True Stories of Amazing People and Places in Texas

Texas Celebrates and remembers the hard working people that made Texas the great state it is. From the pioneer laborers, workers, cowboys, farmers, ranchers to the Doctors, Scientists, Engineers and Authors . . .

1931 at the shoe-shop at the Gatesville School for Boys (reformatory) three boys and their instructor posed for this huge highly detailed photo of life in the reformatory in the 1930s.

In 1940 the Williams family posed for this photo of the Williams Rock house near Shallowater Texas as it nears completion. Rock  houses were rare on the Texas panhandle due to very few rocks were available and often had to be transported from below the Caprock.

Vernon Hardcastle working on his new home he's building for his family in Wheeler County, Texas in 1939

Roughnecks on Night Shift

At a drill site in Andrews County Texas in 1942 two roughnecks on night shift posed for this iconic photo of life in the oil fields.
 

Man paints traffic light in front of the Chas Stasny Cafe which also has a man working on a ladder in Taylor Texas in 1939 in this crystal clear photo

Photograph of a wheat harvesting crew on Dick Buckles farm 20 miles south of Stratford in Sherman County in 1930

In 1940 motorized goat shearing was made possible by powering the device with a Model A through belts connected to the axle.

Teams of horses attempt to pull overturned train engine out of mud as some railroad workers look on from their perch on top of box car in aftermath of Ranger Texas Train Wreck in early 1800s . . . see full size panoramic view

Attaching new bit to drill pipe Andrews County Tx 1942

In 1942 two roughnecks attach a new drill bit to end of pipe before lowering it back into the oil well in Andrews County Texas.

In 1939 Six Workers were busy packing Swifts Turkey in Brownwood Texas when the event was captured in this photograph

In 1942 a derrick builder near Andrews Texas broke for lunch when an unknown photographer captured this crystal clear photo of the oil field worker  taking a big bite of his sandwich.

In 1907, eight construction workers (and a small boy) posed with a house they built in four days in Perico Texas. Perico is now a ghost town on U.S. Highway 87 twenty-five miles northwest of Dalhart and  . . .  Read more See full size

In 1939 a feed mill worker in Taylor Texas demonstrated how his Letz mill turns corn stalks into milled livestock feed

Sometime in the 1920s an unknown photographer captured this huge photo of two oil workers operating a huge crane on an oil well in Winkler County

In 1908 these nine construction workers posed for a photo of the Lockney Christian College they were building. The photo shows the wood frame building the stone structure will replace. Once the building was completed, the college was renamed the Lockney College and Bible School . . . see full size

Workers pose beside their trucks at a cotton gin in Slaton Texas in the 1930s. Fuzzy cotton seed is piled two-stories high in the background. The gin was owned by Hiram Wesley (Bo) Stotts . . . read more

Lubbock's First Mosquito Sprayer at Work in 1947

City worker stands on running board of the City of Lubbock truck to tend the fogging machine filling the air with insecticide as they drive down dirt road past playground in 1947.

Artis Taylor and William Thomas Taylor at work in their blacksmith shop in Slaton Texas in 1920s. Central power source distributed power to machines by leather belts . .  . 

Boys Loading Wagon at the Slaton Livery Barn in 1900

The expression on the faces of these young boys as they load a freight wagon illustrates just how hard the work was in Slaton Texas in 1900.

This family with seven children were on their way from Arkansas to Lubbock in 1938 looking for a better life. The father was a blacksmith in Paris, Arkansas. Eldest son was a tenant farmer. They stopped to fix a flat in Oklahoma when . . .Read more. View full size

In June 1938 famous photographer Dorothea Lange captured this photo of an unnamed man living on "Scratch Hill" outside Atoka, Oklahoma. "I'm going west because this country's through, there isn't anything here for anyone. I'm going west to Lubbock . . .

Lunch Break in the Oil Field Andrews Tx 1942

In 1942 six oil field workers broke for lunch in the oil fields of Andrews County Texas in this huge highly-detailed image

In 1941, sixty men lined up to get a job building Camp Barkley in Abilene, Texas. The faces of the ones in the front show the joy they felt at getting hired, some in the middle seem worried the jobs will be filled before they get to the front, and there in the back a giant of a man towers over the others ...

Spectators on foot and in horse-drawn wagons and even a hearse filled the street n 1883 to watch workers complete the construction of the Concho National Bank in San Angelo

In 1939 a man works to put caps on milk bottles to be delivered to people in San Angelo.

Migrant Oil Worker and Wife on the Road to Odessa

Migrant worker and his wife look for a better future in Odessa in 1937. The look on their faces tells a story of desperation and hope.

Migrant oil worker and family Ector County TX 1937

Migrant oil worker and family pause beside road in front of their old car with everything they own . . . Zoom In

In 1939 a boot maker posed for this photo in his shop in Alpine Texas with a pair of his hand-made boots hanging behind him . . . see it close up

Thirsty Farmer Drinks from Canvas Bag

On a hot summer morning on a farm near Ralls Texas in 1939, a farmer pauses for a cold drink of water from a canvas bag. Hung from tractor fenders, car hood ornaments and side view mirrors, military vehicles or from a cowboy's saddle horn . . . read more and view large image

In 1948 a refinery worker posed with his two little girls at their home in Borger Texas

Oil Well Workers Break for Lunch in Kilgore, Texas in 1939

Looks like they are either brought their lunch in clay pots or are heating lunch in them.

Take a closer look

With two stories up and one to go, construction workers, students, teachers and parents posed for this large highly detailed photo of the Plainview High School in 1916 . . . see full size

Workers line up for shift change.

Picking Cotton in Floyd County Texas

Sometime in the 1930s a family in Floyd County Texas posed for this great old photo of the Newberry family picking cotton. Dale Newberry provided this photo and was able to identify his Grandfather Harvey, his dad Orval, and uncles Skeet... continued

Railroad Workers Pause for Photo While Building Railroad in Northern Floyd County Texas in 1927

Meet the men who connected Floyd County with the rest of the world in 1927

In 1940 nine workers were hard at work building a bridge in Menard County when an unknown photographer captured it all in this photograph

In 1915 Citizens, Officials, and Workers turned out with their horses and wagons to begin work on the A.R. & E.P. Railroad . . . Zoom in

Sandstorm in Andrews County Oilfield 1942

Andrews County oil field workers couldn't shelter from the dust storms that plagued West Texas In 1942. Lives depended on the oil they produced . . .

In 1909, representatives from the Swenson Land Company came to Parmer County to check on their investments and posed with some farmers with their crop.
 

In 1902 two telegraph workers perched high atop a telegraph pole in Midland Texas for this amazing old photograph

A thirsty worker takes a long drink from a canvas bag covered in carbon from the carbon black plant where he works in Sunray Texas in 1942
 

Four exhausted workers at the Sunray Carbon Black plant posed for a photo in 1942

Covered in the product they help produce these carbon black workers posed for this photo in 1942 in Sunray Texas

Children play beside cars covered in sheets at this migrant labor camp in Crystal City Texas in 1939

In 1938 the wife of an Childress County migrant worker posed in her doorway for this highly detailed image that shows both desperation and hope in her face

. . . Look closer

Resources:

West Texas History & Memories

Early Life in Texas County by County

Books about Texas People and Places

Amazing People from Texas County by County