St. Louis and San Francisco with semi-weekly stage and mail service, 1858- 1861. The length of the route, 2,795 miles and the superior service maintained made this a pioneer enterprise of the first magnitude. Decatur Baptist College 1602 S. Trinity St., Decatur The Administration Building of the Decatur Baptist College is a three-story limestone building situated on a hill overlooking the town of Decatur decicated Sept. 6, 1893. The Northwest Texas Baptist Association, composed of 138 Baptist Churches in five counties in northwest Texas, founded Northwest Texas Baptist College in Decatur in 1891. During the 1892-1893 session, the college held classes in the opera house above a grocery store in Decatur. By the second year the Administration Building was completed. The Administration Building, a Victorian structure with certain castellated Romanesque features, contains 15 rooms and a chapel. During the second school year, the college had an enrollment of 149 students and a faculty of eight. The school became bankrupt in 1896 due to the failure of the supporting churches to pay their pledges and in the fall of 1897, the Texas Baptist Convention purchased and operated the school, changing the name to Decatur Baptist Junior College. This junior college founded in 1897 was the first private junior college in the United States. Its primary function was as a preparatory school for Baylor University. In 1964 the college was moved to Dallas and became Dallas Baptist College. The building now serves as the Wise County Heritage Museum. Decatur First United Methodist Church 104 S. Miller, Decatur Organized in 1862, this congregation is the oldest in Decatur. The Rev. J. R. Bellamy conducted the first services in a vacant store on the south side of the town square. Other churches were not started in the community until after the Civil War. The first sanctuary was constructed at this site in 1881. Property for the congregation was deeded by the county government. Built during the pastorate of the Rev. E. D. Dejernet, the edifice was destroyed by fire in the early 1890s. A second church structure for the fellowship was soon built at this location. It served the growing membership until the present brick sanctuary was completed. Constructed under 108

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Made for<br />

iPhone<br />

DEBORAH BLACK<br />

Insurance Agency<br />

Specializing in<br />

Medicare Supplements<br />

Also offering:<br />

• Health<br />

• Life<br />

• Annuity<br />

• Long Term Care<br />

Office: 940-627-4919<br />

Cell: 817-475-3568<br />

RICHARD BLACK<br />

Insurance Agency<br />

Specializing in<br />

Commercial/Business<br />

• Property & Casualty<br />

• Group Health & Life<br />

• Dental<br />

• Long Term Care<br />

Office: 940-627-7822<br />

Cell: 940-627-9748<br />

304 E. Main • P.O. Box 234 • Decatur<br />

Family Owned & Operated for 29 Years<br />

Dine-In &<br />

Carry Out<br />

• Mesquite BBQ With<br />

All the Trimmings<br />

• Fresh Salad Bar • Desserts<br />

• All You Can Eat Homemade<br />

Dinner Rolls...<br />

The Best in <strong>Wise</strong> <strong>County</strong>!<br />

• Let Us Cater Your Next Event<br />

401 N. US Hwy. 81/287<br />

Decatur - 940-627-7227<br />

Mon - Sat 11a.m. - 9 p.m. Sun 11 a.m. - 3 p.m.<br />

Birk Hendrix Plumbing Inc.<br />

RESIDENTIAL<br />

& COMMERCIAL<br />

New Construction • Remodel • Services<br />

817-489-5550<br />

Master License # - 5122<br />

www.birkhendrixplumbing.com<br />

SERVING<br />

CUSTOMERS<br />

SINCE 1968<br />

Now serving the following Counties:<br />

WISE • PARKER • JACK • MONTAGUE • TARRANT<br />

107

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