Christmas in the Mexia Paper 1906 - 1909

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Martial Law Comes to Mexia for 47 Days: January 12 to Feb. 28 1922

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Life was pretty exciting in Mexia in 1922, as long as you managed not to get killed.  The headlines on Monday, January 9 are inextricably linked. The oil boom had brought with it, as always, the rush of money and people rushing to chase the money. 1921 had seen the town population swell exponentially. There wasn't enough of anything in Mexia, not enough water, or train tracks, or beds, or restaurants, and, naturally, not enough law to handle the vice that accompanied roughnecks in the field making money.  By the dawn of 1922, things were getting intolerable. The headline "Martial Law Not to Be Declared Here Now  was just the handwriting on the wall.   There was a raid two nights before, at 11:00 on Saturday night, "zero hour when Federal and Sate officers, rangers, and prohibition agents went 'over the top,' at the Winter Garden and Chicken Farm, capturing the two resorts without a drop of blood and with only one shot fired, whi...
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Memories of Mexia's First School from 1878

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Editor's Note -- Following the recent Mexia High School Homecoming (1950) Miss Alma C. Harris, now of El Paso, wrote her recollections of early Mexia school which the Black Cat school paper published. Miss Harris has consented that her recollection be republished in this newspaper. Following is the first of several articles. My memory of Mexia schools begins with September, 1878 when at the age of six I entered Mr. Milton Park's school on the first floor of the old Masonic Temple, located where the First Baptist church now stands (at least was there when I left Mexia in 1921) Later, Dr. Malone, a Baptist preacher, who had a school not far from Judge D.M. Prendergrast's old home, moved his building to the Masonic lots and the school were combined. Later, Mr. Park moved away from Mexia and Dr. Malone continued the school until 1884 when the public school was opened. During these six years my teachers were Miss Janie Park, Mr. Park, Miss Veazey,...
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The Disappearing Halson Hotel of Mexia (1921 - 22)

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A bit of a Mexia mystery for you... In April, 1921 there were several front page columns devoted to the exciting new Halson Hotel coming to Mexia. One even featured an architect's rendering of the place. Its cost of $350,000 in 1921 translates to a $5,000,000 cost in 2018. the hotel with electric elevators would also have a theater on the ground floor and public auditorium on the second. The feature below goes into great detail regarding the plans, down to the private baths with each of the 28 rooms on the top three floors having "water mixers" for the right temperature and a hook for the shaving strop. A site was announced the same month, at the northeast corner of Sherman and Main June 30, 1921, a two page spread includes the six-story hotel as a main selling point for Mexia But in July, amidst the list of building projects, there is a only short line "the lot has been cleared for the Halson Hotel" and noth...
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