|
Grocery Store
in 1968
Photo courtesy Collin Armistead |
History in
a Pecan Shell
Originally
called Seven Points after it was established around 1860, it
merged with neighboring Prospect and Graybill Texas
in the 1880s. In the 1890s the Methodist Church established Westminster
College for training ministers. The name was after Westminster, Maryland.
Within a year Seven Points citizens decided to change the name.
In 1899 a post office opened. Westminster served as a cotton
market through the 1920s when the population was estimated to be around
600. The town was bypassed by railroads and during the Great Depression
the population dropped to less than 300.
After WWII Dallas
drew off population, leaving less than 200 people. It has slowly increased
to the current estimate of 390.
Westminster was hit by a tornado in April of 2006. |
Downtown Westminster
ca. 1900
Photo courtesy Collin Armistead |
Standing
on the square in Westminster in Feb. 1958
Alamo Building & old drug store
Photo courtesy Collin Armistead |
First State Bank,
once "the only grocery in town"
Photo courtesy Barclay
Gibson, April 2006 |
Post office,
Westminster, TX 75485
Photo courtesy Barclay
Gibson, April 2006 |
Westminster,
Texas Forum
Subject:
Winter Haven TX
My dad, Frank Torres was born here in Winter Haven April 2, 1930.
No birth certificate, but I have his baptismal certificate from
nearby town. - Cheryl Soto, September 07, 2015
Subject:
A Plea from Westminster, Texas
I currently own the three buildings in old Downtown Westminster,
Texas known as Big Slick's Bar & Grill. The buildings consist of
the 'First State Bank Building,' the old drug store and the old
'Alamo' building which is the two story building in the picture
that was a Telegraph office in the late late 1800's to early early
1900's. I am trying to preserve the three building's history and
the City of Westminster's also. I am trying to find people that
may have old photos of the downtown area (any era) and most hopefully
photos of the inside of the three buildings especially the bank
building and the old telegraph office building. I am also looking
for anything related to the bank such as old deposits, receipts,
bank records, pictures, pens, pins, etc that may be related to the
bank. Westminster's history is dying a fast death and we are trying
to collect as much of the history of the downtown as possible so
we can display it on our 'History of Westminster Wall' inside the
bank which now houses our bar/grill. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE help me
preserve the history of this once great town. Thank You - Collin,
collin@bigslicks.com, October 11, 2011
Subject:
Recollections of "days-gone-by"
Dear TE, Prior to 1928 my mother, Ruby Lee McFerrin (Hall) worked
in the 1st National Bank in Westminister. The head of the bank was
Mr. Procter. After the bank closed my grandfather, Claude McFerrin,
moved his grocery store from the other side of the square to the
bank building. He continued to operate the store until the early
1950's. He sold the store to his brother-in-law Francis Sellars
and wife Jennie.
In the 1920's Westminister was a thriving community. On the east
side of the square there was a general merchandise store on the
1st floor. The barbershop was in the same building as the general
merchandise store and also served as a meeting place for local musicians.
Next to the barbershop Rob McCarley had a grocery store. The entire
2nd floor was one big open room that served as a basketball court.
My uncle, Choice McFerrin loved to play basketball there. On the
west side of the bank was a café that did not fare well. On the
other side of the bank was a drug store with a licensed pharmacist.
On the west side of the square was a casket sales store, next to
that was the post office, and on the corner was Griffin's Store.
The post master was Mr. John Easton. The next post master was named
Griffin.
During this time period there were 3 different churches in Westminister.
They were Church of Christ, Baptist, and Methodist. The Methodist's
had a brush arbor that was used by all the different churches during
the summer revival meetings. - Cary W. Hall, San Antonio, TX, February
25, 2007
Subject:
First State Bank Building
Dear TE, The building shown as the First State Bank was originally
my uncle's grocery store. His name was Ben Cowling and for years
it was the only grocery in town. I know he ran it from the early
1960's through to the 1990's... - Thank you, Tricia Dennie, January
30, 2007
|
| Texas
Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history, stories,
landmarks and recent or vintage photos, please contact
us. |
|
|
HOME
