Texas Bucket List

Texas Bucket List

Simmons Bank

The Texas Bucket List – Santa Claus Museum in Columbus

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COLUMBUS, Texas — It’s an odd time of the year to be talking Christmas but when we found a festive museum in Colorado County it was clear we had to get some off the cuff Kris Kringle.  So get ready to feel like every day is Christmas, especially at this stop in Columbus.

Since 1890, the Colorado County Courthouse has been sitting on this square in Columbus. Rich with Texas history, the town can trace its roots to the Old Three Hundred and stories of Sam Houston and Santa Anna are common place here.  So it’s no wonder why you’ll find a museum dedicated to…..does this really say Santa Clause?

Mary Anne Picken’s family has been in these parts since the 1830s but it’s her mother’s old collection of father Christmas that creates a constant holiday commotion. Mary Elizabeth Hopkins didn’t start her Santa collection until later in life but once she had the bug for the big man, it couldn’t be controlled.

“This is the one that started it all,” Mary Anne said. “She saw him in 1974 and he was an antique then. They think he was built in the 1920s. She was fascinated because he had one red eye and one green eye. It is a scary looking Santa. I’m not sure what the fascination was.”

The museum has been here since 1990 and was opened in honor of the local lady who loved Saint Nick.

“She used to put them out and take them up after Christmas,” Mary Anne said. “She used to put them out around Thanksgiving, take them up January but the last two years of her life she didn’t feel well enough to do that so they just stayed in the house. When she died my step father said, ‘We have to do something about these Santas. What are we going to do?’”

Santa bells, Santa Slides, even Santa wine the collection is quite copious.

“It ranges from 2,000 to 2,500,” Mary Anne said. “I’ve never counted, and I wouldn’t venture to say how many.”

The collection puts you in a festive mood but for Mary Anne it’s much more than that.  It’s memories of mother, of good times with her family and friends, a ghost of Christmas past that keeps reminding her to celebrate the season and Santa all year long.

“I wear this pin to remember my mother. … All of my children, eight grandchildren, have all grown up since she died,” Mary Anne said. “It’s kind of interesting to have been kind of connect with one little part of her.”

While the Santa Clause Museum in Columbus isn’t the most hard hitting historical hideaway in the Lone Star State, it might have the most heart and the power to inspire the spirit of giving in way only Santa can do.

“I was 10 and I had seen a doll house that had one electric light in it,” Mary Anne said. “I loved that doll house. My mother let me know that in no way could Santa Clause bring that doll house that year. I just reconciled myself to no doll house. On Christmas morning I got it and that Christmas always stands out in my mind because Santa Claus came through. She always came through.”

The Texas Bucket List – Barney Smith’s Toilet Seat Art Museum in San Antonio

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Along the quiet streets of Alamo Heights, there’s a home that’s been sitting on Abiso Avenue for many years. Barney Smith has lived in that home for over 50 of those years but it’s his garage that gets all the attention. That’s because Barney is man with a big collection. A big collection of thrones that happen to be fit for a king.  Well, the king of the commode that is, and these special seats cover all kinds of topics from vacations and politicians to Willy Nelson’s hair.

Barney has been creating this curious art for years and it was first discovered in 1992 during a yard sale. He decided to throw in some of his latrine landscapes and that caught the attention of a shopper.

“I got the big head and I said ‘You want to see some more?’”

Once Barney opened the garage, the rest is history.

“We need to go in there and let the world know what you’re doing in your garage. I said, come on!”

A media blitz ensued, and Barney was the talk of the town. The first time he was featured on television, Barney was interviewed by Barbara Walters.

The new found fame didn’t stop this former plumber from plugging away at his lovely lavatory layouts and now his collection is colossal with 1,336 toilet seats. Barney has even made toilet seats for his birthdays for almost ten years now.

There are several seats dedicated to Barney’s story, including a key to the old college girl’s dormitory that Barney won’t come clean on how he obtained it.

“My wife and I might not have been married for 74 years had she known I had the key to the girl’s dormitory,” Barney said.

You’ll find just about every topic on a toilet here.  History, disasters, dimes or dollars, and doodads.

“I like to show the girls,” Barney said. “I said do you know Elvis and they said sure we do and I said I’ve got a toilet seat down there for you of Elvis Presley.”

Considering the king kicked the bucket on a commode, I guess that’s’ fitting.

Barney still spends time working on this unique art.

