Roscoe's Heyday - Part 2 - 1910-1916

Roscoe, ca. 1910. The view is to the south, looking down Cypress from the railroad tracks with the lumber yard at lower left.

Editor’s note: (Roscoe's Heyday, Part 1 -1904-1909 was three weeks ago in the January 29 Roscoe Hard Times.) In 1910, my grandfather, J. F. Duncan, bought a farm three miles southwest of Roscoe and brought his family and belongings from east Texas on the train. My father, Everett Duncan, was seven years old and a first grader. He spoke of two things that happened that year. One was the return of Halley’s Comet, which was clearly visible in the early evening sky during April and May, and the other was the first airplane ever to fly over Roscoe. The teachers stopped classes just before it came and took everyone out to the playground to watch it as it flew over. Times were changing.

By 1910, Roscoe was a thriving west Texas community on two railroads with a good school, several churches, a thriving business district, community-minded citizens, and a progressive city government. It was seen throughout the region as a successful, growing city and, because of the Roscoe, Snyder & Pacific Railway, as a transportation hub.

This second railroad, connecting with the Texas & Pacific at Roscoe, opened the northwest to rail transport all the way to Fluvanna, which immediately became a cattle-shipping center. Ranchers in that region no longer had to drive their cattle all the way to Colorado City to get them to the Fort Worth markets. And cattle weren’t the only riders on the trains. Traveling salesmen and businessmen were regulars along with incoming settlers and their families.

RS&P Engine No. 2, purchased in 1909, replaced the older Engine No. 1.

Roscoe residents could—and many did—go on pleasant fifty-mile train excursions to Fluvanna, spend the night in a hotel there, eat in a restaurant, go out to the caprock for the views, and return to Roscoe the next day. And Fluvanna folks were taking trips to Roscoe for the same reason, a ride on the train, a look at the countryside, a night in a hotel, and a visit to a different city.

The little railroad’s early success made it the subject of speculation about what its next moves would be. In June 1910, the Railway Age Gazette reported that an extension was in the works to extend the railroad 75 miles east to Cross Plains with the T&P financially involved. There was also talk of extending the line to the meat-packing plants in Sweetwater and the sale of the RS&P to the Santa Fe, but none of these ventures were ever realized.

However, in February 1913, the Texas & Pacific daily passenger train that ran between Dallas and Sweetwater was extended to Roscoe to link it directly with the RS&P traffic to and from the northwest, so Roscoe became the western terminal on the daily T&P runs to and from Dallas, which greatly benefitted its local hotels and restaurants.

When my mother, born in Cisco in 1907, was a little girl, she visited an older married sister, who lived in Sweetwater. One day, for some reason, they came to Roscoe. My mother told me she thought it was the prettiest town she’d ever seen with its clean, wide streets and white houses, each with a windmill, in her mind just like a Dutch village.

The town didn’t have a city water system until 1911, so the windmills had been necessary, but all that changed after a disastrous downtown fire. On the evening of January 11, 1911 (1-11-11), a fire broke out in Jarmon’s General Store on the north side of Broadway and completely destroyed it along with W. T. Pool’s store next to it. It also did considerable damage to most of the other businesses on that side of the street, which prompted the City Council to propose a bond issue of $7500 to create a city water works. The citizens easily passed the measure, and later that year the city bought and erected the downtown water tower that became a Roscoe landmark for the next 75 years. They also drilled new wells, put in water mains for downtown and the surrounding area, and removed the old city windmill and water trough.

The general store on the corner of 1st and Main in 1915. Note that the cars are all on one side while the buggies and wagons are on the other.

It was also in these years that cars became common sights on the streets of Roscoe. Dr. J. W. Young was most likely the first resident ever to use one regularly starting in 1909, and many Roscoe folks got their first automobile rides with him. But old photos of downtown Roscoe before 1912 don’t show any cars in the streets. After that year though, they are more frequent, and by 1915, there appear to be as many cars on the road as horse or mule-drawn conveyances.

Along with the increase of motor vehicles came demands for better streets and roads. The highway between Roscoe and Sweetwater was improved, and in 1913 an ordinance was passed requiring every able-bodied male to either work 5 days on the streets or pay $3. In 1916 the city passed its first rules for automobiles on Roscoe streets. The speed limit was 12 miles an hour, and each automobile must have a bell or gong audible at 300 feet, which should be sounded 50 feet before reaching an intersection, but must not be sounded when passing another vehicle. 

The St. George Hotel on the north side of 1st and Pecan, ca. 1912.

