TexasEscapes.com HOME Welcome to Texas Escapes
A magazine written by Texas
Custom Search
NEW
TEXAS TOWNS
GHOST TOWNS
COUNTIES
TOPICS
TRIPS
ARCHITECTURE
COLUMNS
ARCHIVE
SITE MAP
SEARCH SITE
HOTELS



Texas | Architecture / Images |Monuments & Statues

The staring and defiant
EAGLE EYES OF TEXAS
are upon you

Photo Essays - Series One
Perched over doors of buildings – is it a coincidence that these are the very buildings (banks, courthouses and post offices) where we take care of our most personal business?
Fort Worth Texas post office eagle
Dignity on the old Ft. Worth Post Office
TE Photo

In a state that often gets press for things un-natural; there’s still a lot of nature to be found in Texas. Ornithologically-speaking, the Lone Star State is beyond rich.

First, we have the ultimate songster for the state bird. But then again, something like eight other states claim the Mockingbird. For the exotic, we’ve got scissor-tailed flycatchers, caracaras, spoonbills, and blue herons. Let’s hear other states claim those!

Brownsville has its famed wild parrots and Corpus Christi has its air-force of white pelicans. Rockport has its whooping cranes and every highway overpass between Houston and San Antonio has its springtime colony of swifts. Mentone and Sanderson are overrun with roadrunners and from Beaumont to Fort Davis, everyone and anyone who can mix sugar and water is treated to the antics of migrating hummingbirds. Thanks to the people of Wills Point and Habitat for Ornithology, bluebirds of happiness migrating through NE Texas are positively delirious.

All of the aforementioned species share two basic traits (except grackles and seagulls).

They either want to be alone or want to flock together with their like-feathered brethren.

Grackles and seagulls just want to be fed.

But the species featured in this particular gallery are different. They don’t flock together (except on the McLennan County Courthouse dome) and they don’t want to be fed. They don’t catch flies or run roads. They are not the subject of birdwatchers and indeed – (here’s our point) - they are watching us!

Perched over doors of buildings – is it a coincidence that these are the very buildings (banks, courthouses and post offices) where we take care of our most personal business?

The unblinking eyes of these sandstone seers, limestone voyeurs and marble eavesdroppers are in every county of the state. While a complete census has yet to be made, we’re beginning an inventory starting with this very page.

McKinney Texas guilded eagle
McKinney's First National Bank Building
"...cast stone and a gilded eagle."

Photo courtesy Mike Price, December 2007
Austin TX Federal Courthouse eagle
A watchful eye on the Federal Courthouse in Austin
TE photo
Eagle Austin Texas  Travis County Courthouse

"The stuff that dreams are made of..."
A Maltese Falcon stand-in on the Travis County Courthouse

TE photo, 2004

 Beaumont TX eagle
Tradition in Beaumont
TE photo, July 2003
Graham TX Young County Courthouse Eagle
Fascial Decorum on the Young County Courthouse
TE photo, 2002
Port Arthur Texas Jefferson County sub-courthouse
Eagle or Winged Platypus?
Jefferson County's Sub-courthouse in Port Arthur

TE photo
Port Arthur Texas courthouse eagle
Sitting on a fasces - same eagle as above straight on - Port Arthur
TE photo, June 2003
Princeton Texas 1945 memorial
1945 Memorial in Princeton, Texas
Photo courtesy Mike Price, December 2007
Runge Texas former post office eagle
Overly-saturated Eagle on the Runge, Texas Former Post Office
TE photo, 2001
Taylor Texas post office eagle
Pretending to look distracted on the Taylor, Texas Post Office
TE photo, 2005
Waco City Hall Eagle, Waco Texas
Zig Zag Deco on Waco's Mvnicipal Bvilding
TE photo, 2004

December 5, 2007

Eagle Eyes of Texas -
Series 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |


Related Topics:
Texas Architecture | Monuments & Statues |
Texas Banks | Courthouses | Post Offices |
Texas Towns | Texas Animals | Texas Hotels


All Texas Towns :
Gulf Gulf Coast East East Texas North Central North Central Woutn Central South Panhandle Panhandle
South South Texas Hill Hill Country West West Texas Ghost Ghost Towns counties COUNTIES

TEXAS ESCAPES CONTENTS
HOME | TEXAS ESCAPES ONLINE MAGAZINE | SEARCH SITE
TEXAS TOWNS A-Z | TEXAS GHOST TOWNS A-Z | TEXAS COUNTIES

Texas Hill Country | East Texas | Central Texas North | Central Texas South | West Texas | Texas Panhandle | South Texas | Texas Gulf Coast
TRIPS | STATES PARKS | RIVERS | LAKES | DRIVES | FORTS | MAPS

Texas Attractions
TEXAS TOPICS
People | Ghosts | Historic Trees | Cemeteries | Small Town Sagas | WWII | History | Texas Centennial | Black History | Art | Music | Animals | Books | Food
COLUMNS : History, Humor, Topical and Opinion

TEXAS ARCHITECTURE | IMAGES
Courthouses | Jails | Churches | Gas Stations | Schoolhouses | Bridges | Theaters | Monuments/Statues | Depots | Water Towers | Post Offices | Grain Elevators | Lodges | Museums | Rooms with a Past | Gargoyles | Cornerstones | Pitted Dates | Stores | Banks | Drive-by Architecture | Signs | Ghost Signs | Old Neon | Murals | Then & Now
Vintage Photos

USA | MEXICO | HOTELS

Privacy Statement | Disclaimer | Contributors | Staff | Contact TE
Website Content Copyright Texas Escapes LLC. All Rights Reserved