“I say it I’d rather do this than eat when I’m hungry or sleep while I’m sleepy,” Barney said.

Unfortunately, father time is taking its toll on the man who’s known for toilet seats, so his terrific and storied collection is looking for a new owner.

“This collection is up for sale,” Barney said. “I’m getting so old and feeble until I can’t come out here and open it up anymore. If somebody comes along that wants to keep it as a museum – I don’t want them buying it piece by piece selling it out because some of these things people would give them a pretty piece of money for just one of them. So I’m trying to sell the whole collection.”

Barney said he has been grateful for the life he’s lived and the many achievements he made.

“The Lord has been good to me, He’s given me 96 years here because I’ve seen a lot of changes in this whole world,” Barney said.

Barney lead us to a simple seat covered with a poem Rudyard Kipling.  A poem that he’s known by heart since he was 12.

The teacher gave me that poem 85 years ago and I’m still saying it today,” Barney said. “So I’ll hang to it. That’s my favorite.”

The days are numbered for Barney Smith’s Toilet Seat Museum. What happens to it, only time will tell.  While there is a book featuring his art work, Barney hopes his visions and love for life displayed on this large number of lids will live on elsewhere.

“I feel like The Lord has given me this many years to be a blessing to someone and I hope that I’ve got this museum here a collection to where someone could be blessed,” Barney said.

The Texas Bucket List – The Telephone Guy in McGregor

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MCGREGOR, Texas — You know the telecommunications industry has come a long way here in Texas in fact it’s more than ten folded a few times.  But we found a man west of Waco who’s really into his old school telephone tech so we took a visit to see his little museum out in the middle of McGregor.

Along a residential road in the rural community of McGregor sits the home of Moe Spradley. Now there’s not much that makes Moe’s home really stand out except for a sign that looks somewhat out of place. But if you decide to pull over a pick up the call to come here, you’ll get dialed into some digit history.

The number of phones in Moe’s massive collection will make you want to put your travels on hold while you browse the big boxes and really old ringers.

“I like to go back to the basics,” Moe said. “It’s something I enjoy.”

For 71 years, Moe has called McGregor home, the third generation of Spradley’s to be settled here.  Like his father before him, Moe worked for the phone company. Moe’s 30 years of service is 10 years and one day less than his father Ed worked for Baby Bells. But as the dial went to digital, Moe figured it was time to hang it up.

“’Don’t you want to stay around for picture phones?’ I said, ‘Let me tell you something, I have a hard enough time making them sound good on the telephone, I sure can’t make them look good,’” Moe said.

That leave Moe more time to take care of his phone collection, a project that started when a family friend and fellow phone fixer named Frank Ross donated his equipment to the Spradleys so they could start a museum.

“He thought that this stuff ought to be put in a museum in a place to show because one day it’s going to be obsolete and he was absolutely right,” Moe said.

The collection came with the stipulation that Moe would run the business himself and never give it away or sell it in his lifetime. Moe agreed and since 1978, the phones and silently told their story. Telling stories to the generation that has never known what it’s like to have a hardwired line is his love.

“Takes them back, you know, they just can’t believe it,” Moe said.

A few of these phones date back to the 1800’s and some have unique, first of their kind capabilities.

“When your phone rings you put this rod in here,” Moe explained. “If you left the house, went somewhere and come back, and while you was gone it rang you can watch that thing fall right there. So you come in and look and see ‘Well someone gave me a call while I was gone. Just pick it up and call the operator and say, ‘Who called me.’ And like I said, if anyone in town knew what was going on she did.”

Never has the sound of a ringing phone been music to mans ears, that’s until we meet Moe Spradley. As long has he can pick up, he’ll continue to tell the story of the simple phone just to get through to those who have never had to ask for the operator.  Just don’t ask him to send you a text.

“If you call me I’ll get back around to calling you,” Moe said.

The Texas Bucket List – The Fire Museum of Texas in Beaumont

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BEAUMONT, Texas – Beaumont is home to some big things.  Willy Burger, Spindletop, and Rao’s are a few of our favorites but just a few blocks from the bakery is a fire station with one huge hydrant.

Ami Kamara manages the Fire Museum of Texas.

“Firefighters like to hang onto stuff, is what I’ve learned in my four and a half years here,” Ami says.

