Boyce Ditto Public Library - 909 Matching Results

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Exchange Hotel

Description: [The] Exchange Hotel (also known as [The]Plateau in 1909, and later as the Hospital) was built on the site of the Cliff House, which was destroyed by fire. The house to the right was built in 1896 by Dr. A. W. Thompson as a wedding present for his second wife. The Mineral Wells Post Office was built on the vacant lot at the left of the hotel in 1912. The Hotel presents something of a conundrum. An annotation without date states that the Exchange Hotel was destroyed by fire and the Pla… more
Date: 1900?

[A Bird's Eye-view of Mineral Wells]

Description: An early panoramic view of Mineral Wells is shown here. The picture is a composite of two views taken from East Mountain. Attached to the composite is a date "1901." The large building in the front middle of the picture is the Holloway & Haley livery stable. Some of the buildings are numbered on the photograph. Recognizable are: (2) The Hawthorn Well, with steeple (Right middle of the picture), (4) The original Crazy water drinking pavilion (two-story with smaller upper third floor, right … more
Date: 1901/1902

The Curtis House

Description: The Curtis House was an early hotel at 315 E. Hubbard Street, where the Baker Hotel swimming pool is now [2008] located. This picture was handed down through the Curtis family to Robert Curtis, who donated it to A.F. Weaver June 25, 1996. A later view of the hotel is found on page 101 of A.F. Weaver's book "TIME WAS In Mineral Wells."
Date: 1900?

The Commercial Hotel

Description: The Commercial Hotel, one of the early hotels in Mineral Wells, was located on South Oak Avenue, where the Mineral Wells Fire Department is now [2014] located. The Cutter Guide of 1893 states that the hotel was recently completed. It is listed as being "[T]wo blocks from the depot [and] 1 block [away] from the post-office [sic]." This picture may be found on page 101 of A.F. Weaver's book "TIME WAS In Mineral Wells."
Date: 1900?

Cliff Home

Description: The Cliff Home, an early Mineral Wells hotel, stood on Northeast 2nd Street (formerly Coke Street) just east of the head of NE 1st Avenue (formerly Mesquite Street), and the site of the 1912 "Old Post Office" (now the Women's Club.) The hotel burned down in 1899, and the Plateau Hotel was built in its place. That hotel, in time, became The Exchange Hotel, which lasted until 1900, at which time it was demolished, and the Plateau Hotel was built in its place. It was touted as the only bric… more
Date: 1900?

[The Norwood Hospital]

Description: A photograph of the Norwood Hospital during its completion. Note the "Parry and Spicer Architects" sign and the "Goodrum, Murphy and Croft Contractors" sign. Dr. Norwood was the first Osteopathic doctor to set up business in Mineral Wells. He departed this life at the age of 82 in 1953. The building was donated to the Mineral Wells Historic Foundation. Plans were announced to convert the clinic to a Bed and Breakfast facility, but no progress towards such a conversion has been made to … more
Date: 1900?

The Bimini

Description: The Bimini Mineral Baths, at 112 NW 4th Street, was built by Goodrum, Murphy and Croft, contractors in the early 1900's. The Bimini later became the Wagley Bathhouse. Dr. Wagley was an early pharmacist in Mineral Wells. The El Paso Morning Times in 1909 states that the re-building of the Bimini (the building here illustrated) will cost "...over $35,000." What the equivalent amount could be in modern-das dollars remains unknown. … more
Date: 1900?

[The Arch] "Welcome Ye Editors"

Description: This picture of the arch, erected to welcome the members of the Texas Press Association (who held a meeting in the nearby Chautauqua auditorium--visible in the background), was taken from East Hubbard Street, looking North on Mesquite Street. The Texas Press Association held its meeting on May 21-23, 1908. A note with the photograph states "The group of people were attending the Odd Fellows Convent… more
Date: 1908

Cafe Royal

Description: Only a caption on the photograph identifies it as the Cafe Royal. This building that houses it, on the N.W. corner of NW 1st Avenue and 3rd Streets, was known as the W.E. Mayes Building. Upstairs rooms were rented under the name of the "Carlsbad Hotel" in recognition of the nearby Carlsbad Drinking Pavilion at the opposite (or NE) corner of the block: 700 NW 2nd Avenue. (The first edition of "Time Was in Mineral Wells", page 105, identifies it as the Wells Hotel.)
Date: 1900?

