Featured places available on the Whistlestop audio tour guide app
This is a sample of locations — there are many more audio stories on the app.
- History·Harris County
Sam (Lightnin') Hopkins
African American blues singer and guitarist Sam Hopkins was born in Centerville, Leon County, Texas in 1912, the youngest of five children of Abe and Frances (Washington) Hopkins. Sam learned to play guitar from John Henry and Joel Hopkins, two of his older brothers, and began his musical career in Central Texas under the guidance of Texas blues pioneers Alger 'Texas' Alexander and Blind Lemon Jefferson.
- History·Williamson County
Sam Bass' Death Site
An uneducated Indiana orphan who drifted to Texas as a youth, Sam Bass won fame racing his swift "Denton Mare," gambling, and robbing trains. A rich haul in Nebraska was followed by months of reckless spending. Bass liked to shower gold on people who fed or harbored him while he eluded law officers. In July 1878 he came to Round Rock to rob a bank, and was shot by Texas Rangers. Gallant to the last, refusing to name guilty partners, he became a hero to 19th century balladeers.
- History·Walker County
Sam Houston
Born March 2, 1793, in Rockbridge County, Va.; son of Samuel and Elizabeth Houston. Moved to Tennessee in 1807 with widowed mother and her family. In 1813 joined U.S. Army under Gen. Andrew Jackson, with whom he formed lifetime friendship and political ties. In Tennessee, taught school, kept a store, served in U.S. Congress, was state governor. In 1829, after his young bride left him, resigned as governor and went westward.
- History·Fannin County
Sam Rayburn
(Jan. 16, 1882 - Nov. 16, 1961) Tennessee native Sam Taliaferro Rayburn moved to Texas with his family in 1887. His long and successful political career began with his election to the Texas Legislature in 1906. It continued through 25 consecutive terms in the U. S. House of Representatives, where Rayburn served with 8 presidents and held the speakership for 17 years. His funeral at the First Baptist Church in Bonham was attended by 30,000 people, including 4 presidents and 105 Congressmen.
- History·Reagan County
Santa Rita No. 1
Discovery well for Big Lake oil field. First gusher in Permian Basin; first University of Texas producer. On land once thought almost worthless. Fruit of the faith of Big Lake lawyer Rupert Ricker. Though in 1919 no oil had been found within 100 miles, Ricker got leases on 431,360 acres of University of Texas land in Crockett, Irion, Reagan and Upton counties. Soon working with him were P. G. Stokes, Big Spring; Frank Pickrell and Haymon Krupp, El Paso; and others.
- History·Bowie County
Scott Joplin
(November 24, 1868 - April 1, 1917) Black composer Scott Joplin, often called the "King of Ragtime Music", was born in Texarkana, Texas, five years before the townsite was platted in 1873. His family lived in this vicinity, and he attended nearby Orr School on Laurel Street. His early musical training came from his father, Giles Joplin, an ex-slave who played the fiddle, and mother, Florence Givens Joplin, who played the banjo.
- History·Taylor County
Site of Abilene's First School
This site was set aside for use as a school by Stoddard Johnston, a newspaperman who platted the town of Abilene in the early 1880s. While the first schoolhouse was under construction in the spring of 1881, classes were held in a tent pitched between Hickory and Cedar streets. As was typical in early frontier towns, the schoolhouse also served as a community center and was used for church worship services.
- History·Taylor County
Site of Curfew by John J. Clinton
(1848-1922) Here each New Year's Eve at midnight for thirty-seven years John J. Clinton, Abilene chief of police, emptied his revolver. He began in 1885, decreeing that saloons close at midnight, and that trigger-happy cowboys and townsmen observe the curfew. After saloon era passed, his practice became a commemoration. Ireland-born Clinton was a Confederate soldier; later scout for U.S. Army, was wounded at "The Fight for the Water Hole.
- History·Taylor County
Site of Old Headquarters of the Hashknife Ranch
(on hill east of Cedar Creek) In December 1880, H.C. Whithers of the Texas & Pacific Railroad met local men here to decide on a site for a cattle shipping center. Bypassing the county seat of Buffalo Gap, the railroad platted a new town named Abilene for the famous cattle town in Kansas. Cattlemen meeting with Whithers were Dallas banker and Hashknife Ranch co-owner John N. Simpson, and Confederate Colonels Claiborne W. (Clabe) and J.D.
