Western Travel - Dallas Heritage Village (Part Six) - Dallas,Texas - #TravelTuesday

Welcome back to our tour around the Dallas Heritage Village in downtown Dallas, Texas. Last week we stopped at the Queen-Anne style Doctor's office, the Worth Hotel, and the Shotgun House. This is our final week at the village, wrapping up with the Depot and the General Store.

Railroad Depot:
This depot was built for the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Line (MKT) in 1886 in Fate, Texas during the peak periods of railroad activity in Texas. Each railroad line had a designated color scheme and MKT's was green (which is hard to tell from my hazy picture).
  
     

General Store:
Our last stop on our little tour of the heritage village will be the Blum Brothers' General Store (on Main Street). Originally built by Albert Mueller in 1907 on Wolf St in Dallas, it was a typical style one large room building with a false-front outside (to make the building look taller/more prominent among several shops). According to the Visitor Guide, travelling salesman (known as "drummers" who drummed-up business for product companies) would sell their wares to these shopkeepers by showing samples and then the order would arrive by train. This store also has a post office inside of it.
     
Some of the shelves of goods:
           
Cash Register, Scales and Bins:
     

Well, that concludes our little walking tour of the Dallas Heritage Village. I hope you enjoyed it and learned a thing or two. Until next time!

For more information, please check out the DallasHeritageVillage.org
Interesting site for the MKT (also called Katy Line): KatyRailroad.org
A good picture of a typical MKT depot can be found on this site: KatyHeritageSociety.com
The Katy Depot in Sedalia, Missouri: KatyDepotSedalia.com

Western Word of the Week - Moss Head - #WesternWordoftheWeek

Howdy!

Welcome to our Weekly Western Word of the Day...

Moss Head - a very old steer

The average life expectancy for beef cattle is 8 to 12 years (if they weren't eaten before then).

Source:
The Cowboy Encyclopedia by Richard W Slatta; ISBN#0-87436-738-7

Western Travel - Dallas Heritage Village (Part Five) - Dallas,Texas - #TravelTuesday

Welcome back to our tour around the Dallas Heritage Village in downtown Dallas, Texas. Last week we stopped at the Neo-Classical Sullivan House and the lovely lavender Queen Anne style Blum House. This week we're taking a visit to the Doctor's office the Worth Hotel, and the Shotgun House. Next week will be our final week at the village, wrapping up with the Depot and the General Store.

Doctor's Office and Apothecary:
This Queen Anne style building was actually a residential home built in 1890, but is a good representation of what a person would have encountered visiting the local doctor. Compared to the Blum house, this one feels very tight and dark (and I apologize for the dark photos).
  
The Study:
     
Sitting Area/Waiting Room:
     
Exam/Operation Room:
        
Apothecary:
        

Worth Hotel:
The 1904 Worth Hotel was typical of the establishments built along railroad lines to accommodate traveling salesmen and other visitors. Not only did the hotel provide a bed but also a meal (for only 25cents!) According to the lovely lady who acted as our guide, most visitors preferred to stay with friends or relatives whereas traveling salesmen (called "drummers") went to towns where they may not know anyone.
  
Sleeping Areas:
     
Dining Room:
     

Shotgun House:
Shotgun Houses were small working-class homes built as a rectangle of rooms with a single pass-through hallway from front to back, separated by doors which meant little privacy. This particular house in the village came from Guillot Street and was rented for $10/month. Amazingly, it had electric wiring. There is an awesome African-American presentation posted on the walls of the house showing the history of Dallas and the culture.

              

For more information, please check out the DallasHeritageVillage.org
Additional information and a floor plan for Shotgun Houses can be found on Wikipedia.org

Western Word of the Week - Maverick - #WesternWordoftheWeek

Howdy!

Welcome to our Weekly Western Word of the Day...

Maverick - an orphaned calf

This term is also well-known in western novels as describing a cowboy who is a loner, separated from others, a wanderer.

Source:
The Cowboy Encyclopedia by Richard W Slatta; ISBN#0-87436-738-7