Housed in Beaumont’s 1927 fire station, the building itself is part of the exhibit that honors the firefighters of our fine state.  But back when this beautiful building was built, big old’ trucks weren’t the preferred method of transportation.

“Where we’re actually standing right now is where the horse stalls were,” Ami informed us. “This is where the horses lived. So, even if you look up at the ceiling now, there’s like pulleys in each stall.  That’s where the horses’ harnesses hung.”

One of the most storied stallions of the station was Mayor.  This stead would race to the chief’s house during fires and take the boss to the blaze.

“He was a really important part of the fire department,” Ami said. “In fact, he was so important that when he finally passed away the fire department buried him under the floor here in his station.”

Captain Tristan Barnes has been with the Beaumont Fire Department for 9 years.

“To know that a horse just put on his collar and probably knocked on a saddle and then took off to the chief’s house, the chief’s at home hanging out, eating dinner, and here comes a horse. He says, ‘Oh, I’ve got a fire. I’ve got to go. Here I go. Let’s load up and go.’ That blows my mind,” Tristan said.

Even he learns a thing or two when he comes to the museum dedicated to the men and women who came before him.

“You get to see all the ground work laid out before you,” Tristan says.” I mean horses and carriages around here, that’s awesome.”

But it’s not just about buggies. There’s also some major machinery that’s played roles in major events in our state’s history.

“So this is our light truck,” Ami said when showing us a very unique piece in the collection. “This is the, probably the very first truck of it’s kind in the world, definitely in the United States. They decided in 1931 they needed to build a truck that could light up in the night or if there was a lot of smoke. They designed and built this truck right over here in a stall over.”

Designed by Johnny Southwell, the cities engineer back in the 1920s and 30s. The truck served in New London after hundreds were killed in a school explosion caused by natural gas.  There a little-known newsman named Walter Cronkite hitched a ride on this truck to tell the world what happened in the Texas town.

There is a generator inside, and there were more lights that you could bring out and take out on stands,” Ami said. “You can kind of see that in the picture here. They got the lights from a theatre in town, and it’s actually bright enough to light up two city blocks. They actually used this truck for over 50 years in the department, so even in the mid-1980s this truck was still in use.”

All this antique equipment is impressive and makes it hard to fathom how cutting edge is was back in the day but in the end, it comes down to the brotherhood of men and women who take it upon themselves to be the hero, the person who runs towards the burning building.

“It’s an amazing feeling just coming in and seeing everything that has brought the fire service to what it is today,” Tristan says.

For todays generation of Firefighters, seeing what things were like in the past makes appreciating the tools of today that much easier.

“How did they do it?” Tristan asks. “I have no idea. I have a big pretty fire truck, lots of bells and whistles. I can pump an enormous amount of water. The capabilities are endless. I’ve got a great crew, a three man engine crew. How did they bucket? I have no idea. I have no idea how the bucket brigade actually worked. It just blows my mind.”

Tristan makes regular stops to the museum, not just to reflect, but also to say hello to fans and former firefighters.

“Because of them people trust us today, and it’s great to pay respect to these guys and see how they operated,” Tristan says.

 

The Texas Bucket List – The Old Jail Museum in Gonzales

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GONZALES, Texas – Getting thrown in jail is something you really shouldn’t want to cross off The Texas Bucket List, but visiting an old one that will keep your imagination locked up with curiosity is always a good verdict. So, we booked into Gonzales to get a good look at why the pokey ain’t the place for us, especially when it comes to the ghostly visitors.

Smack dab in the middle of the city where the Texas revolution started, sits the Gonzales County Jail Museum. Built in 1885, only 49 years after Texas won its independence from Mexico, its seen its share of outlaws, banditos, and bad guys over the years.

Sandra Wolf has a passion for this old prison. She knows the history of this old Graybar Hotel because she has special connection to it.

“This is where I grew up,” Sandra said. “This was my house. This was originally designated as the sheriff’s living quarters, and my dad was sheriff for 18 years. I grew up here. Moved in here when I was 6 years old, stayed here until I was 16, and I haven’t done anything bad yet. I loved it. I actually thought that I moved from the middle of the country to a three story mansion in the middle of town. So I was happy.”

Her father L.O. McGinty had a stellar reputation with citizens and even those who spent time behind bars.

“I have people who were incarcerated here during my dad’s terms, and they come back to look and see if their name is still on the wall,” Sandra informed us. “If I know when it was I ask if they knew Sheriff McGinty, and they say, ‘Oh yeah.’ They all say he was a fine fella and they respected him. The thing that makes me the proudest is they say he was fair.”

