Tuesday, December 25, 2007

New Texas Old Photos.... online


George Jones and family
Iris Audrey Farque Redus
Jefferson Franklin Lewis
Hattie Bell Duke Tomlin
Hattie Bell Duke
Clifton Leroy Tomlin 1907
Hattie, Roy, Clarke and Clifton Tomlin
Oliver & Dixie Leinart
Unknown Baby, Cisco, Texas (at right)
Jones County Court House and Street Scene, Anson, Texas 1950s
Opera Block, Anson, Texas 1909
Jones County Court House, Anson, Texas early 1900s
Street Scene, Anson, Texas 1910s
Women of the Shooks Chapel Church, Shooks Chapel, TX
Birds Eye View, Robert Lee, Texas
Harden Alexander Bundrant and Nancy Jane Hancock Bundrant
Robert Singleton Hilburn
Charles H. McDonald
McDonald Family
Aunt Rollie and Uncle Henry and Family
Ruby etal in Red River Co
Albert Tucker Crowder
George Washington Angle
Barry Payne Smothers & Family
Robert Pollard & Family
Rose & Kydie Pollard, H.C. Smothers and cousins 1901-02
Kydie Rose Pollard, 1886
Elizabeth Clark McGrew
Public School, Smithville, TX early 1900s
High School, Tulia, TX early 1900s
Gussie Merle Vick Ozment and Eula Mae Varner
Beulah Gillespie Vick Ozment and Gracy
Muriel Estelle Weaver Lee
Jim and Molly Steel Family 1920
Steele Children 1922
Joseph Lafayette Steele
Howell Family, Shafter, Texas 1930s
Main Street, Shafter, Texas 1930s
Lucille Rodocker, Waco, Texas 1932
Noah and Sybil McQueen
Joe B. McQueen and another man
Henry Franklin Whitaker
Evans Elray Whitaker
Robert Emmitt Tackett
Tackitt Family 1952
Mary Irene Tackitt and Robert Emmitt Tackett
Jasper Hardie Hall and his buddies
Catherine Whitmore
Hollis Peery & Eddith Brown 1901
Blessing, Texas Train Station 1900s
High School, Alice, Texas early 1900s
Brownwood, TX High School 1909

Friday, December 14, 2007

94-Year-Old Brenham Funeral Home Gets Historic Marker

From KHOU TV Houston --

The Hogan Funeral Home, a Brenham landmark for the last 94 years, became part of Texas history. . .The marker, awarded by the Texas Historical Commission, tells part of the story of how Brenham’s first African American owned funeral home opened its doors to Buffalo Soldiers and other blacks. . .

The Hogans are a family with generations of service, passed from founder C.H. Hogan to his son Booker T, who died in 1986. Since then, Booker T’s 92-year-old widow and other family members have kept the tradition alive, earning them the first and only state recognition of the contributions of African American’s in Brenham.

Read full story

El Paso Herald Post and San Antonio Daily Express - on line

Texas Genealogy research is getting a little easier. Two more Texas newspapers are now online at ancestry.com - The El Paso Herald Post and the San Antonio Express. Created from microfilm, the newspapers are searchable or you can browse through each issue page-by-page

El Paso Herald Post, 1931-1977

San Antonio Daily Express, 1874-1899

Other Texas Newspapers online

Tuesday, December 04, 2007

Texas Train Wrecks, Fires and other disasters

Texas Train Wrecks, Fires, and other disasters - just added at http://www.gendisasters.com/

Bridgeport, TX Two Air Force Plane Collide, Mar 1958
Grapevine, TX Jet Crash Claims 130 Lives, Aug 1985
Emery, TX Tornado, May 1907
Denison, TX Train Wreck, Nov 1891
Matagorda Bay, TX Flyers Plunge To Death In Bay, Nov 1928
Houston, TX Trolley Wire Accident, Oct 1891
Greenville, TX Saloon and Barn Fires, Nov 1891
Lone Oak, TX Cotton Gin Fire, Nov 1891
Palestine, TX Cotton Bale Fire, Nov 1891
Baird, TX Road Work Accident, Nov 1891
Bastrop, TX Store Fire, Nov 1891
Lovelady, TX Playing With Matches Accident, Nov 1891
Gilmer, TX Sawmill Fire, Nov 1891
Shoals, TX House Fire, Oct 1891
Texarkana, TX Boarding House Fire, Dec 1908
Brownsville, TX Train Engine Explosion, Dec 1908
Vernon, TX Fire, Dec 1908
De Kalb, TX Rick Nelson Dies In Airplane Crash, Dec 1985
Langtry, TX Quarry Explosion, Feb 1925
Electra, TX Wichita River Drowning, May 1930
Temple, TX Little Elm Creek Drowning, May 1930
Houston, TX White Oak Bayou Drowning, May 1930
Pittsburg, TX Tornado, May 1930
Port Arthur, TX Automobile Accidents, May 1930
San Antonio, TX Falls Four Stories from Telephone Bldg, May 1930
Carthage, TX Train Accident, May 1930
Galveston, TX Hurricane, Sept 1900
Rice, TX Tornado, Apr 1908
Houston, TX Gulf Hotel Destroyed By Fire, Sep 1943
Fort Worth, TX Flood, Apr 1908

