We were looking for something to do, today. We looked through the events catalog for the lakes and prairies area of Texas (AKA North East Texas) and Mineola’s “Invitation to Musicians to play in the Gazebo” started today!! 🙂 So, in true form I map out this whole route …. out on US 80 … stop at Terrell, Wills Point, Edgewood, Grand Saline, on to Mineola. Saw a few things along the way …. Our plan was to arrive at 11 … stake out an area to listen to some bluegrass or country Jamming have lunch see the town and head back using US 69 South out of Mineola stop at the Mineola Wildlife Preserve and on to Lindale pick up TX 16 West over to Canton then 243 out of Canton into Kaufman then US 175 out of Kaufman back to Dallas.
Everything went Perfect!! EXCEPT NO MUSICIANS SHOWED UP!! lol!! We about half expected that, anyway. No harm. We spent the day traveling, and that is exactly what we wanted to do. We had lunch at the East Texas Burger Company right in Downtown Mineola and it Was fantastic!! Excellent Food, Excellent Service, Excellent atmosphere!! Make sure you try it!! AND the fried Pie was Fabulous!! (We had Peach and Apricot) East Texas Burger
We went to the Mineola Historical Museum in the old post office (It’s free, but, donations are accepted … and if you are like us you will be compelled to leave one) That place was amazing!! So many artifacts to see, it is well worth the time it takes to look.
Mineola Historical Museum
We learned the there were two rail lines in Mineola in the old days. Texas and Pacific ran Dallas to Mineola and International and Great Northern ran Mineola to Tyler.
Texas and Pacific Caboose #13553 and the Historic Turn of the Century Beckham Hotel
We explored the ares of the panhandle north and east. North of Route 66 and east of Amarillo.
Starting with the map …. Zoom in on Amarillo and find US 60. Going up 60 we stopped in Panhandle, White Deer, Pampa. After Pampa on 60 we took TX 152 into Mobeetie and on into Wheeler. In Wheeler we took US 83 North into Canadian then on to Lipscomb by taking US 60 out of Canadian then TX 305 North. From Lipscomb to Perryton it got really cool …. FM 1920 out of Lipscombe changes into FM 3260 North a few blocks on TX 23 then County Road V changes into County Road U stay on county road U past Huge Boulders and Outcroppings, Unbelievably beautiful scenery and NO cars whatsoever … stop and photograph Wild Turkeys, a lake …. WOW then US 83 North into Perryton. Then Leaving Perryton on TX 15 into Spearman … Leaving Spearman on TX 207 in Stinnett and on to Borger. Whew … Finally Back to Amarillo … and Rest.
Panhandle Texas was a Major Surprise. You expect to see a courthouse, maybe a railroad station …. they have a full blown museum!! Donations Accepted!! So many things to see!! A Must See if you are ever in the Texas panhandle, spread out across 2 buildings and a huge block of ground is a fantastic museum about life in the panhandle. Rail Cars, horse drawn paddy wagon, dispatcher’s office, pioneer dugout home, lots of artifacts. More than possible to list.
Panhandle, TX Rail Station / City Hall
Beautiful Rail Station for the Santa Fe Railroad … Currently City Hall
Panhandle Texas Museum
The surprise museum is in the town square directly across from the county courthouse. Shown is the smallest building. There are several static structures and 2 larger brick buildings on the grounds. Worth the time to stop, definitely.
Carson County Courthouse Panhandle TX
Carson County Courthouse has a beautiful Carved Mosaic Right above the front door.
White Deer Texas
Well, this just about sums up White Deer, Texas. Main Street is closed and the white deer guards empty brick streets. The historical marker points out that the town got it’s name from a nearby creek which, according to indian legend, had white deer feeding there.
Gray County Courthouse Pampa TX
Pampa Texas has an old Downtown area with several very interesting buildings. Also Gray County Courthouse is in the town of Pampa.
Mobeetie Texas was another nice little surprise. Mobeetie (the town) is on the north side of TX 152. Historic old Mobeetie is on the south side of TX 152. We went to the town, first and almost went on our way …. then we went south. Mobeetie was once the county seat of wheeler county. The first county jail in the panhandle is there …. along with several other structures … an old one room schoolhouse, an old barber shop, an old doctor’s office, each with artifacts! US Cavalry Fort Elliot once occupied space near Mobeetie and several artifacts from there are housed at the museum including the old original flagpole. There is a larger old school building on the grounds that houses artifacts from several school districts in the area including yearbooks, photos, jackets, furniture, and other small school artifacts. All of the structures were open for touring the day we were there!