Sheriff McGinty came from a long line of lawmen that lead the long arm of the law in this little town but when the jail was built here all those years ago, some thought Gonzales might get as big as San Antonio hence the reason such a big, big house was built. Famed architect Eugene Heiner designed the jail that wasn’t closed till 1975.

“I don’t think it was ever completely full,” Sandra says. “They said it was built to hold 150 to 200 prisoners in case of a riot.”

The names of those who spent time here still tell their stories on the wall and a grim reminder of what capital punishment used to be like still stands in the jail.

“The gallows was actually stored there out of sight,”

Only three executions ever took place here, all before 1924 but for some reason you still get the heebee jeebies here.

“This is really high security. You’ve got locked doors everywhere. If you get put back here you’re not getting out,” Sandra explained. “People who were put in this section committed felony crimes. That’s armed robbery, murder, rape, bad crimes. People who hurt other people get put in these cells here.”

While sitting in these old cells, you can’t help but feel the hair on the back your neck start to rise.

“We actually have people get a little creepy feeling in here, and a lot of people that visit the jail can’t even go up the stairs,” Sandra says. “They sit there and they say that it’s just an oppressive feeling, and some of them really leave when they get to the top of the stairs and see all the cells.”

Perhaps the most intriguing Gonzales Jail ghost story took a place a few years ago in these very cells.

“We’ve done lots of paranormal investigations, and we’ve heard whistles and footsteps and seen orbs, and all the regular kinds of things that you see when you do that,” Sandra said. “But, we really had a spectacular viewing. A 17-year-old young man came up stairs. His mother stayed in this big run around area, and he went into this security section in the very back cell, which is very small and you can tell if there is anybody else there right away. He went in there. He was by himself. He saw the outline of a left hand on the wall. He put his hand in that and immediately got this feeling down his back that he wasn’t alone. He turned around, and right close to him was a smallish man who had on a blue shirt. He had a scraggly beard, and he had bruises on his neck. It scared the young man, and so he got out of that. Since it was the last of three cells he had a little ways to go to get out of that cell block. As he’s coming through the last cell, that same man that he just saw appeared on the bunk in that last cell as he’s going out the door.”

After hearing this, it comes as no surprise that this young man fled from the jail and refused to reneter.

“The young man left the jail and would not come back in,” Sandra said. “His mother eventually came back in and said, ‘I’m sorry if that was an inconvenience or if it upset anybody, but he is an empath. He sees dead people.’ He saw him, whoever he was.”

Considering I’m into history more than horror stories, we said our goodbyes to anyone from beyond. That’s when Sandra informed us that she’s never been afraid in the old building.

“I was always surrounded by deputies, and actually I usually knew most of the people that were in jail,” Sandra explained.

This old jail is more than a former lock up; it’s a story of Texas justice with connections to legendary lawmen and a few well known fugitives (perhaps even a poltergeist or two) making it well worth a stop on The Texas Bucket List.

“I do feel a presence,” Sandra says. “It’s not like a ghost presence, or anything like that. It’s just like history’s whispering to me or something and I just feel like this is what I need to do.”

 

The Texas Bucket List – The National Border Patrol Museum in El Paso

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EL PASO, Texas – Here in Texas, border security is a hot topic.  The line between Mexico and Texas stretches over 1200 miles and protecting it is a tough job.  Now we’re not here to talk about the best way to do that, but rather focus on the history of how it’s been done and how dangerous that job can be.

From Brownsville to El Paso, Texas shares a long line of border with our neighbors to the south.  A river may separate us, but in most border towns commuting back and forth is an everyday affair. However, there are those who don’t have the best intentions, and that’s where the border patrol comes in.

David Ham retired from the border patrol in 2003 but now he helps tell the story of the agency’s long history at the Border Patrol Museum in El Paso.

“Immigration is a very political issue right now, yes,” David said.

That’s why we’re going to focus on the history of these agents that have one heck of a responsibility.

“We enforce the laws that the people, who elected their congressmen, have passed,” David says. “That’s our job, to enforce the law. We try to do it as humanely as possible.”

Around 18,000 border patrol agents safeguard the borderline between the U.S.  and Mexico, but when the border patrol was established, bootlegging was the biggest issue.