- History·Gonzales County
Site of the First Shot of the Texas Revolution
The monument, faced with Texas gray granite, sixteen feet two inches in width, thirteen feet six inches in height, and three feet ten and one-half inches in extreme depth, was designed by Phelps & Dewees, Architects. The great bronze plaque and the decorative figures carved in granite were designed by Waldine Tauch. The Commission allocated $10,000 for the memorial. Near here on October 2, 1835 was fired the first shot of the Texas Revolution of 1835-36 -- the shot heard round the world.
- History·Taylor County
Site of Thornton's Store
Known throughout West Texas as "A city within itself," Thornton's Store was one of Abilene's leading businesses for nearly seven decades. E. L. Thornton (1896-1964) moved to Abilene from Arkansas in 1919, after service in World War I. He opened a fruit stand in 1919, followed by a grocery store in 1920. Joined by his two brothers, Thornton soon expanded his business. In 1925 he added dry goods, followed by a drug store and feed store in 1929.
- History·Taylor County
Site of Western Cattle Trail
The main route -1876 to 1887- for several hundred thousand longhorns driven north to stock ranches and Indian reservations and to supply beef market. Was also called Dodge City Trail, for its main terminus; or Fort Griffin Trail, for the site where feeder trails joined. This major branch began in South Texas, passed the western outskirts of Abilene, and from here moved northeast to Fort Griffin. An alternate route ran to the Red River, then to Kansas.
- Industry & Science·Lavaca County
Spoetzl Brewery
Built by the Shiner Brewing Association, a stock company of local men. Sold in April 1915 to Kosmas Spoetzl (1873-1950), native of Bavaria and former operator of a brewery in Cairo, Egypt. This plant remained open in 1918-33 (prohibition era), making "Near Beer" and ice. The owner's daughter, "Miss Cecelie", joined staff in 1922. (She became only woman in U.S.A. to be sole owner of a brewery in 1950.) A nephew, August Haslebeck, joined in 1934; granddaughter Rosa, in 1964.
- History·Travis County
State Cemetery of Texas
Burial Ground for the Honored Dead of Texas, this Cemetery contains the remains of Stephen F. Austin, the "Father of Texas"; nine governors of Texas (as of 1968); and representatives of every period of State history and every department of State government. Statuary at the graves includes a marble figure of Albert Sidney Johnston by Elisabet Ney and bronzes of Austin and Joanna Troutman by Pompeo Coppini. The Cemetery was founded in 1851 when Gen.
- History·Austin County
Stephen F. Austin
Stephen F. Austin, Father of Texas, November 3, 1793-December 27, 1836. He planted the first Anglo-American colony in Texas, "The Old Three Hundred". In his several colonies he settled more than a thousand families. He was from 1823 until 1828 the actual ruler of Texas and thereafter its most influential leader.
- History·Hale County
Struve Family Businesses
Fritz W. Struve (1877-1959) came here from Burnet County in 1912, 3 years after city was founded, started a grocery store; was joined by brother Ben F. (1879-1947) in 1918. Family operated wide variety of businesses vital to the early economic success of the community: grocery (1912-1962), hardware (1913- ), implements (1913- ), dry goods (1918- ), tin shop (?-1923), cheese factory (1929-1951). The cheese enterprise was unique to this region, producing an average of 1800 pounds per day. Fritz W.
- History·Caldwell County
Susanna Dickinson Hannig - Messenger of the Alamo
At this site once stood the home of Susanna Dickinson Hannig (1814-1883), who came to Texas from Tennessee in 1831 with her husband Almeron Dickinson. He died at the Battle of the Alamo on March 6, 1836. Susanna, with her daughter Angelina, was among the survivors. She carried news of the Alamo's capture to Gen. Sam Houston, commander of the Texas Army. Susanna settled in Lockhart in 1855 and bought this property. She married Joseph William Hannig, who had a cabinet shop here.
