Boyce Ditto Public Library - 401 Matching Results

This system will be undergoing maintenance April 18th between 9:00AM and 12:00PM CDT.

Search Results

[The Crazy Hotel Lobby]

Description: This picture shows the First Crazy Hotel Lobby in 1913. The first Crazy Hotel was built in two sections; the first section, which contained this lobby, was built in 1912. The second section was added in 1914, and joined to the first with the two sections sharing this same sky-lighted lobby. A fire on March 15, 1925 destroyed the first Crazy Hotel along with all the other businesses in this block. The second Crazy Hotel, covering the entire city block, opened in 1927. It is now [20… more
Date: 1913

[The Crazy Hotel Pavilion]

Description: A handwritten note on the back of the picture identifies this as "Crazy Hotel Pavilion 1940 Cigar Stand and Shine Stand." Please notice Leon Cross, the "Shoe-shine boy", who operated the stand for years, in the white shirt to the left of the Shine Stand. This pavilion is off the hotel lobby, behind and west of the elevators of the second Crazy Hotel. A fire started March 15, 1925, in the drugstore next to the bath house of the first Crazy Hotel which adjoined the Crazy Flat… more
Date: 1940

[The Crazy Water Crystals Plant]

Description: One step in the conversion of Mineral Wells' "Crazy Water" into Crazy Water Crystals was to boil mineral water in open vats, in three different stages, until only the minerals were left. One worker is visible, monitoring the open vats. The crystals were then filtered out and dried, packaged and sold nationwide. The customer simply added water to the crystals to obtain one of America's early "instant" products: Mineral Wells' health-giving mineral water. The photograph was taken … more
Date: unknown

[The Crazy Well]

Description: This picture was taken in 1974, looking south on NW 1st Avenue from NW 4th Street, showing the metal cover, in the sidewalk corner, of the Crazy Well. It is full of Crazy water, ready to be pumped out and used. The building on the left is the west side of the present [2008] Crazy Water Retirement Hotel. This information was taken from Art Weaver's book "TIME WAS in Mineral Wells...", page 29. This well was the third one dug in Mineral Wells.
Date: 1974

[A Crowd at a Race]

Description: A note on the back of the picture identifies this scene as being at Elmhurst Park. The rails on either side indicate that this is a photograph of a race track. There is a chalk circle in the middle of the track, and a companion picture shows this circle being used for shot-put/discus competition. The spectator in the left foreground is leaning into the track to get a better look at a runner approaching the finish line at the far end of the track.
Date: 1910?

[A Crowd at a Speech]

Description: A crowd (the picture dates to approximately 1910) appears to be attending the awarding of prizes for an athletic event--probably a track meet, judging by companion photographs. The location of the photograph is at Elmhurst Park, an amusement park in the early 1900's on Pollard Creek about two miles southwest of Mineral Wells.
Date: unknown

[The D. M. Howard Store]

Description: A photograph taken during the construction of the D. M. Howard Store, located at 101 SE 1st Avenue. D. M. Howard was the first of five brothers to arrive in Mineral Wells. He built the first large department store(s) here. This was the first in a complex of Howard Brothers stores, and later housed the J. M. Belcher Furniture Store and its successor, R. & W. Furniture. Howard himself departed this life in 1910. The building was torn down in 1975.
Date: unknown

[The Dam/causeway]

Description: This picture shows the dam that formed Mineral Wells' first municipal water reservoir. This dam is probably the one that Thelma Doss refers to on page 51 of A.F. Weaver's "Time Was in Mineral Wells." Its erection was credited to banker Cicero Smith in that article. Located southeast of the Cullen Grimes School, it is in the G. P. Barber Addition. The lake was actually built by George P Barber, and the water impounded behind it is known locally as Barber Lake. The lake served to supply wate… more
Date: unknown

[The Damron Hotel Fire, 4 of 21, Fire Inside the Structure]

Description: This is another view of the spectacular fire that consumed the Damron Hotel on December 22, 1975. The hotel was built as the Colonial Hotel in 1906 by rancher J. T. Holt for his second wife. The name was changed in 1917 when the hotel was traded to Agnew and Bessie Damron . The fire received extensive photographic coverage. Note the height of the flames in this picture, taken in the later stages of the fire.
Date: December 22, 1976

[The Damron Hotel Fire, 5 of 21: View from the Rear of the Building]

Description: The Damron Hotel was built in 1906 as the Colonial Hotel by J. T. Holt. At one time, both Kiwanis and the Rotary service Clubs met in the dining room that was located on the west side of the main floor. Formerly located at 109 W. Hubbard Street, the hotel burned completely on December 22, 1975 in a spectacular fire that was extensively photographed. Shown here is one of many views of the fire.
Date: December 22, 1975

[The Damron Hotel Fire, 6 of 21: Bystanders Observing the Fire]

Description: The Damron Hotel was destroyed (on December 22, 1975) in a spectacular fire that received extensive photographic coverage. The hotel was located at 109 W. Hubbard. This is another picture of that immense conflagration. All the firemen answered a call that came in at 9:08 on the morning of the fire. The City of Weatherford also sent men and equipment over to help. Volunteers who were not themselves firemen also helped. Other buildings that suffered damage were Pemberton's (an applian… more
Date: December 22, 1975

[The Damron Hotel Fire, 9 of 21: Firemen and a Fire Truck Near the North Side of Budiling]

Description: This photograph shows another view of the early response to the holiday conflagration that consumed the Damron Hotel on December 22, 1975. The Damron was built in 1906, during Mineral Wells' heyday as a popular resort city. Originally named the Colonial Hotel by J. T. Holt, and built for his second wife, the name of the hotel was changed in 1917 when Mr. Holt traded the hotel to Agnew and Bessie Damron. The hotel was located at 109 W. Hubbard, and the spectacular fire received exte… more
Date: December 22, 1975

[The Damron Hotel Fire, 11 of 21: Fighting the Fire on W. Hubbard St.]