“The big thing when it started was prohibition era,” David said. “That was the bloodiest era in our history. We lost more agents in that time period than any other, both here and on the northern border. That’s basically their primary job from 1924 up until prohibition ended, I think in ’34.”

When David started his career, the job itself started to change.

“The late 60s early 70s was when the cartels started moving drugs big time,” David informed us. “In 72 we started to see a big increase in drug loads.”

Even though the majority of the border patrol’s attention has shifted south, the mission has stayed the same.

“You read about the early history, and nothing really has changed,” David says. “People try to smuggle and people try to come here. It’s gotten a lot more sophisticated.”

With more sophisticated smuggling comes a need for more sophisticated modes of transportation and weapons for the border patrol.

“It’s a never-ending chase,” David explained. “They change and we have to change with them.”

Among the sieged weapons David showed us was a homemade shotgun from the prohibition era called a zip gun.

“They’re just as well armed as we are,” David said. “Got to be careful.”

The Border Patrol has to be fast as the smugglers too, that’s why they’ve got some supped up cars including a Firebird that was part of operation roadrunner.

Over the years, 124 men and women who have protected our border have made the ultimate sacrifice.  Here at the museum, they honor each and every one.

“That’s probably the most meaningful thing to me,” David said. “The fact I knew these guys, and they gave their life. It’s just like a war. You lose people and it affects you. You’re protecting the United States.”

So stop by the U.S. Border Patrol Museum in El Paso to see the hardware and hear how harrowing protecting the northern and southern borders of America can be.

“You get to see the type of people that these smugglers are and how they treat these people,” David said. “Those people that take apart that smuggling organization get a lot of satisfaction out of that.”

 

The Texas Bucket List – Checking It Twice – The Texas Museum of Broadcasting and Communications

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KILGORE, Texas – After over 100 episodes of The Texas Bucket List there’s been a few things that we’ve checked off the list that have moved on to bigger and better things. That’s exactly the case in Kilgore, where we went back to the Museum of Broadcasting and Communications to see their new digs in a segment we like to call checking it twice.

Back in 2015 we met Chuck Conrad and Chuck is big into broadcasting. Back then Chuck had his personal collection of communications technology displayed in his Chalk Hill home.

“You don’t really notice things gathering in your closet until you go to move,” Chuck said. “That’s always those critical moments, I think it is for everybody, and you go, ‘I didn’t know I had this many socks!’ Well, I didn’t know I had this many TV cameras!”

The history seen through the lens of these cameras or told through the ribbon of these microphones changed our perspective on the world and delivered the latest news back in the day.

“Almost everybody watches TV,” Chuck says. “It’s really how several generations have experienced the world. It’s really true. It’s a repository of Texas history.”

Now those pieces of metal and glass purveyors of the past can be found at a new stop on The Texas Bucket List, situated on the streets of downtown Kilgore.

“The museum actually owns this building, which is really great,” Chuck informed us. “So, it will be here for a long time unlike some other museums that kind of come and go.”

The Musuem of Broadcasting of Communications is now located in an old car dealership that’s definitely got a 1950 art deco feel to it.

The vintage part kind of fits with what we’re doing,” Chuck said. “The TVs and the TV cameras and stuff all came from the same era when this was showing a corvette or something in the showroom.”

And just about everything, at least the biggest pieces from Chuck’s collection are now here.

“We have stuff,” Chuck began to explain. “We have cameras that are early black and white cameras, early color cameras. This is one of the first colored cameras. This is one of my favorites. We call it Bertha because it’s kind of big. Weighs 340 pounds. They used to carry these things around to football games and baseball games and stuff. I can’t imagine what it was like hauling this thing around. We used a forklift truck to get it up here, and this dolly.”

Chuck also found a new friend who also had an assortment of antique audio and video devices that are now part of the museum.  Warren Willard added his collection of old radios and TVs.

“We realized that we both share the same sickness of collecting weight enhanced devices,” Chuck said.

Being home to such a peculiar collection of particular things sort of bucks the trend in Kilgore, but if you tune in for a time, it’s easy to get lost in the TV history here.

“Most people think of Kilgore as the oil museum maybe and the Kilgore Rangerettes or something, and we’ve really upset the dynamic of Kilgore a little bit just by being the Broadcasting and Communications Museum,” Chuck explained. “That’s not something they think of themselves as, but they’re beginning to adopt it and think it’s pretty cool.”

