A Hometown, Cowtown Thanksgiving

Just a few of the things I am giving thanks for today:

The Trinity Trails.

A hometown that remembers its past

and records that past

and restores that past (courthouse dome restored in 2012).

Dogs (at the stockyards)

and cats (Deran Wright sculpture on the Tarrant County Administration Building lawn on East Weatherford Street).

The Trinity River (at the Paddock Viaduct)

with its flora

and its fauna.

Waterfalls (Farmers Branch creek, Marine Creek, Trinity River in Oakmont Park, and Trinity River in Marion Sansom Park).

Trees (Traders Oak on Samuels Avenue).

Planes (B-29 FIFI, built in 1944, at the Vintage Flying Museum)

and trains (Grapevine Vintage Railroad engine no. 2248, built in 1896)

and automobiles (1920 Texan at the Martin Sprocket & Gear Company).

Artists in glass (Christ the King Episcopal Church on Lackland Road).

Artists in brick (300 West Exchange Avenue, once the stockyards branch post office).

Artists in stone (John Peter Smith on Jennings Avenue).

Artists in metal (Mark Twain in Trinity Park).

Artists in paint (mural on the wall of the Paris Coffee Shop on West Magnolia Avenue).

Artists in clay (mural at Fort Worth Central Station downtown depicting African-American history in Fort Worth by Paula Blincoe Collins).

Artists in music (Smith Ballew, Frank Maco, Tex Beneke, and Milton Brown).

The people who dress in white (St. Joseph Hospital).

The people who drive in white (the men of fire hall no. 5 on Bryan Avenue, built soon after the South Side fire of 1909). (Photo from University of Texas at Arlington Libraries.)

The people who dress in blue (Niles City).

The people who dress in olive drab (Camp Bowie’s 36th Division in 1918).

A childhood with good schools (Harmony Baptist Church [kindergarten], D. McRae Elementary, William James Junior High, Poly High School)

and good teachers (Alma Pool, sixth grade; Dorothy Estes, eleventh grade, freshman and sophomore years in college)

and good parents.

And last but not feast, wild turkeys (on the old Lemuel Edwards ranch along the Clear Fork).

And at Art Cowsen Trailhead in Benbrook.

Happy Thanksgiving, y’all.

This entry was posted in Horns A'Plenty, Life in the Past Lane, Public Art. Bookmark the permalink.

20 Responses to A Hometown, Cowtown Thanksgiving

  1. Katherine Fitzhugh says:

    Beautiful photographs; beautiful sentiments. We all have you to be thankful for, Mike. Happy Thanksgiving. Bless you.

  2. Marian Brooks Webster says:

    Thanks and thankful for the lovely picture of Miss Pool-
    still love and think of her??

  3. Dennis Hogan says:

    You have a good eye for things to be thankful for.

  4. Bev. Nabors says:

    Well done again, Mike!

  5. Dennis Hogan says:

    You should be listed prominently in the Who’s Hulen of Fort Worth!

  6. Kay Fulgham says:

    What on earth are those birds and the nests that look something like termite mounds? I’ve never seen either here.

    • hometown says:

      Swallows. They build mud nests in sheltered placess such as the underside of bridges along the river. That’s the Bryant Irvin Road bridge.

  7. Dennis Hogan says:

    Enjoy your Thanksgiving Day meal and Good Luck pulling the furcula!

  8. Dan Daniel Washmon says:

    Just now saw this paean….Very nice….I did not know you went to kindergarten at Harmony Baptist…I did, too….I remember a ravine between Mitchell Boulevard and the church building….And didn’t the building include another wing back then?

    • hometown says:

      Another Harmony Baptist alum! Now I remember–that ravine was a creek parallel to Mitchell, and Larry Roberts, who lived nearby, and I fished for crawdads in it using bacon on kite string. We were amazed when it actually worked. We usually just caught crawdads by hand. I remember just one building, but that is proof of nothing. I seem to recall that the unpaved parking lot was covered in shredded roofing shingles to reduce mud/erosion.

  9. Scott Gorman says:

    Nicely done, Sir…nicely done…

  10. Dan Lamb says:

    Thank you Mike and may you and your family have a wonderful Thanksgiving as well.

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