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Star Well (Winter Scene)
"Winter Scene--Shipping Star Well Water--From Min Wells Texas" The Star Well was located at the northeast corner of the intersection of NE 1st Street and NE 1st Avenue, across the street and north of the Baker Hotel. The telephone building is currently [2008] located there. A "date", handwritten on the bottom right corner of image, reads--possibly--"1899", which would explain the unpaved street and the lack of automobiles.
[A Portrait of Arthur Howard]
Photograph of Arthur Howard, who is dressed in a uniform, including a hat that identifies him as Assistant Chief. He is only visible from the chest up.
Mineral Wells Graphic. (Mineral Wells, Tex.), Vol. 2, No. 35, Ed. 1 Friday, January 8, 1897
Weekly newspaper from Mineral Wells, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.
[The Hexagon Hotel]
The Hexagon Hotel at 701 N. Oak Avenue, opened in December 1897. The brick building to the right was the Convention Hall (built in 1925 on the foundation of the Hotel's electric plant) for the West Texas Chamber of Commerce Convention. The Hexagon Hotel was demolished in 1959, the Convention Center in 1977.
[The Hexagon Hotel]
A color photograph of the Hexagon Hotel is shown here. Please note the Convention Hall to the right (north) of the Hotel. The Convention Hall was built in 1925 to accommodate the West Texas Chamber of Commerce Convention, and was built over a portion of the foundation of the electric power plant of the hotel. In 1897 Galbraith was granted, by city ordinance, a 50-year franchise to illuminate the city. The Hexagon Hotel was torn down in 1959. Ira Tarwater (who had been contracted to do the work) remarked that "[I]t was the most novel building I have to tear down." He later said that he regretted doing it. The Convention Center was demolished in 1977.
[The Hexagon Hotel]
The Hexagon Hotel was built in 1895 by David G. Galbraith, the inventor of the paper clip (not the familiar one, but another one very much like it) , and co-developer of acetate synthetic fiber. According to Ellen Puerzer ("The Octagon House Inventory", Eight-Square 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 top floor was a reading room--popular at the time. 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 light and fans (for a fee) in every room in the hotel. It also contained a steam laundry and an ice house on the first floor. The second floor was given over to a dining room for the hotel guests.
[The Hexagon Hotel]
A large group of people, most sitting on donkeys, are shown out front of the Hexagon Hotel. Donkeys were used to transport visitors to the top of East Mountain for an overview of the City of Mineral Wells. It appears the party in this picture is preparing for such a trip. The Caldwell family ran the Hexagon Hotel as a boarding house for a while, hence the sign on the second floor of the building. H. L. Milling and his father also ran the hotel for a while, too. The building visible behind the hotel is the DC generating plant that supplied electricity to illuminate the building.
[The Hexagon Hotel], Southside
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 years before air-conditioning became available, its design was such that it could catch every vagrant breeze, and cool the hotel. 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 plant was operational when the hotel opened. There was also a steam laundry and an ice house, as well. The ice house produced its first block of ice in 1903. The builder/owner, Mr. David G. Galbraith (along with five other men) held the patent for acetate. Mr. Galbraith was a prominent cattleman from Colorado City, Texas. He came to Mineral Wells in hopes of curing a sever attack of rheumatism. He took the baths, and found that they helped him, so he decided to remain in Mineral Wells, and open a hotel. 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).
Texas Carlsbad Water
A group of people stand outside Texas Carlsbad Water. The Carlsbad was one of the earlier, and more popular drinking pavilions in Mineral Wells. It was located on NW 1st. Avenue, at NW 4th Street, directly across the street west of the Crazy Well. Its slogan was: Makes a man love HIS wife, Makes a woman love HER husband, Robs the divorce court of its business, Takes the temper out of red-headed people, Puts ginger into ginks and pepper into plodders. Please note the supports for possible electric lines, the unpaved street, and the horses obscurely visible at the far right of the photograph.
Texas Carlsbad Water
The first building for the Texas Carlsbad Well, one of the early mineral water wells which brought tourists to Mineral Wells is shown here. This picture appears on page 62 of "Time Was..." by A. F. Weaver, who dates it around 1895. Weaver includes a bit of advertising by Texas Carlsbad Mineral Water, "Makes a man love his wife, Makes a wife love her husband, Robs the divorce court of its business, Takes the temper out of red-headed people, Puts ginger into ginks and pepper into plodders."
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