An eclectic display in Luckenbach
by Carol M Highsmith
Title
An eclectic display in Luckenbach
Artist
Carol M Highsmith
Medium
Photograph - Prints, Posters & Canvas
Description
A piece of Luckenbach, Texas, a dot of a place in Gillespie County, Texas, made famous by the country song about "Waylon (Jennings), Willie (Nelson) and the Boys." Its oldest building is a combination general store and saloon reputedly opened in 1849 (1886 is more likely, based on land improvement records of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission) by Minna Engel, whose father was an itinerant minister from Germany. The community, first named Grape Creek, was later named after Minna's husband, Carl Albert Luckenbach, who was then her fiancé. The town'ss population increased to a high of 492 in 1904, but by the 1960s, Luckenbach was almost a ghost town.
An ad in the paper offering "town — pop. 3 — for sale" led Hondo Crouch, rancher and Texas folklorist, to buy Luckenbach for $30,000 in 1970, in partnership with Kathy Morgan and actor Guich Koock. Crouch used the town's rights as a municipality to govern the dance hall as he saw fit. Today the town maintains a ghost town feel with its small population and strong western roots. One of its two main buildings houses the remnants of a post office, a working saloon, and a general store. The other is the dance hall. The post office was closed on April 30, 1971 and its zip code (78647) was retired. The general store remains active as a souvenir shop where visitors can purchase a variety of items, including merchandise featuring the town's iconic motto: "Everybody's Somebody in Luckenbach."
Uploaded
April 23rd, 2015
Statistics
Viewed 460 Times - Last Visitor from Fairfield, CT on 04/19/2024 at 4:46 AM
Embed
Share
Sales Sheet
Comments
There are no comments for An eclectic display in Luckenbach. Click here to post the first comment.