- History·Taylor County
Taylor County
Created 1858. Named for Edward, James and George Taylor, 18, 20, and 22, Tennesseans who came to Texas in 1833 and died at the Alamo, March 6, 1836. Organized 1878, with county seat at Buffalo Gap, through which went the Fort Concho to Fort Belknap stagecoach and longhorns on western trail up to Kansas. County seat was moved to Abilene in 1883. Of the 254 Texas counties, 42 bear Indian, French or Spanish names. 10 honor such colonizers as Stephen F. Austin, "Father of Texas".
- History·Taylor County
Taylor, Edward, James, & George
Inscriptions on the monument are: across top - "I shall never surrender or retreat." Travis, Edward, James, George sons of Anson Taylor, died at the Alamo March 6, 1836. Taylor County was named for these gallant men. Erected by John Hudnall Chapter of the U.S. Daughters of 1812, with the cooperation of the Taylor County Commissioners Court. (1955)
- History·Brewster County
Terlingua
Famous Texas Ghost Town Terlingua With the mother-ore cinnabar strike in 1890, Terlingua became the world's quicksilver capital, yielding 40 percent of nation's need by 1922. Its name from Terlingua (Three Tongues) Creek nearby, was coined by Mexican herders. Comanche, Shawnees and Apaches lived on its upper reaches. Howard E. Perry's two-story mansion overlooked his Chisos Mining Company and townsite here, where 2,000 miners once used its jail, church, ice cream parlor, and theater.
- History·Williamson County
Tex Avery (Birthplace)
Born in Taylor on February 26, 1908, Frederick Bean "Tex" Avery is one of the most important figures in the history of animation. Directing cartoons at Warner Brothers and MGM from 1935 to 1955, he developed such legendary characters as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Droopy and Chilly Willy. He also pioneered a style of fast-paced slapstick comedy that introduced many of the basic comedic elements still found in cartoons today.
- Quirky·Randall County
Tex Randall
The 47-foot, seven-ton cowboy statue, known as Tex Randall, is considered a Texas icon. Designer and builder Harry Wheeler created the cowboy in 1959 as a roadside phenomenon to welcome travelers to his Corral curio shop on U.S. Highway 60 west to New Mexico. The giant cowboy relates to the western heritage of the Texas panhandle as well as symbolizing the state of Texas. William Harry Wheeler (1914-1997) was born in Hartley, Texas in the panhandle and died in Amarillo.
- History·Dallas County
Texas School Book Depository Building, Formerly The
This site was originally owned by John Neely Bryan, the founder of Dallas. During the 1880s French native Maxime Guillot operated a wagon shop here. In 1894 the land was purchased by Phil L. Mitchell, president and director of the Rock Island Plow Company of Illinois. An office building for the firm's Texas division, known as the Southern Rock Island Plow Company, was completed here four years later. In 1901 the five-story structure was destroyed by fire.
- History·Travis County
Texas State Capitol
Austin became the capital of Texas on January 19, 1840, and this hill was platted as Capitol Square. A limestone statehouse built here in the 1850s soon developed structural flaws. The Constitutional Convention of 1876 set aside 3,000,000 acres of public land to finance a new statehouse. Architect E. E. Myers of Detroit won a national competition with his plans for this capitol several months before the 1850s capitol burned on November 9, 1881.
- History·Nueces County
The American G.I. Forum
World War II provided Latino and Latina Americans with opportunities to fight for freedom around the world. Hundreds of thousands served in the U.S. Armed Forces, returning with hope and renewed idealism but often facing entrenched prejudice. While treating servicemen for the Veterans Administration in Corpus Christi, Texas-raised Dr. Hector Perez Garcia personally encountered discrimination against Mexican Americans. A decorated veteran who served in the U.S.
- Military·Randall County
The Battle of Palo Duro Canyon
September 28, 1874 One of the most significant battles of 1874-75 Indian campaign; columns of troops converging from five directions harassed Indians on the Panhandle Plains for over six months. The 4th Cavalry under Colonel Ranald S. Mackenzie, moving north from Fort Concho, tracked a large band of Indians to their secret canyon camp. Moving silently at dawn down a perilous path on the south rim, the first troops reached the floor of the canyon before the aroused camp fled.
