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The
Naming of Baird and CountyThe
County was named after James Callahan, a survivor of the Massacre
at Goliad.
Baird was named after one Matthew Baird, who various sources
list as either a railroad director, lawyer, surveyor, yodeling brakeman or any
combination thereof. Maybe he was a yodeling lawyer. |
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| History
in a Pecan Shell
Still waters run deep. Don't let the town's current tranquility fool you.
This place has survived a fire (1884), a tornado (1895), cattle drives, hard winters
(notably 1884-85), long droughts (drouths) (1886-87) and a spectacular three locomotive
collision caused by a runaway engine in 1907. This incident may have given the
Katy railroad their idea for The
Crash at Crush. By the time the railroad in Baird was informed about the
loose locomotive, there was no time to wake people and sell tickets. Baird had
a roundhouse and maintenance shops for the T & P.
What goes around comes
around (unless it's a runaway locomotive).
Callahan County's Seat
of Government was originally in Belle
Plain, about 3 miles south. They had it all: a college (Belle Plain College),
a courthouse and a spanking new stone jail.
When the railroad come through,
the newspaper and main businesses moved to Baird and the people then wished they
had made the jail out of something much lighter. They dismantled it, numbered
the stones, and then reassembled it in its present location (100 W. 5th Street
in Baird).
Ironically, it was Belle
Plain that caused the demise of Callahan
City, drawing away major businesses and population when Belle Plain became
the County Seat.
Callahan
City's cemetery is about all that's left of that town, while Belle
Plain still has ruins of the College buildings. |
Baird,
Texas Landmarks & Attractions: |
Photographer's Note:
"There is something unique in every block." - Barclay
Gibson |
| The
old Callahan County Jails Originally
in Belle Plain
When the railroad come through, and Belle Plain businesses
moved to Baird, the townspeople dismantled their new county jail, numbered the
stones, and then reassembled it at its present location. (100 W. 5th Street) Photo
courtesy Charlene
Beatty Beauchamp |
The
Texas and Pacific Depot c. 1911
One of the larger ones on the former T
& P route.
The T & P had depots from Marshall
to Sierra
Blanca,
where it merged with the Southern Pacific.
Photo courtesy Barclay
Gibson, October 2009 |
Looking
south on Market Street
Photo
courtesy Barclay
Gibson, October 2009 |
The
Baird Locomotive Mural
These two pickups conveniently provide scale for
this well-executed mural. Trains are freqently mural subjects - but seldom are
they painted life-size.
Photo
courtesy Barclay
Gibson, October 2009 |
Grumpe's
- "Lollipop Manufacturer to the World"
Photo
courtesy Barclay
Gibson, October 2009 |
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Aviation
cadets take a break in front of the T & P Depot at Baird in January of 1943
I found the [above] photo in my Dad's World
War II album. He was an aviation cadet on a transcontinental troop train that
stopped in Baird in January 1943. Baird was a rest stop for these guys after long
train trips from the east. I am not sure how long these troop trains stopped in
Baird, but it must have been welcomed by the thousands of GI's who were being
transported long distances in crowded conditions. In my Dad's case, he documented
the trip through some great photos, not just of Baird but pointing his camera
out of the Pullman window to show the steam engine chugging across the Mississippi
River at New Orleans and entering the Mojave Desert in California.
Most
of the GIs in the photo were in pre-flight training enroute to the Santa Ana,
California training base. You can see that the GI in the foreground is wearing
the aviation cadet wings on his cap or "cover". This was their uniform until they
completed training and were commissioned as Second Lieutenants and awarded their
official wings. In WWII,
Santa Ana was both a pre-flight training base and holding area for aviation cadets
until they were ordered to advanced training bases. In my Dad's case, he was slotted
to Bombardier pre-flight training in Santa Ana (mostly academic non-flying work)
and then advanced flight training at Kirkland Field, NM. There was still two and
one-half years of tough combat ahead and I wonder how many men in the photo survived
the war. - David Schoeck, Dana Point, CA, January 09, 2008
See
World War II
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Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history and vintage/historic
photos, please contact
us. | | |