With all this old technology in one place, the museum has become a drop off point for people looking to donate their past prime equipment.

“It changes almost on a daily basis,” Chuck says. “It surprises me how fast new stuff just arrives. Almost everyday someone will come in with a smoldering thing and go, ‘Hi, this is for you.’”

And the newly renovated 18,000 square foot facility includes a space for Chucks big ol’ bus that has an interesting connection to Kilgore.  Tom Potter, the oilman from this area that put channel 8 on the air in Dallas was the original buyer of this massive news van.

“He paid $94,000 for it back in 1949 which was a bunch of money,” explained Chuck. “He was from Kilgore. He paid a lot of money to put channel 8 in Dallas on the air. I understand he sold it for not a lot of money, too. In less than a year I guess he figured radio with pictures wasn’t going to happen. Sometimes you’re right, sometimes you’re wrong.”

Well a stop at the Texas Museum of Broadcasting and Communications is something worth tuning into on The Texas Bucket List.

“Most people spend an hour and a half to two hours, sometimes more,” Chuck said when talking about how much time the typical museum visitor spends at The Museum of Broadcasting and Communications. “If they’re broadcasters, sometimes it’s all day, because they’ll start geeking out at some of the stuff and go, ‘Eww, look!’ This is a lot different than the last time you saw it.”

The Texas Bucket List – Fort Duncan in Eagle Pass

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EAGLE PASS, Texas – Along the border of the Lone Star State sits Eagle Pass, its sister city sitting on the other side of the Rio Piedras Negras.  Since the 1840’s these towns have grown together, but in the beginning the Mexican War put the people on particular sides of the stream at odds.  However, that didn’t stop a bit of business between the border towns.

“Growing up in Piedras and growing up in Eagle Pass is something quite unique I would say,” said Joe Cruz, the Main Street Manager of Eagle Pass.

Cruz has lived on both sides of the border and now works for the city of Eagle Pass, helping tell its complex and copious history.

We met Joe at Fort Duncan, which was established in 1849.

“You pass by through the outside and it looks really small,” Joe said. “You think nothings really in here, but once people walk in they’re very surprised at what we have inside.”

The story of this former U.S. Army post doesn’t just consist of two countries, it also involves the native people, a civil war, a Wild West Texas town, and a country or two that came together.

Ramsey Cantu is the Mayor of Eagle Pass and growing up here has given him a unique outlook on life.  It’s not often you’ll find a town rooted with Mexican, American, and even Native American stories to tell.

“Eagle Pass’ success has never been something that we’ve done on our own, but we’ve done it as a collective society,” Ramsey said. “The one great thing about being part of this community is the cultures that we live through.”

It wasn’t long after the Mexican War that the forts main focus was driving off Apaches, but the Civil War forced federal troops to retreat.  As the Civil War came to a close, the last Confederate force in the field crossed into Mexico from Eagle Pass and buried and flag in the river that’s become a tough topic in history.

It’s a symbol that still makes most do a double take and here in Eagle Pass, they play a significant role is the final chapter of the Confederacy, hence the reason they feel it’s important to tell the story.

“Interesting history that we also have in Eagle Pass, the last Confederate battle flag that ever flew was buried in the Rio Grande here,” Joe explained. “On the border, we have a park named Shelby Park, and it’s named after General Joseph Shelby. He is the one who buried that confederate flag.”

Here you’ll find the story of the Black Seminole Scouts. Thirteen of these brave men of African American and Seminole descent were among the most revered and crucial contributors to the Texas-Indian Wars.

“They knew the area very well. They knew how to survive on very little. They knew how to manage on the little resources they had, and they were very good fighters also,” Joe explained. “Four of them received the Congressional Medal of Honor, and they have a very beautiful history, very unique history.”

During the Mexican Revolution, Fort Duncan was home to 16,000 soldiers, its peak population, but eventually relations become a bit more civilized and the fort was turned over to the city.  Now it’s filled to the brim with the stories that shaped the region.

“You want to hear stories about the fort, about soldiers, about Mexican revolution, gun slingers, and so on, you need to come to Fort Duncan,” Joe says.

The Texas Bucket List – Stockyards Museum in Fort Worth

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FORT WORTH, Texas – The Fort Worth Stockyards are synonymous with longhorn steers.  Twice a day these big ol’ cattle are lead down exchange avenue as sort of a spectacle as to what business was like here in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s.

