Angling around Annetta

Going down the road

One Friday we went looking for a new place to have Italian food. The restaurant we had heard about was closed so we ended up in Weatherford (see Way Back in Weatherford). We did find a good place for lunch, and in the process stumbled onto three tiny towns that seemed to have something in common. North Annetta, Annetta, and South Annetta lie in a line along Farm to Market Road.  It was a pretty day to discover a bit more about Texas history.



A.B. Fraser, originally from Nova Scotia, immigrated to Louisiana becoming so zealous a Southerner that he fought in the Civil War. However, because of his passionate support of the South, Fraser refused

Annetta Cemetery

to take the oath of allegiance to the Union. Since the law of the land was take the oath or leave, he left. He heard that the British government was building a railroad in Honduras so off he went. During his stay in Honduras he built bridges for the railway, and it was here that his daughter, Anneta (Little Annie) Fraser was born. In 1872 Fraser, along with his family, moved back to the United States, settling in Fort Worth. Four years later, seeing an opportunity to start a business, he moved to Parker County. Several miles east of Weatherford, he built a station and a store that catered to traders traveling east to sell buffalo hides, and returning with all sorts of merchandise for people in Weatherford and points west. Fraser named his station “Anneta,” after his daughter. Four more years passed and in 1880, the Texas & Pacific Railroad built a new line from Fort Worth through Parker County. Right-of-way through his land was granted by Mr. S.A. Winslow with the condition that a station would be established on the far west side of the property. Fraser built a post office and general store there also; the railroad adopted the name “Anneta” from Fraser's station. Rather than continuing as a way station, Annetta became a shipping point for cotton and local crops.

The Annetta Community grew up around the station. The community’s name has changed spelling throughout the years with the residents finally

Methodist Church

choosing “Annetta”. Although the community was small, it had a post office, a school district, and three church buildings. The general store, post office, and school are gone, but the old Annetta Methodist Church is still around. The church was founded in 1886, with a wooden building built in 1894. It existed in that state until 1937, when it was replaced by a rock building. This building is still used by the Methodist Church, and by the Annetta North Town Council. Since the 1970s, the population of Annetta and the surrounding area has steadily increased. Annetta Community was incorporated into Annetta, Annetta North, and Annetta South in 1979. Annetta North incorporated as a separate town in the mid-1980s as did Annetta South. The population of all three towns, when taken together, is about 1,000 residents.

Two and one-half carrots

What these little towns don’t have is a restaurant, so we drove back into Weatherford to the Montana Restaurant (1910 South Main Street, Weatherford, TX 76086, 817-341-3444). For information about my rating

Top L to R: Decor, Grilled catfish
Bottom L to R: Pulled pork, Chicken fried steak

system, see Reading the Reviews. Montana’s is a Western-style restaurant and bar serving appetizers and blue-plate specials. It’s fairly normal fare for a restaurant in Texas. Service was good, and although we were a bit behind their lunch rush, there were still a goodly number of people in the restaurant. Vince had the best plate of food, ordering grilled catfish with a huge order of onion rings that were very crispy and a couple of hush puppies; he thought this was all very good. Dave got the chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes. He rated the steak as soggy and the potatoes as probably instant. I had a pulled pork sandwich with pickles. It was gooey, but the flavor was pretty good. We all agreed that the fried okra was excellent. This is a ‘safe’ place for something to eat in that everyone could find something they liked, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to visit it again.

Alpacas

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