Collecting in Cleburne

Vince said that he wanted fish for lunch, but we were all weary of our

One of the many older houses in Cleburne

usual seafood places. It’s amazing what you can find online, and I found an interesting place for fish in Cleburne. Off we went! We weren’t quite sure about the location of the restaurant, and our GPS took us to it, but we decided the GPS was wrong. It is in an old fast-food building, but the food is much better than fast food! To top off our adventure, we also took a drive through the older part of Cleburne to see what we could discover about its past. Collecting pictures of Texas Historical Markers is one of the ways we collect knowledge about what happened in our state’s past.

Cleburne has always been where the action is. It began as a wide spot in the road near the old wagon trail that soldiers followed from Fort Belknap to Fort Graham. At this little stop travelers could visit West Buffalo Creek

Johnson County Courthouse

for much needed water and they could meet other folks traveling along the Chisholm Trail (see Along the Chisholm Trail). The coming of the Civil War brought more permanent buildings because the site was used as the temporary facility, Camp Henderson. It became a permanent settlement in 1867, when a new, centrally located county seat replaced Buchanan. Cleburne was named in honor of Patrick R. Cleburne, a general during the Civil War. Cleburne rocked along for years, acquiring schools, a post office and a newspaper. However, with the coming of the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railroad in 1881, Cleburne’s population exploded. Six years later a second line through came through, again stimulating growth. This was further supported by the addition of machine shops that constructed parts for the railroads. Cleburne continued to attract the interest of railroads. At one time there were at least five railroads that stopped in Cleburne, plus a local streetcar.

Technology came to Cleburne in 1878 with the first telephones in Texas.

Snap-on Tool Training Center, near where
the Automatic Telephone Company
once stood

Early in the 20^th century, rural areas used barbed wire fences for phone lines and even urban homes shared party lines, each one having its special "ring". Even in the 1950s we were on a 7 party line – it was not only hard to get a line out but there was also no guarantee of privacy when you did. The first phone in Cleburne connected Colonel A. H. Belo, the publisher of the "Galveston News" with the newspaper. Galveston was the location of the first exchange and first long-distance line, which connected to Houston. General Cleburne phone service began four years later when Automatic Telephone Company opened. In about 1904, the Automatic Telephone Company put in some of first dial telephones in U.S. some fifteen years before they were used successfully elsewhere. However, in 1912, the Automatic Telephone Company was forced to close.

Layland Museum was once
the Carnegie Library

Cleburne has also been a hub for education. A Carnegie Library was opened there in 1904. State Christian Junior College moved from Denton to Cleburne in 1909 and changed its name to Clebarro Junior College. Currently there is Hill County College and there are technical schools supported by industry; judging from the parking lots, these institutes are doing well. However, the folks in Cleburne weren’t doing well during the depression. The population dropped and jobs were scarce. In the 1930s the Civilian Conservation Corps operated a camp west of Cleburne that hosted 200 workers; one of their projects was construction of Cleburne State Recreation Park. After World War II, Cleburne began to grow again, stimulated by its proximity to Fort Worth. By 1990s Cleburne had forty manufacturing facilities, and a new regional hospital. This same year a new employer arrived in the area: the Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Station in Glen Rose. Cleburne has been growing ever since.

Collecting pictures on this trip was not particularly successful. We followed our GPS to the locations listed on our historical marker app only to find that the markers had either vanished or the locations were in error! With heavy sighs we went to lunch! For information about my rating system, see Reading the Reviews.

Four Carrots

The Boiling Shrimp (801 N Main St, Cleburne, TX 76033, 682-317-1559) has an attractive exterior, but still resembles a fast-food place.

Top L to R: Menu, Clams
Bottom L to R: Shrimp, Po'boy

Don’t be put off! When we entered, we were greeted by a smiling, enthusiastic lady who seated us, brought our drinks, and took our order. Inside there are tropical fish tanks to enjoy, as well as a very pretty outdoor seating area. Vince ordered fried oysters and was delighted with his food. The ratio of oyster to dough was nearly perfect and the flavor was excellent. We all liked our fries; they were crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Dave had the po’boy with a side of gumbo. He said that the gumbo was quite tasty, the sandwich was very good, the piece of fish was crispy, and the tartar sauce quite nice. Both he and Vince liked their hush puppies. I thoroughly enjoyed my fried shrimp; it was lovely. Our only disappointment was slaw; it needed to be a bit zippier. Service was quite good and the prices were completely in line for the amount and quality of food we were served.

100 year-old Woodmen of the
World Lodge

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