New Kerr County History Book Available!

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Prayer event planned for young Peyton Behrens


From my Facebook friend Pam Likin:

Peyton Behrens
"Hey Joe.... The event Prayers for Peyton Behrens, a young Kerrville boy who has been diagnosed with Leukemia, will be held on Tuesday, September 6th at 7 pm on the lawn in front of the Kerr County Courthouse. Mike Burroughs of the Living Waters Church will be the keynote speaker/Prayer Leader for our EVENT, and music will be provided by a local group of musicians. I have sent an article to the KDT.  I sent out over 80 "invitations" so far to churches and other religious organizations and asked that they announce our event in their Sunday Services, encourage their congregations and affiliates to attend, and to post an event flyer on their bulletin boards. !!!!!  Some of my friends have also taken flyers and are helping get the word out to the general public. If you could HELP us get the word out?????? Please post this on YOUR page and encourage all your friends to attend. On the bulletin i also stressed that we would NOT have chairs nor refreshments...so everyone should being their own seats and something to drink! Thanx for your help Joe! Appreciate YOU!!!!
Nothing would please me more than for this event to be a HUGE success! I'd LOVE to see the lawn COVERED with Peyton Supporters."

For more information, you can visit a page set up for Peyton on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Peyton-Behrens-Fight/248317638534774   Please share this link with your Facebook friends by clicking here.

Wednesday Ephemera: Kerr Community Fallout Shelter Plan

My long-time friend Marla Mosty McDonald brought by a copy of a late 1960s-era "Community Fallout Shelter Plan."  I love the "Save this Plan -- it may save your life!"  Thanks, Marla, for sharing this with all of us.
Click on any image to enlarge








Monday, August 29, 2011

Calling all history detectives -- again!


Several weeks ago I wrote about "historical remnants," a term I made up myself for a stationary object one could walk right by and not realize it had any historical significance.  I gave several examples, including an old fencepost on Clay Street, a wooden post from the old mill dam that once stood below downtown Kerrville, even the Spring Street street sign.
In that column I also asked for suggestions from readers for other "historical remnants," and I'm glad to say I've gotten several so far.
Several readers mentioned the old electric line crossbar and insulators nailed to a cypress tree just downstream from the Francisco Lemos street bridge.  About halfway across the river, where a small island separates two channels of the Guadalupe River, you can see the old crossbar in the tree.  It's even easier to see from the new bridge, since it's higher than the old bridge.  I have always assumed that tree served as the electric pole for service to what became the Kerrville State Hospital.
Power line crossbar in cypress tree
Before it was a state hospital though, it was the site of several other institutions.  I think it started out life as "My Ranch," a sort of dude ranch.  Later it was the Thompson Sanatorium, which served as a regional hospital for the treatment of tuberculosis.  Later it was a state sanatorium serving black patients, and later still it became the Kerrville State Hospital.
If you look down below the bridge, and in a line with the old electric line, you'll see another historical remnant: a bridge completed just before the big 1932 flood.  My long-time friend Rachel Whitton pointed out the ruins of that bridge to me.  The 1932 flood completely destroyed it and it wasn't rebuilt until after World War II.  I'm sure the community just south of the river there was disappointed, having waited a long time for a bridge only to lose it so soon after its construction. The large bridge -- the Sidney Baker Bridge -- wasn't completed for several more years.
Damaged plaque, Charles Schreiner Bridge
Speaking of the Sidney Baker Bridge, most people don't notice the little plaque near the town side of the bridge, another "historical remnant," but it was noticed my friend Joseph Luther. It's a broken plaque reading "Dedicated to Captain Charles Schreiner, a pioneer in citizenship, philanthropy, and highway building in the hill country."  The plaque originally hung on the old two-lane bridge with the overhead trusses, and was broken when it was removed to be placed on the current bridge.  I suppose, from this 1930s-era plaque, the bridge should be called the Captain Charles Schreiner Bridge.
Another long-time friend, Mark Mosty, reminded me about the Knapp Road bridge which is now submerged by the lake behind the water-treatment dam.  If you're at Chili's restaurant and notice the little boat ramp going into the river, you might not realize that ramp continues under the water and leads to the old bridge.  There was a Dr. Knapp long ago (who, coincidentally, delivered my friend Mark), and I think this road led to his house.
If you find any more "historical remnants," please let me know about them.  Drop me a letter here at the newspaper, 429 Jefferson Street, Kerrville.
Until next week, all the best. 
Joe Herring Jr. is a Kerrville native who likes to amble in Old Town Kerrville.  This column originally appeared in the Kerrville Daily Times August 27, 2011

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Images from Kerrville's Schreiner Institute

Here are two images of Schreiner Institute I found from the late 1960s.   Perhaps one of my readers will recognize some of the folks in the photos.
Click on any image to enlarge
Schreiner Institute Cadets being, well, cadets.  Kerrville, late 1960s.

