37 Miles of Antique Alley at Grandview, Itasca, Maypearl and Cleburne, TX. Montana Fur Trade. Polio Vaccine.

 

For “Travel Tuesday”, let’s visit Antique Alley, TX in The Texas Prairies and Lakes Region which offers a wide variety of destinations & attractions, from the fast-paced cosmopolitan excitement of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex with the best in shopping, dining & entertainment, to the beautiful lakes & laid-back country lifestyles found throughout the region. Discover the Excitement of the Texas Prairies & Lakes.

“Antique Alley spans the four towns of Grandview, Maypearl, Itasca and Cleburne. Grandview anchors the heart of the show with Maypearl to the east, Itasca to the south and Cleburne to the west.

Antique Alley Texas occurs twice per year on the third Friday, Saturday & Sunday each April and September.  April 19-21, 2013.”

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Antique Alley News

Round Top Texas At It Again! Something To Do. . .While Awaiting Antique Alley

45th ANNUAL SPRING ANTIQUES FAIR
April 3, 4, 5, & 6, 2013
Big Red Barn & Tent, Continental Tent & Carmine Dance Hall
Admission $10 Good for all days and all locations. Visit www.roundtoptexasantiques.com to learn more.
BUT SAVE SOME $$$ FOR ANTIQUE ALLEY!!!!!

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Antique Alley

“Those of you that have never experienced Antique Alley might appreciate some local information that hopefully will make your treasure hunt more enjoyable and safe. If possible, plan to spend the entire weekend with us! One day just doesn't allow enough time to experience this unique event! Local bed & breakfasts, hotels and RV parks fill up quickly, so you'll want to make your arrangements early. Click on the Accommodations link for more information. Grandview, Itasca and Maypearl are small towns with no hotels. Alvarado, Hillsboro, Waxahachie and Cleburne offer plenty of convenient lodging choices.

The Antique Alley shopping trail is very scenic and even breathtaking in places.
FM 916 is a road with sharp curves, twists and tricky turns that can prove to be very distracting for those unfamiliar with the route. FM 4 is commuter connection and heavily travelled. Highway 81 is an old country highway that runs parallel to I-35W. Traffic is naturally heavy during the Antique Alley event. Please respect the speed limit signs and drive safely. FM 916 changes names at the Ellis county line to FM 66 just before Maypearl.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Antique Alley Texas spans historic communities sprinkled with scenic views and fun for all. Itasca is just south of Grandview via State Highway 81. The route to Cleburne/Maypearl remains the same: via FM 4 (S) to FM 916 East - toward Maypearl (which turns into FM 66 as you enter Ellis county). This show is unique because of the miles and miles of shows and sales organized by independent landowners, small businesses and individual entrepreneurs.

You may stumble upon a beautiful ranch or quaint farm where the landowner is hosting an antique show with specialty dealers coming from all over the United States to sell their wares, or you may find a place where they've just cleaned out Grandpa's barn! There will be musical entertainment and festival style foods all over the place!

 

“Antique Alley Texas was born in 1999 through the efforts of several local individuals and business owners. Certain members of our community brain stormed together and dreamed about creating something unique in order to showcase their businesses and to boost the local economy. Antique Alley Texas is home to a whole bunch of friendly folks including a few very "colorful" characters. There are many small business owners and retailers who welcome visitors twice per year to enjoy Antique Alley but then there are a few grumps that complain about the traffic - go figure!

The show has evolved from downtown sidewalk sales and scattered pasture sales to a 37 mile, multi-faceted festival style event spanning the communities of Grandview, Itasca, Maypearl and Cleburne.”   More at: http://www.antiquealleytexas.com/

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Cleburne, Texas

Chisholm Trail Outdoor Museum

“You can visit one of the few remaining Carnegie Library buildings built in 1905 that houses the Layland Museum of History and learn about historic life in Johnson County. Stop by our quaint downtown area and stroll around our square. There you’ll find the Johnson County Courthouse built in 1913 in all of its grandeur.
Merchants in our downtown area will greet you with friendly smiles and help you find that special antique or collectible you’ve been looking for.

While you’re there visit Cleburne’s 216 ft. long Mural depicting the history of the area for the last four centuries.”

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The Layland Museum
Carnegie Library, circa 1904

“The Layland Museum came into existence through a gift in 1963. William J. Layland, a local businessman, had collected some 500 ethnographic items in the early 1900's. His heirs offered the items to the City of Cleburne.

The collection found display space on the second floor of the old Carnegie Library, known as the Cleburne Public Library at that time. School students were among the first to discover the artifact collection which included guns, fossils, Indian clothing, clay pottery, photographs, and game animal trophy mounts.

