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| Historic house in Ponder |
One of our small communities has had a rather
infamous history. According to local legend, Bonnie and Clyde tried to rob the
Ponder State Bank the week after it went broke. This may not be true since it’s
not listed in the Barrow Gang's activities; the robbery may have been attempted
by another outlaw, Eddie Bentz. This didn’t prevent movie makers from filming
the Bonnie and
Clyde in the north Texas area with some of the actors and other workers
visiting Ponder during their time in near this town.
The town’s name was originally Gerald, and the
land around it was pasture for cattle. After about 1852 the area was farmed by
the Wakefield
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| Pastureland |
family. They eventually built rent houses, and in an area called
‘Wakefield Hill’ built a home. More farmers and ranchers came to the area and
the town grew, especially after the Santa Fe railroad arrived in 1886. In 1898
the name was changed to Ponder
because the government wouldn’t allow two towns with the same name in the same
state to have post offices.
Ponder remained a community with dirt roads
until the 1920s. During the
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| Railway |
spring wagons would bury wheels up to their axels
in the mud and horses would sink to their bellies. In 1921, Farm Road 156 was
first graveled and continued to be until the 1940s. In 1941 it was paved and
concrete bridges were added. The rest of the county roads were graveled, and
finally in 1955 all of the roads in town were blacktopped.
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| Four carrots |
Ponder continues to grow with the area and has
become a bedroom community with a few shops and restaurants. We were searching
for a Caribbean restaurant that I had found online when we visited Ponder. Since we couldn’t find one restaurant we
tried another, Ranchman’s
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Left T to B: Menu, Chicken fried steak, Rolls
Right T to B: BLT, Red Cabbage |
Steakhouse.
This restaurant has been around for lots of years and has the reputation of
being a good place for lunch, and dinner (110 W Bailey St, Ponder, TX 76259,
940-479-2221). Evidently, if you want a baked potato with your dinner, you have
to order it early in the day so they have it ready for your meal. We got to
lunch just after 1:00 PM, which was a good time since the lunch crowd was just
leaving. Both Dave and I had to take time to read the menu. Along with what
there is to eat, the menu provides the history of the restaurant and some other
interesting tidbits. One of the first things that attracted my attention was
the fried green tomatoes, so Dave ordered those along with a chicken fried
steak, red cabbage, and mashed potatoes. I had the Rancher’s BLT with fried
green tomatoes on it. There were also homemade rolls to accompany Dave’s lunch.
It was all good, but the stand-out for both of us was the red cabbage. It was
both spicy and sweet with a nice crunch. Service was good and the prices were reasonable.
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| Ranchman's Mural |
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