I remember this happening. It’s the kind of thing that has gone one forever, but when it happens close to home it rattles people to the core. Below are a couple of different accounts of that happening. Continue reading A Sad And Shocking Murder August 25, 1973
My friend John Kemper had property south of the bridge and needed city utility service run across to it. He worked with the city to run large enough lines to serve a larger area as well. Working with engineers from Austin a concept of running an 8″ water line and a 6″ wastewater pressure line was designed to snake underneath the lake and lay on the bottom. It was to have large concrete weights strapped to each line to hold them in place. The pipe was to be a very durable HDPE pipe that was manufactured in Canada. It was … Continue reading Taking Marble Falls Water And Wastewater Service South Of The River
It may be fun to look at the 254 Counties across our Great State of Texas and find counties that don’t match up very well with cities or towns of the same name. I’ll start with Pecos in Reeves County, while the county seat of Pecos is Ft. Stockton. And then there is Presidio County, but the county seat is Marfa and not Presidio. Sanderson is the Seat of Terrell County, while Terrell is a town east of Dallas in Kaufman County. But they actually let the town of Kaufman be its County Seat. Of course I’m always thrown off … Continue reading Texas Counties and the Cities and Towns Can Get You All Confused
Always being curious about the Brackenridge name as it relates to Austin and San Antonio, I decided to try to decipher it. Here goes: The Austin and San Antonio Brackenridge’s were brothers, each prominent citizens. Brackenridge Hospital – Austin Texas … Continue reading Differentiating the Varying Places and Spellings
It was first known as Sigmor, then Sigmor Shamrock, some years later as Diamond Shamrock and finally as Valero. TETCO came in sometime during a spinoff I think. In the beginning they where cheaper than other outlets. The stations were very barebones, with nothing but a small cashier area, restrooms and vending machines for snacks. They were only there to sell gas and oil with not servicing area. I remember it first being a cash only business. When they started taking credit cards, they would take any other companies card, imprint it and write in your address from your driver’s … Continue reading The Sigmor Corporation – San Antonio, Texas
Susan is a cousin of mine. She lived for a while down at the river by the Lewis Pavilion. Well actually more like right after you came in the gate. She had a small RV. Seemed pretty ideal for her and the park. That way some was there to help shew out trespassers and such. The is very patriotic and back in 2020 a while before the election she erected a nice Trump sign out front of her trailer or maybe tied a Trump banner on the picket fence. Here came Kenny down later to check on things. He pulled … Continue reading Susan’s Signs and Bumper Stickers
I’m not sure what went wrong. May have been from running air tracks, with no ear protection when I was a younger fella. Or being around bulldozers and other noisy equipment my whole life. I don’t think it has anything to do with being yelled at by my wife because she’s never been a yeller. In fact she is so quiet I hardly know when she’s around. Or maybe I’m just not hearing her yell. But she’s been telling me for 20 years or maybe 40 years that I need some hearing aids. I finally decided a few weeks ago … Continue reading Hard of Hearing
I’ve been told that the FM 973 Bridge at the river was built by the HB Zachry Co and donated to TxDot. They needed a short passage to run trucks for their aggregate operation to build the runways at Bergstrom Air Force Base. Continue reading Contractor Ingenuity
Correcting The Record: I have been told by a noted Travis County Historian that the photo of The Montopolis Courthouse, Travis County has been found not be the case. There was no such Courthouse at Montopolis. My personal story about the area: I have very fond memories of the Montopolis Area of Austin. I really didn’t know much about the history.My construction office and yard was at 2801 Montopolis Dr. for about a decade back in the 70s & 80s. It was the old homestead that included a stone house, garage apartment behind and a metal shop building farther back. … Continue reading Montopolis, Travis County, Texas
This is a post that Mona Gayle Waldrip posted in the very early days of the Angora Chronicles. Let me take a moment to say: “Mona Gayle you are so missed by so many people. Your pictures and your words meant so much to all of us.” I think the little boy out front in the middle was Kenny Jackson. Continue reading Some of Smithwick’s Finest
Angora Chronicles 