Description: Shown here is another picture in the series of photographs of the fire that destroyed the Damron Hotel during the holiday season of 1975. This smoke-shrouded scene of W. Hubbard, shows the front entrance to the hotel in the earlier stages of the fire's progress. The Damron was built in 1906, during the days that Mineral Wells was a popular resort spa. It burned completely on December 22,1975. The hotel's name was changed in 1917 when Mr. Holt (who had built the hotel) traded it to Ag… more
Date: December 22, 1975

[The Damron Hotel Fire, 12 of 21: Numerous Fire Hoses Lying in Front of the Hotel]

Description: Another view of the front entrance to the Damron Hotel at 109 W. Hubbard during the earlier stages of the fire that completely destroyed it on December 22, 1975. Debris from the burning hotel wafted as far as seven blocks from the burning building. No major injuries were reported. The spectacular Holiday fire that destroyed the hotel received extensive photographic coverage.
Date: December 22, 1975

[The Damron Hotel Fire, 13 of 21: Christmas Decorations on Light Poles]

Description: The Damron Hotel (which was built in 1906 during the days that Mineral Wells was a popular resort city) burned completely on December 22, 1975. It was located at 109 W. Hubbard Street. By 11:30 (some two hours after the fire started), the Davidson Hardware company, next door, was engulfed in flames. George's Man's Shop and Hill's style Shop were also damaged.
Date: unknown

[The Damron Hotel Fire, 14 of 21: Drifting Smoke From the Fire]

Description: The Damron Hotel, which was built during the days that Mineral Wells was a popular resort city, burned completely on December 22, 1975. It was located 109 W. Hubbard Street. This photograph was taken from about a block away from the scene, and shows the dense cloud of smoke that resulted from the fire. The hotel was built in 1906 by rancher J. T. Holt [who was born in 1841, and who died in 1919] (A business leader in Mineral Wells, who was partner with a Mr. Shirley [who was born… more
Date: unknown

[The Damron Hotel Fire, 15 of 21: Passenger Cars on a Back Street]

Description: The Damron Hotel, built in 1906 during the days that Mineral Wells was a popular resort spa, burned completely on December 22, 1975. It was located at 109 W. Hubbard Street. This picture shows the dense cloud of smoke that resulted from the holiday catastrophe. Westbound traffic on .S. Highway 180 had to be re-routed in order to avoid the clutter of debris that littered the street.
Date: December 22, 1975

[The Damron Hotel Fire, 17 of 21: Two Individuals on the Street Northwest of the Fire]

Description: Shown here is another view of the plume of thick black smoke at the height of the fire that completely destroyed the Damron Hotel December 22, 1975, along with two hard-hatted individuals (presumably fire-fighters) standing in the street. It was a very popular hotel during the mineral water industry's heyday through the "Roaring Twenties", Great Depression and World War II. By the time of the fire, however, an informant remarked--verbally--that no respectable lady permitted herself t… more
Date: December 22, 1975

[Dedication of the "Little Rock Schoolhouse" Museum: A Marker is Unveiled]

Description: A marker commemorating the conversion of Mineral Wells' first school to a museum. "The Little Rock Schoolhouse" was built in 1884, and though tuition was charged to the students to pay the teacher, the school building, itself, was built by the city. A granite marker to commemorate the conversion of the school to a museum was unveiled at this dedication.
Date: April 14, 1978

[The Demolition of the Convention Hall--1 of 5: Front View]

Description: The metal framework of the Mineral Wells Convention Hall is all that it readily visible during its demolition in 1975/1976. Built on the rock foundation of the Electric Plant that Galbraith had erected in order (Unsuccessfully, it is guessed) to light the city. The Convention Hall was built for the West Texas Chamber of Commerce Convention in 1925. It served as the site of numerous local functions including High School Graduation Exercises. The landmark Hexagon Hotel, Mineral Wells' f… more
Date: 1975
Creator: Weaver, A. F.

[The Demolition of the Convention Hall, 2 of 5: From a Block Away]

Description: This photograph was taken at an early stage of the demolition of the Mineral Wells Convention Hall on N. Oak Avenue. Built in 1925 to accommodate the West Texas Chamber of Commerce Convention, it was constructed on the rock foundation of the electric power plant built by the owner of the Hexagon Hotel to light the city (presumably with DC electricity). The Hexagon Hotel, Mineral Wells' first electrically-lighted hotel, stood on the vacant corner lot in the foreground of this picture. I… more
Date: 1975
Creator: Weaver, A. F.

[The Demolition of the Convention Hall, 5 of 5]

Description: The Convention Hall met its end in 1979--after forty-five years of use. The exact location of this photograph in relation to the interior of the convention hall remains unknown. The picture shows two Roman arches, which must have been stress-relieving as well as serving as portals of access to various parts of the basement. The ends of two girders, which must have helped support the floor above them, are clearly visible above the nearer arch.
Date: unknown
Back to Top of Screen