Boyce Ditto Public Library - 14 Matching Results

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Baker Hotel-Mineral Wells, Texas
A panorama View of the Baker Hotel with all the surrounding buildings is shown here. Note: The general appearance of the city surrounding the hotel suggests strongly that this picture was heavily edited. Perhaps it was taken from a postcard. Although it has twice as many floors (14) and twice as many rooms (400) as the Crazy Hotel, it was forced to declare bankruptcy in 1932 . It was formally closed in 1963.
Boating on Pinto Lake, Mineral Wells
This appears to be a photograph of an old postcard entitled "Boating on Pinto Lake, Mineral Wells." It shows a boating party taking a cruise by motor boat, which was an activity enjoyed by many tourists to this area. The picture appeared in the Daily Mineral Wells Index on May 6, 1902, but no date was assigned the picture.
[The Casino at Elmhurst Park, 3 of 3]
This photograph shows a view of the Casino and gazebo in Elmhurst Park, Mineral Wells, Texas. The Park was constructed by the Mineral Wells Electric System (which operated a street-car line from 1907 to 1913). The street-car was the primary transportation from downtown Mineral Wells to the park. As America became enamored with the automobile as a personal vehicle, street-car passenger traffic declined, and the street-cars went out of business for lack of passengers. When the street-cars of Mineral Wells shut down, so did Elmhurst Park. The Casino was the center point of Elmhurst Park, and a popular gaming-house until both the Park and Street-Car Line that transported its customers went out of business in 1913. This image was used in a postcard.
Crazy Hotel
A postcard of the first Crazy Hotel, looking west-northwest, with part of a park visible at its east side is shown here. The photograph was given to A.F. Weaver by Margaret Tompkins. The entrance to the Crazy Hotel faced south on 100 NW 3rd Street, which is on the left side in this picture.
Crazy Hotel, Mineral Wells, Texas
This picture illustrates a postcard of the Crazy Hotel, taken about 1930, well after the "Crazy" burned in 1925. This is a view of the rebuilt hotel, which opened in 1927. It was considered completely up-to-date, and built with solid masonry interior walls to make it fire-proof. The facility is currently [2008] used as a retirement home. In 2010, it was put out of business.
Crazy Water Hotel
This is a photograph of a post-card showing the south (front) and west side of the Crazy "Water" Hotel in the 400 block of NW 1st Avenue--the street on the left side of this picture. There is an advertisement for Crazy Water Crystals superposed in the upper right-hand hand corner. The title at the bottom of the card reads "Crazy Water Hotel, Mineral Wells, Texas--Where America Drinks its Way to Health". (This advertisement--although a household phrase in its day--is one of the few references to "Water" in the Hotel's history, although a woman with presumed mental problems drank from the well next to the hotel, and was reported to have been healed of her affliction by the water. "Crazy Woman's Well" evolved into the "Crazy Well", and gave the generic name to the mineral waters of the area.)
Elmhurst Park
This illustration is numbered "30". It appears to be a picture postcard of the entrance to Elmhurst Park, an amusement park on Pollard Creek, about five miles southwest of Mineral Wells. The park operated from 1907 to 1913 by the Electric Company,, and was a major attraction in "The nation's most popular health spa" at that time. A lawsuit was entered by he City of Mineral Wells in 1912 against the Electric Company by reason of the Company's refusal to pave its right-of-way for trolleys in the city streets, and to pave its right-of-way to Elmhurst Park. The company tried to remove all trolley tracks in reprisal, but continued to supply electric lights to the park--and to City Hall--by way of compromise.
Fairfield Inn, Mineral Wells, Tex
Shown here is a an extensively damaged and repaired postcard of the Fairfield Inn. The inn, built by Colonel Walter H. Boykin around the turn of the twentieth century, was located at 814 N. Oak Avenue and faced west. The postcard is addressed to A. J. Ryder, Mallory Docks, Galveston, Texas. The postmark it bears dates to 1911.
