San Angelo to Lubbock
Heading northeast out of San Angelo we traverse a series of ridges out of the Concho River drainage. This is the first significant collection of “real” trees seen in some time but the juniper forests don’t last long as we transition onto the prairies that form the southern Great Plains.
The region between the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex to the east and the Permian Basin oil fields to the west is called the “Big Country” and the center and by far largest city is Abilene.
But Abilene was not the first population center in the area, that honor goes to Buffalo Gap, about ten miles south of Abilene.
Buffalo Gap
A natural gap in the ridges that separate the plains from the deserts to the south was a natural highway for hundreds of years for the massive herds of buffalo that used to migrate back and forth across the region. During the late 1860’s and 1870’s buffalo hunters would gather along Elm Creek in the pass the winter. The camp gradually grew into a small town and in 1874 Buffalo Gap was selected as the first county seat of Taylor County. Nearly 1,200 people lived in the town but the future did not bode well. In 1892 the railroad bypassed Buffalo Gap in favor of Abilene, ten miles to the north, and Buffalo Gap began a quick decline. Today Buffalo Gap is a small town of a couple hundred people where most residents commute to Abilene for work but a few outstanding restaurants and the Buffalo Gap Museum draw weekenders from Dallas.
The city block surrounding the original Taylor County Courthouse is now the Buffalo Gap Historical Village. Original buildings from around the Big Country have been brought to this site in an effort to preserve the past. This is not a sophisticated museum but rather one of those small, earnest efforts that contain an eclectic view of local history. One enters through the Buffalo Gap Mercantile and then heads outdoors to tour the block.
The 1882 Hill House was the home of Abilene’s first marshal, John Thomas Hill.
There was no indoor plumbing at the time but the Hills enjoyed the latest in bathroom facilities.
Next is the original Taylor County Courthouse, built here in 1879.
The small structure essentially has one large room on the ground floor which served as the courtroom and the second floor had a small cell for the most violent criminals at the top of the stairs alongside a large room for the rest of the miscreants.
The walk through history continues past a number of buildings. Most are furnished to some degree with original items from the late 1800’s.
The Clyde, Texas, train depot from the early 1900’s accurately displays the racial segregation of the day.
The 1904 blacksmith’s shop is complete with the implements of the trade.
The 1930 gas station from Winter, Texas, contains metal advertisements from the era.
The school house contains a 1916 mimeograph machine. Who knew that teachers’ reliance on copy machines dated from such an early era???
Like most sheds, this one contains a collection of treasures, from a Model T to a collection of historic washing machines.
Ten miles north the city of Abilene is the undeniable center of the Big Country.
Abilene, TX
The town of Abilene was established by cattlemen as a shipping point on the Texas and Pacific Railroad in 1881 and was named after Abilene, Kansas, the original end point for the Chisolm Trail. The town boomed during the 1920’s and 1930’s as a result of the discovery of oil to the west and bumper crop years prior to the mid-1930’s. Many of the buildings in the downtown area were built during this time. Today Abilene is home to around 120,000 people and has three universities and Dyess Air Force base within its’ boundaries. As the center of the Big Country the downtown area has survived the flight of retail to the southwest mall and associated areas and is home to a number of banks and office buildings. The T & P railroad tracks divide the city into north and south and the downtown area runs north on Cypress and Pine Streets from the historic 1910 train depot.
The story of the central city is intertwined with one man, David Castle, known as the “architect of Abilene.” During the 1920’s he designed a number of the historic buildings in downtown:
The 1925 Minter Building (Taylor County’s first department store)
The 1927 Hilton Hotel (the first hotel to carry Conrad Hilton’s name and now apartments and offices)
The 1930 Paramount Theatre
The 1930 Hotel Wooten (now apartments and offices)
The 1935 Federal Courthouse
Somewhat surprisingly the Taylor County courthouse and the tallest building in Abilene are not in the historic city center, instead they are south across the railroad tracks in a rather rundown area. In every other Texas county that I have visited the historic county courthouse is clearly a symbol of civic pride, that is not the case in Abilene. The rather disheveled 1914 courthouse sits in a rather sorry state across the street from the 1972 courthouse, which has a modern design that does not complement any of the other structures in the area.
Also somewhat incongruous, Abilene’s tallest office building sits on the block south of the new courthouse. The 1984 Enterprise Building (originally known as the Bank of America Building) at 20 stories is the tallest building between Dallas and El Paso.
I found this view of Abilene from the top of the Enterprise Building looking north across the railroad tracks on the internet.
We continue to skirt the Permian Basin by heading northwest out of Abilene to Lubbock and cattle country. The famed bluebells of Texas decorate the side of the highway.
The plains northwest of Abilene are a blend of ranchlands, oil fields and lots and lots of cotton fields. Occasionally they all overlap.
The wind is howling across the southern plains and there’s a lot of dust in the air. A severe drought has parched the land and there doesn’t seem to be any relief in sight. The first of two major cities in the Texas Panhandle looms on the horizon and we’ll get to experience our own version of a “dust bowl” while visiting Lubbock, Texas.
Next up: Life on the Prairie
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