abilenet February 17th, 2010
2008 was a good year and we had lots of interesting projects working namely two that we carried over to 2009:
First Exploratory Oil Well In Taylor County – David Morris & Jay Moore
Research early Abilene History of Will Stith and sister Mrs. Frances Curtis.
Our Report was submitted to the State and we received a letter stating we had 2009 Certified Local Government award.
We do not meet as a group in January, except at the Archives. 2009 was a bit different in that one of our Commission Members, Jay Moore, was Guest Columnist for the Abilene Reporter News, on January 25th, 2009. The headline read:
“HISTORIC TROLLEY TRACKS TORN UP” and the story began
“Over the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday weekend, a small part of Abilene history was bulldozed up loaded on a dump truck and hauled away”. Out of this grew Jay Moore’s “HISTORY IN PLAIN SIGHT SERIES”. Three DVDs “Bankhead Highway”, “Streets of Abilene”. Continue Reading »
abilenet February 17th, 2010
The History in Plain Sight series, hosted by Jay Moore, will air on Abilene’s KTXS TV at the following dates and times.
Sat 3/6 2-3p
Sat 3/21 1230-1p
Sat 3/21 130-2p
Sat 3/27 1230p-1p
Sat 3/27 130p-2p
Sun 3/28 1-2p
During these showings, you can watch one of the three stories already created for the series: “The Bankhead Highway”, “Who Is That Street?” and “Fair Park”. Tune in to learn the history behind the first trans-continental, all-paved highway across the U.S. and its impact on Abilene, who some of the Abilene Streets are named for and the history of the oldest existing park in Abilene.
If you would like to purchase a DVD of any of the stories, you may do so on the “History in Plain Sight DVDs” tab at the top of this page.
abilenet September 4th, 2009
History In Plain Sight – a film series by Jay Moore created in cooperation with the Abilene Preservation League – presents “Who Is That Street?” – a program detailing the lives of people for whom some of Abilene’s streets are named. In this third part, Jay Moore continues the story on the misspelled Leggett street, Ambler and Vogel, the streets named for the first Presidents of the three universities and finally a look at the streets in the University Hills subdivision and their association to some of the track and field stars from Abilene Christian University’s storied past.
A copy of this DVD can be purchased by clicking on the link above: “History in Plain Sight DVDs” or by sending email to historyinplainsight@gmail.com.
This is part 3 of 3
abilenet September 4th, 2009
History In Plain Sight – a film series by Jay Moore created in cooperation with the Abilene Preservation League – presents “Who Is That Street?” – a program detailing the lives of people for whom some of Abilene’s streets are named. In this second part, Jay Moore covers Sayles, Clinton, Judge Ely, Winters and a number of streets whose names are misspelled, including Leggett.
A copy of this DVD can be purchased by clicking on the link above: “History in Plain Sight DVDs” or by sending email to historyinplainsight@gmail.com.
This is part 2 of 3
abilenet September 4th, 2009
History In Plain Sight – a film series by Jay Moore created in cooperation with the Abilene Preservation League – presents “Who Is That Street?” – a program detailing the lives of people for whom some of Abilene’s streets are named. The first part of this story covers the reasons behind the naming of Abilene’s original streets. The story then turns its attention to showing how some of those street names were changed to honor the men and women that had a significant impact on the development and growth of Abilene. In this first part, Jay Moore covers Treadaway, Merchant, Parramore and Willis streets.
A copy of this DVD can be purchased by clicking on the link above: “History in Plain Sight DVDs” or by sending email to historyinplainsight@gmail.com.
This is part 1 of 3
abilenet July 12th, 2009
The Bankhead Highway was a United States cross-country automobile highway connecting Washington, D.C. and San Diego. It was part of the National Auto Trail system. The road was named for Alabama politician John Hollis Bankhead, a leader in the early national road building movement. This road has the distinction of being the first all-paved road to stretch across the United States.
In his series of historical documentaries called, “History in Plain Sight,” Jay Moore tells about the creation of the Bankhead Highway, what it meant to the people of West Texas, particularly Abilene and Baird, Texas, and what happened to the highway that once stretched across the southern part of the United States. Parts of this road can still be found and driven on in and around Abilene and other parts of Texas.
The entire story on the Bankhead Highway will begin airing on the local access channel, Channel 7, for the Abilene, Texas viewing area on July 14th at 7PM CST.
For a DVD Copy of this presentation, contact Jay Moore at jay.moore@abileneisd.org or by writing to him at the following location: 601 Amarillo Abilene, TX 79601-5811 (325) 676-3775.
abilenet July 8th, 2009
Well, as far as I can tell, the upgrade seems to be completed, was successful and we are back up and running. Please let me know if you see any issues with the site. I’ll try to respond as quickly as I can.
If you tried to gain access while the site was being upgraded, I apologize and thank you for your patience.
By the way, I’m going to turn comments back on and see how things go. Maybe I’ll find some extra-ordinary patience with these spammers. But, I still hope they stub their big toe on the coffee table today.
abilenet July 8th, 2009
I’m in the middle of a software upgrade. Hopefully, I’ll have everything back soon. So, hang in there …….
abilenet May 8th, 2009
From time-to-time, one of you will leave a comment or question on this site. Both are appreciated because they help build community between each of us and allow us to share our ideas about Abilene and the sorrounding area. Unfortunately, it also allows the spammers of the world to use my site as a potential advertising space for viagra and every other sort of concoction they want to sell. I am getting 50 to 100 attempts like this daily so I’m afraid I am going to turn off comments for awhile. If you would like to post a comment or have a question, please feel free to email me at abitxhistory@gmail.com and I will get it to the site.
For those of you law-abiding citizens that are just learning a bit more about Abilene, I apologize that I have to take this action at this time. For you spammers, I hope you stub your big toe on the coffee table this afternoon.
abilenet March 24th, 2009
Between 1500 and 1700 the name Jumanos was used to identify at least three distinct peoples of the Southwest and South Plains. They include the Tompiro-speaking Pueblo Indians in Salinas, a nomadic trading group based around the Rio Grande and Río Conchos, and the Caddoan-speaking Wichitas along the Arkansas River and Red River basins. Although they ranged over much of northern Mexico, New Mexico, and Texas, their most enduring territorial base was in central Texas between the lower Pecos River and the Colorado. The Jumanos were buffalo hunters and traders, and played an active role as middlemen between the Spanish colonies and various Indian tribes. Historical documents refer to Jumana, Humana, Sumana, Chouman, Xoman, and other variants of the name; but Jumano has been the standard form in twentieth-century scholarship. Other names mentioned in connection with the Jumanos, as closely allied or subordinate groups, include Cíbolos, Jediondos, and Caguates. Continue Reading »