Mesquite Street North From Throckmorton Street
A postcard of Mesquite Street, taken from Throckmorton Street [In 2008: NE 1st Avenue from NE 1st Street] Note the Post Office, completed August 1913, at end of the newly-paved street. The trolley tracks were removed in 1913, the street paved, and sidewalks installed in 1914. The street names were changed in 1920.
Mosquito Street, Looking North, Mineral Wells, Texas
Shown here is a postcard, reading "Mosquito Street [actually Mesquite Street], Looking North, Mineral Wells, Texas." Please note the Chautauqua Theater (1905-1912) at the end of the street. This picture was taken before street car tracks were installed in 1907. Also note the the absence of cars on the street--only horses and buggies.
Points of Interest in and About Mineral Wells
A photograph of a collage in a Mineral Wells Area Chamber of Commerce advertisement includes a postcard that pictures points of interest in and about the city. Pictured are: An aerial view of Camp Wolters, the Recreation Center showing a theater, gymnasium, and PX, with an inset of the base hospital; Possum Kingdom Dam and part of the eponymous lake; a local beauty queen; an aerial view of downtown Mineral Wells, Texas; Lake Mineral Wells (with the island that was inundated when the dam was subsequently raised); a view from Inspiration Point south of the city; and the Baker Hotel. The text publicizes the various assets and tourist attractions to be found in and around the "City Built on Water." One photograph in the collage is upside-down.
[A Post Card of a Football Team]
This postcard, taken around 1909, features the Mineral Wells High School football team. Please note the guards, hanging around their necks, that were used to protect the noses of the players. Those guards were held in place by means of a strap that went around the head, and were further kept in place by clenching the teeth on a rubber bit on the inside of the guard. The back of the card lists the players' names from top left: 1) Jessie Turner, 2) Tulane Smith, 3) J.C. Hayes, 4) Faburt Holmes , 5) George Oliver, 6) Blake Turner, 7) Bertram Hedrich, 8) Lamar McNew, and 9) Mr. Dinsmore. Front row 10) Carodine Hootin 11) Gordon Whatley, 12) Vernon Durham, 13) Fred McClurhin, 14) Achie Holdrige, 15) Chester Baughn, and 16) Hugh Brewster. Jess Turner(1) was later a member of Mineral Wells' only undefeated team in 1912. C.N. Turner, father of teammates Jess(1) and Blake Turner(6), purchased one of the early telephone companies in Palo Pinto County. He operated it with his sons as a family business. Jess Turner became a pioneer in the telephone business, and purchased the other family interests in 1924 to become sole owner of the family enterprise. His son, Jess Turner, Jr., operated the telephone company following World war II, relinquishing his position in October of 1975. A modern viewer of this picture might be startled by the lack of body armor, but it must be remembered that during the early decades of the twentieth century football was a blood sport. Injuries--even fatalities--on the field were an expected event. Many university presidents had disbanded teams (after numerous fatalities on the field) and banned the sport from their campuses. The first Rose Bowl game (Stamford versus. Ann Arbor) in 1903 was such a brutal rout that the …
Service Club, Camp Wolters, Texas
An illustration of the Service Club at Camp Wolters, which was located just outside Mineral Wells, Texas is shown here. Once the largest Infantry Replacement Training Center during World War II, Camp [later Fort] Wolters was re-opened during the Korean Conflict, and again during the Vietnam War. This portrait of the service club is probably a photograph taken from an old picture postcard.
The Welcome Sign on East Mountain, Mineral Wells, Texas
This picture is taken from a postcard claiming that the "Welcome" sign on East Mountain is "reputed to be the largest non-commercial electric sign in U.S." It has been claimed that the "Hollywood" sign was inspired by the "Welcome" sign, but this is likely a folk legend. (The preceding picture is a black and white original of this tinted picture. A more complete description may be found there.)
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