A. F. Weaver Collection - 64 Matching Results

Search Results

The Daily Index

Description: Shown here is the front page of the Mineral Wells "Index", featuring a picture of Judge Alvin Lynch, astride a mule and holding a large bottle of the Mineral Wells water. The picture is not sufficiently in focus to read a reliable date to the newspaper, except perhaps to discern that the issue comes from "Volume VIII". We are accustomed to having a newspaper printed with the help of electricity. However, the "Index" of 194… more
Date: 1902?-05-(06)?
Partner: Boyce Ditto Public Library

Crazy Well at Mineral Wells, Texas

Description: Shown here is the Crazy Well drinking pavilion, as it appeared around 1908, looking at the North and East (back) sides, after remodeling and the removal of a residence. The house was removed still stands at 715 NW 1st Avenue. The photograph was taken across Oak Avenue. Note the top of the first Texas Carlsbad Well in the background.
Date: 1908
Partner: Boyce Ditto Public Library

[The Mineral Wells Bottling Works]

Description: A number of the early mineral water wells bottled their product and sold it nationwide for its reputed health benefits. The name of this particular well, associated with this turn-of-the-20th-century endeavor, is not identified. It may well have been the inventor of the bottled water industry. This photograph shows what has been tentatively identified as a threshing machine, driven by a steam-powered tractor, parked outside the plant. This bottling plant also produced "Country Red" and "Cream… more
Date: 1900?
Partner: Boyce Ditto Public Library

Carlsbad Well

Description: This picture, dated September 19, 1907, shows the Carlsbad Well at 415 NW 1st Avenue, and west of the Crazy Well drinking pavilion. It was one of the first drinking pavilions in Mineral Wells, and boasted that the water "Makes a man love HIS [sic] wife, makes a wife love HER [sic] husband/ Robs the divorce court of its business/ Takes the temper out of red-headed people/ Puts ginger into ginks/ and pepper into plodders."
Date: September 19, 1907
Partner: Boyce Ditto Public Library

Sangcura Sprudel Wells

Description: The Sangcura Sprudel Wells. On back of photograph is written: "Located at 800 N.W. 2nd Avenue." The building was later moved to 314 NW 5th Street. The porches were enclosed and it was turned into a rooming house. The building burned down in 1973.
Date: 1900?
Partner: Boyce Ditto Public Library

[A Mineral Wells Advertisement]

Description: A 1906 seasonal advertisement, compliments Central Texas Realty Association, depicts a young lady (An Art Nouveau goddess?) half-kneeling within a frame that suggests stained glass. She is holding a water jug, from which pours a stream of healing elixir that splashes into the lowermost center of the brochure. Decorative scrolls reminiscent of wrought iron sculpture decorate the advertisement. Stars, both in the advertisement and on the lady's tiara, hint that Mineral Wells is the City … more
Date: 1906
Partner: Boyce Ditto Public Library

[The Second Crazy Water Well Drinking Pavilion]

Description: The small building seen at the right of this picture was the First Crazy Well Drinking Pavilion. The large structure in the center of the picture is an early view of the second Pavilion, which was built in 1900. This picture was taken before its first two floors were enclosed. The Carlsbad pavilion, which was built around 1895 (across NW 1st Avenue and west of the Crazy) also appears in several pictures of the area around this time. Its absence in this photograph is probably the resul… more
Date: 1900?
Partner: Boyce Ditto Public Library

[The Cumberland Presbyterian Church]

Description: Shown here is a picture of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. On the back of picture is written "901 N.Oak [.] Sold to Church of Christ [.] Demolished and rebuilt." The streetcar tracks, which ran from 1907 to 1913 are visible on N. Oak in front of the church. The denomination takes its name from Cumberland Street, Philadelphia. A sub-sect of Presbyterianism--based on an Arminian interpretation of Calvinism--was begun at the church there. A Cumberland Presbyterian church is advertis… more
Date: 1907/1913?
Partner: Boyce Ditto Public Library

Presbyterian Church of Mineral Wells

Description: Written on the back of the photograph is: "Presbyterian Church & Manse N.W. 4th Ave. & [NW]2nd St. Built 1896, Burned 1908" This was the first Presbyterian Church of Mineral Wells. It was replaced, after it burned in 1908, at the same location the next year by a unique domed church that endured for some seventy years. Deterioration of the foundation of the second church building dictated its prudent replacement by a third building at this same location in the early 1980's.
Date: 1900?
Partner: Boyce Ditto Public Library

[A Group of Hikers]

Description: This photograph shows group of two young men and six ladies on an outing in 1905. Note the walking "canes" held by several of the ladies. They appear to be resting at the souvenir photograph stand on the mountain trail about half-way to the top of East Mountain. Hiking to the top of East Mountain was a popular pastime for health seekers in the "City Built on Water" around the turn of the century.
Date: 1905
Partner: Boyce Ditto Public Library

West Ward School Mineral Wells, Texas

Description: This photograph illustrates a view from the east of the West Ward School at the time of its completion in 1902. It was located just north of Mineral Well's first public school, the "Little Rock School", at 205 NW 5th Avenue. West Ward housed first through twelfth grades. Mineral Well's first high school graduating class (four students) graduated from here in 1905. High School classes were moved from here to the East Ward School when it was completed in 1906. Only elementary sch… more
Date: 1902
Partner: Boyce Ditto Public Library

Lithia Well

Description: The Lithia Well drinking pavilion was located on the southwest corner of the Crazy block at 400 NW 1st Avenue. The roof of the second Crazy Well drinking pavilion can be seen to the left of the Lithia. The Mineral Wells Library maintained its second location in this pavilion. The First Crazy Hotel was built on this location in 1914, but burned in 1925. The rebuilt and expanded Crazy Hotel (Now [2008] a retirement home) replaced the burned hostelry in 1927. See also the fol… more
Date: 1900?
Partner: Boyce Ditto Public Library

