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Sunshine
Hill Schoolhouse
Photo courtesy Keith Vaughn, March 20, 2011 |
History
in a Pecan Shell Named
after a topographic feature (1,208 feet above sea level). The school at Sunshine
Hill (established in 1889) was consolidated with the Electra
District in 1947.
The town experienced a minor boom in the 1920s but
quickly reverted back to a peaceful village. In 1936 the Wichita County map showed
a dispersed community and today the Handbook of Texas reports that major
structures had disappered from Sunshine Hill by the 1980s.
Our thanks
to Gaylon White of Wichita
Falls who suggested a town page for Sunshine Hill. He wrote:
"This
western part of Wichita County is a mix of oil fields and prairie dogs. Several
prairie dog towns can be seen in this area. I have roamed this region all of my
life and like the sparsly settled country. It is also Waggoner Ranch Country and
Sunshine Hill is reportedly the highest elevation in Wichita County."
Sunshine
Hill Schoolhouse:"Sunshine Hill, TX fell victim to a grassfire on March
22, 2011.
I visited the site of the Sunshine School building, a few miles
NE of Electra, Texas, on March 20th, and took the attached photos...When I heard
that the fire had destroyed the structure, I was saddened, and went back to the
school to see if it was true. It was.
Here are both before and after pictures,
only 2 days from the other... A part of North
Texas history is gone." - Keith Vaughn, Wichita Falls, March 26, 2011
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Sunshine
Hill Schoolhouse burned
Photo courtesy Keith Vaughn, March 22, 2011 |
Sunshine
Hill School - Before the fire
Photo courtesy Keith Vaughn, March 20, 2011 |
| Photo
courtesy Keith Vaughn, March 20, 2011 |
After
the fire
Photo courtesy Keith Vaughn, March 22, 2011 |
| "L to R Rear,
my mother, Winnie Jeanne Hester, unknown lady, Evaline McNeill" "L to
R Front, Frances Ione Hester, Mary Frances Martin McNeill (sitting) holding John
Cornelius (J.C.) Hester, unknown, and unknown" - Kay T. White |
W.J.
Hester
Photo circa 1920 courtesy Kay T. White |
Where
to Stay - Sunshine Hill Area Hotels:
Wichita
Falls Hotels Sunshine
Hill, Texas ForumSubject:
Photographs
My mother is no longer living, and I cannot confirm the location of either of
these photographs or even of all of the people in them. My sister, Paula Ruder,
and I are guessing on the dates and on the locations. Either photograph could
have been taken anywhere, as there is nothing that would identify a location in
or around Sunshine Hill. We think the year could have been 1920 to 1923
on either of them.
My grandfather, William Reed Hester, married Gertrude
Smoot of Gail, Texas, and they had three children: W.J. Hester, Winnie Jeanne
(my mother), and Pauline. Gertrude died in the 1918 flu epidemic. He married Evaline
McNeill from Henrietta. They had five children, two of whom were born in Sunshine
Hill, Frances Ione and John.Cornelius. Frances Ione was named after Eva’s mother
Mary Frances Martin McNeill. I (Kay Frances Taylor White) was named after my Aunt
Ione.
I don’t know a lot about my grandfather, except that he was a mule
skinner, and seemed to follow the oil boom, and particularly the North Texas oil
boom. My mother did tell us a few things about living in Burkburnette,
Sunshine Hill, and Electra. My Uncle
Roy Hester told me that he remembers his dad working for Magnolia at one time.
My Uncle Roy remembered a job that his dad had in Crane
putting in a road and hauling sand in a fresno (if I understood the word correctly)
pulled by mules. My mother used to tell us that my grandfather was a very skilled
mule skinner and was in much demand, and my Uncle Roy confirms that. My Uncle
Roy told me that my grandfather and Uncle W.J. Hester owned a team of mules when
they lived in Wink in
1935, but they sold the mules to the Younger Brothers before they became truckers.
- Yours truly, Kay T. White, May 06, 2005
Subject: Sunshine
Hill
My Aunt Euna and Uncle Walter Beck lived at Sunshine Hill when he
worked for Mr. Witcher who was in the oil business. My two sisters went to school
at the one room school house that was behind my Aunt's house. My family lived
somewhere in Sunshine Hill but I was too young to remember where.
We visited
the site about 12 years ago and the school house was still there but I don't know
about the house my Aunt and Uncle lived in. We spent many wonderful days there
and have so many good memories. My sisters and I graduated from Iowa Park High
School. My oldest in 1950, the second on 1953 and I in 1954.
Thank you
for the information I was able to get from your magazine. - Sincerely, Beverly
Talley Jackson, August 21, 2010
Where
to Stay - Sunshine Hill Area Hotels:
Wichita
Falls Hotels |
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1940s
Wichita County Map showing Electra
(Above
"W" in "WICHITA"
Sunshine Hill, 5 miles NE of Electra,
is not on the map.)
Courtesy Texas General Land Office |
Sharing History
Texas
Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history and vintage/historic
photos of their town, please contact
us.
Where
to Stay - Sunshine Hill Area Hotels:
Wichita
Falls Hotels | | |
