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(6) TheStraur HouseIn the late 1850's,StephenBethelStrawnfollowed is childhood weetheart,ane o Texas.After heir marriagen 1860, hey began armingand anchingn southwest aloPintoCounty. heareawasoriginally nown sPainted orkbecausethe ndians ainted n he reesf he esidents erenice o hem. hiswasasign o heotherndiansotto harm the settlers.The Strawn's began

constructionf hishome,ocated n heNorthForkof PafoPintoCreek,n 1874.umberor he homewas broughtby teamsof oxen rom Waco o Ft.Worth. hehouse sa argewo-story tructure ithverandas n both evels. hedesignmakes or awarmhouse n th ewinter nda coolhouse n hesummer. ince he housewas ocated n the roadbetween aloPinto ndRanger, large umber ftravelersrequently assed ndstoppedor mealsand odging. ventuallyaneStrawnound erselfmanaging boarding ouse. n 1880, BethelStrawn founded the townsite of Strawn. Hisbusinessnterests xpanded nd he became heleading ntrepreneurf henewly ormedown.Today, he great granddaughter f StephenBethel trawn, aryWingo ndherhusband ene,own hehome.Mary, erbrother ndhersister irstvisited he houseduring he Palo PintoCountySesquicentennialelebrationn Juneof 2007andfell n ovewith t.TheWingo's urchasedhe amilyhome rom he cityof Strawn hortly fter hat.Thehome adbeen acantoralmost 0years, o heyhad madenumerousepairs nd spent ountlesshours leaninghegrounds.heyplan o restoretto t' s riginalrandeur.

(7)Old Belding Ranch HouseSince 859 hree enerationsf heBeldingamilyhave occupied his historic anch house.Theoriginal ouse onsistedfa one oom ogbuilding.Eachgeneration dded o the original tructureomake it more suitable or their needs andsimultaneouslyreservedhe unique rchitectureof the time period.Bothhistoricurnishings ndfamilymemorabiliare ound nsidehehouse. heranch s representativef an mportant ra of PaloPintoCountyhistoryand is a sourceof pride oHenry elding'secedents.

The PaloPintoHistorical ommissionratefullyacknowledgehe ollowingrganizationsor heirsupport nd encouragementn sponsoringhisHistoricalTourfPaloPintoCounty.

sPoNsoRsAPRILMARTIN.STATEFART

BAUII-CARLOCK-BUMGARDNERBENNETTSBRAZOSPHNNNG

CHICKEN XPRESSCRAWFORD, ARTERAND THOIIPSON

FIRST INANCIAL ANK. IIINERALWELLSFIRSTNANONALBANK. GRAFORD

FIRSTSTATEBANK. MINERALWELLSGARRETT EWELRY& LOAN

POSSUM INGDOM HAMBER F COMMERCETHE LODGEON LAKE PALO PITIITO

(Mike& Cindy Lewis)

TEXASFORTSTRAIL

To earnmoreabout heseevents nd he history fPaloPintoCounty isitourweb site.Thereyou canpurchasePaintedPostPast"A 1SO-Yearistory fPaloPintoCounty.www. aopintohstory.om

The sponsors f his our, he ownersof hepropertieso be visited,and their agentsand employeeswill not be responsibleor anyinjuries r damagessustained y any persongoingon the tour.Eachpersongoingonto he properties r travelingbetween hemis doingso solelyat hisown risk.

PaloPinto CountyHistorical CommissionPrcscnts

Uount'r'OUR

A Self-PacedHktoricsl ond ffildflower@-'"s*"'dflffi

Saturday,April 25, 20099am- Spm

Adult - $10.00 Child 6-15 $2.00Tickets vailablenadvance tMineralWellsAreaandPKChamber f Commercendateach ourlocationn ourday.Youmay start our ourat anyof the7 locationsndproceed syouwish.

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{1) Old Mireml Welfs HighSchoolProudly tanding n the grounds t 600WestHubbard treet, ompletedn 1914,heexterior fthis old high school s remarkablyntactwith itsmission evival tyleparpapets. he interiorwasheavily amaged ecause f a leaky oof;a roofrepairwascompletedn earlyFebruary,2007yTexasFrontierTrails.The Fifty Year Club hasstarted a renovationproject, and severalclassroomsavebeen estored. heFiftyYearClubisnow ncharge f hebuilding,o urthertheield feducation,nd o urn hegrand ldbuildingntoacommunityenter.

(1) Little RockSchoolhouseThe RockSchoolhouse, uilt n 1884, ocated nthe 100 blockof NW SthAvenueon thewest sideofthe street,was Mineral Wells' first Public School.Built n 1884with the help of Mr . R.E. Hendry, hebuildingwas in use by MineralWells ndependentSchool Districtas a band hall as lateas 1957. n

1974 the Mineral Wells Heritage Associationconvertedhe LittleRockSchool" o a museum.Historical tems preserved in the museumincludea replicaof the unique Hexagon Housealongwithsomeof heoriginal xteriorwoodworkfthe hotel itself, the original school bell thatsummoned students to class in bygone days,numerousphotographs f MineralWells' historicpastas the nation's eadinghealthspa hrough heturnof he TwentiethCentury, he RoaringTwenties,the Great Depression, World War ll "War ofSurvival" ndpostwar developments.

