Description: The back of this photograph shows three notes: 1: "Taken in front of school house about 1885." (This photograph appears to be of the students and teachers of Mineral Wells' first public school, the "Little Rock Schoolhouse," built in 1884.) 2: "Donated by James H. Perry", and 3: "Some are dead. Some are married, and we are all scattered, never to meet on earth again."

Description: A photograph of Arthur Howard, it was taken about 1898. The cap he is wearing identifies him as "ASST CHIEF." (He is believed to have been assistant fire chief of Mineral Wells at that time.) No more information about the man has been discovered as of 2011.

Description: This photograph is a cleaned-up version, by A.F. Weaver, of the Hexagon Hotel, at approximately the time of its completion. (The site has been cleaned, and the trash removed.) Construction of the Hexagon Hotel started in 1895, and it opened for business in 1897, to ameliorate Mineral Wells' torrid summertime heat more than sixty years before air-conditioning became available. A DC generating plant (seen behind and to the left of the hotel) furnished power to an electric light in each room. It was the first electrically-lighted hotel in Mineral Wells. The builder/owner, Mr. David G. Galbraith was the inventor of a paper clip; and, with five other men, he held the patent for acetate. The original photograph, included in the A.F. Weaver collection, shows evidence of construction-related activity and debris along NW Holland Street (now [2007]: NE 6th Street).

Description: The Hexagon Hotel was built in 1895 by David G. Galbraith, the inventor of the paper clip, and co-developer of acetate synthetic fiber. According to Ellen Puerzer ("The Octagon House Inventory", Eight-saquare Publishing, copyright 2011), the building was twelve-sided, clad with clapboard, built on a stone foundation. Two English stonemasons did all stonework, presumably also the work on the DC generating plant next to the hotel. The rooms within were hexagon-shaped, with a bath being shared between every two rooms. The well-ventilated "honeycomb" structure (a master-stroke in the days before air-conditioning)opened in December 1897. The stone building behind and left of the Hotel is the plant for generating electricity used for a light in every room in the hotel.

Description: A note on back of this photograph states, "1902, 1st Boy Scouts in Mineral Wells, organized by Frank Creighton (L) met in old Sangcura Sprudel Well Pavilion." The picture was taken in front of Green's Transfer Building. This photograph possibly shows the youth division of a local lodge, probably Shriners. Please note the military-style stripes and guns. This historic photograph captures a precursor to the Boy Scout movement, that started six years later in England. It spread to America in 1910 to generate an interest in outdoor and educational activities among teen-age boys.