On the eve of the twentieth century, small-town Texas was still wild country lacking in the commodities and cultural centers of larger cities. This changed, however, with the arrival of the Santa Fe rail line, followed quickly by the Harvey House. Established in Kansas by English immigrant Fred Harvey, Harvey Houses could be found throughout the Southwest and adjoined local depots in sixteen Texas towns. Found in every corner of the state, Harvey Houses were not just restaurants and hotels for weary, hungry travelers but were also bustling social centers and often the only commercial outlet for the communities that developed around them. Author Rosa Walston Latimer tells the history of hospitality the "Fred Harvey way" in turn-of-the-century Texas, woven from personal stories of the famous "Harvey Girls" and other employees of Texas Harvey Houses.
Rosa Walston Latimer is an independent bookstore owner, playwright and award-winning photographer. Inspired by her Harvey Girl grandmother, Latimer has published on Texas Harvey Houses in "Texas Highways, " as well as staged a play based on her grandmother's chance encounter at a Harvey House with the man she would one day marry. She is currently writing a play titled "Rosie the Riveters" and plans to develop a fictional series about Harvey Girls.