Old MKT Railroad Station

This old railroad station has been put to another use, since the original function is no longer required. It has become one of the coolest antique shops ever..

it has everything from the old cookbooks / booklets that I love, I have found vintage chicken scratch/snowflaking kitchen aprons and embroidered linens... and all sorts of vintage kitchen utensils...one of my favorite.shops to search through...

The Old MKT Depot

In 1872, the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway established a railhead in the wilderness just south of the Red River in Texas.
The Katy Depot is the former passenger station and general office building of the MKT Railroad. It now houses a museum filled with hundreds of artifacts, display cases, photos.......and treasured memories.

The Inn

Again...in our wanderings and on the same day we found the old clock...we came across this beautiful inn....a bed and breakfast thats as beautiful as its name. It"s called the Inn of Many Faces, and upon reading further..we discovered it was originally built for one of the towns founding fathers.....being built in 1897.

Soon..soon..I hope, I hope.....I get to stay here and be pampered in one of the lovely restored rooms..and wander about the two acres its located on. This is truly a lovely house..and a lovely retreat.

More of Little Village

See there on the porch..the wringer washing machine?
When I was a little girl, we owned one of these marvels..designed to make the housewives life easier... you ask yourself..how does she remember something so ordinary???? ( I remember a lot of ordinary things...)...however, this one stands out to present day. Simply put...mothers everywhere were quick to warn children.. "Don't put your hand near the wringer part"!!!!!... That should have been enough. ** sighs , Now enter my self and an equally stupid cousin...well, she dared me..and I dared her..then it got to be double dog dare. I lost and as any country girl will tell you, only a hanging or a rattlesnake stands in the way of that...and so I was the first to stick my hand in... I was also the last. You could have heard me screaming 3 counties away..and Texas has some big counties. Our mothers came running from where they had been quilting and I was eventually rescued....
By the way, I never told on you Bitty...you still owe me !!!!!!!!!!

This is one of my favorite of the older houses in the village. They're all wonderful but the one with the walkway is a special one.

A very special house was this.....but for what reason the milk can is placed here escapes me..

I can almost see this houses lady standing in doorway...to catch a little cool breeze

Another little log cabin

The Eisenhower Birthplace State Historic Site

Eisenhower Birthplace State Historic Site

Vintage phone in the Visitors Center. There is in this building lots and lots of materials, mementos, photographs of his early life, the war years and that of the Presidency. There was just too much to look at and the tour was starting soon the guide said... so away we went...

I love this statue...it was done by Robert Dean Jr.

Mr. Dean has completed three statues of Dwight D. Eisenhower...

The one in Denison,Texas... his birthplace

the second on the grounds of the U.S.Military Academy

the third on the grounds of the U.S. Embassy in London

His other major works include two statues of General Douglas McArthur

and one of George S.Patton

Now I ask you..isn't the sky just too blue in Texas

This is a beautiful little house.."back in the day" this would truly have been a fine wonderful home

As the guide let us in the front door, and then turned to lock it behind us..(we would be exiting at the back of the house), she was having trouble getting the key to come back out..I looked down and was amazed at the workmanship of the "lockplate?". It was a taller one..more tall than wide and there was a raised embossed heart there, surrounding where the key had finally been removed.

This is just to the left of the long hallway and was the family sitting room. I especially loved the little chair and the toys...but then I looked at what the table held...

Our guide, (a wonderful lady and thankfully, a really cool one) seemed kinda amused by my little outburst. Upon seeing what was on the table, I believe I blurted out something like{ ..ummmmm holy hells bells..something kinda like that..:)... } You hafta understand, I truly love vintage sewing supplies..and here was a tablefull. There was everything from several pincushions, a sewing case, a needlecase..and a tiny box holding scissors and other supplies..and a very, very old, well used darning egg.

And then...there on the chair, (just behind the guide)...was a white pillow cushion with pins and spindle bobbins and she must have imagined I would faint..cause she quickly asked me a question. She said..do you know what that is?? And being a good Texan, I said well of course. My granny had those and she let me help her sometime. The lady next to me froze me with a look...but not for long...the guide actually let me hold that beautiful cushion and look at the pins, the thread, the spindle bobbins and how they were wound...and the lace that was being made.... It was wonderful...

I don't think the lady that gave me the look forgave me..

I loved this beautiful old Log Cabin quilt...and the old chair and cradle. Note that cute little white nessesity at the foot of the bed. "Back in the day" these were called everything from chamber pots...to well..... This one has a crocheted cover for the lid...

This little highchair had many uses.....it came apart in ways so as to serve...as highchair, walker, and a stroller...

Another of my weaknesses...and yes, I have many....happens to be stoves from the bygone days. But I tell you, if you've never had red beans, ham and either cornbread or biscuits cooked on a wood stove...well, you just haven't had your fair share of good food.


This little area and the other flower areas...are all butterfly gardens. The little house on the post..is a butterfly home...

Another little house on the property

Another of the buildings on the property

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The Eisenhower Birthplace State Historic Site is located at:

609 South Lamar Avenue

Denison, Grayson County, Texas..

The house, office and visitor center are only closed on Mondays and are open year round, with the exception of Christmas Day and New Years Day..

Back in Time

Another restoration in progress.... this time an old Mobile service station...

Note the truck stopped...waiting for service..

Restoration in progress

A restoration in progress is this old service station...

Remember the ones???....you drove up in your car, an attendant hurried out to pump the gas, check under the hood, checked your tires..and washed your windshield ???? And knew your name ???

Note also the brick street....I like that as well

Frontier Village

Notice the walkway,,the division of the house...and notice the washtub and the old rocking chair..just waiting to be used.
The washtub would have had many uses....laundry, baths, garden gatherings..orchard pickings...and it would also have served as a childs place to rest, play and cool in the heat.
Our tub was not the round variety seen here...rather ours was oblong and quite large. In the summertime, my sister and I used this as the "family pool". The tub and a water hose was all we required in the hot Texas sun.....
ummmmmmmm.. well maybe also , either home made peach ice cream or watermelon...

I love this old house with the tall windows and little porch... I even remember the "Don't you slam that screen door...now you come back here and shut that door right".....

Sun setting on the old cabin......again..

The old street lamps

Little lake

Reflections of a setting sun...a place to ponder..a time to sit and dream

Dusk

Frontier Houses and Buildings

These buildings are all part of a wonderful ongoing building restoration project. They were taken at the Frontier Village...some of the pics were taken thru the fence...and a couple I held camera over fence...it had closed for the day....
Maybe I am just a romantic....but having worked on my genealogy for the last seven or eight years....somehow these building mean a lot. A lot of ancestors were from this ..and the surrounding areas......I know they lived in houses like these..maybe thats why I love the old buildings so much...

Note the wagon wheel to the right......

This is one of the first dwellings in the county....look close and imagine living here...maybe I would have flowers around the front door,...my vegetable garden just to the right...the washpots would have been hung on the side of the house..and the big black kettle for building the fire and heating the water..that too would have been in my yard...............just imagine

I love this little church set back in the trees. Most times "back in the day" the schoolhouse and church shared the building... normally when a town was started, the first building put up after the dwellings, would have been the school...next the church.. Can't you hear the old spirituals that would have come from this building?? Or the little ones being called by a schoobell...to hurry along and quit lagging???

I would have loved to live here...just imagine the wonderful dresses and the parties...

I've had many picnics at these stone tables when I lived in the area

Old stone water tower