The Museum today is a department of the City of Cleburne. It serves as steward of records and events, and maintains archives documenting new construction, improvements and/or loss of historic structures, new roadways and bridges, as well as notable personages in the community. Though not the official City archives, the Museum preserves historic records of City governmental activities.”    More at:  http://www.tourtexas.com/content.cfm?id=20

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CISD students enter the Cleburne time tunnel

Art projects depict early 1900s Cleburne, 

Santa Fe Elementary School second-grade teacher Carrie Cowan and her students inspect items recently retrieved from a time capsule placed in Cleburne’s Carnegie building cornerstone in 1904. Matt Smith/CTR 

Cleburne ISD students traveled back in time Friday, March 22, 2013, to celebrate “Cleburne: This is History” at the Cleburne Conference Center.  The recent openings of two time capsules inspired the event, which was also held Saturday for the general public, celebrating life in Cleburne 100 years ago.

Mayor Scott Cain said the bright possibilities anticipated from next year’s opening of Texas 121, a toll road linking Fort Worth and Cleburne, also provides a fitting opportunity to gaze back on the city’s historic past.”  More at: http://www.cleburnetimesreview.com/local/x765746156/CISD-students-enter-the-Cleburne-time-tunnel

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On This Day:

The steamboat Yellowstone heads for Montana, Mar 26, 1832:

“The mighty American Fur Company adopts the latest in transportation technology to its business, dispatching the company's new steamboat Yellowstone to pick up furs in Montana.

The paddle-wheel steamboat New Orleans had begun regular service on the lower Mississippi only 18 years earlier. During the 1820s, steamboats occasionally ventured as far north on the Missouri as Council Bluffs. Now the American Fur Company boldly proposed to extend regular steam service all the way up to its Fort Union trading post at the mouth of the Yellowstone.

The company hired a Louisville shipyard to build a boat specially designed for the treacherous currents of the Missouri. Christened The Yellowstone, it was a sturdy craft with a large cargo deck to carry furs and trade goods. It had a high wheelhouse from which the pilot could see to avoid the many snags and shoals of the Missouri.

While the American Fur Company modernized with steamboats, its less affluent competitors continued to rely on small, man-powered keelboats to move their furs and trade goods. By the mid-1830s, boats like the Yellowstone had helped Astor eliminate lesser fur companies and the American Fur Company enjoyed a virtual monopoly over the Far Western fur trade.”

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From me: 

I shudder to think how many poor little animals have suffered, and still do suffer, in those horrible traps and fur farms.

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Salk announces polio vaccine, Mar 26, 1953:

“On March 26, 1953, American medical researcher Dr. Jonas Salk announces on a national radio show that he has successfully tested a vaccine against poliomyelitis, the virus that causes the crippling disease of polio. In 1952--an epidemic year for polio--there were 58,000 new cases reported in the United States, and more than 3,000 died from the disease. For promising eventually to eradicate the disease, which is known as "infant paralysis" because it mainly affects children, Dr. Salk was celebrated as the great doctor-benefactor of his time.

In 1954, clinical trials using the Salk vaccine and a placebo began on nearly two million American schoolchildren. In April 1955, it was announced that the vaccine was effective and safe, and a nationwide inoculation campaign began. New polio cases dropped to under 6,000 in 1957, the first year after the vaccine was widely available. In 1962, an oral vaccine developed by Polish-American researcher Albert Sabin became available, greatly facilitating distribution of the polio vaccine. Today, there are just a handful of polio cases in the United States every year, and most of these are "imported" by Americans from developing nations where polio is still a problem. Among other honors, Jonas Salk was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977. He died in La Jolla, California, in 1995.”

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Yesterday:

Ray came over to help me with some odd jobs.  It was chilly, and I had the new heater on. It stayed on, as we had a freeze warning for last night, so I brought the two hanging pots of new little baby tomato plants in the house.  What weird weather!  One day it’s tank tops, and the next it’s sweaters.

We were trying get some of the house straightened out since all the Heat/Air installation.   We put the shadow box back on the living room wall and put all the knick-knacks in place.  We had been banging on the garage wall behind it to get the panel off to get to the 220v., and hadn’t wanted anything to fall down and break.  We moved some yard sale stuff that had infiltrated my hall again, and took it where it belonged out in the storeroom.  Anything in the house that I don’t want any more I just clean it, or wash it, and put it in the hall away from cat hair.  (My dog doesn’t shed!)  We stored both new Heat/Air units empty boxes in Ray’s attic until the warranties expire, in case we have to return one. 

I hadn’t really had a chance to anything but a quick broom clean-up in the Grooming Room since doing Mikey, so we fixed that with the shop vac.

When I was vacuuming the rugs in the Middle Room, I discovered that my upright vacuum wasn’t sucking dust up properly, as I can see what goes into the removable dirt canister.  We found that the hose was stopped up, so Ray operated on that with a broom stick and a piece of wire. That got the clog out, and it works great again.

In the afternoon, a couple came by wanting to buy my little tilt utility trailer to make it into a trailer for some special boat they have.   As I am trying to get stuff gone, I took a deposit on it.  I hate to see it go, as it was the last thing my late husband and I had made before he died.  We had bought the tilt frame and made the stake side rails and floor for it.  Sometimes we used it to haul his riding lawnmower, and other times furniture, lumber or sheetrock. The buyers don’t want the painted treated wooden rails, so Ray is going to take them off today.