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History
in a Pecan ShellAn
immigrant shepherd applied for a post office in 1890, requesting the name Shamrock
for his post office/ dugout home. Settlement began with the arrival of The
Chicago, Rock Island and Gulf Railway in 1902. The town lost the name for
a brief period when a new post office was opened, but the railroad had named the
stop Shamrock and the old name went back into use. Maybe it was Irish luck.
The towns of Story and Benonine moved to Shamrock for the railroad
link - adding two more casualties to the long list of dissolved towns.
Shamrock was incorporated in 1911. The population had grown to 2,500 by 1925 and
when oil was discovered in 1926, the population nearly doubled by 1930. The Wheeler
County Texan, once published at Story, Texas evolved into the Shamrock
Texan in 1928.
A second boom was experienced with the completion
of "Route" 66 - but the town was bypassed by the improved
Interstate 40.
Shamrock
Attractions Shamrock
holds a St. Patrick's Day celebration each year.
Pioneer
West Museum: In the old Reynolds Hotel 204 N. Madden Street
A
fragment of the famous Irish Blarney Stone is in Elmore Park. |
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| "The
beautiful Tower
Conoco station in Shamrock, Texas. This station was used as the inspiration
for “Ramone’s Body Shop” in the Disney/Pixar movie 'Cars'”. - Noel
Kerns , January 2008 photo |
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Shamrock ChroniclesShamrock
Cemetery & The Wild Bunch
"In the Byler plot in the Shamrock cemetery there's an unmarked grave--at
least it was still unmarked the last time I was there. It contains Viana (or Vivian,
there seems to be some question about her first name) Byler Carver & her stillborn
infant. She was 17 when she died. She was the wife of William R. 'Will' Carver
of Wild Bunch/Hole In The Wall Gang fame & the aunt of Laura Bullion, who may
have been married to Ben
Kilpatrick, also of Wild Bunch fame.
Carver was shot & killed by the
Sutton County Sheriff, a deputy, & 2 constables, & is buried in Sonora
in what's called the 'No Name Grave.' That's because the only thing on the gravestone
is April 2, 1901. Kilpatrick was killed by Wells, Fargo agent David A. Trousdale
in March of 1912, while he was attempting to rob the Galveston, Harrisburg, &
San Antonio #9 at Baxter's Curve in Terrell County. He, along with his partner,
is buried in Sanderson. Laura Bullion
never remarried, supported herself as a seamstress in Memphis, Tennessee, & died
in 1961--the last of the Wild Bunch to die."
- C.
F. Eckhardt, June 25, 2010
Subject:
"Caravan Stop"
...I've published a new series titled "Caravan Stop" that
features the Shamrock, Texas, landmark of the Tower
Conoco Station. The station was recently restored to its original 1935 condition
and I decided its Route 66 heritage would make a great setting for my painting
of all six generations of Corvettes. My wife and I host a number of Corvette caravans
and such caravans were the inspiration for "Caravan Stop". Thanks. - Dana
Forrester, A.W.S., N.W.S., November 08, 2006 |
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"The
other vintage filling station in Shamrock, this beautiful old Magnolia station
boasts 3 exquisitely preserved gravity feed gas pumps." - Noel
Kerns , January 2008 photo
More Texas
Gas Stations |
| | A
parade in Shamrock
Postcard courtesy www.rootsweb.com/ %7Etxpstcrd/
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| | Shamrock
street scene in the 1950s
Postcard courtesy www.rootsweb.com/ %7Etxpstcrd/
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| | Another
view of Shamrock, Texas
Postcard courtesy www.rootsweb.com/ %7Etxpstcrd/
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