Albany Texas history, courthouse, jail, landmarks, photos. (original) (raw)
Webb & Hill Cattle Contracting
Click on image to enlarge
Courtesy General Land Office
Old MKT Depot - Now Albany Chamber of Commerce
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, April 2009
Historical Marker - Marker location:
112 Main Street (Hwy 180) & Hwy 283
City of Albany
Chosen county seat of Shackelford in 1874, Albany had a 43-acre townsite donated by Sheriff Henry C. Jacobs. County clerk W. R. Cruger named city for his old home, Albany, Ga. A wooden picket courthouse was erected. The post office opened August 1, 1876. By late 1877 there were 16 buildings - homes, hotels, saloons, a blacksmith shop. Merchants were T. E. Jackson and firm of Woody & Hatcher. Physicians W. T. Baird and W. M. Powell and lawyer A. A. Clarke located here. D. H. Meyer and Edgar Rye began (1879) publishing "The Albany Tomahawk". Already on the western cattle trail, city expanded as a frontier shipping point when Houston & Texas Central Railroad built a terminus here in 1881. By 1882 a church building had been erected. Music lovers organized a cornet band. In 1883 an opera hall opened, and a permanent courthouse of native stone was built. Succeeding D. R. Britt as the school principal, W. S. Dalrymple founded an adult study club, "The Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle". Albany had an academy, and then a college in 1898-1915. Local activities include ranching, petroleum production, small farming, and annual staging of the historical drama, "The Fort Griffin Fandangle".
(1975)
Albany Landmarks / Attractions
A Postcard of a Town
Albany Chamber in the old railroad depot, a proper bookstore on the square, restoredAztec Theater andArt Center in the Old Jail. The 1883 Courthousehas clock and bell.
Albany Guide published twice a year to correspond with the County's two major events: The Fort Griffin Fandandle (last two weekends of June) and hunting season.
Photo Gallery:
Shackleford County Jail (circa 1878)
The restored jail now houses The Old Jail Art Center.
One block East of Courthouse. Admission: Free
Ledbetter Picket House
112 Main Street
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, April 2009
Historical Marker Text
Ledbetter Picket House
William Henry Ledbetter (1833-84), a native of Georgia, came to Texas in 1858, and established a salt works on Hubbard Creek (8 miles southwest) in 1862. Ledbetter withstood fierce Indians attacks before moving near Fort Griffin (15 miles north). He was elected first county judge in 1875. In the mid-1870s, Ledbetter built this picket house near the army post, using construction methods typical of this frontier region. It was moved here and restored by the city of Albany in 1953.
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, 1962
Historic Trinity Episcopal Church in Albany
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, April 2005
(Don't put your money in the slot.)
The preserved Albany Ice Company
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, April 2009
The closed Gulf Gas Station in 2009
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, April 2009
Even closed gas stations look neat in Albany
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, April 2009
The closed gas station in 2017
Jimmy Dobson Photo, July 2017
The restored Sinclair gas station in May 2007
Photo courtesy Steve Johnson
The Fort Griffin Fandandle (last two weekends of June)
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, April 2009
Albany Nearby Destinations
"These smokestacks are on FM601 about eight miles southeast of Albany. May have been an old oil production facility." -
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, February 2008
Shackleford County Wind Farms
"As I went to the Fandangle at Albany I had to drive through a Wind Farm on the way... The Fandangle lasted until 11 PM. Driving back through this wind farm at night, the moon was out quite bright enabling me to see the wind farm bathed in bright moon light. The towers were so tall they had to have flashing red lights on them mainly for aircraft safety I would guess. The entire farm red lights all flashed on and off at exactly the same time. It was quite a sight to see... more" - Gerald Massey
Historical Marker - Marker location:
US 180, about 14 mi. W of Albany
(In Chimney Creek Ranch)
Bud Matthews Switch of the Texas Central Railway
In 1900 the Texas Central Railway extended a line northwest from Albany across this portion of Rose Ella (Matthews) Conrad's cattle ranch. Ella and her brother John A. "Bud" Matthews, for whom this site is named, promptly constructed cattle pens and a loading chute at this location. Surrounding ranchers soon were shipping their cattle from this switch to markets in Fort Worth. As many as 105,000 head of cattle were shipped annually until the railroad ceased operations in 1967. Since that year local ranchers have continued to load cattle onto trucks from this site.
(1992)
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Albany street scene Old post card circa 1930, courtesy THC |
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Reynolds Presbyterian Academy in Albany 1909 post card courtesy of THC |
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Albany Chronicles
- The Saga of Texas Iron by Clay Coppedge
A long time ago in a land not very far away a large rock fell out of the sky and landed just a little shy of present-day Albany, Texas. The rock stayed there for untold centuries, an object of reverence for generations of Native Americans. The Comanche name for it translates into Medicine Rock. Anglos called it Texas Iron... more
Roger Todd Moore's Texas history cartoon: - Albany Old Jail
- Aug 4, 1978 - Record rain in Albany
Centennial Marker:
Formed from Bosque County; created February 1, 1858; organized September 12, 1874. Named in honor of Dr. Jack Shackelford 1790-1857; captain of the "Red Rovers," a company from Alabama which became a unit of Fannin's command - one of the few spared by the Mexicans in the Massacre at Goliad. Albany, the county seat.
(1936)
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