Polka music, Kolaches, and pivo — for the Czech Hertiage Museum and Genealogy Center in Temple, these things are only the tip of the iceberg of the wealth of history and culture preserved in their museum. They have everything you ever wanted to know about early Czech settlers in Texas from their bibles to their dialect. So while you’re sipping your Slivovitz, be sure to add this one to your list because it’s well worth a stop on The Texas Bucket List!
The Texas Bucket List – Spindletop-Gladys City Boomtown
We visit the Spindletop-Gladys Boomtown Museum in Beaumont to travel back in time to the place where the oil boom got its start. While you can’t see any black gold gush from the ground like in the olden days, the Lucas Gusher replica still gives you that feeling of excitement and wonder as it blows water hundreds of feet into the air. For a glimpse of the gusher that kicked off the worldwide oil craze, this place is well worth a stop on The Texas Bucket List!
The Texas Bucket List – T.C. Lindsey General Store
You wouldn’t guess it from the outside looking in, but the T.C. Lindsey General Store in Jonesville has been going for 150 years strong! The part antique store, part museum has been around so long that it has some good stories to tell. Stop by and chat with Sibyl Elliot to learn a few or just take a look at some of the fixtures lining the walls. Well worth a stop on The Texas Bucket List!
The Texas Bucket List – McKinney Avenue Trolley
DALLAS, Texas — Over in Uptown Dallas, the history that literary lines the streets starts telling its story everyday as soon as the sun starts beam over the high-rises just a few blocks away.
That’s when the McKinney Avenue Transit Authority opens the gates and floods the streets with memories of days gone by, all with the ring of a bell.
With the morning rush at full steam ahead, some opt for a more public type of transportation, one that’s been a part of this Dallas neighborhood since the late 1800’s.
Phil Cobb is the Cofounder of the McKinney Avenue Trolley, a project that got underway when the tracks were rediscovered in the early 80’s.
“We heard rumors that there might be trolley tracks underneath the asphalt and sure enough there were,” Phil said. “We had uncovered five blocks of asphalt on the Kenny Avenue and a neighborhood beautification project.”
Ed Landrum, the McKinney Avenue trolley’s other founder researched the rails which were last used in 1956 and he found out the lines still had at least 50 years of life left in them. That’s when Phil and Ed found some old footage of what uptown used to be like, when the trolley was a distant memory in Big D’s past.
“I was hooked almost at that moment and went out to his house that night,” Phil said. “He had some eight millimeter film of 1956 wind-up of the street car service in Dallas, Texas the last time they ran. I asked him to run it fifteen times at his house. … The hook was in my mouth and I felt sort of, almost a religious calling, to see if I could pull it off. I had other people of course with me, including it.”
After 6 years of work and 2 federal grants Phil and Ed along with many others put the McKinney Avenue Trolley back into service and in 1989, 33 years since it had last run on the rails, the McKinney Avenue Trolley once again transferred Texans up and down the tracks.
You’ll find all sort of different trolleys on the line but the one everyone comes to see is Rosie.
“She is the oldest, known, operating streetcar in North America,” Phil said.
Originally built in 1909 in Philidelphia, Rosie was shipped to Portugal where she saw 70 years of history, then she saw a short stint in San Fransicos before Phil purchased the trolley from a private collector.
“I negotiated over the phone with him and bought the car for $57,000, over the phone, and shipped it the next day to Dallas, Texas,” Phil said. “She was our first car.”
Tony Powell is the shop superintendent and he describes his job with one word: fun.
Turns out the trolley caretakers aren’t just taking care of the cars, they’re also taking care of this crossroad of city and they’ve become part of the extended family of uptown.
“We get our regulars and they come in and they do this and they bring us things at different times of the years,” Tony said. “You know they make a cake, man we might get part of it, you know they will bring one down, cookies, you know donuts onto cars. Yeah, we are just a big part of the neighborhood, the uptown neighborhood, and it’s all one big family.”
And even when the regulars see Rosie, they come out to ride.
“These guys come out of these offices and these fancy suites and ladies with their nice dress office wear everything you know they come out to ride Rosy in 110 degree weather and sweat you know just to be able to ride Rosy,” Tony said.
The best part of getting to experience this historical piece of Texas transportation is the price. Whoever said you’ll never get a free ride was wrong.
With the M-Line’s partnership with the Dallas Area Rapid Transit, the trolley is free to riders and is even being expanded into downtown. Despite being lost of over three decades, the McKinney Avenue Trolley is back on track for generations of Texas down the line to enjoy this magical method of moving the masses.
“If you like history and want to be a part of history, you should come ride the McKinney Trolley in Dallas, Texas,” Phil said.
The Texas Bucket List – Port Isabel Lighthouse
Set your sights across the sea at the Port Isabel Lighthouse! There’s not another experience quite like this one in the Lone Star State. This beacon that once beamed brightly across the bay is now open to any tourist willing to conquer the winding stairs up to the top – but oh, what a view! Combine all of this with its pre-Civil War history and the Port Isabel Lighthouse is well worth a stop on The Texas Bucket List!
The Texas Bucket List – Ben’s Western Wear
You don’t have to ride a black tornado or rope an ole’ blue northern to take a look at the hundreds of hats lining the walls at Ben’s Western Wear in Cotulla. From cowboy celebrity to your regular ranch hand, every hat has a story. If the King of Country Music thought these walls worthy of his own well-worn hat, then it’s definitely worth a stop on The Texas Bucket List.
The Texas Bucket List – The Old Time Wooden Nickel Company
You’ve heard the phrase “Don’t take wooden nickels,” but how about buying one for yourself? You can do all that and more at the Old Time Wooden Nickel Company in San Antonio! Find out the heritage of the wooden nickel and its place in history. Well worth a stop on The Texas Bucket List!
The Texas Bucket List – Sam Houston Memorial Museum
We steep ourselves in Texas tradition by visiting the Sam Houston Memorial Museum in Huntsville. What could be more Texan than a place dedicated to the first president of the Lone Star State? For an experience that goes beyond the textbook and into the mind of the great Sam Houston, you’ll have to visit this museum in order to call yourself a true Texan.
The Texas Bucket List – Frontier Texas!
See the Wild West come back to life at the Frontier Texas! museum in Abilene. It’s not just about the cowboys and Indians – this museum captures the struggle of life on the plains with telling accounts from figures of the past, life-sized replicas, and original tools and decorations. From buffalo hunts to the horror of scalping, this museum captures the good, the bad, and the ugly of the American West. Well worth a stop on The Texas Bucket List!
The Texas Bucket List – La Posada Hotel
Rich with Spanish and Mexican artistry and architecture, the accommodations at La Posada Hotel in Laredo are hard to beat. The history of this high-class hotel is long and varied, studded with visits from presidents and other high society. Treat yourself to the beautiful views and location, well worth a stop on The Texas Bucket List.
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