The Bimini Bath House
Date: unknown
Creator: unknown
Description: A photograph of an old postal card showing the Bimini Mineral Bath House, later known as "The Wagley Building" is shown here. It was constructed by Goodrum, Murphy, and Croft and located at 114 NW 4th Street. It was later demolished.
Contributing Partner: Boyce Ditto Public Library
Permallink:texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth16181/
Bimini Bath House, Mineral Wells, Texas
Date: unknown
Creator: unknown
Description: A photograph of an old postal card showing the Bimini Mineral Bath House, later known as "The Wagley Building." It was constructed by Goodrum, Murphy, and Croft and located at 114 NW 4th Street. A vintage automobile is shown at right side of the picture. This building was demolished before 2008.
Contributing Partner: Boyce Ditto Public Library
Permallink:texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth16178/
[Bird's-Eye view Mountains in Distance]
Date: unknown
Creator: unknown
Description: Illustrated here is a view of Mineral Wells from the southeast looking northwest. On the left, the large building in front of the hill is the Chautauqua, built by public subscription in 1905. It was demolished about 1912. The large white building near the edge at the left middle of the picture was the First Baptist Church, which served the congregation from 1900 to 1920. The dim building under the hill at the upper right of the picture is the East Ward School (Mineral Wells' first High School), built in 1906 and closed in 1926. Please note the windmills in the backyards.
Contributing Partner: Boyce Ditto Public Library
Permallink:texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth16218/
Bird's Eye View of Mineral Wells
Date: c. 1905
Creator: unknown
Description: Two contiguous negatives, taken from East Mountain, looking Southwest are shown here. Please note that some landmarks have been numbered in ink on the photographs. On the first [upper] photograph (No. 3), the pavilion with the steeple on the roof,is the Hawthorne well, located at 314 NW 1st Ave. (No. 4), the large two-story structure, is the Crazy Drinking Pavilion. The Lithia Pavilion is the structure between the Hawthorne and Crazy pavilions. Note also the Hawthorn House (No. 5?), located on North Oak. The large livery stable in the left foreground has not been identified by name. Please note the Poston Building on the second [lower] photograph, on North Oak (not numbered, but the three-part building in the middle left of the photograph). Also, please note the two steeples of the first Catholic Church on NW 3rd Street, in the 600 block, on the side of West Mountain. The large two-story frame hotel (No. 2) in the left foreground has not been identified.
Contributing Partner: Boyce Ditto Public Library
Permallink:texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth16214/
Bird's Eye View of Mineral Wells
Date: c. 1901 - 1902
Creator: unknown
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 middle of picture), The Lythia Well (between the Crazy Well and the Hawthorn Well), and The Hexagon House at the far right edge of picture.
Contributing Partner: Boyce Ditto Public Library
Permallink:texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth20324/
[Blind Nellie]
Date: unknown
Creator: unknown
Description: Blind Nellie was brought to Mineral Wells by a cowboy, who sold her at auction for a dollar and a half. She eventually came into the possession of Col. W.R. Austin, who used her to turn the wheel of the pump at the Austin Well. In that capacity, the horse became a tourist attraction. When she was retired, she continued to walk in circles in her pasture. She was given a ceremonial burial when she died in 1912, a burial attended by a large crowd of admirers. The story may be found on page 54 of "TIME WAS in Mineral Wells..." by A.F. Weaver. Written on the back of this photograph is "Blind Nellie at Austin Well located in the 900 block of N.E. 2nd Ave." This is a photograph of a newspaper clipping.
Contributing Partner: Boyce Ditto Public Library
Permallink:texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth25103/
[Blind Nellie at Austin Well]
Date: c. 1900
Creator: unknown
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 highe4st bidder, J.H. Coleman, who bid a dollar and a half for her. Then Bob Kyle took Coleman's bargain off his hands, but Col. Austin was the one who profited most from her when he devised a method using her to "pump" water from his well. This unique method of bringing water to the surface was an added attraction at the Austin. Instead of drawing it up by hand or using a power pump, Col. Austin used Blind Nellie. She was trained to walk around in circles, pulling the water up from below. She would pause long enough for the water to empty and, as if on a hidden cue, would go around again as the receptacle was lowered back into the well, repeating her performance accurately each time. ...
Contributing Partner: Boyce Ditto Public Library
Permallink:texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth24964/
[Boy & Girl in Fancy Dress]
Date: unknown
Creator: unknown
Description: This photograph shows a pre-pubescent boy in formal attire standing by a girl in furbelowed dress, with the train drawn in front of her, and wearing a fleury crown (of cardboard?). She carries a nosegay. He has a boutonniere. An inscription on the back of the picture reads: "Patsy Baughn I think Geo. Kossteson [?]" Further information about either person--or the occasion that warranted the photograph--is entirely lacking at the present [2012] date.
Contributing Partner: Boyce Ditto Public Library
Permallink:texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth39241/
[Brazos River Scene]
Date: unknown
Creator: unknown
Description: This 1925 photograph shows individuals, in clothing of the period, at the Brazos River. It appears to be a holiday outing. Some of the people sitting and standing are in full dress, and not wearing swim suits. The flat and sandy shore is reminiscent of the Village Bend area of the Brazos River in the vicinity of Oaks Crossing (the early Brazos ford on the main road from Palo Pinto to Weatherford) some 6 miles southeast of Palo Pinto. The opposite shoreline in the photograph is rocky, with heavy vegetation and high banks. The photograph comes from a Knights of Pythias Album.
Contributing Partner: Boyce Ditto Public Library
Permallink:texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth25099/
[Brewer Home]
Date: April 4, 1976
Creator: unknown
Description: The Brewer home on East Mountain is shown here, from a picture taken April 4, 1976. It is visible from most of N. Oak Avenue. The Originally the Murphy Home, the building underwent many renovations during the period of Mr. Murphy's residence. Mr. Murphy was a contractor who built many buildings in Mineral Wells, including the Mineral Wells High School (1914) and the third First Baptist Church.
Contributing Partner: Boyce Ditto Public Library
Permallink:texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth20249/