Hide Article Text (OCR)
Walls, Memories CometrordayvoilheTumbling Down On GoliadamBy JOE PICKLE i were gregarious people who just her daughters played the hand-The walls of the Birdwell place! naturally wanted their home to he some piano, and other girls in the will soon come tumbling down ! a center for the activities of the set were a(jcpt too ^ many a And with it a lot of memories ! younger set. gav dance unfolded in the homefor many Big Spring people who \fr Birdwell had been a Texas and the porch which encircled theonce knew this as the center of Ranger and later an astute bus; house from the north side to thegood fellowship and gay times nessman, lt;^aloon-keeper. hotel op- south «ide became a spot for some The Veterans of Foreign Wars erator and trader He also became slv hilling and cooing. There were post recently decided upon demo- sheriff. *He was the reason that Whist games, dominoes, and other lit ion of the building as a safety Henneage Finch, the Farl of Ayles recreation. If the young menfactor The building itself was reasonably sound structurally, but juveniles were constant^ breaking ;t and post officials wi re fearford, picked out Big Spring as the j wanted to smoke, they had to slip base of his operations in the early i outside to do it—never in the pres-1880s. er.ee of the young ladiesJohn Birdwell had been recom- The house took a lot of abuse,ful that some might turn on the mencjed t0 the British nobleman as but the Birdwells didn't mind; ingas stoves and produce an explo- possible hunting compar- fact they encouraged it. for al-sion or fire, or that the invaders jon arK| ^e\r friendship wae al- j most everytime anyone mentioned might otherwise harm themselves instantaneous from the mo- a party, the Birdwell girls volun-After prolonged discussion and ment Farl stepped off the train teered their home If the party several polls of the membership, it ; firS( )n Colorado City and was di- was too large, it moved down to was decided to clear the site and rected to Mr He intro- the Opera House 'where J. C Pen-offer the tract for sale. duced himself with a long name ney Co. is located),pis has beem hard spring for an(j title, whereupon Mr Birdwell in the home were many of thegorthehorPe;Hoyfor a i En Co Miold landmarks, for almost coinci dental with the beginning of de molition on the Birdwell home at 8th and Goliad, the old Ben Ed* dins home at Sth and Runnels was razed as were the Johnson homeadvised: “Lookev here, Earl, that j treasured firearms which Mr. Bird-stuff won't go around here. We ll i well accumulated from buffalo just call you Judge ” hunters, frontiersmen and even aMOVED HERE priceless vet of engraved, matchedWhen the TAP pressed on west-1 revolvers the Earl had given him and the old Baggett and Zmn j ward, John Birdwell moved his BECAME HOSPITALplaces m the 500 block of Scurry family to Big Spring and estab Mr Birdwell died in the homelished the TAP Hotel an elongat- which had brought so much hap-ed two - story hotel where the • piness. and later Mrs. Birdwell andTAP passenger terminal now Maedell moved to San Antonio An stands. | order of Catholic sisters took over(tioham;riterAiEDDINS HOME The Eddms home, a big two story affar was located originally where the Settles Hotel now stands and was built with the idea of serving as a rooming house. Mr Eddini. a car inspector forMost of the veteran residents agree that the Birdwell home was built after Joseph Potton. then su-the TAP. was killed by a switch perintendent for the TAP. had builtengine. The house was sold and moved to make way for the hotel back in 1928.The T H. Johnson home at 6th and Scurry was levelled recently, and along with it a house once occupied by Jim Baggett, an almost legendary early-day sheriff of Howard County and who married one of the Zinn girls Also fallingre the razing crews was the ’; Mr R.rdwii was a wiry type old two-storv homestead of Mr of individual and Mrs Birdwell.his home of Pecos red sandstone at W. 2nd and Gregg The stone seems to have struck the fancy of John Birdwell. also the general pattern with its steeply pitched roof. The Birdwell home must have been built around 1905-06. for itthe home and converted it into what was the city’s first full-fledflkd hospital. Dr. G T Hall, who joined the late Dr. M H Bor. nett in building the Big Spring Hospital in the late 1920s. practiced in the Sisters of Mercy Hospital A number of Big Spring residents were bom in the bulky red sandstone home.Modern trends passed the oldthBlt;p\ila$5Widcri|ncfrlt;was completed before the old How- place by. and nearly a score of ard County Courthouse ‘also of red j years ago the VFW purchased the sandstone* was raised in 1906 tract as the post home Graduallyit deteriorated and became a problem.ff1 Zinn11 «I cultured. jovi»l womaa,,waa on The other day a B,e Spring I MyMary Ztnn lived here well past her the plump side. They had two 1 ■ • - ■100th birthday.But it was around the once stately home of Mr. and Mrs. John Birdwell that most of the memories turned, for the BirdwellsTemptationLOVDON AP* — Men at Car diff Priaon can see 30 girl prooners m a cel! block 50 yards a perfect backdrop for it. Thehoys. Dan and John, and four daughters, Lillian (whom many wstoutly maintain »as the moot ^ost misiV^id stybsh your.g lady in West Texas*.Annabeile, Maedell and Johanna.The younger set gravitated to the Birdwell home, which dominated half a section Mr. Birdwell had retained out of what was first known as the Birdwell section The i tank (now a detention dam and j site for Birdwell Park * furnishedtold her sister “Let s drive by the old Birdwell place once more ” They looked at it wistfully and al-caatBifl(grafuofUTwlt;'‘My.” she said, didn't we have some wonderful times there ”thnTKNaway Alan Brown a labor mem bouse was excellently finished andher of Parliament and an ardent was elegant in its day. There were prison reformer complained to the something like a half dozen fire-House of Commons 'The girls places in it. including one massivesome of whom are very atirac one in the main hallway whichtive can reply to shouts and wolf opened by great sliding doors to whistle*. he said “For men who adjoining rooms Thus, most of the! are confined for lengthy periods downstairs could he converted intoI think it is tempting Provi one vast room for partiesdence .. . Mrs. Birdwell had seen to it that I
Newspaper Details
Big Spring Daily Herald
Big Spring, Texas, US
Sun, May 15, 1960
Page 6
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
USA 11 Jan 2025
Other Publications Near Big Spring, Texas
Big Spring Stanton Herald
Big Spring Sunday Herald
Big Spring Weekly Herald
Big Spring Daily Herald
Big Spring Herald
