Yesterday’s Willie County rabbit was a fun one to chase, so today we’re going to continue to chase it from the First Christian Church building in Taylor all the way up SH 95 through Granger and into Barlett, which straddles the Bell/Williamson County line. Bartlett was the home of the Willie County Democrat, a paper …
M.L. Hair and the Willie County (Texas) Democrat Read More »
I still remember the first earthquake I felt. I’d been living in Black Mountain, North Carolina (a few miles east of Asheville) for a little less than a year. It was almost midnight, and I was up working. The earthquake in question was centered around Hot Springs, about fifty miles northwest of me. Up until …
Well, I’ve hit the mother lode of information about the opening of the Hotel Blazilmar in Taylor (now that I’ve got the spelling correct)! There’s quite a bit of coverage of progress on the building in the Taylor Daily Press (yet another Taylor business venture that Howard Bland was involved in– he and three other …
So it turns out you can find a lot more information about the Blazilmar when you search Google with that spelling (instead of the incorrect “Blazimar” I had in yesterday’s post)! Many thanks to Gary Shelton for correcting that, as well as posting some nice historical photos yesterday! My guess is the “Blazimar” spelling comes …
Back before Thanksgiving (which somehow already seems an eternity ago) we discussed how Howard Bland was responsible for the construction of the original Howard theater (which was located across the street from the current Howard). But that’s not the only place his name shows up in Taylor! You just might not recognize it… The Hotel …
Despite the “open” sign, the Taylor Cafe wasn’t open yesterday morning. (Due to the recent death of pitmaster Vencil Mares, who first opened back in 1948: https://www.taylorprovidencefuneralhome.com/ob…/vencil-mares) We stopped by so I could take some photos yesterday on the way to Austin from Thorndale. If you’d like to see one of my other “right-place-at-the-right-time” photos from …
For seventy-one years Vencil Mares arrived early in the morning at the Taylor Cafe (the red building on the left) where he greeted his customers and watched the trains roll by. Today, his spot was empty. This morning, he passed away at the age of ninety-six. This Texas Monthly interview from February 2014 is fantastic:https://www.texasmonthly.com/bbq/pitmaster-interview-vencil-mares-of-taylor-cafe/
Next up on our list of men on the First Christian Church building committee is “H BLAND.” Now you might be thinking “Wait… shouldn’t we have another picture of the First Christian Church building then?” Don’t worry, there will be more of those. But Mr. Bland’s name is Howard Bland, and he was responsible for …
While sometimes I wish I’d lived in times past, I can’t deny that I’m fortunate to live in an age where I can dig up an astounding amount of history from the comfort of my own laptop. It would, for instance, be fantastic to see steam locomotives operating on a regular basis, but historical research …
Colonel Charles P. Vance’s ties to Lexington, Texas Read More »
Until recently, I had no idea that the “fight scene” in Secondhand Lions was filmed near Austin. This is the Cele Store, which is about five minutes east of SH 130 and Plufgerville. That’s right, this is where Hub McCann taught those young punks the correct way to wield their switchblades. One of these days …