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[A Love Story of Mineral Wells]

Description: This photograph appears to be a fragment of the cover of an advertising booklet that includes the fiction "A Love Story of Mineral Wells", by Mamie Wynn Cox. Her fiction was first published in 1911. Four libraries worldwide claim possession of a copy of it. The complete booklet is available by flipping through the page by selecting "next" above the photographs. The cover shows a lady holding a handful of dominoes, which was probably meant to establish a connection to Mineral Wells, D… more
Date: 1915?
Partner: Boyce Ditto Public Library

[Games at Elmhurst Park]

Description: A girls' basketball game is being played at Elmhurst Park, around 1910. Ladies in the picture are wearing ladies' basketball uniforms of the day. Ladies at the time played on a half-court, and the game was strictly a no-contact sport. The game was re-started with a jump ball after each score, tie-ball, or any infraction of the rules. There were six players on each "side", three "offense", and three defenders. This picture may be found on page 89 of "Time Was in Mineral Wells...", Second Ed… more
Date: unknown
Partner: Boyce Ditto Public Library

The History of Elmhurst Park Housing Project

Description: Elmhurst Park, on Pollard Creek about one mile-and-a-half of the southwest corner of Oak and Hubbard streets, closed when the trolley from the city to the Park ceased operations in 1913. The City of Mineral Wells received the park property, in a lawsuit concerning the builder of the park, one Major Beardsley (q.v. in the description field). A housing project was opened there about the time the nation began mobilizing for World War II, and construction of Fort Wolters began. (At one time, For… more
Date: 1960?
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

[Children With Bicycle and Hoop,]

Description: Dated "Jan 10, 1919", this picture was contained in an envelope postmarked "Aug. 4 '75", and addressed to A. F. Weaver Photography from Charles W. [Windell] Simonds. Handwriting on the envelope indicates it was from a short-wave "Ham' radio operator correspondent and friend of Mr. Weaver. Notes on the envelope indicate the picture was probably taken by the correspondent's father, Clarence Winfield Simonds. The sign on the tree at the left edge of the picture indicates this was th… more
Date: January 10, 1919
Partner: Boyce Ditto Public Library

"Welcome to Crazy Park"

Description: The Gibson Well Company purchased the Sangura-Sprudel property in 1908 for the sum of $30,000. It was to be operated as the Gibson Well property thereafter. An unnamed company shipped twenty-five carloads of water to an equally anonymous firm in Chicago in March of that year. … more
Date: 1938
Partner: Boyce Ditto Public Library

[A District Baptist Meeting]

Description: This is a picture taken by A.F. Weaver during the District Baptist Meeting of 1964, held at the high school football stadium on the west side of town. Miller Stadium, where this photograph was taken, has been replaced by a new one at the High School complex on the east side of town as of March, 2008.
Date: unknown
Partner: Boyce Ditto Public Library

Standard Park [and Amusement Park]

Description: A Trolley went by Standard Park and Standard Pavilion before 1913. A popular place,the Standard had a swimming pool, amphitheater, dancing and playgrounds. The North Oak Community is now at this location. Information was taken from A.F Weaver's "Time Was" second edition.
Date: 1913?
Partner: Boyce Ditto Public Library

Gibson Well Park and Pavilion

Description: Young ladies frolic at the Gibson Well Park around 1900. Two young women are swinging jump-ropes Double-Dutch style for a third lady. The dress styles indicate this group represents a social club on a spring outing. Note the distinctive architectural style of the Gibson mineral water pavilion. The First Christian Church now occupies the site of the early Gibson Park.
Date: unknown
Partner: Boyce Ditto Public Library

[Swimming at Lovers Retreat]

Description: Individuals are shown boating and swimming in Eagle Creek at Lovers Retreat, four miles west of Palo Pinto. The large swimming/fishing area of the creek is separated from the beautiful picnic area to the south of the creek (and to the right in the photograph), and also from a spectacular boulder field north of the creek. A suspension foot-bridge spanned Eagle Creek in this area. This view is from the suspension bridge, looking east on Eagle Creek.
Date: unknown
Partner: Boyce Ditto Public Library

[Downtown Park]

Description: This photograph shows one of several city parks maintained by the ladies of Mineral Wells. Some pictures identify one or the other of these parks as "Wylie Park." It may be that the separate parks on vacant lots throughout the town were all part of a civic "Wylie Park" program. The Cannas here are quite tall. Brick work edging of the flower beds kept the grass from invading the garden.
Date: unknown
Partner: Boyce Ditto Public Library

[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?
Partner: Boyce Ditto Public Library