More Texas Disasters online
http://www3.gendisasters.com/category/united-states/texas

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Texas Tornadoes, Fires, Train Wrecks on line..

New Texas Disaster Articles ..... Just added at http://www.gendisasters.com
Events That Touched Our Ancestor's Lives....

Amarillo, TX Convalescent Home Fire, Dec 1950
Chico, TX House Fire, Jan 1894
Childress, TX Fire Jan 1894
Comanche, TX Explosion and Fire, Jan 1900
Corsicana, TX Grocery Store Fire, Jan 1894
Corsicana, TX Oil Well Fire, May 1923
Dallas, TX Gun Store Fire, Mar 1882
DeKalb, TX Cunningham House Fire, Jan 1894
Dublin, TX McCormick & Russell Store Fire, Mar 1909
Fannin, TX Goff Gin Fire, Aug 1902
Galveston, TX Fire, Dec 1869
Hearne, TX Fire Jul 1873
Hillsboro, TX Fire Dec 1893
Hillsboro, TX Kirksey House Fire, Jan 1894
Houston, TX House Fire, Dec 1978
Humble, TX Oil Tank Fire, Jul 1905
Lampasas, TX Fire, Apr 1921
Longview, TX House Fires, Jul 1898
Orange, TX Electric Light Plant Fire, Jul 1898
Paris, TX Fire, 1915
San Angelo, TX Landon Hotel Fire, Aug 1902
Sulphur Springs, TX Tenant House Fire, Jul 1898
Temple, TX House Fire, Jul 1898
Texarkana, TX Fire Apr 1895
Arlington, TX Interurban Train - Automobile Wreck, Oct 1912
Beaumont, TX Train - Automobile Wreck, Jul 1954
Hempstead, TX Train Wreck, Nov 1884
Humble, TX Train Wreck, Dec 1922
Mexia, TX Train Wreck, Oct 1927
Sanderson, TX Train Wreck, Mar 1902
Austin, TX Auto Accident Jun 1947
Beaumont, TX Train - Automobile Wreck, Jul 1954
Durant, OK Auto Accident Jul 1925
Mesquite, TX Auto Wreck, Jun 1947
Borger, TX Oil Well Explosion, Apr 1927
Center, TX Gas Explosion, Dec 1935
Cisco, TX Torpedo Company Explosion, Jul 1919
Comanche, TX Explosion and Fire, Jan 1900
Dallas, TX House Explosion, Jul 1911
Iowa Park, TX Boiler Explosion, May 1923
Kilgore, TX Sawmill Boiler Explosion, Mar 1892
Mart, TX Explosion, Jul 1894
New London, TX School Explosion, Mar 1937
San Antonio, TX Engine Blows Up In Shop, Mar 1912
San Antonio, TX Gasoline Stove Explosion, Jul 1898
Texas City, TX Explosion, Apr 1947
Galveston, TX Hurricane, Aug 1915
Galveston, TX Hurricane, Sept 1900
Hurricane Carla Hits Texas Coast, Sept 1961
Indianola, TX Hurricane, Sept 1875
Briggs, TX Tornado, Apr 1906
Canton, TX Tornado, Apr 1919
Central Texas Tornado - Putnam, Star Mountain, Holliday Station - May 1904
Cisco, TX Tornado, Apr 1893
Colorado City, TX Tornado, May 1923
Dallas, TX Tornado, Apr 1957
Emory, TX Tornado, Mar 1894
Falls Creek, TX Tornado, May 1890
Glenrose, TX Tornado, May 1902
Goliad, TX Tornado, May 1902
Hebron, TX Tornado Apr 1927
Irving, TX Tornado, Apr 1927
Lamar, TX area Tornado, May 1905
Marshall, TX Tornado, Apr 1927
Port Arthur, TX Tornado Sept 1897
Shiner, TX Tornado, Jan 1891
Silverton, TX Tornado, May 1957
Troy, TX Tornado May 1893

