|
John's Cafe in
Carbon
Note volume of empty soda bottles (see
Forum) on the right. |
History in
a Pecan Shell
In 1881 a man named
Hayes (or Haynes) opened a store and became the town's first postmaster
when the PO opened the following year.
Once considered one of Eastland
's "six principal towns;" it ran for county seat in 1887 but came
in third. By 1904 Carbon had a population of 600. Between 1924 and
1942 Eastland County had nine independent school districts - Carbon
being one. The population was 281 in 1980, 255 in 1990 and 224 in
2000.
The former high school has been bought by a religious institution.
Carbon, Texas Landmarks ›
Carbon, Texas Vintage Photos
›
Life in Early Carbon › |
Historical Marker:
Avenue D and Anthracite St., Carbon
Carbon Methodist
Church Building
Organized in 1890 by I. N. Reeves, the Carbon Methodist Church met
in the section house of the Texas Central Railroad and a mercantile
store until a sanctuary was erected in 1914. This structure was rebuilt
in the 1920s after a fire. The building is an important example of
the Craftsman style of architecture. Features include a corner entrance,
decorative window details, and bracketed eaves. The church disbanded
in 1991.
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1996 |
Railroad building
and post war Quonset hut
1950s
photo courtesy texasoldphotos.com
More Texas Depots
|
Carbon, Texas
Vintage Photos
|
| Vintage photos
courtesy of Webb Jordan of Eastland, Texas |
| "I think
it was used up until the 1940's. It had no restroom, no lights, no
heater, no kitchen, no exercise area, and no seats. Just concrete
walls and a steel door." - Webb Jordan |
Historical Marker:
Carbon City
Jail
During a jailbreak,
Carbon’s 1905 jail was destroyed, resulting in the need for a more
substantial calaboose. Built in 1921, this unadorned square plan building
is composed of reinforced concrete walls and a steel door. The structure
had no lights or heat, and was intended as temporary holding until
prisoners were transferred to other cities. The building often stood
vacant, and during WWII
it was used for occasional scrap drive collections. Local brides and
grooms were sometimes locked up on their wedding nights. Today the
jail is a rare surviving example of a once-common building type in
Texas towns.
2013 |
 |
| "This is
probably one of the best school building in the county in 1908. It
was made of pine. It burned down after only a few years. The next
building was a masonary structure that was added onto in the late
thirties. That building still stands today. I finished in 1951 and
the school closed in 1990. In the late 1880's and 1890's there were
over 150 schools in Eastland County. There are just five left today."
- Webb Jordan, December 11, 2007 |
| "No there
are no bunnies inside. Just some older men that played domino's. Might
be a cottontail on the outside. I think this building was used regularly
through the 80's. It has since been torn down. It was a mighty popular
place at the time." - Webb Jordan, December 14, 2007 |
| John's Cafe Interior
- A staff-to-customer ratio of 3 to 1 |
"I think
this was the best place in the county to buy a hamburger in the 1950's.
John Phillips began his Cafe in 1938. They hid the punch cards* when
the police came around. John served in the Navy from 1943 to 1945.
His wife Shorty ran the Cafe during those years." - Webb Jordan
* Punch cards were a cheap form of gambling where people would buy
3 chances for a quarter and "punch" a small paper roll from
a thick paper card. Unrolling the paper revealed the pay out (if there
was one). - Editor |
| "The Carbon
Trading Company. It fell down in the mid 1990's. This was the biggest
store in Carbon during its heyday." - Webb Jordan |
| The Carbon Trading
Company interior with merchandise |
| The Carbon Trading
Company interior without merchandise |
| The Mineral Water
Bath House in Carbon - note windmill far right behind middle man on
wagon |
|
The Boles Drug
and Dry Goods Store
Webb
Jordan Collection
More Texas Stores
|
The Puett and
Son Store and the Post Office
Webb Jordan Collection |
The Puett and
Son Store
Webb
Jordan Collection |
The Boston Hotel
"It was just a few blocks from the train station." - Webb
Jordan
More Rooms
with a Past |
Carbon, Texas
Forum
Subject: Carbon,
Eastland County
"I have been to most of the places listed and shown, except for
the bathhouse. It was across the corner from my Grandfather's gas
station in later years. A portion of that building was converted into
a dwelling. My mother was born in that house made from the old bath-house.
The soft drink bottle stacks on the porch of the old diner served
a purpose. If you were a local kid, you were not charged the bottle-return
price on the bottle, providing you promised to return the bottle to
the empty cases on the porch when you had finished. We never failed
to do so. (The Cokes/RC colas were 5 cents and the bottle return value
was a whopping 40% - 2 cents.) My brother and I were accorded the
same priviledge, even though we were from Arizona, based on having
all relatives except our parents being residents of Carbon and the
surrounding area. I do miss the "old Texas" friendliness and mutual
respect and trust. (My Father and Mother were burned in the gasoline
explosion at Ranger in 1941. 77 people
were killed and Mom and Dad were burned to an extent that neither
should have survived. They were still recovering when Pearl
Harbor was bombed and shortly thereafter, they moved to Arizona
where Dad went to work in a critical war industry - copper mining
- as he was crippled and not able to be inducted. He was a watchman.
My brother and I were both born and raised in a mining camp.) I always
disliked not being a Texan - to this day. When I was grown, I moved
to Texas and lived there for thirty years before retiring back to
Arizona, in the mountains I missed and my wife had come to love. I
still prefer Texas, but the die has been cast. I'm old and fixed in
place, like the mountains.
My family had been in Eastland
County since the late 1800s until my last cousin retired from
Eastland National Bank in 1990 something. Mom and Dad and my Grandparents,
and great-grandparents are buried in three cemeteries in the Carbon
vicinity, and uncles and cousins are buried in Eastland. I surely
have ties, and miss that country. Texas would be my escape of choice
forever." - Ron Ramsey, Alpine, Az. , November 20, 2021
Subject: Carbon, Eastland County
My Grandfparents lived there and my Aunt was postmaster. I'm old and
on the way out, and must say I miss that small, friendly, wonderful
town as it was when I was a kid visiting relatives. - Ron Ramsey,
Arizona, October 23, 2021 |
 |
1882 map showing
"Carbon or Jewel" S of Eastland
in SW Eastland County
From Texas state map #2134
Courtesy
Texas General Land Office |
Eastland
County TX 1907 Postal Map showing Carbon
S of Eastland
From Texas state map #2090
Courtesy
Texas General Land Office |
| 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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