Bergfeld Park

Another trip to Tyler means another excuse to track down some more historical markers.

This time we'll stop by Bergfeld Park. 

As you probably guessed, Bergfeld Park was named after someone called "Bergfeld." Rudolph Bergfeld, to be exact...and he not only did he get a park named after him but he got his very own historical marker:

The marker reads:

     "Entrepreneur and property owner Rudolph Berfeld was a significant figure in the development of the city of Tyler. Bergfeld was born in Wisconsin and as a youth apprenticed at his uncle's jewelry business in Germany. He returned to the U.S. in 1874 and worked as a bookkeeper in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1878, Bergfeld moved to Tyler, where he opened a saloon. In 1880, he married Caroline "Lena" Pabst, moving into a house he built for her.
     By the 1880s, Bergfeld opened a second saloon and began to work in real estate and railroad ventures. In 1887, he helped to open the Grande Opera House. By the 1890s, Bergfeld had turned his interest to banking, opening Bergfeld Loan & Trust, which merged with City National Bank to create Citizens National Bank in 1900. That same year, the newly created Tyler Chamber of Commerce appointed him Director. In 1901, he opened a second Bergfeld Loan & Trust, which in 1905 consolidated with Farmers & Merchants National Bank. font-style: italic; text-align: center;"> Bergfeld's real estate activities were also notable. He actively developed property throughout the city, including the historic Azalea District. Bergfeld also sold land to the city for use as a park, which was named in his honor.

     Besides Bergfeld's positions on banking boards, he served as chair or director of several different companies and organizations. He was also a member of the Board of Education of Tyler Public Schools (1906-1924) and of fraternal organizations. Rudolph Bergfeld died in 1930 and was buried in Oakwood Cemetery. Today, he is remembered as a community leader whose business activities contributed greatly to the growth of Tyler."

The park is full of neat stuff like this dolphin statue (that I assume is a fountain during warmer weather), a tennis court, an amphitheater that is frequented by the East Texas Symphony Orchestra and, of course, playground equipment:

And like many stops along the road, this one has a double dose of historical markers:


This one recalls an old Confederate weapons factory that was near this location and reads:

     "Founded 1862 by J.C. Short and WM. S.N. Biscoe (both gunsmiths) and Col. Geo. Yarbrough. In 2-story brick main building, on 125-acre site, contracted to make for state of Texas 5,000 rifles for the arming of troops in the Civil War. After trouble obtaining men and material, plant was sold in October 1863 to the Confederate government. Short and Biscoe stayed on with the plan to continue making guns.
     With machinery and men evacuated from areas under siege in Arkansas operated under command of Lt. Col. G.H. Hill. Plant included leather shop, tin shop, dry kiln, carpenter shop. The 150 to 200 man workforce had (besides gunsmiths and guards) butchers, tanners, blacksmiths, draftsmen, carpenters, harness makers and coal burners. Guns made were .45 calibers long and short hill rifles, long and short Texas rifles, Austrian, Enfield and Tyler rifles with barrels 27 to 37 inches long. Some were equipped with steel tipped bayonets invented by Short during 3 months of 1864. Products made were 394,156 cartridges, 411 rifles and 3, canteens. 160 guns were repaired.
     Many Tyler rifles were sent to troops fighting North and East of Red River to prevent federal invasion of Texas."

J. A. Kemp Wholesale Grocery Building

In Wichita Falls you'll find a small, unassuming building in downtown that's easy to miss.  Near the Farmer's Market and Railroad Museum stands this little beauty:

This was the site of the J. A. Kemp Wholesale Grocery business.  If you step up to the front door you can see old historic pictures of the building and the surrounding area taped up behind the glass.  And, of course, the historic marker is close by as well.

It reads:

"Built in 1892, this structure housed the J. A. Kemp Wholesale Grocery business for 35 years. The building originally measured 50 by 100 feet and contained a full basement. A two-story brick addition was completed by 1901. The Industrial Supply Company occupied the building during the oil boom of the 1930s, and continued to provide petroleum products to the area for 34 years. Another addition was built onto the rear of the structure in the 1940s. The large arched windows and doors exhibit skilled masonry in sandstone. The building contains 18,750 square feet of space. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1997"

Nearby is another another famous Wichita Falls building whose diminutive nature is its biggest trait:

The "World's Littlest Skyscraper," A.K.A. the Newby-McMahon Building, began as a swindle and ended up as an odd roadside curiosity that's been embraced by the town.  The connected building looks like some kind of antiques store but I didn't have time to investigate. 

So the moral of the story is that even the little buildings can have a story behind them.

CCC at Longhorn Cavern SP

Longhorn Cavern State Park is in Burnet County. When we visited we didn't have time to tour another cave but we did want to check out some of the impressive work done by the CCC:

This handy historical marker reads:

"Longhorn Cavern opened as a state park in 1932. From 1934 to 1942, Company 854 of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) worked here to explore and develop the cavern. Using hand labor and native materials, the CCC workers built this structure in a style now known as National Park Service (NPS) Rustic. Completed by 1936, the one-story stone pavilion served as administrative offices for the park until 1967. An outside stairway leads to an observation terrace."

And from the observation tower you can get a glimpse of Falkenstein Castle.  Yes, there is, in fact, a HUGE castle in the middle of the Texas Hill Country:

World's Richest Acre

Today's entry takes us out to East Texas where they had quite an oil boom awhile back. The HUGE amount of drilling is commemorated by the "World's Richest Acre" Park:

Which also has a State Historical Marker which reads:

      "Part of fabulous East Texas oil field discovered in 1930. This 1.195-acre tract had first production on June 17, 1937, when the Mrs. Bess Johnson-Adams & Hale No. 1 well was brought in.

Developed before well-spacing rules, this block is the most densely drilled tract in the world, with 24 wells on 10 lots owned by six different operators. This acre has produced over two and a half million barrels of crude oil; selling at $1.10 to $3.25 a barrel, it has brought more than five and a half million dollars.
     A forest of steel derricks for many years stood over the more than 1,000 wells in downtown Kilgore, marking the greatest concentration of oil wells in the history of the world. Dozens of these derricks still dot city's internationally famous skyline.
     Since 1930, the East Texas oil field has produced nearly four billion barrels of oil. It now has more than 17,000 producing wells, and geologists predict a future of at least 45 years for this "granddaddy of oil fields." Its development has attracted to the area many diversified industries and a progressive citizenship with a high degree of civic pride"

And as luck would have it we have a video for this one that we shot a few years ago: