Monthly Archives: August 2015

Jesse James Grave (maybe)

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Catching up from the Texas trip.

A dear friend of the family and I had a summer goal of finding the alleged grave of Jesse James in the Granbury Cemetery. We had tried last summer, but had no luck in the approaching dark. This time we set out in early evening and found Jessie’s grave, as well as Granbury’s grave and the burial site of an amputated arm.

Granbury (sometimes seen as Granberry) is the namesake of the town. As far as I can tell he never lived in Granbury, but his body was exhumed (for the second time) and buried here. There is also a gravesite for his wife, Fannie Granbury, though she isn’t buried there. She died at the young age of 25 and is in an unmarked grave in Alabama which is where she died of natural causes.

The buried arm is that of W. H. Holland who lost his arm in a childhood accident on November 16, 1895. The rest of Mr. Holland died sometime later and is buried elsewhere in the cemetery. The photo that shows that is of three above ground tombs. The arm is in the middle and there are infants to either side.

History tells us that the outlaw Jesse James was killed by a member of his gang in 1882 for the reward money. However, relatives of James say that his death was faked and it is really somebody else buried in Missouri in a grave labeled Jessie James.  The story goes that James was even a pallbearer at his own funeral! James took the alias of J. Frank Dalton and settled in Granbury eventually passing away in 1951 at the age of 103. Apparently toward the end of his life he even confessed. At the bottom of his headstone (look hard!) it says “supposedly killed in 1882”.

Haunted Granbury by Brandy Herr is full of interesting stories and well worth reading.

 

 

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Welcome to Paradise

imageParadise Bistro & Coffee opened on the Granbury Square in 2012, I stopped by for some relief from the heat and an iced coffee and slice of lemon cake. It was really a treat and I happily spent some time there reading my book. On the way out, I was given a ‘to go’ cup with ice water. They do understand that dehydration is a problem here in Texas! The website for the bistro is here.

The window looking into the space clearly reflects the historic Hood County Courthouse which was constructed in 1890. The courthouse is the focal point of the Granbury Square.

The business is located in the two story masonry Harris Building, which was constructed in 1899 by local stonemason, I. W. Walley. It was originally occupied by a furniture store, It has a cast iron storefront.

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Standing in dinosaur footprints at Dinosaur Valley State Park

imageWhen I was a kid my parents took me to the World’s Fair in New York and there was a dinosaur exhibit. I was startled to realize that two of those dinosaurs, the Apatosaurus and the T-Rex, had been relocated to the Dinosaur Valley State Park in Glen Rose, Texas. The Atlantic Richfield Company donated the fiberglass replicas to the park in 1970. The park did not get its name from the two replicas however, it is the site of real dinosaur footprints!

The 1,587-acre Dinosaur Valley State Park opened in 1972. Its mission:  to preserve these valuable dinosaur track sites and to allow people to learn from and enjoy them. It is situated on the Paluxy River and many of the tracks on near or in the river. About 113 million years ago, this area had been ocean front and the ground was the perfect place for creating fossils. Both Herbivores and Carnivores would come to this area to eat plants and in the case of the Carnivores each other. There was an enormous river flood in 1908 and in 1909 a young boy, George Adams, found three-toed tracks of theropods. Sometime later, in 1937, R.T. Bird, who collected fossils for the American Museum of Natural History came to the area and found tracks of the much larger sauropod (70′ long, 13′ high, 40+ tons).

Some of the park’s visitors were very interested in the tracks. One can go right up to many of them and touch them and even stand in them to get a sense of scale. Other park visitors were more interested in cooling off in the Paluxy River. I visited the two main track sites and also drove around the camping area. There were plenty of spaces available, no doubt the heat was keeping folks away.

I would have stopped at the Creation Evidence Museum, but sadly it was closed. I heard that DInosaur World was something to see, but it was too hot to do any more outside exploring. So they will have to wait until next year.

