Name: Route 66 in Texas
Brand: Joe Sonderman
SKU: 9781467130042
Price: 17.49 USD
Availability: InStock

Route 66 in Texas

9781467130042

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Route 66 stretches across 178 miles and through seven counties in the Texas Panhandle. To a traveler on Interstate 40, the road may seem like an endless expanse, with the horizon interrupted only by the occasional grain elevator. But there is history, scenery, and adventure waiting on Route 66, which follows the trail of the Native Americans, conquistadors, cattle and oil barons, cowboys, and Dust Bowl refugees. With such sites as the blazing neon sign at Shamrock's U-Drop Inn and the quiet ruins of Glenrio, Route 66 in Texas is still "The Main Street of America." The traveler who leaves the franchised blandness of the interstate will see motels with Western and Native American imagery, good old-fashioned tourist traps, some bizarre sculptures (such as cars stuck in the ground at Cadillac Ranch), and beautiful Art Deco structures. These images and stories tell of mom-and-pop establishments that still thrive today and those that are crumbling in the swirling dust and tumbleweeds of the notorious Jericho Gap.

Lighthouses of Texas

9781467130912

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Not long after winning their independence from Mexico in 1836, Texans began clamoring for lighthouses. Hundreds of miles of barrier islands, shifting sandbars, and shallow bays made the Texas coast treacherous at a time when few overland routes provided access to the new republic. Beginning in 1852, twenty-eight lighthouses were built along the Texas coastline, on land and over water. Lighthouse service was often a family affair, with husbands, wives, and children working together as keepers and assistants. For nearly 70 years, construction continued as coastal erosion, hurricanes, and wars regularly damaged or destroyed those lighthouses already built. These "sentinels of the sea" lessened but did not eliminate the chance of shipwreck, so lifesaving stations, manned by able seamen with unsinkable surfboats, were established as well. As Texas's lighthouses were gradually automated throughout the 20th century, many were sold to private owners or abandoned. Today, several have been restored, and two--at Aransas Pass and Port Isabel--still function as aids to navigation.

The Battleship Texas

9781467123938

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The USS Texas was built when dreadnought battleships were kings of the seas. It was the world's most powerful battleship when first commissioned in 1914, and for over a century it fought many battles. Some took place while the Texas served as a warship in the US Navy in World Wars I and II. Since becoming a museum ship and war memorial in 1948, it has fought a longer and more difficult struggle as it combats the ravages of time for its very survival. Throughout its existence, the Texas has made history, leaving a wealth of fascinating stories in its wake.

Fort Sam Houston

9780738596167

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Fort Sam Houston has been San Antonio's Army post since 1845. Originally located in the city, elements of the post began moving to Government Hill in 1876. Fort Sam Houston became one of America's most important military installations, witnessing the end of the Indian Wars, the Spanish-American War, the birth of military aviation, World Wars I and II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. "Fort Sam" contributed more than one million soldiers and airmen to the defense of the United States, including many of its most distinguished leaders. Its contributions to the nation merited its designation as a National Historic Landmark in 1974. More than 800 historic buildings are within its boundaries--more than at Colonial Williamsburg and the largest collection on any installation within the Department of Defense. Images of America: Fort Sam Houston portrays the fort during its first hundred years on Government Hill.

Weatherford

9781467130110

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Weatherford was settled in the 1850s, when the pioneers and Indians came for its rich soil and water sources. The mark of fame for Weatherford is the Goodnight-Loving Trail, which was driven by two cattle drivers, Charles Goodnight and Oliver Loving. Charles Goodnight, who was killed in an Indian attack, is buried in Weatherford, and a historical marker is placed at his grave in the historic Greenwood Cemetery. Cotton and watermelon were the popular industries, and watermelon festivals still bring crowds to the Courthouse Square. Over 150 images highlight Weatherford's historic town square buildings, the courthouse, homes, and cemeteries. Take a journey back into the 1800s with this photographic walking tour from the Courthouse Square to far and away. These images will bring back to life how Weatherford was built, how it survived, and the pioneers who kept its rich history alive.

Abandoned Texas

9781634993685

$23.99

Texas has held a special allure for settlers since the earliest days of the nineteenth century. "You may all go to hell and I will go to Texas," said famed mountain man Davy Crockett after he lost an 1835 congressional election and joined the growing tide of pioneers heading west towards the Lone Star State. Millions have followed in his footsteps in the nearly 200 years since.

