building n

Building N is a prosaic name for a beautiful building. In 1973 FEMA acquired a college campus to house its Emergency Management Institute. Elizabeth Seton arrived in Emmitsburg Maryland in 1809 and established a parochial school for girls. The school grew into St. Joseph's College, a four-year liberal arts for women. In 1973 it merged with its brother school Mount Saint Mary's, a four-year men's college. Building N was built in 1870 and is an example of Second Empire architecture popular in the second half of the 19th Century. The building, which houses EMI offices, is on the National Registry.

half-mast

National Fallen Firefighters Memorial
National Emergency Training Center
Emmitsburg, Maryland

502 avenue g

from the archives:
My friend Tony Greer, proprietor of the Tornado Gallery at 1822 Buddy Holly Avenue, started out in this neon shop at 502 Avenue G. I persuaded him to join Nancy Neill, Lillie Hart and myself in a multi-dimensional exhibit of photographs and neon sculpture in an exhibit "Neon Dimensions" at the Underwood Center in 2007.

abandoned

The hand houses at the gin have been vacant at least 25 years. When occupied, they weren't all that hospitable. Hot and cold running water, a window air conditioner and no rent were about all the amenities. The original structures from the 1940s were outbuildings fitted out as residences. At least three generations of Gonzales lived there.

chair and pie pan
#7 at 503 Main
New Deal, Texas

lubbock pyramids

From the 1950s to 1990s Lubbock was known as the largest cotton seed producer in the world. There were three cotton seed oil mills in Lubbock - Lubbock Cotton Oil, Paymaster, and Plains Co-op which was touted as the largest in the world. The tons of cotton seed were stored in seed houses, which proliferated in the 30s and 40s. Lubbock Cotton Oil had 12 seed houses, each measuring 25.000 square feet with 80 feet high ceilings. Today one of those seed houses contains an indoor skate park (www.one-9.com). After learning that open air would not harm cotton seed, mills began storing seed in huge piles on the ground. These piles often equal the size of the seed house.

Southern Oil Mill (formerly Paymaster)

2300 E. 50th Street

Lubbock, Texas

window on the past

Lubbock Cotton Oil Mill
19th and Avenue A

Cotton seed oil is the most significant by-product of cotton seed and, since the 1880s, one of the first vegetable oils used for cooking. River Smith's, a local eatery, supports local agriculture by cooking their catfish and chicken in cotton seed oil. The recent trend toward zero-trans fat benefits cotton seed oil although canola, sunflower and others are more popular. In 1911 Proctor & Gamble released Crisco as a premier shortening- sold in hermetically sealed cans wrapped in white paper. The name Crisco was modified from "crystallized cotton seed oil."

February 22, 2011

demolition: cotton oil mill

Another Lubbock landmark disappears. George Albert Simmons arrived in Lubbock in 1923 to oversee the building Simmons Cotton Oil Mill, the first in the area. He became the manager of the mill at 19th and Avenue A and resided in Lubbock until his death in 1954. Lubbock's cotton production gave rise to related industries and the economic boom of the 1940-50s saw three cotton seed oil mills in Lubbock with a daily capacity of over 1,000 tons a day. By the 1960s 30% of the cotton seed crushed in Texas occurred in Lubbock. The Simmons mill, known as Lubbock Cotton Oil Mill, grew in capacity and built seed houses to store cotton seed.
.....to be continued

some days are like that

from the archives:
unidentified liquor store
somewhere on a back road
between San Antonio and New Braunfels
2.21.2010

flamingo

from the archives:

Homasassa Wildlife Park
Homasassa, Florida
10.3.2008

classic chevy chassis

Almost everything at "the shop" can be bought. Make an offer on this classic 1950s-era Chevrolet short-bed truck -- complete with racing stripe, running board and steering wheel. Other parts must be procured.

"the shop"
503 Main
New Deal, Texas

officers quarters

Fort Union, New Mexico

Guardian of the Santa Trail

Watrous, New Mexico
10.30.2010

1313 13th

The summer of 1961 mother decided I needed to prepare for my high school future by learning to type. She enrolled me in a summer course at Draughon's Business College, her alma mater. Draughon's at 15th and Texas Avenue was "in town" and 10 miles from New Deal. Mother drove me every morning to class. I typed for two hours (achieving 50+ wpm) and then walked to the TNM&O terminal at 1313 13th Street to ride the bus home. There was a wait so I had a piece of pie and coke at the counter of the bus station diner. I then boarded the bus and rode to June's Cafe, the New Deal bus stop, where mother picked me up. After a few days of riding and conversation with the driver, he stopped the bus right there on US Highway 87 and let me off in front of our house.

