Corsicana -- Then and Now: CHS/Drane Intermediate

What was once the "new" Corsicana High School (see old postcards) is a great building still in use today. Now it's Drane Intermediate. I've gone by several times to try to get photos for this "Then and Now" series, but it's always been so congested that I couldn't get a good shot. The street in front of the school is closed during school days. So, I went by on Memorial Day when the campus was closed! You can see that the building and campus are still well-maintained and fully functional.

Sky Watch Friday -- UFO Over Corsicana?

Is that a UFO coming up (or going down) behind the Cook Planetarium building???

There it is again behind the clock tower!

Just having some fun with a cleverly painted water tower on the campus of Navarro College!
Hope everyone has a Fabulous Friday! Be sure to go to Wigger's World to see more Sky Watch Friday posts!

Corsicana--Then and Now: Merchants Opera/Beckett

Veering a little off of my Then and Now themes used before.....this building is the NEW building on this block. As you can see from the Historical Marker, there was originally an Opera House on this site. I've read that there was never any opera there, though. They just used the word Opera rather than Theater because it had a better connotation at the time!

ABC Wednesday -- S for STAR

Out of town and unprepared, so I'm SCROUNGING for SCRAPS and SEEKING SHOTS STORED on my camera chip or flash drive. Here's a SHOT of Cook SCIENCE and Technology Center on the Navarro College Campus , which houses Cook Planetarium....where you can SEE the STARS! SEE this link for more STATISTICS: http://cookplanetarium.us/


If you're SEEKING a SPOT for that SPECIAL occasion, here's a SHOUT OUT for STAR Hall at American RV in Corsicana. SEE this link for more SPECIFICS: http://americanrvcorsicana.com/starhall
OK, I'm going to SHUT up and get some SLEEP now as I SET up this post for SOMETIME tomorrow morning! Remember to go to Mrs. Nesbitt's Place to SEE more ABC Wednesday posts that will probably make more SENSE of the theme SUBJECT of the day!

Corsicana Vistors Center

Memorial To Capt Q.L. McDonald

When I first spotted this monument, I assumed this young man had been killed in war. According to information I've found so far, the 4th Texas Regiment of the Spanish American War never left Texas. It was mustered in just a few months before the short war ended in late 1898. Capt McDonald died on October 22, 1899 not long before his 28th birthday. His parents were apparently quite proud of his service (their stone is to the left of his and they passed in 1910 and 1921) and I would assume by the elaborate stone that they were "prominent citizens" of Mexia. However, I've been unsuccessful in finding anything about them on the internet. So, let your imaginations fill in the blanks.......

Camera Critters Sunday -- Hawk on fencepost

One more example of a day that I suddenly whipped the car off the road and the camera out of the bag! This was outside Corsicana, going toward Waco. There are farms and ranches and open fields all along that highway. Some of the old fences are disappearing daily, as the highway department is preparing to widen the highway from 2 to 4 lanes very soon. This was shot out the passenger window, probably with a little zoom involved!
Looking to give you a little more information on this bird, I've discovered that I don't know what type it is! Can anyone help me out here? This was taken on 9/22/05 so it could have been in migration from summer to winter grounds. See more Camera Critters at Misty Dawn's.

Memorial Weekend --- Back to Mexia

I found another intriguing monument at the Mexia City Cemetery this past week (see my Thursday post below for my first one). Since this is Memorial Day Weekend, I thought I would use some photos of it. I will post more tomorrow and Monday. I've been trying to research the story of this Spanish American War veteran, but am having no luck so far. I will share a question begging for an answer in another post over the weekend.

Look up....QUICK! Sky Watch Friday

Tuesday as I was on the outskirts of Corsicana (and near the shores of Richland-Chambers Lake) I happened to glance up and see these American White Pelicans circling gracefully above. I literally had to whip my car off the side of the road and grab my camera and stick it out the window to grab two quick shots before they were gone. Check this site for more details on these wonderful creatures. We only get a chance to see them briefly as they pass to and from their winter retreats each year. And be sure to head on over to Wiggers World for more SkyWatch Friday shots!

Road trip ....

I stopped in Mexia....a nice town near Corsicana....on Tuesday and stopped by their cemetery (a friend is buried there) and came across this eye-catching monument. A little Google-ing turned up information on a song writer named Cindy Walker. Check this link to find some songs you probably know (at least in the US) but I wonder if you knew who wrote them. I certainly didn't. I've lived in this area since 1977 and don't ever remember hearing of Ms. Walker. And yet she was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame!

