Glen Rose, Texas

Gene Fowler

• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
• Year: 2002
• ISBN:
  9781439613351
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: North American History
• Index: History

Charles Barnard, a Connecticut entrepreneur, settled in the Brazos Valley in 1849, running an Indian Trading Post. He built a gristmill in 1860 near the confluence of the Brazos and Paluxy Rivers, around which the town of Glen Rose sprang up. Captured here in over 200 vintage photographs and postcards is the history of this quintessential little Texas town, from its origins as a mill town, to the bedroom community of Fort Worth that it has become today. In its earliest days, settlers flocked to the region from the war-torn South during the Civil War. By the 1900s, both Somervell County and Glen Rose established fame as a tourist resort, offering springs and artesian waters to heal the body and spirit. Naturopathic and magnetic healers built sanitariums, while locals built tourist parks to entertain the crowds that came for rest and relaxation. Showcased here are images of the Hill postcard collection, which relay the intriguing story of Glen Rose as a recreation mecca, the Moonshine Capital of Texas during Prohibition, the discovery of the infamous dinosaur tracks, and its development as it enters the 21st century.

Five

PARKS

These fine folks are all wet at Lake View Park. (Don and Vivian Hill Collection)

It could perhaps be said of Glen Rose that the town had more parks per capita than any other Texas town. Here, at the Rufe Wood Camp, United Confederate Veterans gather for a reunion at Moore’s Park, a few miles up the Paluxy, c. 1900 or later. Pictured, from left to right, are(front row) E. A. Mosely, George L. Booker, J. W. Bolton, B. C. Ferris, Henry Weddle, Jim Wilkerson, R. D. Holder, L. M. Winburn, James Beck, Dave P. Garner, and (?) Plummer; (back row) unidentified, Gray Jordan, J. M. Sims, J. H. Green, W. B. McFaddin, W. M. Martin, G. B. Lewis, W. L. Lilly, William Shipman, Don Sawyer, unidentified, J. A. Hamberlin, W. M. Martin, and C. C. McCaghren. (Somervell County Museum)

Coming into Glen Rose on the old highway from Stephenville, the Auto Park was the first park you saw along the river. (Don and Vivian Hill Collection)

These folks pose with their autos at Daniel’s Auto Park. (Don and Vivian Hill Collection)

Autos turn in here. Daniel sold to Bridges. (Don and Vivian Hill Collection)

All the cabins in the popular Auto Park were named for various American states. (Don and Vivian Hill Collection)

The Paluxy flows past the Auto Park. (Don and Vivian Hill Collection)

Nanny’s Park started as a place for people to camp when bringing their corn to the mill. This is the Ice House in Nanny’s, whi...