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| | A
downtown drug store signage with the reflection of the traffic signal of Cisco's
main intersection
TE Photo 2004 |
History
in a Pecan ShellRed
Gap was the city's original name. The Reverend C. G. Stevens arrived in the
late 1870s, established a post office and church and named the town.
In 1881 when the Houston and Texas Central Railway came into the area. they crossed
the Texas and Pacific Railroad tracks near Red Gap and locals moved to the crossing.
In 1884 this new community applied for a post office in the name of one of the
railroad financiers, John A. Cisco, of New York.
Cisco became known as
the "Gate City of the West" from the immigrant brochures issued by the
T & P.
By 1892 Cisco was a thriving town with two newspapers, but the
following year it was hit by a devastating tornado, taking the lives of twenty-eight
people and destroying much of the town.
The Eastland County oil boom
of 1919-21, was played-out more in Ranger, but Cisco's population increased as
well. Population estimates during the boom were as high as 15,000. |
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Cisco's Mobley
Hotel c.1916
Photo by John Troesser, 2004 |
Hilton
Museum - 309 Conrad
Hilton Ave. (Hwy. 6)
The Mobley Hotel, Conrad Hilton's first venture
into the hotel business in 1919 is now in use as the chamber of commerce and community
center. Historical museum and 2 restored hotel rooms open M-F:9AM-5PM.
Cisco's wide brick streets, sturdy architecture, compact downtown and small population
make an excellent movie set.
Travelers on I-20 should consider taking
a short break and driving through the brick streets of downtown Cisco
to get a feel of a 1930s town that has remained.
Where
to Stay > Cisco
Hotels
Cisco Recreation
Lake Cisco -
Nearby Destinations:
28 miles North to Breckenridge
10 miles East to Eastland
46
miles West to Abilene |
Cisco
Scenes
Cisco's wide brick streets, sturdy architecture, compact downtown and small
population make an excellent movie set.
Travelers on I-20 should consider
taking a short break and driving through the brick streets of downtown Cisco to
get a feel of a 1930s town that has remained.
Postcard
courtesy
www.rootsweb.com/ %7Etxpstcrd/ |
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Cisco
ChroniclesThe-Night-the-Posse-Chased-Santa
by Maggie Van Ostrand
December 23 will mark the 79th anniversary of the bloody
melodrama which was about to take place in the town of Cisco in West Central Texas,
on the day before Christmas Eve 1927. I know about it because of an article written
at the time by the great Texas columnist, Boyce House. He should know. He was
there...
Santa
Robber by Mike Cox
Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” stands as an enduring
classic, but truth being stranger than fiction, Texas can claim one of the nation’s
more bizarre real-life holiday tales – a story of a Santa Claus gone bad...
The
Day Eastland Texas Hanged Santa Claus
by John Troesser The
Great Airship Mystery by C. F. Eckhardt
Patrick C. Byrnes, a telegraph
repairman for the T&P railroad, not only saw the mysterious object up close, he
got to talk to the presumptive captain of the flight crew. According to Byrnes
the craft was about 200 feet long by 50 feet wide. It had ‘snail-shell-like’ appendages
at the nose and tail. Inside them were ‘powerful gasoline engines’ which apparently
operated large fan-like propellors to move the craft. Two more of the devices
were attached to the side of the ship and were used for steering... moreCisco
Twister by Mike Cox
In Cisco’s Oakwood Cemetery, five graves bear the same
last name and the same date of death – April 28, 1893. That was the day a killer
tornado struck the then prosperous Eastland County railroad town... |
Cisco
Texas Tourist InformationCisco
Chamber of Commerce
Address 309 Conrad Hilton Avenue, Cisco, Texas 76437
Telephone 254-442-2537
http://www.ciscotx.com/
Cisco
Hotels > Book Your Hotel Here & Save
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Cisco Texas Forum
Subject: The Dam, and
Cisco's zoo
Dear Texas Escapes, For some reason, I was using Google Earth to look for Lake
Cisco, having in my mind memories of times many years ago. The late 1920's and
early 1930's to be exact. I remembered that dam -- reputed to be the largest hollow-core
dam in the country at the time. And that tremendously large swimming area. There
was a very tall slide on the east side of the area, probably fifty feet in height.
But you didn't slide down it by yourself, there were small cars which fitted into
the slide and you sat in the cars. I remember that there was a warning written
on the side of the slide: "Look out for the cars." However, my spelling wasn't
that good at the time -- I was six -- and I thought it said, Look out for the
bears!!!" I didn't do much swimming -- I was too busy watching for those carnivorous
monsters.
But the crowning event of the day was a visit to the zoo. My
Aunt Fannie Bess was escorting her daughter and us three nephews through the zoo
when a very unhappy monkey escaped from its cage and began making threatening
advances toward us. Aunt F.B. was kept quite busy trying to hide us all behind
her and ward off the monkey with an umbrella at the same time.
I know
that the answer to the question by that person about whether the zoo was destroyed
by the 1920 tornado is a definite "No".
Now I have a question. I could
not make out the dam's location using Google Earth. It appears that the road which
once went across the dam now passes to the east of the former swimming area/zoo.
Is that correct? Just a bit of curiosity in an old coot who is beginning to live
in his memories. - Charles Porter, May 29, 2007
Crosses
N of I - 20
I pass through [Cisco], and have done so for sixty plus years. I love the friendly
people there. Everything concerning Cisco / Eastland is of interest to me. I do
have one question:
What is the story on the beautiful white crosses on the
hill, north of I -20? Is there a public road leading to them? My preacher asked
me, but I did not have an answer. They are beautiful though. If anyone can tell
me, please contact me - ibbilly@bluebonnet.net. - Billy Floyd, Mt.Pleasant,
Texas, August 06, 2006
Subject:
Looking for Information
Dear Editor, I don't know
if you can help me or not. I am looking for information for a story I am writing.
I am looking for info on an abandoned zoo outside of Cisco, Texas. It was close
to Lake Cisco and the original dam & swimming pool. I have seen the rock work
that was said to be part of the original zoo. My grandmother said that all the
animals ran away. Do you have any information? Could this have been an operating
zoo before the tornado that hit Cisco in 1920? Sincerely, Holly Huestis Johnson,
March 18, 2006 | |
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