But for a more historical look at the story of the stockyards, moseying into the old Livestock Exchange Building will continue your cattle drive through time.

Teresa Burleson is the director of the stockyards museum and she’s got the credentials to tell this story.

“This building was actually dubbed the Wall Street of the West because so much money passed through here,” Teresa said after informing us that she is a proud fifth generation Texan who loves her job.

“I love history,” Teresa said. “I love our heritage. And I love the colorful people that make up our history.”

Since 1989 the North Fort Worth History Society has been the point rider for this small museum that tells the story of how different the stockyards used to be.

“When people see that picture [of the stockyards] they suddenly become aware of how huge these stockyards were,” Teresa said. “I mean they were the third largest in the nation. Chicago was first, Omaha was second, Fort Worth was third.”

While this rich history is big draw, there are a few other oddities that you might not expect to find here.

“We have artifacts from what you would find in a home in the early 1900s. Then we have things that are a little bazar like the bad luck wedding dress and the light bulb that’s been burning 108 years,” Teresa informed us.

With such unique historical artifacts in a historical building in Fort Worth, you might be wondering,were does one start?  But let’s go ahead and get the bad luck out of the way.

“The bad luck wedding dress has nothing to do whatsoever with the stockyards, but the lady that inherited it did not want it in her house and so she brought it to us,” Teresa said. “. Out of the four people that had the bad luck, three of them lost their husbands and one lady become sick. “We have it under the Plexiglas to keep the bad mojo in there.”

Next Teresa shed some light on the lightbulb that’s been glowing for 108 years.

“This is the famous Palace Theatre light bulb, and you know it has its own Facebook page, too,” Teresa said.  “And we do have it on a dimmer. It could be brighter. It’s going to last forever.”

So what’s the key to making a light bulb last 108 years?

“The filament is made from tungsten, and when it was made there was a vacuum that sucked all the moisture out of it, and that’s one of the reasons it’s lasted so long,” Teresa explained.

This bulb has been burning bright since 1908 when a stagehand screwed it into a socket at the old Brayers Opera House, later known as the Palace Theater. Considering this is the second longest running light bulb in the world, don’t expect to get a hand on it.

So don’t be turned off by the idea of seeing this old light bulb because it’s actually quit illuminating and well worth a stop on The Texas Bucket List.

The Texas Bucket List – Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in Wichita Falls

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WICHITA FALLS, Texas – In the middle of downtown Wichita Falls, in the building affectionately known as big blue, you’ll find a class dedicated to crushing your opponents.

These hopeful athletes are learning the sport of wrestling with the goal of one day, being the main event.  They have the inspiration they need right below them in the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame.

Cowboy Johnny Mantell has been tussling between the turnbuckles since the 70s.

Today he’s the caretaker of more than 100 years of wrestling history, but back in the day he put the three count on some of the biggest stars.

“I wrestled André the Giant, Lopez, Gene Kiniski, Pedro Morales, Victor Rivera, Stan Stasiak, Piper, all the Von Erich boys, I mean I just have been so very blessed in this business to get to do what I’ve gotten to do,” Johnny shared.

From some of the earliest wrestlers to the progression and popularity of the sport, you’ll be surprised by some of the facts you find at this faction that includes everyone. For example, did you know Abraham Lincoln was a professional wrestler?

Al Farat has also made his mark on the mat.

“Man, it’s nostalgic to be able to look around and see all of these different people that I’ve worked with, and not even people that I worked with, people that I grew up watching,” Farat said.

Each year the hall inducts a handful of wrestlers. You’ll find babyfaces and heels, legends and lore.

“It’s something we need to keep the history alive and tell that story,” Johnny says. “I know with a lot of these living legends in here they feel the same way. They want their story to be told from now on.”

This hall honors hundreds of wrestlers, some have become superstars, others have simply continued the tradition of this theatrical sport but all of them have made sacrifices.  They’ve endured physical pain and relentless training that the next generation of wrestling greats is willing to withstand in order to get in the ring and maybe someday in the hall below that keeps them motivated.

“Whether you’re an avid fan or a closet fan you have some connection to professional wrestling,” Johnny explained, “and I think that when you walk through these halls here you’re going to find somebody in that connection in your mind that you’re going to relate to from your childhood or your youth or some time you spent with a family member and I think that’s what’s so important about this hall. I honestly believe that we’re becoming a bucket list for a lot of people.”