- History·McLennan County
The Crash at Crush
A head-on collision between two locomotives was staged on Sept. 15, 1896, as a publicity stunt for the Missouri, Kansas & Texas railroad. Over 30,000 spectators gathered at the crash site, named "crush" for MKT passenger agent William G. Crush, who conceived the idea. About 4 p.m. the trains were sent speeding toward each other. Contrary to mechanics' predictions, the steam boilers exploded on impact, propelling pieces of metal into the crowd.
- History·Travis County
The Governor's Mansion
Official residence of the Governor of Texas. By law, each chief executive must live here during his term of office. Before the erection of this building in 1855-1856, the only official executive home had been the rough, two-story frame "President's House" at present Seventh and San Jacinto streets. Within these walls, many decisions of statewide import have taken place. Here in 1861, Gov. Sam Houston decided not to support the Confederacy.
- History·Kleberg County
The King Ranch
Richard King (1824-1885), a Rio Grande steamboat captain, bought two Spanish land grants on Santa Gertrudis Creek and founded the legendary King Ranch in 1853. He brought longhorn cattle from Mexico and battled droughts and cattle thieves to build a profitable ranch. Operating first in partnership with G. K. ("Legs") Lewis and later with Mifflin Kenedy and James Walworth, King became sole owner in the late 1860s.
- History·Jefferson County
The Lucas Gusher
Erected by the State of Texas to Commemorate The Lucas Gusher. Discovery well of the Spindletop Oil Field and the first important well on the Gulf Coast. It blew in on Jan. 10, 1901, flowing 100,000 barrels of oil a day from a depth of 1020 feet. The oil production which resulted made Beaumont a city and the Sabine District a major oil refining and exporting center of the world. The Lucas Gusher was drilled by the Hamill Brothers, contractors, under the direct supervision of Captain Anthony F.
- History·Galveston County
The Original Galveston Seawall
On Sept. 8, 1900 a devastating hurricane and tidal wave destroyed much of Galveston and left 6000 persons dead. After the tragedy, the city appointed a board of three engineers, Brig. Gen. (Ret.) Henry M. Robert (1837-1923), author of "Robert's Rules of Order," Alfred Noble, and H. C. Ripley, to devise protection from future storms. Work on their proposal, to be financed jointly by city, county, and state governments, was started in 1902.
- History·Collingsworth County
The Red River Plunge of Bonnie and Clyde
On June 10, 1933, Mr. & Mrs. Sam Pritchard and family saw from their home on the bluff (west) the plunge of an auto into Red River. Rescuing the victims, unrecognized as Bonnie Parker and Clyde and Buck Barrow, they sent for help. Upon their arrival, the local sheriff and police chief were disarmed by Bonnie Parker. Buck Barrow shot Pritchard's daughter while crippling the family car to halt pursuit. Kidnapping the officers, the gangsters fled. Bonnie & Clyde were fated to meet death in 1934.
- Transport·Taylor County
The Texas & Pacific Railway: First Railroad Across West Texas
Chartered March 3, 1871, by act of U.S. Congress, to build a railroad to the Pacific coast, the Texas & Pacific Railway Company, under leadership of Colonel Thomas A. Scott, president, began construction across West Texas in 1880. General Grenville M. Dodge, civil engineer and builder of the Union Pacific, was in charge. The first train reached the Abilene area in early January 1881 and a station opened for business here on February 28, 1881.
- History·Galveston County
The Texas City Disaster
On April 16, 1947, three ships--the "Grandcamp", the "High Flyer", and the "Wilson B. Keene"--were docked in the Texas City port. They were loaded with cargo, including ammonium nitrate fertilizer, bound for Europe to assist in the Post-World War II recovery effort. At 8:33 a. m. the Texas City fire department responded to a call for assistance with a fire on the "Grandcamp". As smoke billowed from the ship, spectators gathered to watch. The "Grandcamp" exploded at 9:12 a. m.
- History·Tarrant County
Tim Cole
Timothy Brian Cole, born in Brenham in 1960, served in the U.S. Army and attended Texas Tech University in Lubbock. While there, Cole was accused of assaulting a fellow student. In September 1986, a jury convicted him and sentenced him to 25 years in prison. Prior to the trial, he was offered probation in exchange for a guilty plea, and while in prison, he was offered parole if he would admit guilt. He refused to take blame for a crime he did not commit.