Mosquito Street, Looking North, Mineral Wells, Texas

Description: Shown here is a postcard, reading "Mosquito Street [actually Mesquite Street], Looking North, Mineral Wells, Texas." Please note the Chautauqua Theater (1905-1912) at the end of the street. This picture was taken before street car tracks were installed in 1907. Also note the the absence of cars on the street--only horses and buggies.
Date: 1905/1906

[A LakeWood Park Scenic Railway, Dinky Car "Esther"]

Description: This photograph shows the "Dinkey Car", Esther, that operated on The Mineral Wells Lakewood Park Scenic Railway to Lake Pinto from 1905 to 1907, at which time the lines were removed. The background indicates the picture was taken near Lake Pinto. This "Dinky Car" was one of two named "Esther" and "Susie" after local banker Cicero Smith's daughters. Banker Smith and Ed Dismuke, owner of The Famous Water Company, built the Scenic Railway. These little cars, powered by gasoline engines, ran eve… more
Date: 1905/1909

Mineral Wells (1900)

Description: This article and photograph from the Weaver Collection appeared in the Mineral Wells Index in the late 1960's--or possibly the early 1970's. The newspaper attributes the photograph to the "Courtesy of Tom Green," and the research to "Bill Cameron." The article states: "This is the way Mineral Wells looked at the turn of the [twentieth] Century. The Scott Livery Stable, foreground, is occupies the area the Whatley Motor Company does today. Across the street at left was the two-story Ho… more
Date: 1900?

The Fair Grounds and Race Track, Mineral Wells, Texas

Description: Shown here is a picture of a dirt horse-race track and fair grounds,located southeast of town. It is not known if thoroughbred horses raced, but sulkies are known to have raced here. This course was the first of its kind in Mineral Wells. Another track was constructed at Elmhurst Park, in the southeast part of town, after this one was torn down.
Date: 1900?

[A Mineral Wells Electric System Trolley Car]

Description: A Major Beardsley, a Canadian who fought for Maine in the Civil War, (And reported by the Abilene "Daily Reporter" of 1905 to be of Gibstown, Iowa) was granted a franchise to construct a railway street system in 1906. He was also granted a 99-year franchise for the generation and sale of electricity in Mineral Wells. He also bought about 600 acres of land, and established three additions: Lowe Place addition, Lawn Place, Lawn Terrace, and Elmhurst Park, which came to sport a dance pavilion a… more
Date: 1907?/1913?

[A Trolley Car of the] Mineral Wells Electric System

Description: A "Major" J[ohn]. D[avis]. Beardsley (1837-1911)--a Canadian who fought for the Union (for Maine) in the Civil war--built an electric trolley line that ran from North Oak, south to the train depot, west to Pecan Street (NW 4th Avenue), south on Pecan Street, to the ridge in the Lowe Place Addition, west to Pollard Creek, where Mr. Beardsley (as Head of the Electric Company) laid out Elmhurst Park (q.v.). A cross-line on Hubbard street ran east to Elmwood Cemetery. By the end of 1906, Beardsle… more
Date: 1907?/1913?

Elmhurst Park

Description: This illustration is numbered "30". It appears to be a picture postcard of the entrance to Elmhurst Park, an amusement park on Pollard Creek, about five miles southwest of Mineral Wells. The park operated from 1907 to 1913 by the Electric Company,, and was a major attraction in "The nation's most popular health spa" at that time. … more
Date: 1907/1913

[The First Boy Scouts in Mineral Wells, 1902]

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 that the boys shown in the picture are shouldering real rifles. The uniforms depicted look more like Zouaves (down to the fezzes that the boys are shown wearing) than Boy Scouts,… more
Date: 1902

[A Souvenir Photograph of a Donkey Ride up East Mountain]

Description: Entertainment for the many visitors to Mineral Wells around the turn of the twentieth century was provided, in part, by donkey rides up a trail to the top of East Mountain. The donkey trail crossed a 1,000-step staircase, built in 1905, to the top of the mountain about half-way up. Photographers, first J.C. McClure and then J.L. Young, took souvenir photographs of the visitors at this crossing. This photograph of the Belcher family was a taken by J. D. McClure. Mr. John M. Belcher … more
Date: 1900?

[Mineral Wells' First Public School Erected in 1884]

Description: This rock structure is now [2008] a museum dedicated to the preservation of the history of the city. There was some construction around the school at the time of this photograph, probably due to the building of Mineral Wells' first high school, the West Ward School, on the same lot, next door to and north of the little Rock School in 1902.
Date: 1902?

[A Post Card of a Football Team]

Description: This postcard, taken around 1909, features the Mineral Wells High School football team. Please note the guards, hanging around their necks, that were used to protect the noses of the players. Those guards were held in place by means of a strap that went around the head, and were further kept in place by clenching the teeth on a rubber bit on the inside of the guard. The back of the card lists the players' names from top left: 1) Jessie Turner, 2) Tulane Smith, 3) J.C. Hayes, 4) Fabu… more
Date: 1909?
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