More Texas Disasters
http://www3.gendisasters.com/category/united-states/texas

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

More Freestone County Cemetery Transcriptions

Two more Freestone County Cemetery Transcriptions added to the TXGenWeb section of the USGenWeb archives:

Wortham Cemetery
http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/tx/freestone/cemeteries/wortham.txt

Salem Cemetery near Teague
http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/tx/freestone/cemeteries/salem.txt

Jasper in the 1920s

Stone descendant recalls old days in young Jasper

What will be the Jasper Historical Museum at 165 N. Main was once the Stone family pharmacy in the 1920's.

Mary Sanders is the daughter of Clarence Ryall Stone, the pharmacist, and the granddaughter of Thomas Edwin Stone, "an old horse and buggy country doctor," Sanders said. She never met the elder Stone, who is buried at the old Ryall cemetery off U.S. Highway 63.

Country doctors did not make a great deal of money a hundred years ago, but old Doc Stone did well enough to send both sons to Georgetown University in Texas, where Clarence and Joel Edwin Stone became pharmacists.

Read full article from the Jasper Newsboy

The Great Family Search Genealogy Conference, Plano, Sept 22

The Great Family Search Genealogy Conference will be held Saturday September 22nd, at 2700 Round Rock Trail in Plano, Texas.

The keynote speaker for this year's event is David Rencher. Mr. Rencher is the Director, Records and Information Division, of the Genealogical Society of Utah. In addition to Mr. Rencher, there will be a variety of classes on family history research including Internet. The conference is FREE to the public and is being sponsored by the Family History Centers of Carrollton, Denton, Plano & Richardson.

More information

Monday, August 20, 2007

Humble Family Bible Transcription

Transcription of the Bible that belonged to the Humble Family of Williamson County, Texas was added to the TXGenWeb archives:

http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/tx/williamson/bibles/humble.txt

Freestone County Cemetery Transcriptions

Freestone County Cemetery Transcriptions added to the TXGenWeb section of the USGenWeb archives:

Longbotham Cemetery (a.k.a. Robert Longbotham Cemetery)http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/tx/freestone/cemeteries/longbot.txt

Woodland Cemetery near Kirvin, Freestone Co., TX
http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/tx/freestone/cemeteries/woodland.txt

Sunday, August 05, 2007

Galleries Replace Cellblocks at the Old Collin County Prision

Galleries replace cellblocks at Old Collin County Prison - from the McKinney Courier Gazette:

The Old Collin County Prison on Kentucky Street might have once been a place where people were locked up.But those days are gone as the free flow of ideas and artistic expression are now featured on works of art in all shapes and sizes in the three galleries that now call the prison home.

Galleria d’ArteGalleria d’Arte is located on the first floor of the prison at 115 S. Kentucky St., and is home to McKinney resident Carrie Cameron Garner’s artwork. Gallery d’Arte used to be located at the southeast corner of Kentucky Street and Louisiana Street, but had to move as Spoons restaurant is moving into the space and will open at the end of August.

Garner and the rest of the galleries moved into the prison at the beginning of June and have had a steady flow of curious visitors anxious to see what vivid ways the artists have used to express themselves. Garner, who owns Galleria d’Arte, along with the other gallery owners rent space from Stephanie McAndrew, who owns the prison.


Read full article from the McKinney Courier-Gazette

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Drive Through the History of Allen, Texas

Driving tour highlights city's historic spots, aims to promote and preserve heritage

It's time for a road trip. But this one doesn't involve any packing. Just load the family in the minivan.

The driving tour was developed as a way to highlight historic sites in Allen. Volunteers spent two years sorting through hundreds of photos, traveling through old and newly developed areas and researching the history of prospective sites. The city of Allen came through with a grant from the Texas Historical Commission to finance the project and print the brochures.

Read full article from the DallasNews.com

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Seven Star Cemetery in Temple, no longer abandoned

Once abandoned and overgrown with grass, the Seven Star Cemetery now has folks who care.

TEMPLE, Texas — For years the Seven Star Cemetery was ignored, unclaimed by anyone until a small group of people decided to take responsibility for a place that holds forgotten souls and lost history.

