The Historic Eastland Hotel and a walk around the Courthouse Square

Entrance to the historic Eastland Hotel

We started our Texas trip to the Triple H Farm last Thursday morning. Our first overnight was in Tyler as we were driving to Temple Friday morning to take some family items to R’s cousin and visit his last living uncle. It was a beautiful drive to Temple and the Texas wildflowers were profusely blooming along all the highways (thank you, Lady Bird Johnson!). We had a delightful visit with his 93-year-old uncle, who is still living alone independently at home. Uncle D was always my favorite on that side of R’s family–he and I share many of the same values about public service. Afterwards, we headed back north to Eastland and another beautiful drive through the wide open spaces of Texas. Following dinner at the Bear Creek Taphouse on the corner, 3 of the cousins headed back to the Triple H where they have rustic cabins for weekend get-a-ways, and the rest of us returned to the Eastland Hotel where we did our catch up visiting on the deck outside and in the spacious lobby.

Saturday morning I woke early, showered, and went outside to walk around the Square. As I opened the blinds and looked out, my first view was the historic jail across the street from the hotel.

Historic Eastland jail on the front, and the new police station and jail attached at the rear

The former Eastland County Jail was constructed in 1897 and served as the jail until 1980. It now houses the county historic museum, but more on the jail later when it gets its own post! I have a routine of taking a photo from the window of my hotel rooms.

I walked around the Square, and down one side street. On a Saturday morning, it was quiet, and no one else was on the streets which made for some really pristine photo ops without people in them, just a few cars. It was a beautiful morning, slightly overcast but with peeks of sunshine and cool.

Looking north on Lamar Street from the courthouse

In the 1918 Eastland Hotel building, the Princess Theater and Stanley Café occupied the first floor and the Stanley Hotel was on the second and third floors. St. Elmo Boyce moved from El Paso where he had managed the Garden Theater to manage the Princess.

The former Exchange National Bank on the corner. The historic Majestic Theater. The former Stanley cafe, hotel, and Princess Theater

The Exchange National Bank was built in 1921. The Majestic was constructed 1920, but was “heavily remodeled” in 1947 into the current “streamlined Art Deco mode.” The Eastland Hotel is on the corner. All of these will have a separate post with details related to the buildings and their history. The original brick pavement remains in use (and in remarkably good condition) on the downtown streets. The bricks were made at the Thurber brick company, about 30 miles east of Eastland. The Bankhead Highway entered Eastland along East Main Street, paved with the Thurber vitrified brick from Ranger through Eastland to Cisco. That road is currently Highway 6. It continues from Cisco along FM 2945 toward Putnam and the Callahan County line.

In 1919, the Bankhead Highway had been mapped as far as Memphis, TN, “and the remainder will be mapped out at the Mineral Wells (TX) conference” (2,000 Delegates Are Expected At Road Convention. Fort Worth Star-Telegram, March 25, 1919, p. 14). Delegates from Gordon, Eastland, and Ranger in Eastland County attended the meeting.

Next up, I will individually showcase the historic buildings I photographed on that first walk around the square. But as always, after a wonderful trip and good times with family, it was great to be back home last night and sleep in my own bed!