Glen Rose, Texas

Glen Rose, Texas is a wonderful small town 52 miles Southwest of Fort Worth, Texas off of Hwy 67. It has a small town square surrounded by small businesses such as the Pie Peddlers, Shoo Fly Ice Cream Shop, Blackie's On the Square, an antique store, the Somervell Museum, and some clothing stores and restaurants. The businesses come and go as some do not make it and others flourish. It is considered the Dinosaur Capital of Texas, and has more petrified wood in its houses and buildings than the Petrified Forest National Park.

Somervell County Courthouse

The courthouse was built in 1893 in the late Victorian style using native limestone construction. Somervell County was organized in 1875 and named for General Alexander Somervell (1796-1854), Texas Soldier, Colonist and Statesman. Court was first held in an old store across the road from Barnard's Mill. A log cabin was used later. The third courthouse (first on this site) was finished in 1882 but burned in 1893, along with many valuable records. The present structure has a fireproof vault.

An original track used to describe a distinct form of dinosaur footprint in the 1930s. This footprint, assigned the ichnospecies name Eubrontes glenrosenis, was originally excavated in 1933 from the main track layer in the Paluxy riverbed in what is now Dinosaur Valley State Park near Glen Rose, Texas. Not long after it was excavated, the citizens of Glen Rose built this stone bandstand and embedded the track in its walls. 

The footprint is that of a three-toed, bipedal, meat-eating dinosaur, with the most likely candidate being the theropod named Acrocanthosaurus, whose skeletal remains are found mostly in Texas and Oklahoma. This particular track was described in 1935 by Ellis W. Shuler, SMU's first geology professor. Dinosaur Valley State Park boasts the ancient shoreline of a 113-million year old sea and is renowned for some of the best preserved dinosaur footprints in the world.

Footprints in the Paluxy

This 1952 photo shows the excavation of dinosaur footprints in the Paluxy River. What's missing in the description is the giant footprint (circled in white) mixed among the dinosaur tracks.

More than 113 million years ago, pre-historic dinosaurs roamed what is now the Glen Rose area in Texas and managed to leave fossilized tracks hidden beneath the Paluxy River. They were recently re-discovered by workers of the Dinosaur Valley State Park, as shown in videos and images posted to their Facebook page. 

"The Paluxy River has pretty much gone dry this drought," said one park worker in a Facebook video post shared on Aug. 17. "What's cool about the river is what you'll find in the river. Sweep a little bit of the dirt and dust away and this is what you'll find... dinosaur tracks." In the video, the worker points out how many tracks have three large claw marks, commonly belonging to the theropod dinosaur class, he said. This was confirmed in a 2012 study, which also said the river holds tracks from the sauropod class, too. 

Large dinosaur tracks unearthed in dried-up Texas river.

Texas' Ancient State Park Boasts Real Dinosaur Footprints, Scenic Swimming Spots, And Rugged Trails ~~ Dinosaur Valley State Park  in Glen Rose has ancient footprints left over by those giant reptiles that roamed the planet about 113 million years ago. It's the perfect scenic excursion for those who get a kick out of prehistoric intrigue in a beautiful, natural setting.

The Somervell County Museum houses some of the antiques from when Glen Rose was first settled. 

Hopewell Post Office, Somervell County, Texas
May 24, 1901 - June 30, 1904
Postmaster: J.M. Davis

This tiny log "crib" was located in the Hopewell Community of Somervell County. It was on the property that became part of the Dam of Squaw Creek Lake that cools the Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant. Texas utilities moved all the buildings on the farm away. Winnie Miller Merrill (born 1894), who was reared at Hopewell, remembered going to this little post office for the mail when she was about seven years old. (Mrs. Merrill later served Somervell County as Treasurer for 25 years.) 

This is a cast of a tyrannous rex jawbone from the Museum of Natural History, New York City.

This track was made millions of years ago by an Acrocanthosaurus. It was one of several found during excavation work at the Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant, located five miles north of here.

Glen Rose has been putting different dinosaurs in the front of businesses and houses throughout Glen Rose. There is also a field off of Hwy 67 toward Cleburne where there are numerous different dinosaurs called Field of Dinosaurs.

The Barnards of the Brazos: First Family of Glen Rose

Charles Barnard founded Glen Rose on the Paluxy River. He was an educated New Englander who came to the Republic of Texas in 1843. There he joined his older brother George in the operation of Indian trading posts beyond the advancing white frontier. Well liked by the tribesmen for their fairness, they prospered, bartering civilized goods for things like fur pelts and deer and buffalo hides. One very special item for which they bartered successfully was a spirited, intelligent young captive of the Comanches, Juana Cavasos, the daughter of a wealthy land owning family of south Texas and northern Mexico. Charles and the ransomed girl fell in love, were married in 1848, and spent the following decade at a trading post on the Brazos River in present Hood County, a few miles north of the Paluxy. Juana proved to be not only a competent trader herself but an outstanding mother, horsewoman, herbal doctor, and neighborhood midwife.

After their trading was ended in the late 1850s by the official removal of most Texas Indians to reservations. Charles bought land on the Paluxy and built a home and a stone gristmill, the nucleus for a community called Barnard's Mill, later named Glen Rose. The Mill, still standing today, ground settlers' corn and wheat and served as a refuge and fortress for them during a period of frequent raids by untamed Comanches and Kiowas. Many tales have come down from that era.

