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| Creative nativity |
Running down interstate highway 35, if you pay
attention, you’ll see signs for the communities of Bruceville and Eddy. I’ve
never thought much about them, but since we had some time and we were getting
hungry, we decided to find a restaurant then take a look around these little
towns. It was a nice respite from traveling down the ‘super slab’.
Bruceville-Eddy
was actually two separate settlements back in the 1800s and both were stations
on the Katy Railroad (Missouri–Kansas–Texas
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| Nineteenth century house |
Railroad). Their histories are a bit different, but not by much. Lucien N.
Bruce donated the land for the railroad station and was honored to have
Bruceville named for him. Since the trains went through this hamlet, Mastersville,
another small town located just north, became a ghost town when the residents
migrated to Bruceville. Although it was a rail stop, the town has never been
very large with the most residents living there during the 1930s and ‘40s.
After World War II, people moved nearer to cities where they could find jobs,
leaving about 25 inhabitants.
Eddy, formerly known as Marvin, was renamed to
honor rail division superintendent Everett B. Eddy when the railroad arrived in
1882. Eddy
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| Bruceville-Eddy Post Office |
was actually more successful than Bruceville, with three general
stores, two churches, a gristmill, and a school. Eddy continued to grow, attracting
a bank by 1901. In the 1920s, the schools in Bruceville and Eddy consolidated, but
the population began to decline. And like Bruceville, post-World War II job
scarcity added to that decline. However, with the coming of road improvements
in the late 1950s and early 1960s commuting became easier and folks began
moving back to the area. Bruceville-Eddy operated two separate post offices after
incorporation; however when the Bruceville office was declared unsafe all
postal operations were transferred to Eddy. And speaking of incorporation, the
two towns were joined in 1974. One of the local residents told us that the main
part of Bruceville was actually under I-35 and was one of the reasons for the
incorporation – to maintain at least the name of the town.
What we ate:
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| Three and one-half carrots |
Eagles' Landing Restaurant and Grill (111 3rd St, Eddy, TX 76524, 254-
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Left T to B: Menu, BLT, Club
Right: Restaurant with historical decorations |
859-0000)
is a small, local place with some pretty good food. A lot of their business
seems to be take-out and drop-ins from nearby construction crews. I had the BLT
with a bag of chips. The bacon was plentiful and the sandwich was made while we
waited. Dave had a club sandwich and fries; he liked both – the bites of fries
I had were well worth sneaking them off of his plate. Our waitress was handling
the diners and the take-out orders so things ran a bit slower than we’d
expected. If we’re in the area and want a quick nosh, we’ll visit the
restaurant, again. For information about my rating system, see Reading the
Reviews.
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| Antique truck |
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