Fort Elliot Jail Cell
Original Wheeler County Jail
Wheeler, Texas. The most impressive veterans memorial view was in this town. The view of the memorial with the massive county courthouse and the cannon off to one side was definitely striking.
Wheeler Texas County Courthouse and Veterans Memorial
Canadian, Texas …. The county Seat of Hemphill County. Hands Down the most beautiful veterans memorial in the entire panhandle. The Courthouse was being restored while we were there, so it was covered with scaffolding. You can easily see what glory awaits when the scaffolding comes down. Canadian actually has a very old movie theater still in operation and a wagon bridge built at the turn of the 20th century that is in good enough shape for pedestrians to use …. we did. We walked almost the entire length of the bridge. It was awesome!!
Wagon Bridge Canadian Texas
Imagine driving into Canadian, Texas from Oklahoma within this structure …. this bridge carried automobiles and trucks into the 1960s!!
Interior View of the Canadian, Texas Wagon Bridge Built in 1916 By the Canton Bridge Company.
Lipscomb Taxas …. Well they had some old boarded up old west buildings and the county courthouse. Not much else.
The Old West in Lipscomb Texas
Lipscomb County Courthouse
But, the Drive between Lipscomb and Perryton made the disapponintment of little to see in Lipscomb worth while. What a beautiful drive!! Highly recommend Ochiltree County Road U (Except that you may not see another car or human for quite a while … not for the faint of heart).
Ochiltree County Road U Northern Panhandle
Perryton Texas is a neat little town. The old Ellis Theater is still in operation. There’s another beautiful Art Deco Building almost directly across the street from the theater. The old Ochiltree County Courthouse has cows instead of gargoyles … how fitting is that?
Ochiltree County Courthouse – Perryton, TX
Spearman Texas had another little nice surprise. First of all, spread out throughout the town are windmills. Each with a number like you’d check it off a list or something. Turns out, JB Buchanan Windmill Park has a whole bunch of windmills that actually operate in one spot and the mills you see in the town are actually part of the park’s collection. We spent several minutes roaming around the park, just looking. Spearman is the county seat of Hansford County Texas.
Hansford County Courthouse, Spearman Texas
Windmill Park – Spearman Texas
Stinnett Texas …. another neat little town, not much to see. Beautiful County Courthouse and Isaac McCormick Cottage built in 1899. That’s about it.
Hutchison County Courthouse – Stinnett Texas
Isaac McCormick Cottage 1899 – Stinnett Texas
Borger Texas … It was getting dark when we rolled into Borger. We looked at a couple of old theater buildings and left to get back to the hotel room. It had been a very long day. Nice, but, long.
Our panhandle Journey Starts at an Old Route 66 Town called Shamrock. I grew up as a military brat and I have vivid memories of trips we made on old US Highways. Route 66 is particularly neat, because of the restoration and upkeep that has taken place over the years. I personally never traveled on Route 66, but, many of the old structures I remember from my childhood on the road.
Feel free too zoom in on the map to Shamrock, Texas at the intersection of US83 and I40 to follow along.
From Shamrock we went into Oklahoma using I40, then we took the Business 40 exit just across the Oklahoma Border into Texola, on to Erick, on to Sayre, then we drove to Amarillo (the epicenter of the panhandle) using I40 to spend the night. Between Erick and Sayre, there are still patches of the old highway in a few places ….. The pictures for this leg of the journey are below along with some explation.
Art Deco Conoco, Shamrock TX
Art Deco Conoco at Dusk, Shamrock TX
The Art Deco Conoco – This larger than life remnant of the earlier half of the 20th Century is a must see for anyone traveling on I40 through Texas. Get out your camera and explore!!
Magnolia Gas Station – Shamrock TX (Restored)
This Fully Restored Magnolia Station sits in Downtown Shamrock …. Really a nice place to see!!
Old Gas Station – Texola OK
Wasn’t much at all in Texola …. Just this old Gas Station and a few old signs.
West Winds Motel – Erick, OK
Erick was a little better than Texola …. kind of like going back in time. The hotel signs and buildings are clearly dilapidated, but, definitely worth a look.
Stovall Theater – Sayre, OK
Sayre OK …. I wish I had taken a few more photos, but, we were not really impressed with Oklahoma’s upkeep of Route 66. I only took a series of photos of the old Stovall Theater on Main Street. They seem to be trying to revive Main Street … let’s hope that happens!!
Original Segment of Route 66
Without any Doubt the highlight of the trip into Oklahoma was finding an original ribbon of the old Route 66 between Sayre and Erick. There is absolutely no way 2 modern cars could drive on this ….
This wraps Up Day 1 of our northern Panhandle trip. From here, we went to Amarillo to check in and get some rest ….
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