Bishop J.A. Tolbert, a pastor at Eagles Wings Ministries in Temple, has been working with the Central Texas Juneteenth Committee to save the narrow stretch of land that lies along 14th Street.

Before he began, the plot of land was overgrown with tall grass, abandoned for years. Now cut and clean, the Seven Star Cemetery showcases graves that whisper stories from history that otherwise would have been lost.

Read full article from the Houston Chronicles' chron.com

Monday, July 02, 2007

Simmons University, Abilene, Texas Basketball Team, 1930


Simmons University was the forerunner to Hardin-Simmons University

View the photograph

In the photograph: Harold Matthews, Fred Houghton, Johnnie Green, Bob McCollum, L. M. Scroggins, Ed. Powell, John D. Harrison, Curtis Hamilton, Jack Scott. Leslie Cranfill, coach.

The names of the other players are unknown. You may recognize some of them.

More Texas Old Photos

Friday, June 29, 2007

Port Isabel Light House on Podcast

Port Isabel Lighthouse featured on Passport to Texas Podcast from Texas Parks and Wildlife.

For most of its 155 year history, the Port Isabel Lighthouse like a lonely sentry, kept silent watch over ships that ventured into the shallow gulf waters of the lower Laguna Madre. One of sixteen lighthouses serving the state, this renovated structure is evocative of a bygone era; one that continues to capture the imagination of visitors.

The Port Isabel Lighthouse was constructed in 1852, near sites of Civil War Battle of Palmito Ranch (1865) and Mexican War Battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma. The Port Isabel Lighthouse State Historic Site in Port Isabel, Cameron County was opened to the public in 1952.

Get the podcast


Photo of Port Isabel Lighthouse from an early 1900s postcard, photo courtesy of TexasOldPhotos.com

Grayson County Land Owner Atlas Maps

The 20th Century Platt Books of Grayson County, Texas published in 1908 are online now, part of an extensive map collection featuring 1200 U. S. County Land Ownership Atlases maps ranging from 1864-1918, across 34 states that were just added at ancestry.com. The Grayson County map is the only one in the collection from Texas.


Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Central High School, Houston, Texas 1925 Girls Basketball Team Photo


View the photograph

In the photograph: Elizabeth Ringo, Etta Mae Cade, Celia (or Cecilia) Salerno, Helen Tomlin, Cornelia Langston, Mildred Archer, Phyllis Howard, Inez Reynolds, Celia Lesky, Fay Carter, Mrs. M. A. Hurst - coach, Carle Danna, Sarah Greenfield, Margaret Williams, Ila Rae McKinney, Eugenis Payne, Doris Holdren, Genevieve Miller, Hattie Mae McKinney - manager, Ruby Roggen, Florence Karnaky.

More Texas Old Photos

Tuesday, May 08, 2007

Historic... yes. Designated... someday.

Arlington African-American Cemetery Tries for a Third Time for the Historic Texas Cemetery Designation

Sometimes, you just have to keep on trying....
The cemetery dates to the mid-1800s ...... African-American cemetery has been rejected twice for the same recognition: once because the state didn't differentiate between the [cemetery and the closely-located Middleton Tate Johnson Plantation Cemetery] and another time because the application was incomplete....

Read full article from the Star Telegram

Tuesday, May 01, 2007

Will the Real Billy the Kid....

Who was the Real Billy the Kid - and Who is Buried in Hamilton?

STEPHENVILLE, Texas -- After more than half a century, the question of whether a Texas man was really famed outlaw Billy the Kid finally may be answered.

Lincoln County, N.M., sheriff's Deputy Steve Sederwall has asked Hamilton, Texas, City Council members for permission to exhume the body of Ollie "Brushy Bill" Roberts.

Roberts died of an apparent heart attack at age 90 in 1950 in Hico, Texas. He's buried in Hamilton.

Roberts and at least one other man have claimed to be Billy the Kid.

Those stories presuppose that the Lincoln County sheriff killed the wrong man in Fort Sumner, N.M., on July 14 of 1881 -- and lied about it.

The Hamilton City Council has tabled the matter and is asking Sederwall for more information.
Article from KOAT.com

US - Mexico Border Records on line

From an Ancestry.com press release --

Ancestry.com Launches U.S. - Mexico Border Crossings Collection From 1903 -1957

More Than 3.5 Million Border Crossing Records From Mexico to the United States; Features 24 Land Ports of Entry From California to Texas

PROVO, Utah, May 1 /PRNewswire/ -- To celebrate Cinco de Mayo, Ancestry.com, the world's largest online resource for family history, today announced the release of the first and only online collection of border crossing records for individuals who crossed the U.S. - Mexico border between 1903 and 1957. This new collection, which includes more than 3.5 million names, is the latest addition to Ancestry.com's Immigration Records Collection, which also includes the largest online collection of U.S. ship passenger list records featuring more than 100 million names from 1820 to 1960.