Lovers Retreat

Description: A photograph of a group of three men and four women pose in a hollow surrounded by vegetation. This former public park, on Eagle Creek four miles west of Palo Pinto, is known for the huge vine-covered boulders north of the creek, and for a lovely picnic area bordering the creek on the south side. A low dam near the downstream edge of the park formed a favorite early swimming and fishing area. A small pedestrian suspension bridge provided access to the rugged boulder-strewn playground. … more
Date: unknown
Creator: Fishburn
Partner: Boyce Ditto Public Library

[The Dancing Pavilion at Elmhurst Park]

Description: Spectators are shown here, at a spring play-day frolic at Elmhurst Park around 1910. The popular park once boasted a Casino, a Dancing Pavilion, Exhibit Halls, and Outdoor Sports Fields. It hosted the County Fair and sports events until 1913. On the closure of Elmhurst Park, the City of Mineral Wells became the owner of the property. It was used for a housing development during World War II to accommodate families of soldiers and civilian workers at Camp Wolters. The City of Mineral W… more
Date: 1910?
Partner: Boyce Ditto Public Library

Pat-Ike

Description: An inscription at the bottom of the photograph reads "Pat--Ike." The "Ike" presumably refers to Ike Zablosky, who came from Russia to Philadelphia in 1890. He and his wife, Fanny Jaffee, later moved to Mineral Wells for health reasons where he became involved in the fur-and-hide business. Zablosky once described the northwest part of Palo Pinto County as a "'Possum kingdom"; hence the first flood-control lake on the Brazos River was named Possum Kingdom Lake. (The story is that it was named t… more
Date: 1917
Partner: Boyce Ditto Public Library

Casino

Description: A (gambling) Casino at Elmhurst Park was located in southwest Mineral Wells, Texas, at the turn of the twentieth century. The structure was a large stucco building facing Elmhurst Lake (created by a dam on Pollard Creek) in the foreground. The lake was sometimes referred to as "Pollard Lake." Elmhurst Park was served by the Mineral Wells Electric Railroad (Street Car), with whom it seemed to have had a symbiotic relationship; both came into existence about 1903, and both went out of bu… more
Date: 1907/1913?
Partner: Boyce Ditto Public Library

[The North Entrance to Elmhurst Park]

Description: The entrance to Elmhurst Park, Mineral Wells is shown here. The number "7830" in the upper left portion of the picture remains unexplained. The park was a recreational spot for the resort city. The park was closed in 1913, when trolley service was discontinued for lack of customers. As a direct result, the casino no longer exists, being also a casualty of the state's reform of gambling laws. It is now the site of the city sewage disposal facility.
Date: unknown
Partner: Boyce Ditto Public Library

[The Casino at Elmhurst Park, 3 of 3]

Description: This photograph shows a view of the Casino and gazebo in Elmhurst Park, Mineral Wells, Texas. The Park was constructed by the Mineral Wells Electric System (which operated a street-car line from 1907 to 1913). The street-car was the primary transportation from downtown Mineral Wells to the park. As America became enamored with the automobile as a personal vehicle, street-car passenger traffic declined, and the street-cars went out of business for lack of passengers. When the street-car… more
Date: unknown
Partner: Boyce Ditto Public Library

[A Sporting Event]

Description: A group of people watching a pole-vaulting event is shown here. A vaulter goes over a crossbar set at approximately 10 feet in this picture. The covered area in the background is the Dance Pavilion at Elmhurst Park (also the site of the Palo Pinto County Fair at this early date). Two ladies, with their backs to the camera, at the rear of the crowd wear ladies' basketball uniforms of the day. The horse and buggy were a standard mode of transportation at this time--about 1910.
Date: unknown
Partner: Boyce Ditto Public Library

[A Man with a Catfish]

Description: An unknown man is pictured holding a catfish that he has presumably caught. An embossed legend at the base of the picture states that the photograph was taken by Young's Photography, Mineral Wells, Texas. (Palo Pinto County held the Texas record in 2005 for a catfish. A ninety-six-pound monster was caught at the outflow of Morris Sheppard Dam on Possum Kingdom Lake.)
Date: unknown
Partner: Boyce Ditto Public Library

[A Baseball Team]

Description: This picture shows a men's baseball team in Mineral Wells, but the identification of both the team and the men are unknown. Ike Zablosky (sometimes spelled Zabronski), a Russian immigrant, arrived in America in 1906. He entered the fur-trading business in Mineral Wells, and is credited with naming the Possum Kingdom area when a customer inquired about some premium pelts. Zablosky replied that he had none at the time, but "When my boys return from the possum kingdom, I'm sure they will … more
Date: unknown
Partner: Boyce Ditto Public Library
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