(2)Palo PintoCountyOld Jail MuseumConstruction as completed n this historicai lbuildingn 1882.The buildings constructedfnative andstone.hecells ndsheriff's fficewerelocated n he op loor.While he ailer's esidencewason he bottom loor.With he completionf hepresent ourthousen 1940. he prisoners eremoved to its top floor and the old jail wasabandoned. he Palo Pinto County HistoricalAssociation as organized nd has successfullycreated museumn the building hich ontainsartifacts ndmemorabiliaepictingheearly istoryofPaloPintoCounty.

(3) Loverc RefieatLoversRetreat s one of the most outstandingscenic potsn PaloPintoCounty.While ccessibleto hepublictwasoneof hemostpopular utdoorgathering lacesn thecounty ndattractedmanyvisitors. normousocks owerabove he banks fEagleCreek orming eep crevices, aves,smallcanyonand natural edges. he visitor s easilycharmed y the rusticbeauty f the spotandcaneasilymaginendian raves itting round mokycampfires,lanning raidor smoking eace ipes.lndian elics avebeen ound t hesite. here revariousegends bout owLoversRetreat cquiredit sname.

(4) Johnson LeagueRanchW. W. Johnson came to Texas fromMichigan n 1878.He provided edarposts or tiesand eventually oalto he Texasand Pacific ailroadduring tsexpansionromFortWorth o El Paso.Hediscovered oal n he Thurberarea andwas activein he development f he irstcoalminesand he oiland gas industry n Palo PintoCounty.Upon theaccumulationof vast holdings, he purchaseda4200 acre ranch n the John Bird survey n 1905.The surveywas an originalTexas andgrant andencompassed ne leagueof land; hus the nameJohnsonLeague Ranch.W. W. Johnson broughtthe first white{ail deer to Palo Pinto Countyandkept them in a high fence preserve. ronically,hepresentday workingcattle anch s also a managedwild and exotic game preserve. The original

Johnson home and out buildingshave recentlybeen estored.(4)JohnsonLeagueMausoleum

While living in Strawn, both of the Johnsonchildrendied.Mr .Johnsonand his wife refused obury hechildren nd kept heirbodies nan upstairsbedroom where Mrs. Johnson changed theirclothingdaily.When they moved to the ranch in1905, a wooden mausoleum for the children'sbodieswas constructed nd attached o the house.When Palo PintoCreed looded n 1908, he ranchcowboysrescued he mausoleumas it was beingswept downstream. After this near disaster, themausoleumwas moved o the highestpointon the

ranch. altPoint. nna ohnson ied n 1922.Sheleft specificnstructionsor the disposition f herbodyand bodies f Mr .Johnson nd hechildren,and heconstructionndsealing f hepresent aynative rock mausoleum. he originalwoodenmausoleum as oundon theranchand has beenrestored.

(5)TheThomm HouseLocatedon the TexasFortsTrail halfwaybetween t.Worth ndAbilene nd ust hreemilesnorth f Interstate0 on Highway 6, heThomasHouse n Strawn,Texas,provides glimpse ntohistoricWestTexas.Designed yT.J.Galbraith,nimportant exasarchitectwho also designedalongwithothers- heHallof State t FairPark nDallas,heThomasHouse s an excellentegionalexampleof the popularPrairiearchitecture s

interpreted y one West Texaspioneer anchingfamily n the firstquarter f the twentieth entury.WithstrongMission ndCraftsmannfluences,hehome rep resen tswha t was be ing donearchitecturallyn West Texas during the pre-depressionraof he ailroads,il boom, ndcattleranchesn his egion f heUnited tates.Using careful ly researched estorationtechniques,he home has been returned o itsoriginal ondition s a historical aluable ar tofWestTexas istory.mportant rchitecturaleathersof the home ncludetsexterior oncrete orkandoriginal etal oof swellassuch nterior etails sbeveledand leadedglass doors,original ightfixtures, dining oom ncinerator,mportedileandmarbleireplace ithoriginal arly as ogs, nd--mostunusualor his egion fTexas--a asementcontainingcoal oom ndcoalburningurnaceorheatinghehome, longwitha "modern"ashroomwith its wringer-rollerype washingmachine ndcast ron oiling ot .Havingbeen builtwith oi l boommoneyandcontaininghebasementoal oom, oalchute,ndcoalburningurnace,heThomasHouse rovideshistoricalinks o theRanger il boomhistory ndRangerOi lMuseumust ivemileso thewestandto th e Thurber oal mininghistory nd historicalpreservationust ivemiles ast.