- History·Hale County
Town of Abernathy
Founded when Santa Fe Railroad was extended from Plainview to Lubbock, 1909. Named for Monroe G. Abernathy (1868-1962), treasurer of South Plains Investment Company, firm which promoted townsite. Community prospered, becoming a major railhead for shipping of cattle. Several buildings from the defunct town of Bartonsite were moved here and new ones built. Center of civic activities was the "Old Tabernacle" (1918-1947), located on city square.
- Military·Nolan County
W.A.S.P. (Women's Airforce Service Pilots) Training Base: Avenger Field
Site of World War II drama. Here girls, like male cadets, learned to fly United States Army Air Forces planes. WASPs had civil service status rather than military. Of the 25,000 applicants, 1,830 were accepted; 1,074 won wings and flew 60 million miles for the U.S. Army Air Forces, receiving high praise for their record. At the request of the Air Forces' Commanding General H.H. ("Hap") Arnold, Jacqueline Cochran became director of women pilots.
- History·Washington County
Washington-on-the-Brazos
This village -- site of the signing of the Texas Declaration of Independence and first capital of the Republic of Texas -- began in 1822 as a ferry crossing. Here the historic La Bahia Road (now Ferry Street) spanned the Brazos River. In 1834 a townsite was laid out and named, probably for Washington, Georgia, home of a leading settler. In 1835, as political differences with Mexico led toward war, the General Council (the insurgent Texas government) met in the town.
- History·Chambers County
William Barret Travis
(August 9, 1809 - March 6, 1836) Co-commander with James Bowie, siege of the Alamo. Born in South Carolina; moved with family in 1818 to Alabama, where at 19 he was admitted to the bar; came to Texas 1831. In anahuac he joined william H. Jack and others resisting tyranny of customs collector Juan Davis Bradburn and was jailed 50 days in the fort (1832). In 1835 he led in capture and disarming of Mexican garrison reoccupying Fort Anahuac.
- History·Taylor County
William G. and Shirley Swenson Home
This two-story brick home was designed by abilene architect William P. Preston for the family of William Gray and Shirley (McCollum) Swenson, and was completed ca. 1910. Swenson was a first generation Swedish-American, and he was a lifelong entrepreneur and businessman in Abilene. He held leadership positions at Citizens National Bank from the time of its founding in 1902 until the 1960s and also presided over Abilene Light and the Abilene Ice Company.
- History·Taylor County
Willis, Thomas Middlebrook
(June 27, 1859 - November 27, 1937) Born in Bainbridge, Georgia, Thomas Middlebrook Willis was an important early leader in Abilene. Willis moved to Waco, Texas with his parents, Dr. Thomas L. and Mrs. Letitia Willis, in 1866. T.M. Willis first came to this area in 1878 to investigate range possibilities. In 1883, after graduating from the law school of Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee, he moved here and established a practice.
- History·Gray County
Woody Guthrie
American folk musician Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie (1912-1967) moved to Pampa from his native Oklahoma at age 17. Here he learned to play the guitar and joined with other musicians to perform for area events. Guthrie briefly attended Pampa High School and, from 1930 until 1935, worked as a soda jerk at this site, home of the former Harris Drug Store.
- History·Reeves County
World's First Rodeo
Held a block south of Pecos Courthouse, July 4, 1883. Started with claims of cattle outfits -- Lazy, Na and W Ranch -- that each had fastest steer ropers. Settlers in town for Fourth of July picnic were spectators. The prizes were blue ribbons cut by pocket knife from new dress of a 4-year-old girl in crowd. Best roper was Morg Livingston, of the Na. Trav Windham, Lazy Y was second. Other contestants: Fate Beard, Geo.
- History·Gregg County
World's Richest Acre
Part of fabulous East Texas oil field discovered in 1930. This 1.195-acre tract had first production on June 17, 1937, when the Mrs. Bess Johnson-Adams & Hale No. 1 well was brought in. Developed before well-spacing rules, this block is the most densely drilled tract in the world, with 24 wells on 10 lots owned by six different operators. This acre has produced over two and a half million barrels of crude oil; selling at $1.10 to $3.