Roscoe also became known for the Nolan County Fair, which it put on every year in east Roscoe, about where the Oncor substation is today. The fairgrounds sported a fine oval racetrack, a midway, a baseball field, and an area for parking buggies, wagons, and automobiles. First held in 1910, it grew with each passing year, drew huge crowds, and was recognized as one of the major annual fairs of west Texas, along with the ones in Abilene, Big Spring, Midland, and Pecos.

On October 11, 1911, the Abilene Daily Reporter said, “A most successful county fair was closed at Roscoe last week. Roscoe has not a large number of inhabitants, but what the town lacks in numbers is well made up in progressiveness, determination, and harmony.”

On July 19, 1912, it reported, “There were between 1500 and 2000 people present at the basket picnic at the Nolan County Fair Grounds in the east edge of Roscoe Wednesday of this week.”

And on July 31, 1914, the Roscoe Times proclaimed that the upcoming fair would have “the finest and most complete line of farm and garden exhibits ever seen. A splendid racing program has been arranged, and a big carnival company has been engaged. They have 150 people, and seven rail cars are required to transport the equipment.”

The fairs of 1915 and 1916 were reportedly even larger with special reduced T&P train fares for fair goers from Dallas to El Paso, and similar reduced rates on the RS&P. 

The Roscoe Historical Museum still has a complete program for the 1915 fair available online by clicking here. An article with details about the 1915 fair is in the Roscoe Hard Times, January 9, 2013, available here.

Ben Goodnight, Roscoe's public cotton weigher for many years.

The years 1914, ‘15, and ‘16 were also some of the best ever in the Roscoe area for crops. Concerning the 1914 and 1915 cotton crops, there was this gin report from the Roscoe Times of March 10, 1916:

All the Roscoe gins have closed down for the season. Ben F. Goodnight, public weigher, reports that 5,601 bales of cotton have been received at the yard. He thinks there are 200 or 300 bales of cotton still scattered over the area. This is the second largest crop in the history of the town, the largest having been that of 1914.

And in a September 15, 1915, article about the upcoming Nolan County Fair in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, fair president Monroe McCauley had this to say,

We confidently expect a very successful fair. Crops were never better in Nolan county. We have already made and harvested a bumper wheat and oat crop, wheat making from twenty to thirty-five bushels to the acre, and oats an average of better than fifty bushels to the acre. Milo maize, kaffir corn, feterita, Sudan grass and other forage are especially fine. Cotton promises to produce a bale to a bale and a half to the acre. Fruit, melons, and vegetable gardens have seldom been equaled.

And speaking of town harmony, Roscoe showed its community spirit in 1914 when over 17 inches of rain fell in about three weeks, and this article ran in the May 25 Fort Worth Star-Telegram:

WHOLE TOWN TO WORK ON FARM: 17 INCHES OF RAIN

ROSCOE, Texas, May 25 [1914]. This town will be completely evacuated Wednesday and Thursday, when all of the male population will turn out to help farmers, plant, cultivate, and plow their crops. The two days have been set aside as “farm days.”

Since the first day of May, seventeen and one-half inches of rain has fallen, putting the ground in the best condition known for twenty years. The rains kept many farmers out of their fields, allowing the weeds to get a big start, also preventing planting some of the late crops.

Labor is scarce and the merchants have volunteered to help out the farmers. Bankers, merchants, and office men will be found riding a planter or cultivator holding the handles of a “foot-burner” plow, or wielding a hoe along the corn rows of the Roscoe country. All field crops, especially small grains, are in splendid condition.

Looking south at Cypress and 1st, about 1912.

Besides the increased improvements to the streets and roads, the city also got electricity in 1914 when the lines were extended from Sweetwater to Colorado City. There had been an earlier agreement in 1909 to get electricity from a company in Stanton, and the city bought a lot for the electric plant, but the deal fell through. So, when the West Texas Electric Company lines came through in 1914, everyone was happy, and this notice ran in the March 6 Roscoe Times:

THE ELECTRIC LIGHT LINE

We are informed that the electric light and power line to be built from Sweetwater to Colorado City has been started and will follow the public highway.

A force of men began work Monday preparing the poles for the wires. This line will give Roscoe lights, something she has needed for a long time.

Similar lines are being put up in various portions of Texas, and the day may not be too far distant when they will be almost as common as telephone lines.

Let the good work go on.

By 1916, prospects for Roscoe were as good or better than ever. Known throughout the region as a successful, well-organized community, it had experienced several years of steady growth and improvement. The school was good, churches strong and well-attended, the business district thriving, and the crops bountiful. Along with the electricity, city water, rail transport, cars and road improvements, its residents enjoyed conveniences unheard of just a few years earlier, such as confectionaries with ice cream and milk shakes or the Gem Theater with its silent “picture shows.” Life was good in Roscoe, and folks were optimistic about the future.