Schreiner Institute president Andrew Edington 
making a presentation, Kerrville, late 1960s.

Friday, August 26, 2011

Last Week's Column: 100 Years of Tivy Football

Since Tivy plays Fredericksburg tonight I thought, with the Tivy football season about to begin, it would be good to remind the fans about the 100th anniversary of football at Tivy High School.  I originally reported this story back in October 2010.
In 1911 Professor Alvin Dille, who later was superintendent of the Kerrville Schools, organized the first football team at Tivy.

The 1913 Tivy football squad, two years after the original team.
Jan Wilkinson, a Facebook friend and descendent of Joshua Brown (the founder of Kerrville) emailed me an article from the September 26, 1957 issue of the Kerrville Times, written by E. T. Butt, who was himself a member of an interesting Kerrville family.
"Football came to Tivy in the fall of 1911," the page one article begins. "Prior to this time baseball was the principal sport and when school started in September the boys started baseball and played until the weather became too cold.
"Then the games became varied. A form of Rugby football was played in which sides were chosen and the opponents tried to kick the ball over the goal line of the opposing team. One and Over, which is a form of leap frog, was played a great deal.
"Basketball was also a popular sport and Tivy had top teams both of boys and girls. Games were played with Center Point, Bandera, etc. Of course, the game was a great deal different from the way it is played at present, and a player would not get very far dribbling as they do now. It was mostly a passing game.
"Volleyball was also played, and track came in for its share of the time. In each of these, however, there were no opponents from other schools.
"Then in the spring when it began to get warm, baseball was started again and played until school was out in May. Games were played with teams from other towns near Kerrville.
"In the summer of 1911, Professor Alvin Dille . . . was elected head of the Kerrville Schools. When school started in September, one of the first things he did was call all of the older boys together and to say, 'Boys, we are going to organize a Tivy Football Team. Who wants to try out for the team?'
"Of course, almost all of the boys were interested, although there was not a boy who had played

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Kerrville Firefighters, around 1930

These gentlemen are the Kerrville Fire Department crew around 1930.  I imagine most of them were volunteers.  The photo was taken by the fire station (which is shown on the far right of the photo), and in front of the Cascade Pool (which is directly behind the firemen).  Thanks to Jim Porter for sharing this with us.
Click on image to enlarge
Kerrville Fire Department personnel, Kerrville, around 1930
Written on back: "front row: "Paul, Red, Jimmy, Howard B. 'Son' Lowrance
back row: Walter, unknown, George F."

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Wedneday Ephemera: Kerrville's Arcadia Movie Poster Frame

Ok, technically this item is not "ephemera."
I recently added an interesting piece to my collection, a movie poster frame from Kerrville, which might have been part of the original 1926 structure.  The rear of the frame is marked "Bart G. Moore, Kerrville Amusement Company."  Mr. Moore was the man organized and ran the Kerrville Amusement Company, which owned the Arcadia, the Dixie Theater, and the Cascade Pool.  My plan is to put a poster from the silent movie era in the frame.
Click on any image to enlarge
Arcadia Movie Poster Frame, Kerrville, probably from 1926

Back of Arcadia movie poster frame.
Arcadia Theater, around 1926, Kerrville.  Note frames showing posters.
It's possible this frame was installed at the St. Charles Hotel, or at some other public space.  But it's also possible this frame was once on the front of the old Arcadia Theater in downtown Kerrville, back in the mid-1920s.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Kerrville Ice Plant photos

A fellow brought these images by the print shop Friday, and he didn't leave his name.  They look like 4 snapshots taken around the old Ice Plant.  The foundation of the old plant is still there, but the three stories of brick above it are long gone.  I'd never seen photos from this location.  Moving ice around looks like a lot of work.
Click on any image to enlarge
View from Ice Plant looking toward Blue Bonnet Hotel
and Schreiner Company.

Ice Plant from old mill dam.
Note daredevil on third floor window ledge.

Worker hauling ice to car.  Note tongs on far side of worker.

Three young men mugging with a block of ice.
Middle boy has tongs on friend's neck.