These border crossing records primarily document early 20th-century Mexican immigration to the United States. During the first 30 years of the 1900s, more than 1 million Mexicans immigrated to the United States as a result of the Mexican Revolution in 1910, job opportunities during WWI and U.S. agricultural advances.

"There are unique and untold stories waiting to be discovered about the American southwest and Mexico," said Megan Smolenyak, Chief Family Historian for Ancestry.com. "This collection represents a significant opportunity for
Mexican-Americans to discover their family's footsteps to the United States and for everyone to celebrate Mexican contributions to American culture..."

These records contain insightful clues into a family's past, such as names and birthdates of travelers, names of friends or family in Mexico or the United States, as well as some signatures. This collection will be an especially useful tool for individuals whose ancestors arrived from Mexico between 1908 and 1957, as the most complete records were kept during this time period. Many of these border crossing records also include passport-type photos that were attached to the original documents. Ancestry.com transcribed the names in the collection from more than 3 million documents. The records were culled from 24 land ports of entry from California to Texas.

Among the ports: Brownsville, Del Rio, Eagle Pass, El Paso, Laredo, Presidio, Rio Grande City, Roma, Los Ebanos, Fort Hancock, Fabens, Rio Grande City,Yseleta, Progreso/Thayer, and San Antonio (immigrants arriving by air).

View the border crossing records at ancestry.com

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Confederate Soldier's Grave Honored at Smith Cemetery, Lewisville

Confederate soldier’s grave is marked in ceremony at Smith Cemetery, Lewisville, Denton County

Members of the Lacy Holcombe Pickens Chapter 2615 held a grave marking ceremony, with a new marker at the grave of Capt. Henry Hardin Smith, who served in the Confederacy during the Civil War.

Smith was born Jan. 23, 1817 and died Dec. 1, 1887. He is buried in the Smith Cemetery, which had been so named several years before his death after the family of Thomas Morgan and Elizabeth A. Smith.

The site had been used as a burial ground since 1862 when the Smith’s 20-year-old son, James J. Smith, died was buried on the family farm. His is the earliest marked grave in the Smith Cemetery.

Read full article from the Lewisville Star

Friday, April 13, 2007

1824 Texas Flag On Display at Houston Bank

A piece of Texas history with strong Houston area ties will be in display for the next couple of weeks. The original flag that belonged to Mexican General Santa Anna will be on display at the Sterling Bank’s Memorial Banking Center at 840 Gessner until May 4.

The flag was captured at the Battle of San Jacinto in 1836 and hasn’t been back to the Houston are until now. The flag was actually discovered a few years ago in an Alabama family’s attic.

Read entire article from KHOU TV, Houston

Fannin County Historic Commission to dedicate two Historic Texas Cemeteries

New Salem Cemetery and the Shiloh Cemetery both will have Historic Texas Cemetery Marker dedications on Sunday April 22, 2007. Descendants of those buried in the cemeteries will be recognized.

The earliest burial in the New Salem Cemetery was Phillip Greenleaf Williams in 1848. Many of the early settlers in the immediate area are buried in the cemetery. The cemetery is located about 7 ½ miles north of Honey Grove off FM 100 and then about 1 ½ miles east on County Road 2800.

The first known burial in the Shiloh Cemetery is that of John Gwaltney, whose gravesite dates from the early 1860s. Tradition holds that John M. Gross deeded land for this community cemetery sometime before 1871. Today, Shiloh Cemetery is the final resting place for generations of area residents. The cemetery is located about 7 miles north of Honey Grove off FM 100 and then about 2 miles west on County Road 2730.

Read entire article from North Texas eNews

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Cisco High School, Cisco, Texas 1919 Football Team Photo

View the photograph

In the photograph: Coaches J. J. Godbey and A. G. Walker. Players Emmett Price, Eugene Ames, Odwin Cate, Frank Turner.

The rest of the players are unknown. You might recognize some of them.