But Juana and Charles grew homesick, and in 1870 moved back to the old trading post on the Brazos, where they were ultimately joined by Juana's twin brother Juan, who happened upon her while driving a herd up the Chisholm Trail and later returned to farm and ranch and raise his own family nearby. In that setting the Barnards spent their remaining years, legendary in their time and place, surrounded and honored by family and friends.

We visited the Barnard Mill Museum back in June 2016, but I never did a blog on it. I'm happy to be able to share those pictures here.

Turn Around

Mr. Bryant tells the story that the horseman pictured here got drunk one day and began shooting up the town. Afterward, he was run out of town. As a parting gesture, he turned around in his saddle and took a shot in the direction of the town. (Notice the whisky bottle in the saddle bag.)

Flippin'

Mr. Bryant, a cowboy himself, says that people are so tender-hearted and always "carrying on about things," that he designed this bronze so that the horse won't crush the rider when he falls over.

Dreamer

Mr. Bryant relates the story, "This 'ol boy doesn't have a pot or a window to throw it out of. He has ridden his horse to the top of the hill overlooking a beautiful ranch spread. He sits ant thinks to himself, you know, one of these days, I'm going to have me a ranch just like this here one." (Notice the hole in his boot and torn shirt.)

I'm Frank Hammer

The Barnards of the Brazos

Commodore Hatfield

Commodore Hatfield is said to have been a very successful man, serving on the boards of directors for numerous big corporations. One day he just walked off to become a vagabond and a reprobate. He had been highly decorated for his service in the Boer War. The story is told that he insulted Queen Victoria, and he was locked in the Tower of London in the same cell the Sir Walter Raleigh had been locked in. He managed to escape, and when questioned about it later, would only reply, "Well, I say that I managed to escape. I think the truth of the matter was they left the door open. They were just so fed up with me that that they were glad to get rid of me."

It is also told that he studied patience for a time with Tibetan monks in Mongolia. They gave him an empty bucket and a bucket full of sand, and instructed him to move the sand from one bucket to the other -- one grain at a time.

 

Just outside of town on CR 312 is the ruins of the "Outlaw Station," a petrified wood gas station-turned-speakeasy that stands as a prominent reminder of the Prohibition era in Glen Rose, Texas, with local tradition suggesting it was a popular spot for moonshine sales during that time. The ruins of Outlaw Station, also known as Sycamore Grove Filling Station, are located on Old Highway 67 on the outskirts of Glen Rose, Texas.

The station was built between 1928 and 1930 using petrified wood and fossilized stones, giving it a unique and prehistoric appearance. 

The station was owned by Ed Young, who expanded his business to include moonshine sales in the 1920s, making it a hub for illegal alcohol during the Prohibition era. During Prohibition, Glen Rose was known as the "whiskey woods capital of the state" due to its role as a center of moonshining. 

The station features a fireplace chimney, a crack in the front wall, high-arched openings where gas pumps once stood, and empty sockets where lights once lined the arches. 

Local tradition holds that outlaws, including John Dillinger, passed through the station and that it was a popular spot for moonshine sales during the Prohibition era. 

The station's architecture, particularly the use of petrified wood, is significant, as only a few buildings constructed of petrified wood remain in the city. 

Famous customers who may have frequented the Outlaw Station ~~ 

An unsubstantiated rumor claims that Bonnie and Clyde were some of Young’s regular customers. The legendary pair hailed from Dallas—80 miles northeast of Glen Rose—and were most likely familiar with the back roads and small towns in these parts. A joint like this would have been just their style: a secret spot on the edge of town offering liquid libations to friends and trusted clients.

Across the road from Outlaw Station was the White Rock Roadhouse. Noticing the steady stream of automotive traffic at Young’s service station, the owner of the roadhouse decided to get in on the action. Travelers could wheel through Outlaw Station, pick up a gallon of hooch, park, stroll over to the waystation to drink, and if they imbibed too heavily, there was usually a room available to rent and sleep it off.

The moonshine business declined after Prohibition ended in 1933, although some say that you can still find the legendary liquid in the backwoods of Somervell County. Outlaw Station became a legitimate gas station and a small grocery store through the 1960s, until it was abandoned for good.

The White Rock Roadhouse was demolished in 2015, but the building’s foundation is still here. I swear I can hear the faint cords of a Texas swing steel guitar floating in the air. For any adventurous traveler, geologist, or lover of architecture, the surprisingly beautiful and photogenic ruins of Outlaw Station are more than enough reason to stop—even if you leave thirsty.

Sounds like the Outlaw Gas Station has been bought and is going to be renovated. Here is an article by The Sycamore Grove about it along with two You Tube videos. The building is known as Outlaw Station!

Follow along on as we restore and repurpose this 100 year old service station. The property has been neglected for 65 years, leaving only the petrified wood, and limestone exterior walls. Bonnie and Clyde, John Dillinger, and other infamous characters are said to have stopped in at the station, which functioned as a speakeasy and motel in the late 1920's and early 30's. The mission of this channel is to document the journey from start to finish. From finding the property, to developing and establishing a viable business purpose for the property. We are a husband and wife duo that are on a mission to make our dream of restoring this beautiful building a reality.