Monday, August 22, 2011

I'm a demi-centenarian today.

Fifty years ago today I was born at Kerrville's Sid Peterson Memorial Hospital, the first child of Joe and Patsy Herring.  Hard to believe a half-century has passed by so quickly.
One thing's for sure: my life has been a blessed life.  My wonderful wife, our two smart children, my family, my friends and my community -- it seems my days have been a long chain of continuous good fortune.
Thanks for your part in my life.  I hope, in turn, I've contributed something to you -- and to our community.
Click on image to magnify
Joe Herring Jr, on his trusty steed Bonham, probably around 1966.
Photo by J Marvin Hunter.

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Steve Huser offers to sell me the Arcadia Theater, and I accept.

Click on image to enlarge
Although Mr. Huser was being sarcastic (you should have seen the contempt on his face when he said "non profit performance space") I have long believed the Arcadia could be a great place for musical performances, as well as other fine art offerings.
I also believe I could organize a non-profit to renovate and manage the Arcadia, something Mr. Huser obviously doubts.
Mr. Huser and his business partner in this project, Hagi Hagigholam, have unique plans for the Arcadia which do not reflect the Arcadia's long history in our community.  In fact, the plans I've read about in the newspaper have *zero* to do with Kerrville.
Of course I wish the partners well.  They obviously both know how to make companies successful, and I'm hoping they'll make a success of the Arcadia.

Saturday, August 20, 2011

A new photo of Captain Charles Schreiner

I found this photo of Captain Charles Schreiner in my files -- the note says I got it from Pampell's back when Sandy and Jon Wolfmueller owned Pampell's and ran it as a soda fountain and antique store.  Most of the photos of Charles Schreiner show him as an older man.  This one shows him in the prime of his life.  I believe the original was published in a publication by Grinstead.
Click on image to enlarge
Captain Charles Schreiner probably around 1900

Friday, August 19, 2011

Random photos of the Howard Butt family

I found this packet of family pictures of the Howard Butt Sr. in my files recently.  Howard Butt was the youngest son of Charles and Florence Butt.  Florence started a grocery store; Howard worked in the store and, after many trials, found success and renamed the grocery store the H. E. Butt Grocery Company, which we all know as H-E-B.
Click on any image to enlarge
Howard Butt, Sr., as a young man

Mary Elizabeth Holdsworth Butt as a young woman

Mary Elizabeth Holdsworth Butt

Mr. and Mrs. Howard Butt at an H-E-B store, probably 1950s.

Charles Butt, the youngest surviving child of
Howard and Mary Butt.





Thursday, August 18, 2011

Kerrville History Gifts from Mildred Bradley Griffith

Mildred ("Millie") Bradley Griffith, a 1941 Tivy graduate, brought by some gifts for my collection this past weekend, and I'm tickled to have them.  I had never seen a Kerr County Centennial mug.  It matches the centennial plate.  She also gave me her Tivy diploma.  These are wonderful additions to my collection.  Thanks!
Click on any image to enlarge
Kerr County Centennial mementos, Kerrville, 1956

Tivy High School diploma, 1941

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Wednesday Ephemera: Hill Country Lumber form

During a morning meeting of the Kerrville Area Chamber of Commerce's board of directors Thursday at Rails, I noticed an old safe in their event hall.  It was marked "Kerrville Lumber Company." Ever the curious reporter, I opened the safe and saw a pad of printed forms in there, among other things.  "I wonder," I thought to myself, "did my dad print this?"
Here's what I found:
Click on any image to enlarge
Accounts form, Kerrville Lumber Company, probably around 1975

The chipboard backing on the pad of forms.  Yep, my dad printed these.

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Tuesday Then & Now: view from 2nd story of Schreiner Company

I thought this was interesting -- a shot of a Tivy High School pep rally from the 1950s taken from the 2nd story of the Schreiner Company building, paired with a shot taken last Friday.  Please feel free to share these with your friends.
Click on any image to enlarge
Pep Rally, Kerrville, mid 1950s.
The same view, August 2011