Texas, New Mexico & Oklahoma Coaches of Lubbock was founded in 1939 and sold out to Greyhound in 1967. The TNM&O terminal was built in 1955 and also served as the corporate offices before closing in the 1990s. The long-vacant building is currently being remodeled to house the Experience Life Church, which started in a roller skating rink. The closed Bus Stop Diner was rumored haunted by the city's transients, although TNM&O administrators blamed the dust. I never had to share my pie with a ghost.

agri-elevator

The Institute of Semi-Arid Lands at Texas Tech sponsors the "High and Dry" art exhibit. I have been fortunate to have an image accepted 8 times in the High and Dry's 11 year history. This year my image was selected for third place. Check out all the images in High and Dry XI at
www.iaff.ttu.edu/main/artexhibits.asp

Harvest Queen Elevator
1208 M. Columbia
Plainview, Texas

boot hill

From the archives:

Silver City Cemetery
Silver City, Nevada

04.22.2006

symbols of love

roses are red
violets are blue
this valentine's for you

shadow tableau

Patio at the Thirsty Turtle
1820 Buddy Holly Avenue
Depot District
Lubbock, Texas

red tulips

an early Valentine's gift
one of my favorite flowers

pink bench

When this photograph was taken in October 2006, the building at the corner of 19th and Avenue G housed Einstein's Sandwich Shop and the South Beach nightclub. Avenue G was renamed Crickets Avenue in honor of Buddy's backup singers. The City demolished the buildings and Depot District visitors used the vacant lot for parking for years. Today the lot is becoming the Buddy and Elena Holly Plaza; the refurbished statue of Buddy is tarped -- awaiting a grand resurrection. But the corner still won't be as picturesque as the "old days."

brrr!

This is the reading on the thermometer hanging on my patio this morning at 7:00 a.m.

The weather said it was 4 degrees, -22 wind chill, 35 mph winds with a smattering of snow. How long until Spring?

gnomes on main

My friend had gone downtown to the courthouse to pay a traffic ticket. She told me there was a photo op of elves on the Burrito #2. I work downtown and this didn't ring a bell, so I looked. Lo and behold, J.C.'s Burrito #2 at 814 Main has lined gnomes all along the roof line. I don't know the significance of gnomes - in literature they seem more mischevious than lucky. Maybe it's the influence of advertising on TV.

The burrito shop occupies the site of the former Hot Shot Cafe. The Hot Shot Cafe was established in 1925 and operated until 1983, when the space was turned into offices. Since that time several food ventures have returned t0 814 Main - primarily catering to the courthouse, lawyers and bail bond offices nearby. My dad recalls eating at the Hot Shot, with rib eyes about one dollar -- but paper thin. In the 1930s and 1940s, downtown Lubbock was thriving and Saturdays were big "town" days for outlying communities. Each part of the county had their "spot" with New Deal and others from the north tending to business north of the courthouse and those from communities to the south staying mostly south of the courthouse.

For more details, including photos, on the Hot Shot Cafe, visit www.lubbockcentennial/Reader/HotShotCafe

airport motel

The Airport Motel at 913 S. Columbia is on its final flight pattern. In better days, it was located across from the Plainview municipal airport on US Highway 87. When the interstate went west, the motel business went south.

Airport Motel & Apartments
Plainview, Texas
3.10.2009

gulls at south padre

I'd rather be walking the beach at sunset than watching the rain and snow flurries through the window.
South Padre Island, Texas
9.22.2007

February 5, 2011

gulf palms

A week of frigid weather makes one dream of balmy breezes, swaying palm trees and brilliant sunsets over the Gulf at Corpus Christi.
9.20.2007

tumbleweeds and ice

Despite today's relative heat wave of 42 degrees, snow and ice remain in patches. The North Fork Double Fork of the Brazos River forms the Yellowhouse Canyon which meanders through Lubbock -- alongside Cesar Chavez Drive, under Interstate 27 and through Mackenzie Park. Tumbleweeds are captured by the channel's ice but will be freed to blow when the next sandstorm comes.

jeremiah

"Jeremiah was a bullfrog - he was a good friend of mine.....
he always had some mighty fine wine."
(1969 hit by Three Dog Night, written by Hoyt Axton )
This Jeremiah lived in a pond in Seymour, Texas.
8.8.2009

prickly pear winter

Single-digit temperatures, double-digit wind chill, couple of inches of snow - winter in West Texas

February 1, 2011

the queen

In all my trips to A&M, I did not realize there was a historic downtown Bryan. Despite the revitalization of of buildings and streets through the Main Street project, the Queen movie theater is no longer a regal grande dame.

1.31.2011