ABC Wednesday---R for Rainbow

If you enlarge this, you may notice the beginning of a double-rainbow on the left edge of the photo. This was taken in the country just NW of Corsicana several years ago. Click over to Mrs Nesbitt's place to enjoy more ABC Wednesday posts.

Odd Shots Monday

Anybody guess what it is? On the eastern edge of Corsicana, in the industrial district, I've noticed acres of these iron wheels/axles and long thought it might make a good odd shot. I kept looking for a time when I was passing through with good weather and no trucks rushing in and out. I gave up on that! So Friday, I grabbed just a couple of quick shots and still got in the way of an 18-wheeler! There are more photos below that show you the full perspective.
See other odd shots at Katney's Kaboodle and read more if you'd like about the railroad wheel repair business below. Apparently, this facility does repair work primarily for Union Pacific.

The following is an excerpt from a 8-K SEC Filing, filed by GREENBRIER COMPANIES INC on 10/16/2006.With over 25 years of experience in the rail industry, Meridian Rail Services

supplies both new and reconditioned wheel sets to railroads, maintenance centers

and repair shops across the U.S. and Mexico. Headquartered in Birmingham,

Alabama, Meridian operates six full service freight car wheel facilities in

Chicago Heights, IL; Corsicana, TX; Kansas City, KS; Lewistown, PA; San

Bernardino, CA; and Mexico City, Mexico. Meridian also operates a coupler

reconditioning facility in Chicago, IL and a car repair facility in Mexico City,

Mexico. Greenbrier operates four full service freight car wheel facilities in

Tacoma, WA; Pine Bluff, AR; Portland, OR; and Sahagun, Mexico.

The Greenbrier Companies (www.gbrx.com), headquartered in Lake Oswego, OR, is

a leading supplier of transportation equipment and services to the railroad

industry. The Company builds new railroad freight cars in its manufacturing

facilities in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico and marine barges at its U.S.

facility. It also repairs and refurbishes freight cars and provides wheels and

railcar parts at 30 locations (post Meridian acquisition) across North America.

Greenbrier builds new railroad freight cars and refurbishes freight cars for the

European market through both its operations in Poland and various subcontractor

facilities throughout Europe. Greenbrier owns approximately 9,000 railcars, and

performs management services for approximately 136,000 railcars.

A founding father....

Taken from RootsGenWeb:

David Reed Mitchell

David Reed Mitchell, born in 1797 in North Carolina, arrived in Robertson County, Texas. In 1845 he was a surveyor by trade, and had surveyed the upper Trinity and Brazos river areas in 1844. He became surveyor of the Robertson County land district, as well as the original land of Navarro County and Corsicana. Mitchell was also a land speculator of sorts, and by 1847 he owned a large amount of land in Navarro County. With two partners, Thomas I. Smith and James C. Neill, he donated one hundred acres on which the town of Corsicana was founded. For a time he operated an inn in the town, sometimes referred to as the "lower hotel" because of its location in proximity to another hotel run by pioneer Hampton McKinney.

David Reed Mitchell married Mary Ann Higgins, and they were the parents of five children. Mitchell continued to live in Corsicana until his death on Oct. 7, 1863. He was buried in Oakwood Cemetery, and the citizens of Corsicana erected a monument at his grave in 1899. Of the three partners who donated land for the city of Corsicana, Mitchell is the only one buried here.

Texas Sesquicentennial 1836-1996

The Arts -- Palace Theater

From their website:

Built in 1921, the first film shown at The Palace was Cecil B. DeMille's Something to Think About starring Gloria Swanson, plus a Max Sennett comedy Salome vs. Shenandoah . This theatre has been completely restored and updated with the latest lighting and sound equipment.

Coming Events

The Spinners -- Sept 20

Michael Martin Murphey – Dec 16

Please click on the link above if you are interested in more photos and history. There are photos of the inside, too. This theater is on one of our brick side streets downtown, half a block from the Warehouse Living Arts Center and across from the WLAC Children's arts building. There are posts below about those two.

ABC Wednesday: Q

I've been away for a couple of days and am admittedly grasping for ideas today! It's raining like crazy here, so new photos are impossible. Here's one of a QUIET spot at the Navarro County Courthouse. Be heartened...there are many more talented and imaginative photographers participating in ABC Wednesday posts at Mrs Nesbitt's Place. Please go see their work!