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Grocery
Store in 1968
Photo courtesy Collin Armistead |
History
in a Pecan Shell
Originally called Seven Points after
it was established around 1860, it merged with neighboring Prospect and
Graybill Texas in the 1880s. In the 1890s the Methodist Church established
Westminster College for training ministers. The name was after Westminster, Maryland.
Within a year Seven Points citizens decided to change the name.
In 1899
a post office opened. Westminster served as a cotton
market through the 1920s when the population was estimated to be around 600. The
town was bypassed by railroads and during the Great Depression the population
dropped to less than 300.
After
WWII Dallas
drew off population, leaving less than 200 people. It has slowly increased to
the current estimate of 390.
Westminster was hit by a tornado in April
of 2006. |
Downtown
Westminster ca. 1900
Photo courtesy Collin Armistead |
Standing on the square in Westminster in Feb. 1958
Alamo Building & old drug
store
Photo courtesy
Collin Armistead |
First
State Bank, once "the only grocery in town"
Photo courtesy Barclay
Gibson, April 2006 |
 |
Westminster,
Texas ForumSubject:
A Plea from Westminster, Texas
I currently own the three buildings in old Downtown
Westminster, Texas known as Big Slick's Bar & Grill. The buildings consist of
the 'First State Bank Building,' the old drug store and the old 'Alamo' building
which is the two story building in the picture that was a Telegraph office in
the late late 1800's to early early 1900's. I am trying to preserve the three
building's history and the City of Westminster's also. I am trying to find people
that may have old photos of the downtown area (any era) and most hopefully photos
of the inside of the three buildings especially the bank building and the old
telegraph office building. I am also looking for anything related to the bank
such as old deposits, receipts, bank records, pictures, pens, pins, etc that may
be related to the bank. Westminster's history is dying a fast death and we are
trying to collect as much of the history of the downtown as possible so we can
display it on our 'History of Westminster Wall' inside the bank which now houses
our bar/grill. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE help me preserve the history of this once
great town. Thank You - Collin, collin@bigslicks.com, October 11, 2011
Subject:
Recollections of "days-gone-by"
Dear TE, Prior to 1928 my mother, Ruby Lee McFerrin (Hall) worked in the 1st National
Bank in Westminister. The head of the bank was Mr. Procter. After the bank closed
my grandfather, Claude McFerrin, moved his grocery store from the other side of
the square to the bank building. He continued to operate the store until the early
1950's. He sold the store to his brother-in-law Francis Sellars and wife Jennie.
In the 1920's Westminister was a thriving community. On the east side of
the square there was a general merchandise store on the 1st floor. The barbershop
was in the same building as the general merchandise store and also served as a
meeting place for local musicians. Next to the barbershop Rob McCarley had a grocery
store. The entire 2nd floor was one big open room that served as a basketball
court. My uncle, Choice McFerrin loved to play basketball there. On the west side
of the bank was a café that did not fare well. On the other side of the bank was
a drug store with a licensed pharmacist. On the west side of the square was a
casket sales store, next to that was the post office, and on the corner was Griffin's
Store. The post master was Mr. John Easton. The next post master was named Griffin.
During this time period there were 3 different churches in Westminister.
They were Church of Christ, Baptist, and Methodist. The Methodist's had a brush
arbor that was used by all the different churches during the summer revival meetings.
- Cary W. Hall, San Antonio, TX, February 25, 2007
Subject:
First State Bank Building
Dear
TE, The building shown as the First State Bank was originally my uncle's grocery
store. His name was Ben Cowling and for years it was the only grocery in town.
I know he ran it from the early 1960's through to the 1990's... - Thank you, Tricia
Dennie, January 30, 2007 |
Texas
Escapes, in its purpose to preserve
historic, endangered and vanishing Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their
local history, stories, and vintage/historic photos of their town, please contact
us. |
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