More Cisco, Texas Postcards and Photographs

More Texas Old Photos

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Wichita Falls Junior College, Wichita Falls, Texas 1924 Football Team

View the photograph

In the photograph:

Thurman, Weeth, Cantwell, Downing, Morton, Beauty, West, Clary, Hirschi, Whitelaw, Coburn, Zetsche, Mosley - coach, Caskey, Keevil, Timmons, Cox, Crites

More Texas Old Photos

Thursday, March 15, 2007

Sam Houston Normal College, Huntsville, Texas 1922 Football Team Photo


View the photograph

Sam Houston Normal College (now Sam Houston State Univerity) Football Squad: Everett McKay - captain, Clam Mayes, Robert Samuels, Jake Alley, Carl Anderson, Boyd Mayes - quarterback, T. J. Hightower, E. D. Bolton, G. B. McAdams, Joe Kirk, T. L. Duffy, Robert Needham, Paul Elrod, Farrington Malone, Herbert Sandel, Shelton Scarborough, O. C. Webb, I. B. Redding, Wade Bolton.

More Texas Old Photos

Friday, January 26, 2007

Del Rio: Property owner uproots, hides state historical marker

Home for sale: 2 brdm, 1 bath, 1 historical marker

Perry Denison cares deeply about the history and traditions of Del Rio, as evidenced by his family’s 43-year stewardship of what may be the oldest standing structure in Val Verde County still retaining a semblance of historic integrity.

But now, Denison believes a commemorative plaque threatens to cost him a minor fortune. Denison, a San Antonio medical equipment repairman, owns the Taylor-Rivers House, 100 Hudson Drive, in the heart of south Del Rio’s historic residential neighborhoods.

In 1983, a handsome, cast-metal marker was planted in the side yard of the unassuming, stuccoed home at the intersection of Nicholson Road and Hudson Drive.

Now the plaque has been taken down and stashed away in darkness, considered by Denison as a liability to his effort to sell the property for an “asking price” of $95,000.

Read full story from swtexaslive.com

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Keeping Jasper County History Alive

Family Records, Old Newspapers, and Local History Kept Safe at the Jasper County Jail
Bertie Bryant, Jimmie Tanner and their cohorts at the Jasper County Historical Commission (JCHC) have the distinction of talking their way into jail, and they're proud of it. Up until a few years ago, members of the commission kept the important county archives in their own homes, but then the Texas Historical Commission started requiring that records be kept in a central location with public access.

About the same time, Jasper County built the new jail adjacent to the sheriff's office and decommissioned the old jail on the courthouse square.The old jail then got a second life protecting the records of the Jasper County Historical Commission....
Read full article from the Jaspernewsboy.com

Monday, January 22, 2007

Texas Woodmen of the World Delegates 1915

Texas, New Mexico and Arizona Delegates to the Woodmen of the World Convention in St. Paul, MN in July 1915.

View the photo

In the photograph: W. A. Fraser, front row with two little girls in front of him; John Stephens of El Campo (unsure which one is John).

The rest are unknown. You might recognize some of these folks.

More Texas Old Photos

Monday, January 15, 2007

Will the Real Home of the Hamburger Please Stand Up....

Everyone needs a claim to fame. In Athens, Texas is the hamburger, for in the late 1880s the very first hamburger was served at Fletcher Davis' Luncheonette. Or maybe not.

NEW HAVEN, Conn. --A burger battle is brewing between a Texas state legislator and the owners of Louis' Lunch, a restaurant established in 1895, where it has been claimed that the hamburger was invented.

However, with the new session of the Texas legislature now under way, Republican State Rep. Betty Brown has proposed a resolution declaring Athens, Texas, is the original home of the hamburger.

Brown, an Athens resident, says that a long ago resident of the town, Fletcher Davis, had a luncheonette in the late 1880s and sold the first burgers there.

A magazine article also suggests that Davis not only created the hamburger, but sold it from a booth at the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904.

Those claims are not sitting well with Ken Lassen Sr., 89, the third-generation owner of Louis' Lunch where he says his grandfather came up with the first hamburger

Lassen said it happened in 1900 when a man rushed into Louis' and asked for something he could eat on the run. Louis Lassen, Ken Lassen's grandfather, grabbed a broiled beef patty and put it between two slices of bread.
So the battle of the burger wars continues...

Read the full article at boston.com

Clyde High School, Clyde, Texas 1921 Basketball Team Photo


View the Photograph

In the photograph: Alfred Brown, Cliff Berry, Truett Hollingshead, Loyd Campbell, Roguy Tabor - coach, Clifford Bouchette, Alva Osborne, Gideon Tyler, Wallace McNeal

More Texas Old Photos