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History in
a Pecan Shell
An 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.
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Shamrock, Texas
Landmarks / 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 1936 Conoco
Station
Jimmy Dobson Photo |
The 1936 U Drop
Inn
Jimmy Dobson Photo, May 2016 |
The Magnolia
Station
Jimmy Dobson Photo, May 2016 |
"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 |
Shamrock, Texas
Chronicles
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The
Great Greyhound Hijacking on Route 66 in 1931 by Mike Cox
"The bus had left Tulsa on the night of June 6, 1931 bound for
El Paso. The last stop had been Erick, Oklahoma where two men boarded
with tickets to the Panhandle town of Shamrock, Texas.
About 2:30 a.m. on June 7, driver W.E. Trammel felt something hard
poke him in the back-the barrel of a pistol..."
Read full article |
Art
Deco on the Plains by Clay Coppedge
"...Architect Joe Berry designed it as three buildings in one:
the Tower Conoco Station, named for the four-sided obelisk rising
from a flat roof and topped by a metal tulip; the U-Drop Inn Café,
which a local schoolboy named by winning a naming contest; and a retail
store. The café was so popular that the proposed store never materialized,
utilized instead to seat more hungry customers.
In its heyday, the U-Drop-Inn was the only restaurant within 100 miles,
small, vibrant art deco oasis on Route 66 set against a backdrop of
unrelenting realism... " Read
full article |
Shamrock
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 |
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A parade in
Shamrock
Postcard courtesy www.rootsweb.com/ %7Etxpstcrd/ |
Shamrock street
scene in the 1950s
Postcard courtesy www.rootsweb.com/ %7Etxpstcrd/ |
Another view
of Shamrock, Texas
Postcard courtesy www.rootsweb.com/ %7Etxpstcrd/ |
Shamrock Court
Postcard
courtesy www.rootsweb.com/ %7Etxpstcrd/
More Rooms
with a Past |
Shamrock,
Texas Forum
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 |
| Texas
Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history, stories,
landmarks and recent or vintage photos, please contact
us. |
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