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Texas Longhorn

imageI was on my way to get milkshakes at Sonic (1/2 price after 8 pm) when I came upon this handsome fellow. He let me snap a couple of photos and then moseyed along to find better plants to nibble on. The Texas Longhorn can have horns that go up to 7′ across.

I went on to see if there was a nice sunset and found a crane. And that was my night.

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Bonnie and Clyde are rumored to have been here

imageThe story is that Bonnie and Clyde’s car was in need of repair and they stopped at the service station on the town square in Granbury, TX. While it was being fixed, they had a picnic on the lawn of the courthouse. The local law recognized them, but decided to leave well enough alone since they did have a reputation! They finished their lunch, picked up their car and skedaddled out of there. I’m not sure if that is true, but the building is certainly there.

The Baker-Rylee Building at 100 North Crockett Street in Granbury, TX was built in 1895 as a hardware store and has a limestone construction which is typical of the area. The Transcontinental Company bought the building in 1929 and removed two walls to make it into a service station. When my folks first moved to Granbury in 1981, it was still a service station though sometime in the early 1980s that use ceased. I remember going to it when it was an Italian Restaurant and now it is delightful restaurant called The Fillin’ Station. My swiss mushroom burger was one of the best that I’ve ever had and the fries and onion rings were also outstanding. The folks that work there are so very nice.

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Statue of General Hiram Bronson Granberry (Granbury)

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Granbury, Texas was named after General Hiram Bronson Granbury, which is sometimes spelled Granberry. His life spanned March 1, 1831 – November 30, 1864, passing away at the young age of 33 years. Per Wikipedia, he was a lawyer and country judge in Texas who later organized a volunteer company for the Confederate army and became its captain. He later was promoted to brigadier general  and was one of the almost 2,000 soldiers that died at the Battle of Franklin on November 30, 1864.

From what I’ve read, Granbury was buried near Franklin, Tennessee, where he died, and later re-interred at a different cemetery. Finally in November 30, 1893 (on what would have been his 62nd birthday) he was again re-interred in the city of Granbury, Texas, seat of Hood County, as the town was named in his honor. Although he was as close as Waco, Texas, I’m not finding anything to suggest that he was ever in his name sake city.

The statue which features Granbury in military garb and a confederate flag was erected in 1913. The statue was important from Italy and the base was created by Waxachachie monument maker, James Youngblood.

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The Confederate Flag in Granbury, TX

imageSo Mom and I were on our way to the lovely Granbury Beach and took the shortcut through the parking lot of what use to be Krogers on Highway 377. One couldn’t help but to notice the white pickup truck with the two large confederate flags pulling into the parking lot and it was joined by other pickup trucks with various flags: confederate, the yellow confederate flag with the snake on it, the Texas flag and the US flag. I did snap a few discrete photos and then went on my way to the beach for an evening swim. An hour later we again went by and there were more trucks and some cars and a couple of dozen folks standing around talking. Perhaps like minded people? Mostly young and all Caucasian (as far as I could tell). I have to say that it made me uncomfortable.

Wikipedia tells me that the racial makeup of Granbury as of the last census was 93.75% White and .71% African American.

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Granbury’s Sink Hole

imageOn Mother’s Day 2015 the parking lot next to Brookshires collapsed into a sinkhole and athorities have been working on the repair ever since. The incessant rains that month were the cause of the 8′ storm drain collapsing, which in turn caused the sinkhole which drained into Lake Granbury/Brazos River. To see the sinkhole was it was and other photos of the flooding problems caused by the rains, check here. The Google map capture below shows the site before collapse. I suspect that Brookshires is no longer using their drive through pharmacy.

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Seattle Seahawks 12 Club

 
SeaTac Airport Alaska terminal has a 21 and older area for boarding passengers to relax while waiting for their plane. It is called Seahawks 12 Club. A quick peek inside showed many tables to sit and while away the time, some food and Seahawks paraphernalia. This statue is of Walter Jones #71 who was a offensive tackle from 1997 to 2009. 

  
 
I’ve also included a picture of the Starbucks at the terminal. I really like how they have the Seattle symbols lined up!