DAY THREE: Thursday, 29
March 2012
Mum said that we’d gone west and
south so far this trip, so what was east?
That was a good question. When
we’d look at the Texas Travel book, there didn’t seem to be a lot out in the
Hutto and Taylor area. There were a
couple possible ideas in the points beyond, and we never knew what we’d find
once got there too. Besides, I’m sure
there would be some more court houses for Mum to see.
As we drove out towards past, we
noticed that we’d left the hill country behind.
The area out here was very flat, with large tracts of fields. This wasn’t grazing area, but more farmland
type. With few natural barriers, this
was why there were so many high winds that descended down upon Round Rock. Driving through Taylor , we got to see the road construction
which was in process of widening two lanes to four lanes of traffic. Beyond that, Taylor
didn’t appear any different than the other small Texas towns we’d visited.
We breezed through Rockdale, and
made a couple notations of things to check out on the way back. There seemed like there’d be some interesting
things out in Cameron we wanted to see first.
It was pretty early in the morning when we arrived in Cameron, and the
chamber of commerce had let us know the town’s museum had just opened for the
day. Like many of the small towns, there
was a lot of memorabilia from specific events in local history, as well as how
the events of World War II had affected them.
Among the late 1800’s medicine bottles, vintage office machines, and
items donated by veterans was an actual piece of the Berlin Wall brought back
by a Cameron resident. That was pretty
interesting. We commented that we wanted
to take a tour of the jail house museum, although the chamber of commerce said
it didn’t open for another hour or so.
The curator decided to open it early to allow us a chance to look
around. We thought that was really nice
of him.
The Milam County Jail was built in
1895, and remained in use until 1975 (and then was re-opened as a museum in
’77). The entryway in the front of the
jail was where the incoming prisoners were processed, and then brought to the second
and third floors to be housed in the general population. The back part of the first floor was actual
living quarters for the sheriff stationed at the complex (and his family). The sheriff’s wife cooked for the entire
site, and those meals were placed on serving trays from their dining room to
the central corridor inside the jail portion.
I’m sure the sheriff’s wife had some help with the meals, considering
she had a “home” to keep and children to raise, too.
The living quarters for the
sheriff’s family is nicely restored to so what they would’ve had in the early
20th Century. While many of
the items are antiques, they weren’t all actual items used by the sheriff’s
families. Most were donated by various
historical societies, and you figure each family that resided there painted or
wall-papered as they desired, and filled it with whatever they wanted for their
daily lives. In the shot below, you can
see the opening which the sheriff’s wife would send prepared meals to the
inmates. Under the portrait on the wall
is a slot with a steel tray on it.
As this is a museum now, you can
get from the living residence to where the cells are. There was a central stairwell in which you
could access the four wings of the second and third floors. Each wing had bars to allow it to be closed
off. Inside each wing was essentially a
large metal cage that had three or four individual dual-bunk cells, with a
small “common” area (where the bathroom facilities were). During most of the day, the inmates could
roam about the inside jail, and during the evening they had to go back to their
individual locations. Only a handful of
actual guards were necessary to keep order.
According to our tour guide, the
large black cages (which housed the dual-bunk cells) were built as a single
welded steel unit, and slid in place before the walls of the building went up
during the initial construction. As
technology improved, so did the plumbing and electricity, but it was all kept
within the existing infrastructure of the original building.
A central boiler provided heat in the winter,
and bars on the outer windows allowed them to be opened in the summer for some
ventilation. I’m sure the air didn’t move very well in this place, and was
stifling when it was hot. The cells
didn’t have much in the way of creature comforts (this was jail, after all), but
even with a mattress and blanket this didn’t look like a place where you wanted
to spend any length of time. Perhaps our
modern correctional facilities could learn something from the way things used
to be.
Once we were done with the Milam
County Jail, we headed over to the town annex where they had a “miniature
replica of the town” complete with working model train. When we arrived, we learned they were in the
process of deconstructing it so it could be moved to another location. What we did get to see of it looked pretty
interesting. I’d like to see a number of
other small towns have a similar diorama like that, so you can get a sense of
where things are in relation to one another.
A lunch tip directed to a bistro
which was the “local favorite.” We
expected something more like the brisket place we’d found in Gonzalez, but this
turned out to be more of an upscale establishment. The design was an old warehouse which had
been converted over with some very modern décor. I don’t think Dad was very impressed, but Mum
and I liked it.
Since the bistro was right off the
town square, we were able to walk over to the Cameron court house. The building was completed in 1892, but in
the 1930s during a renovation process some of the original elements were
removed (like the clock tower). Another
restoration process was completed in 2002, in which the original elements had
been returned. There were also some war
monuments around. This court house was a
bit busier, so we didn’t wander through this one as much as we did the one in
Llano.
We headed back to Rockdale in
search of the train museum that was there.
We were expecting something like what we’d found in Smithville, but this
was even smaller. This was a small
building which looked like it housed only a small bit of memorabilia, and it
was only open one day a week. There were
a couple old train cars we were able to look inside, but they hadn’t been
restored yet. We were treated to a train
to come speeding by, which was all of ten feet from where we were. That was _loud_, and shook the ground
slightly.
The only other thing of interest in
Rockdale we found was what passed for their visitor’s center. The house this office was contained in first
appeared to have a stone exterior, but it was actually petrified wood. The lady in the visitor’s center didn’t know
much about the history of the house, other than “someone built, and it’s been
here as long as I can remember.”
The day was still young, so we
looked around what else might be in the area.
Not much in the Travel Texas book for areas close by, but Elgin seemed like it would
have some potential. It was just a quick
matter back-tracking the road to Taylor ,
and then swinging south. The drive was
rural highway, so it provided nice farmland to look at.
While the historical building the Elgin chamber of commerce
was in wasn’t much to look at (and needed some serious restoration work), the
museum near the railway crossing was much better. This was an old train station that had been
built during the segregation era, and an old floor plan showed which were the
“white” areas and the “colored” areas.
The design of the building had two sets of restrooms, waiting areas, etc
for the people who’d be getting on the same train. An interesting reminder of what was “accepted
practice” only a few decades ago.
The museum had detailed displays on
the original settlers of Elgin ,
how the railway was their lifeline, and how they adapted to changing life in
the 1900s. There was also information
about the Robert Redford movie The Great
Waldo Pepper which was filmed in Elgin . The lady at the museum pointed out some of
the nearby historical buildings still standing in the town.
One of the more amusing stories was
how during the days before Prohibition, a gentleman named Albert Christian
created a bar within sight of the train stop in order to attract patrons. He had the name of his establishment painted
on the side of the building so passengers would see it, and know to go
there. Apparently one day, a traveling
Bible-seller came in to Elgin ,
and noticed the sign which said “A. Christian Saloon.” Not realizing it was someone’s name, the
Bible-seller went to congratulate the owner for having a “reputable
establishment,” and was horrified once he went inside.
Stories like this are so cool,
because you can’t make shit like that up and have it believable. Truth is always more interesting, and usually
stranger, than fiction.
More information can be found on the places we visited at:
Milam County Jail
Cameron: www.camerontexas.net
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