Monday, August 15, 2011

This Week's Column: Calling all history detectives

For the past several weeks, I've been interested in "collecting" historical remnants, but I need your help.
If you don't know what a "historical remnant" is, don't worry. I made up the term.
For me, a historical remnant is a stationary object which one might walk right by and never realize it's historic. I have a few on my list, but I hope readers of this column will know about more.
I'm not talking about old buildings or anything obvious; a "historical remnant' is just a scrap left over from a different time.
Here are some examples:
A few weeks ago a kind reader came by the print shop and we talked about the curb along Main Street 
Limestone curb, 
Kerrville, 2011
in front of St. Peter's Episcopal Church. The curb there is not concrete -- it's cut limestone. That curb dates back to the time when Main Street was not paved, when there were no automobiles in Kerrville. In fact, I have an 1890s photo of St. Peter's where you can clearly see these old curbstones.
I'd walked past them for years -- that was my route from junior high school to the print shop -- and never noticed them. I recently went to look at them and they are, in fact, cut limestone blocks.
Now that's a "historical remnant."  (There might be more cut limestone curbs in the 600 block of Jefferson Street across from NAPA Auto Parts.)
Fence post.
On Clay Street, just opposite the entrance to the old Sid Peterson Memorial Hospital, is another. Near the entrance to Voelkel Engineering (and on their property) is one remaining iron fence post from the time when that part of Clay Street had houses. In fact, one of the old houses there, for a time, was a funeral home. Looking at the old fence post you can tell the fence was quite fancy. Now the fence, the house, and the yard it once surrounded are all gone.
Or look down by the river. If you go to the new pavilion at the end of Earl Garrett Street, and look downstream, you'll see a little footbridge crossing the river. On the town side of the river, near the footbridge, you'll see a series of square holes in the riverbed, and, if you follow them toward the One Schreiner Center, you'll find an old timber still standing tall, embedded in the riverbed. That old timber is all that remains of the wooden mill dam which served the mill built by Christian Dietert in the downtown area more than a century ago.
Spring Street
Even a street sign can be a remnant: across from the front entrance to Notre Dame Catholic Church, on Water Street, you'll find a street sign that says "Spring Street."  It really doesn't look like there's a street there at all; just a short driveway leading to the bluff above the river. Actually, though, Spring Street was once an important part of Kerrville. One of our community's earliest post offices was there, and the street got its name from the springs on the bluff below, which provided water for the early settlers of our community.
Visible railroad tracks
There are even a few railroad tracks still visible around town, most notably near the City Yard, on McFarland Street between Paschal and Hays streets. The railroad, which arrived here in the 1880s, saw its last train leave Kerrville in the 1970s.
If you have another "historical remnant" you'd like to share with me, please drop me a card here at the newspaper, 429 Jefferson Street, or you can email me at joeherringjr@gmail.com.
Until next week, all the best.
Joe Herring Jr. is a Kerrville native.  This column originally appeared in the Kerrville Daily Times August 13, 2011.

Sunday, August 14, 2011

George W. Bush visits Kerrville

Recently a kind reader brought by a copy of the Kerrville Daily Times showing a visit to Kerrville by former President George H. W. Bush and his wife Barbara.  His son, George W. Bush, also visited Kerrville several times.  Here is a photo of a visit here when he was governor of Texas.
Click on image to enlarge
then-Texas Governor George W. Bush visits
downtown Kerrville, around 1995.  I was thinner then.

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Goodbye to the Orr House

There was a little stucco house on Live Oak Street here in Kerrville that always intrigued me, the Orr House.  The house was behind the fire station on Water Street, and was a two-story house in a Mediterranean style.   (Live Oak St. connects Tivy and A streets, and is parallel to and between Water and Main Streets.).  It was torn down this week by its owners, who also own Creations.  Here are some vintage photos of the old place, along with pictures of Bill and Helen Dietert Orr.  Thanks to Stephen Dietert for sharing these photos with all of us.
Click on any image to enlarge
Orr House, Live Oak Street, Kerrville, demolished August 2011

Helen Dietert Orr and Bill Orr, Kerrville, in front of their house, date unknown.

Friday, August 12, 2011

A whole lot of 1960s Kerrville goodness

Here are a wide variety of images from the late 1960s.  If you recognize anyone, please let me know in the comment section below.  Thanks!
Click on any image to enlarge
Tivy all-district football players from the 1967 season. They are, from left, Alfred Benson,
Walter Goodloe, Donnie Evans, Gary Benedict, Tim Cowden, Pat Jennings,
 Coleman Palmer (who died earlier this year), Ronnie Kalmbach
 and head coach Bill Farrington.
Tivy 1967 football managers Aubrey Henderson, Henry Ayala, Alex Calderon
Mayor Gordon Monroe and some Cub Scouts, Kerrville, late 1960s.


Starkey Elementary Choir, Roberta Brown, music teacher, Kerrville, late 1960s

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