Little did they know what Mother Nature had in store for them in 1917 and 1918.
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References
(For source information not already provided in article.)

Railway Age Gazette, June 24, 1910, p. 1815.
RS&P Newsletter 1977, p. 4. (Excursions, travel to Fluvanna)
“T&P Terminal in Roscoe,” Abilene Daily Reporter, Feb. 14, 1914.
“Roscoe in Years Gone By: The Downtown Fire of 1911,” Roscoe Hard Times, May 27, 2015.
“City of Roscoe Has Glorious Past, Active Present, Great Future,” Roscoe Times, December 9, 1938.

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Shannon Sanders placed 4th in the American Middle Weight Steer Class at the San Angelo Stock Show.

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LOCAL ATTORNEY LOSES LICENSE

Roscoe lawyer Chris Hartman has been disbarred by the State Bar of Texas.  He was an unindicted co-conspirator with John Young and Ray Zapata in the 2017 trial over the forged will of John Sullivan.  

On February 3, he appeared before a District 16 grievance committee, which found the following facts concerning him, viz., that he knowingly made a false statement of material fact or law to a tribunal; that he committed a serious crime or criminal act; that he engaged in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation; and that he knowingly failed to disclose a fact to a tribunal when disclosure was necessary to avoid assisting a criminal or fraudulent act.

In addition to surrendering his law license, he was ordered to pay $15,100 in court costs and attorney fees, to immediately notify his clients in writing of his disbarment, and to return their files and funds. He was also ordered to pay $10,000 if he appeals the judgment.

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 2020 PLOWBOY & PLOWGIRL TRACK SCHEDULE

February 27 – Buffalo Relays – Cross Plains
March 7 – Bluebonnet Relays – Brownwood
March 20 – Blackland Divide Relays – Roscoe
March 27 – Bold Gold Caprock Relays – Post
April 4 – District 8-AA Meet – Albany
April 16 – District 7 & 8-AA Meet – Clyde
April 24-25 – Region 1 AA Meet – Levelland
May 8-9 – State AA Meet – Austin

2020 JUNIOR HIGH TRACK SCHEDULE

February 28 – JH Lone Wolf Relays – Colorado City
March 2 – JH Tiger Relays – Anson
March 17 – JH Blackland Divide Relays – Roscoe
March 28 – District 8-AA Meet – Roscoe

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PLOWBOYS LOSE TO STAMFORD, HAWLEY

The Plowboys wound up their basketball season with a 69-45 loss last night in Hawley. Brayan Medina led the scoring for the Plowboys with 18. 

Last Friday, they lost to Stamford in Stamford 48-20. Hunter Anglin led the scoring for the Plowboys with 8 in that one.

Stamford 48 – Plowboys 20

Scores by quarters:
Stamford          14        30        39        48
Plowboys            9        14         17        20

Individual Plowboy scoring: Hunter Anglin 8, Ryan Highsmith 4, Junior Martinez 3, Brayan Medina 3, Juan Pablo Leaños 2.

Hawley 69 – Plowboys 45

Scores by quarters:
Hawley             20        39        53        69
Plowboys          10        17        34        45

Individual Plowboy scoring: Medina 18, Highsmith 13, Aguayo 11, Tristan Baker 3.

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WEATHER REPORT: A MIXED BAG

Valentine's Day sunset.

There wasn’t any significant precipitation this past week, but otherwise there was a little bit of everything, warm, cold, windy, calm, sunny, cloudy—and more rain may be on the way later today or tonight.

Last Thursday was cold with a high of only 37°F and a low of 28°, and Friday morning was even cooler at 25°. Friday’s high was up to 52° however, and Saturday afternoon was quite nice with a high of 69°. Sunday was even better with sunny skies, a light breeze, and a high of 76°.

This was the second balmy weekend in a row. It’s been fortunate that when we have had some warm weather, it’s been on the weekends. The warm weather extended into Monday with a high of 74°, but all that changed Monday night when the wind shifted to the north and the temperature dropped. Yesterday’s high was down to 51°.

Rain is in the forecast starting this evening with an 80% chance of precipitation, decidedly cooler temperatures, and cloudy skies for the rest of this week. Today’s high is forecast to be only 44°, tomorrow’s 41°, and Friday’s 46° with morning lows in the thirties or upper twenties. Saturday should be warmer at around 58° with the sun breaking out. Sunday will be warm and sunny with a high of 68° along with a strong west wind. Then, the first part of next week will once again be sunny and warm.

According to the predictions of the groundhog in Pennsylvania and the armadillo in Austin, we should be having spring weather by now, but so far I don’t see it.

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