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Cedar Station,
Texas
"Cedar Station
was built between 1947 and 1948 by my grandfather T.H. Eastman, his
stepson J.B. Chapman, his stepson-in-law Ed Shepard and a family friend
named Preacher Laxton. My grandfather built it for his step daughter
Jayme Chapman and her husband Ed to run. My grandfather purchased
a machine to make all the blocks used to make all the buildings.
The first building built was a one room wooden structure where my
aunt and uncle lived until the house was built. This wooden structure
later became the wash house and was located behind the house. The
house had two bedrooms
with living room, kitchen and bath, later a front porch was added.
The station itself was one
room and had two gas pumps out front, one was regular and the other
was Ethyl (premuim), it was a Texeco station.
My mother Alinda Eastman Turner can not remember the year that the
two room (each with bath) building was built nor the year the tin
barn was built. The two room building was built for weary travelers
to stay in. My grandfather built it for people who broke down on the
highway, it was called Tourist
Courts.
Right behind the station was a power plant on a cement slab (not very
big) that provided all the electricity for all the buildings. Looking
from the highway from right to left you would have seen the house,
Cedar Station, Tourist Courts and the tin barn.
After my aunt, uncle and their family moved to Oklahoma in or around
1949 1950 my grandfather moved his family from the ranch house to
the house at Cedar Station. My grandfathers ranch was across the highway
from Cedar Station. They continued to live there until his death in
1963.
In 1964 my grandmother Faye Rodgers Chapman Eastman and my mother
(T.H. Eastman's only child) leased the station to a man named James
"Jim" Smith where he ran it with his family until ?.
My mother told me a story that one day a plane landed on the highway
to refuel. The pilot took my grandfather first up in his plane, then
my grandmother, and then my mother. My grandparents loved it but my
mother not so much, the mans plane had to be washed out (enough said).
My father told me that my grandfather would take naps on a 18 wheeler
inner tube (my grandfather was a tall man) that he placed just inside
the station doorway that way he would hear if anyone pulled up to
get gas. Unfortunately we have only two
pictures that we have been able to come across from when it was
a working station. Momma said that they really could not afford a
camera back in those days. It was a hard living to make and that is
the main reason that my mothers half sister and her family left it
behind. My mother is not sure but thinks that she may still own the
property. The ranch was sold off years ago but no mention of the Cedar
Station property is in the sell of the ranch.
Hope this helps you understand Cedar Station TX just a little bit
more." - Carrie Turner Perez, September 29, 2012 |
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"My grandfather,
sister and father" - Carrie Perez |
"My grandfather
holding hands with my siblings and my father sitting under the Cedar
Service Station sign. My father told me that a wooden car port was
built onto the station where the cars were worked on." - Carrie
Perez |
Cedar Station
Photo courtesy Phil Bebbington, October 2012 |
Cactus and graffiti.
Former gas station in 2016
"The station itself was one room and had two gas pumps out front,
one was regular and the other was Ethyl (premuim), it was a Texeco
station." -
Carrie
Turner Perez
"My dad, Jim Smith, leased Cedar Station and about 600 acres
around it. He operated the gas station that is shown. He sold gas,
food, drinks, etc., and fixed flat tires."- Randy Smith
Photo courtesy Abdul
Khan, October 2016 |
The former gas
station in 2005
Photo
courtesy Erik
Whetstone, August 2005 |
The house close
up
Photo courtesy Abdul
Khan, October 2016 |
"The
house had two bedrooms with living room, kitchen and bath, later a
front porch was added." -
Carrie Turner Perez
Photo courtesy Abdul
Khan, October 2016 |
Photo
courtesy Phil Bebbington, October 2012 |
Photo
courtesy http://philbebbington.com, October 2012 |
Cedar Station
former Tourist Court
"The
two room building was built for weary travelers to stay in.
My grandfather built it for people who broke down on the highway,
it was called Tourist Courts" -
Carrie
Turner Perez
Photo courtesy Abdul
Khan, October 2016 |
Another view
of the Tourist Court
Photo courtesy Abdul
Khan, October 2016 |
The Tourist Court
in 2016
Photo courtesy Abdul
Khan, October 2016 |
Cedar Station
Photographer's Note:
"These images are from Terrell
County taken on August 18th, 2005 and are of the remains of the
town of Cedar Station. At least I think it's a town. I haven't been
able to find anything on it, but it was showing on my map as a town
east of Dryden on Hwy 90.
All three buildings are in close proximity of each other, and are
pretty graffiti covered. You can barely make out the town name on
one building and Grocery on another in faded black paint." -
Erik
Whetstone, March 30, 2006 |
Cedar Station,
Texas Forum
Subject:
Cedar Station Texas
I just googled Cedar Station Texas and found your site. My mother
used to live in Cedar Station. I dont know much about it other than
as you look at the buildings from the highway the hay barn was to
the left of the station in the middle and the house was to the right.
As a child whenever we visit my hometown of Sanderson
we would stop by Cedar Station. As the years went by it got more
and more run down. My grandfather owned the property and the ranch
across the highway. - Carrie Perez, July 17, 2012
Subject:
Cedar Station Texas
I saw your page on Cedar Station, Texas. I used to live at Cedar
Station in about 1963-65. I lived in that house shown in the first
picture on the Cedar Station page.
My dad, Jim Smith, leased Cedar Station and about 600 acres around
it. He operated the gas station that is shown. He sold gas, food,
drinks, etc., and fixed flat tires. He also raised sheep and goats
and had horses on that land. My mother, my two brothers and two
sisters and I lived in that house along with my dad.
There was a small motel there at one time (the third picture). I
believe my grandmother, Dorothy Alice Smith, once sold decorative
rocks out of that building as well. - Randy Smith, May 20, 2006
Nearby Destinations:
US 90 E - Langtry,
Comstock
US 90 W - Dryden, Sanderson,
Marathon, Alpine,
Marfa
On Hwy 349 N - Sheffield
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Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history
and vintage/historic photos, please contact
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