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- Complicated then, forgotten now
- Bryan-Stevenson
- Skinny is as skinny does
- How do you rest in peace
- Riding the footboards
- Alas, hidden from view
- Baldwin Diesels
- Exclusive pump
- Bananas, Oysters and Smokey Joe
- Details, Details
- What's that building to the left of the tower?
- Coal Barges
- Bromo-Seltzer
- Inner harbor
- The Basin
- What a headache!
- Giant stepladder?
- Yeah, it was cold
- Love those coats
- Link & Pin Days Remnant
- Baldwin 62303
- Baldwin VO-1000
- Cold
- No expense spared
- Tough Guys
- What's your hurry, where's your hat?
- Sheriff's Signature
- Relocated in the Eighties
- Lost in Toyland
- And without gloves
Photos submitted by Shorpy members!
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TICKETS: 1943
April 1943. "San Augustine, Texas. Story of a small town. The waiting room in the railroad station." Acetate negative by John Vachon for the Office of War Information. View full size.
What's your hurry, where's your hat?
It's 1943 in small-town Texas, hats for women on the move seem to be... optional, not something one might have expected.
Two other details. First, the paper-wrapped packages, as things used to be in a world before plastic (possible exception, her tights, as Nylon was invented in 1935). Second, the curved shelf under the seats. For the hats not present, at least on this day?
Sheriff's Signature
Asa Elijah Rushing (1882 - 1954) and his brother Alonzo Oliver Rushing (1885 - 1971) operated a (the?) drugstore in San Augustine, Texas. In addition, they both served as mayor. Alonzo was sheriff when this picture was taken. The signature is A. E. Rushing.
Relocated in the Eighties
According to a book on San Augustine history, the railroad that owned the station - the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe - decided to sell the depot in 1985. It was purchased by two local civic leaders, who moved it to their farm and restored it as a railroad museum.
If I were a blindfolded time traveler
... and placed in this station, I'd be able to identify where I was by the way it smelled: a mixture of coal smoke, stale cigar smoke, and the faint aroma of a spittoon in the corner. In the late 1940s Midwest, I remember taking the train with my grandmother 15 miles into the local "big town" (population 20,000) for a day of shopping. Every small town had a train station. Gone forever, sadly.
Smoke Consumer Also Cooks
If you have one of these buried in your barn, pull it out and eBay it. Depending on condition and age it could be worth anywhere from $1,000 to $4,250.
On top were plates to keep your coffee hot and maybe toast that sandwich Mom packed for you.
Oh that stove!
My maternal grandparents had a stove just like that in Crosby, Mississippi -- it did a fine job keeping the farmhouse warm and even toasty. I was too young to have to chop the wood, but loved making a fire in the mornings.
That waiting room is about the size of their entire house, or maybe half the size.
Memories ...
Possibly still there?
This old building on Google Maps has small-town-train-station characteristics, anyway.
What?!?
"Are you telling me there is no separate ladies waiting room?"
$100 Reward
As best I can read the sign, the city of San Augustine is offering a $100 reward ($1,805 today) for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone guilty of arson. It's signed by the mayor of San Augustine. Dave -- how close did I get?
San Augustine is in East Texas, home of large tracts of piney woods. Arson is serious business there.
Click to embiggen
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