Lithia Wells

Description: The Lithia Wells and Drinking Pavilion was located on the southwest corner of the "Crazy Block." (400 NW 1st Avenue, the current [2008]location of the Crazy Retirement Home). The second Crazy Well Pavilion is the large building the upper left of the photograph. Note the three burros next to the horse. Riding burros up a trail on East Mountain was a popular tourist pastime, in addition to drinking and bathing in the mineral waters. The Mineral Wells Public Library was located in the … more
Date: 1908?
Partner: Boyce Ditto Public Library

Gibson Well, Mineral Wells, Texas

Description: The Gibson Well, in the 700 block of NW 2nd Avenue, was one of the first wells in Mineral Wells to establish a drinking pavilion for the convenience of its customers. In time it became one of the largest pavilions and parks in the city. The gasoline-powered "Dinky cars" of the Mineral Wells Lakewood Park Scenic Railway passed the Gibson Well (from 1905 to 1909) every quarter hour on their journey to Lake Pinto. The "Dinky car" tracks are barely visible in this photograph, but the well's exte… more
Date: 1905?
Partner: Boyce Ditto Public Library

"Where the Famous Crystals Are Made"

Description: This is a photograph of a building with a sign that says, "Famous Mineral Wells Crystal Plant." There is a hill, covered in trees, behind the building. Writing at the bottom of the image reads: "Where Famous Crystals Are Made." Ed Dismuke, a druggist from Waco, came to Mineral Wells for his health after his family physician told him he only had a "short time" to live. After miraculously regaining his health, which he credited to the mineral waters of his new hometown, he sold water by th… more
Date: 1905?
Partner: Boyce Ditto Public Library

[Blind Nellie at the Austin Well]

Description: Colonel W. R. Austin came from Kentucky to Palo Pinto County about 1880, and settled on Staggs Prairie. When an infection in his eye responded to mineral water treatment, he established the Austin Well, later operated by his son-in-law, Tom Sims. Blind Nellie was a fixture of the Austin Well for years. She had an interesting history: A cowboy rode her into town one day, and auctioned her off to the highest bidder, J.H. Coleman, who bid a dollar and a half for her. Then Bob Kyle took Col… more
Date: 1900?
Partner: Boyce Ditto Public Library

[The Carlsbad Well: Second Building]

Description: The original Carlsbad water pavilion, a two-story wooden building at 415 NW 1st Avenue (directly across the street and west of the Crazy pavilion) was built in the mid-1890's. This second pavilion, a red-brick building, replaced the original one at the same location. The Mineral Wells Scenic Railway ran its gasoline-powered "Dinky Cars" from 1905 to 1909 each quarter-hour on tracks that led north on N.W. 1st Avenue, and turned west on NW 6th Street. The Ben Hur was the last and lar… more
Date: 1908?
Partner: Boyce Ditto Public Library

Vichy Well Natatorium

Description: An off-season (Winter?) picture of the Vichy Well Natatorium, once located in the 600 block of North Oak Avenue, where North Oak Community Center now [2008] stands is illustrated here. The picture is dated the time around 1900. The Vichy well featured a swimming pool, which it labelled a "Natatorium." Later improvements, when the name was changed to The Standard Well, included a motion-picture theater and a pavilion for dancing. (Note the Dr. A.W. Thompson residence and the Mineral Wel… more
Date: 1900?
Partner: Boyce Ditto Public Library

Texas Carlsbad Well

Description: The Texas Carlsbad Well, 415 N.W. 1st Avenue is illustrated, this picture taken about around 1908. This first Carlsbad pavilion was directly across N.W. 1st Avenue, west of the second Crazy well pavilion. The Mineral Wells Lakewood Park Scenic Railway ran down N.W. 1st Avenue between the two pavilions from 1905 to 1909 providing service each 1/4 hour to Lake Pinto. The "Ben Hur" gasoline-powered motor cars were the last and largest of the "Dinky Cars" in service on the tracks that are… more
Date: 1908?
Partner: Boyce Ditto Public Library

Sangcura Sprudel Wells

Description: The Sangcura-Sprudel Wells Drinking Pavilion was originally located at 800 NW Second Avenue. The building was later moved to 314 NW 5th Street, the porches enclosed, and it was converted into a rooming house. The Crazy Water bottling plant was built on this site in 1919. The rooming house that was the former Sangcura-Sprudel drinking Pavilion burned on December 5, 1973, just five minutes before Mineral Wells' annual Christmas Parade was scheduled to start.
Date: 1900?
Partner: Boyce Ditto Public Library

[The Crazy Well]

Description: The first Crazy drinking pavilion was a small wooden building (in the center foreground of the picture) built over the well that supplied the water. The large two-story wooden structure in the picture was opened on April 14, 1900. This picture, however, was taken in 1908. The wooden pavilion was torn down around 1909, and replaced by a brick structure, commonly called "Crazy Flats", with rooms to rent. The building on the right of the picture (which would be across the street to the wes… more
Date: 1908?
Partner: Boyce Ditto Public Library

The "Gibson Well" Mineral Wells, Texas

Description: Shown here is a picture of the first Gibson Well drinking pavilion. Located in the 700 block of what is now NW 2nd Avenue, it was one of the first drinking pavilions in the city. An expanded pavilion replaced the one in this picture, and it became one of the more popular social gathering places in town. The Christian Church now [2008] occupies the entire city block on which the Gibson Well was located.
Date: 1900?
Partner: Boyce Ditto Public Library
Back to Top of Screen