Tag: History

Not Just A Name On The Map

(San Angelo Trip Part II)

Last month I shared my trip to San Angelo State Park with you. It had been the sole reason for our trip out there…well, I did tell my husband about the historic fort we could visit as a way to get him even more interested in the road trip. I ended up finding the town itself pretty neat and thought I would share more of our trip.

“a West Texas oasis” is the description of San Angelo in the Texas State Travel Guide, a wonderful free publication put out by Texas Highways Magazine (www.texashighways.com).

Where history meets geography meets art is how I would describe the town.

Here is a multiple choice quiz:

Which of these three things can be found in San Angelo?

  1. Statues of painted sheep
  2. International water lily collection
  3. Air Force Base

I you guessed “all 3”, you are correct!

According to Wikipedia a Spanish mission was founded here in 1632 to convert the native peoples (Wikipedia say “to serve the native people”). As the years went by the area was under the rule of Spain, Mexico, the Republic of Texas, and the U. S. The city itself began in 1867.

Today there are at least 99,853 people in the town and at least 121,516 if you include the area surrounding the town (2020 U.S. Census). Goodfellow Air Force Base is here, as is the historic Fort Concho (1867). There is a growing art and music community, Angelo State University, and several reservoirs based on the damming of the Concho river. The surrounding area includes farming, agriculture, an oil and gas industry, and the wonderful state park we visited. Here are some of the things we saw:

Historic Fort Concho

Buffalo Soldier Exhibit In Fort Concho Museum

Old Barracks In Fort Concho Museum

Ground Squirrel Near The Fort

Flowers On Fort Grounds

Pond At International Water Lily Collection

More Water Lilies

Mural Of Willie Nelson

One of Many Decorated Sheep Statues In Town.

This one is on the grounds of a mortuary. We shopped at a grocery (HEB) that had one in its parking lot.

The train museum was closed the day we were there. And we also didn’t visit the downtown Concho River Walk. Maybe some day I will go back and explore more.

Lastly, I want mention that San Angelo was one of many smaller cities that had it’s own nice turnout of folks on the recent No Kings Saturday protest.

For more info: discoversanangelo.com

Photos by B. McCreary

Some Things Old, Some Things New II

(musings on our trip to the Bay State-Part II)

Salem, Massachusetts is northeast of Boston on the coast. The highlight of our trip there was the Peabody Essex Museum (pem.org). The museum has something for everyone, from Asian contemporary art to native American art to a natural history exhibit (with live bats). There is a snack bar and we took a museum tour break there to fortify ourselves. Our small family group only had time to sample some of the museum’s treasures. Here are a few photos:

Yin Yu Tang Home Outer Wall

This house was the familial home of the Huang family in Huang Cun, Anhui Province. It was built in the 1790s and was the home to eight generations. The name Yin Yu Tang means “The Hall of Plentiful Shelter.” It was last occupied in 1982. The whole house was dismantled and shipped to the U. S. as part of a “cultural exchange agreement.” About 40% of the objects inside belonged to the Huang family.

Kitchen Outside Courtyard

Image On Courtyard Wall

Interior Room

View Of Upstairs From Courtyard

Visitors can go upstairs and visit the rooms in the upper floor.

Interesting Chinese Statue In Hall Adjacent To The Old House

“Magic Crow” by Rick Bartow (2014) In The Native American Art Exhibit

“All The Flowers Are For Me”

Art projected on walls of museum room by artist Anila Quayyum Agha

Although I only took “mind photos”, one exhibit keeps coming back to me. A small room showing many examples of illustrations from the book Moby Dick. From early editions to comic books. One was a book of t-shirts, each illustrated with single lines from the novel. The exhibit is called: Draw Me Ishmael: The Book Arts of Moby Dick.

The creativity of artists never ceases to amuse me and fill me with hope.

Within walking distance of the Peabody Essex Museum is the historic Charter Street Cemetery. The oldest burying ground in the U. S. is what the brochure says, but that ignores the burying grounds of the Indigenous People….just saying…. There is the grave of a person who came over on the Mayflower and other early townspeople. Nearby are monument memorials to the victims of the 1692 Witch Trials.

All of these victim memorials had offerings of flowers, fruit, coins and other tokens. The victims are honored and remembered.

If you ask people what they think of when you mention Salem, Massachusetts, they are likely to say “The Salem Witch Trials.” There is a whole museum dedicated to this history and if I get back up there I will check it out. So many things to see, so little time.

This is a fitting place to end for today. Happy Halloween!

(Photos by B. McCreary)