In Abandoned Texas: Under a Lone Star Moon, join photographer Mike Cooper as he travels thousands of miles on his late-night treks across Texas. From the ruins of a school in Terlingua to the burned-out remains of a hotel in Caterina to the crumbling, deserted hangars of Rattlesnake Bomber Base, Cooper illuminates a side of Texas you've likely never seen. These otherworldly images, shot on quiet back roads and in near-deserted oil fields under a simple full moon, take you back in time to the glorious Texas imagined by Crockett and the early settlers. These long-exposure photos of churches built by European immigrants, courthouses and schools constructed in boom towns, 1950s-era drive-ins created to entertain families, and roadside monuments meant to attract the curious will cause you to see Texas in a whole new light.

Fort Davis

9780738579863

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Established and named for US secretary of war Jefferson Davis in 1854, Fort Davis was key to the eventual settlement of the Davis Mountains' rich grasslands. Camels once grazed at the fort. It served as home to the African American regiments known as the Buffalo Soldiers, and Lt. Henry Flipper, the first African American to graduate from West Point, was court-martialed at this post. Present-day visitors to the town of Fort Davis can gaze at the stars and imagine the immensity of the universe at the University of Texas McDonald Observatory, stay the night at the Civilian Conservation Corps-built Indian Lodge at Davis Mountains State Park, or visit with a living-history volunteer or park ranger at Fort Davis National Historic Site.

Camp Bullis

9781467127493

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For more than a century, soldiers have marched, ridden, driven, and flown to Camp Bullis to practice tactics and marksmanship. Camp Bullis was established in 1906 because the modern artillery and small arms could not be fired safely within Fort Sam Houston. The camp expanded during both world wars to accommodate even more powerful artillery and the tens of thousands of troops being mobilized. Between these two wars, the movies Wings, The Big Parade, and The Rough Riders were filmed there. The Army's changing needs would transform the type of training conducted at Camp Bullis. Today, soldiers, airmen, sailors, and marines still go to Camp Bullis to practice not only tactics and marksmanship on state-of-the-art ranges and simulators but also lifesaving medical techniques, demonstrating once again that a good range is essential.

Fort Worth's Historic Hotels

9780738599748

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Fort Worth, originally named Camp Worth, was founded as an Army outpost in 1849, and the old cavalry stables became Fort Worth's first hotel. The Texas & Pacific Railroad arrived in Fort Worth in July 1876, bringing the need for more lodging. Shortly after its arrival, boardinghouses and simple accommodations were quickly opened. At the turn of the century, Fort Worth became a center for cattle ranchers, and the first luxury hotels were built. By the next decade, wealthy oil barons replaced the cattle ranchers, and the demand for larger and more elaborate hotels was established. Many of these first hotels were replaced with motor lodges and smaller chain hotels after the growth of the automobile industry; however, a few are still in operation today.

Texas Sesquicentennial Wagon Train

9780738584881

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In 1986, the Texas Sesquicentennial Wagon Train joined the 150th birthday celebration that commemorated the state's independence from Mexico. The wagon train followed a jagged 3,000-mile circle around the state to bring it within approximately 100 miles of every town or city in Texas. The six-month schedule began January 2, 1986, in Sulphur Springs and was followed so closely that each town or city knew the exact day the wagon train would arrive and could make plans for welcoming it with local events. Some folks traveled the entire route; others joined for a day or a week. A total of 10,000 riders from 27 states traveled at least a part of the way during the six months. While people and wagons came and went, a core group of participants and support staff completed the entire trip, arriving at the Fort Worth Stockyards on July 3, 1986, for a final celebration.

Fort Clark and Brackettville

9780738520636

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The story of Fort Clark and Brackettville began with a quiet pool of water, Las Moras Spring, named by the Spanish conquistadors for the mulberry trees lining its banks. The discovery of gold in California and the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo precipitated the opening of the Lower Road from San Antonio to El Paso. To protect the spring and the travelers on the road, the U.S. government established a fort on the high ground above the spring. The town of Brackettville grew with the fort, and the area soon played host to an honor roll of American heroes. Revealed in some 200 images, many never before published, are some of the fort's most famous alumni, including Stuart, Longstreet, Sheridan, Sherman, Bullis, Patton, and Wainwright, in addition to the little-known Medal of Honor recipients buried there. Captured here are the deeds of a legion of unsung heroes, as well as the fort and town's historic past, highlighting the Indian War era, the Seminole Scouts, and the quiet time between the World Wars. Culled from the collections of the Library of Congress, the National Archives of the U.S. Army Signal Corps, and pioneer photographer Eugene O. Goldbeck, this book is a testament to American soldiers throughout the country.

John F. Kennedy Sites in Dallas-Fort Worth

9781467130332

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November 22, 1963, is a date that will forever live in the minds and hearts of those who were witness to or touched by the assassination of Pres. John F. Kennedy in Dealey Plaza. Surprisingly, the majority of sites associated with events surrounding that day still stand along the streets and in the neighborhoods of the greater Dallas-Fort Worth region. From Fort Worth's Hotel Texas to the Texas Theater and the Old Municipal Building in Dallas, John F. Kennedy Sites in Dallas-Fort Worth explores and documents the buildings, neighborhoods, and places with a direct connection to the assassination and its figures, both major and minor, in one of the darkest chapters in American and Texan history.

John F. Kennedy Sites in Dallas-Fort Worth

Sixth Street

9780738586694

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Now listed in the National Register of Historic Places, Sixth Street began more than 170 years ago as the only level pathway into the town of Austin from the east. Originally called Pecan Street, throughout its history the street was also a level playing field for merchants and minorities, for moneyed dynasties and little mom-and-pop places. When Austin was a segregated society, Sixth Street was a standout exception where people of all races lived and worked. By 1871, the arrival of the railroad kindled the explosive development of Pecan Street into Austin's first mercantile center. It was home to Austin's first hotel, Bullock's at Congress Avenue and Pecan Street; the first fight with the government of the new Republic of Texas; and the first brothel. In the 1970s, the commercial district suffered some deterioration. Then, as it has done before, Sixth Street was reborn, this time as the Sixth Street Historic Entertainment District. Loved by Austin residents and visitors alike, Sixth Street is Texas's most famous thoroughfare.

Historic Dallas Hotels

9780738578798

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In Dallas's infancy, accommodations for the traveler arriving by stage or horseback consisted of boardinghouses or unfurnished rooms, but within 10 years of the city's founding, Dallas could boast about what is considered to be its first hotel: Thomas Crutchfield's log cabin and livery stable. As the village evolved from town to city, these early facilities were replaced with elegantly appointed hotels that rivaled those in New York or Chicago and established Dallas as a modern city. As the 20th century progressed, many older hotels were replaced with up-to-date facilities, and the rise of the automobile following World War II saw the establishment of dozens of motels and motor courts. There were accommodations for every type of traveler, and Dallas had established itself as a hotel town.

Camp Bowie Boulevard

9781467130493

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In the early 1890s, Humphrey Barker Chamberlin installed a lifeline to his namesake suburb west of the city. A trolley connected to Arlington Heights Boulevard at the Trinity River's Clear Fork and chugged across prairie land to reach Chamberlin Arlington Heights. Camp Bowie, a soldiers' city, sprawled over both sides of the road from 1917 until 1919. At the Great War's end, the stretch west of present-day University Drive became the commemorative Camp Bowie Boulevard. The 1920s brought twin ribbons of cordovan-colored brick pavement, the prestige of inclusion in the Bankhead Highway network, and westering developers of another elite village: Ridglea. Midway through the Great Depression, the Will Rogers complex arose on a farm tract, visible from the thoroughfare, to host Texas Centennial celebrations and a special livestock exposition. Museums began claiming adjacent space in the 1950s. By the second decade of the 21st century, Camp Bowie Boulevard bisected a built environment both modern and historic.

Spanish Missions of Texas

9781467136303

$24.99

After the conquest of Mexico by Hernán Cortés in the sixteenth century, conquistadors and explorers poured into the territory of Nueva España. The Franciscans followed in their wake but carved a different path through a harsh and often violent landscape. That heritage can still be found across Texas, behind weathered stone ruins and in the pews of ornate, immaculately maintained naves. From early structures in El Paso to later woodland sanctuaries in East Texas, these missions anchored communities and, in many cases, still serve them today. Author Byron Browne reconnoiters these iconic landmarks and their lasting legacy.