Tulia, Texas. (original) (raw)

Tulia Texas 1910s to 1920s

Tulia Street Scene - 1910s-1920s
Photo courtesy texasoldphotos.com

History in a Pecan Shell

The town was settled by the Tule Creek - a misspelling changed its name to Tulia

1887: post office was opened 9 miles west of present day Tulia
1889: post office was moved to what is now Tulia
1890: county was organized
1892: the newspaper Tulia Standard was first published
1900: Tulia became an important stop for wagons going to the railroads in Amarillo and Colorado City
1906: The Santa Fe Railroad came through
1907: the first school house was built
1909: courthouse is erected and city is incorporated
1920s: streets are bricked

Tulia, Texas Landmarks/Attractions

Swisher County Courthouse  before renovation.

The 1909 courthouse was severely modernized in 1962.
1939 photo courtesy TXDoT

Tulia, Texas Then & Now

Texas  - Restored Tulia Santa Fe Depot

The restored Tulia Santa Fe Depot on the western edge of town
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, July 2009

Tulia Tx - Restored Happy, Texas Depot

Tulia Tx - Restored Happy Depot

Cantrell & Shows Store in Tulia, Texas

Cantrell & Shows Store
Corner Maxwell & Acred Avenue, Tulia, early 1900s
Photo courtesy texasoldphotos.com

 Tulia, Texas - Cantrell & Shows Store

Tulia Public School, Texas 1908

Hotel Tulia, Tulia, Texas

Tulia Tx - Royal Theater

Royal Theatre, Tulia Texas

The Royal Theatre in the 1970s (?)
Photo courtesy Billy Smith

Tulia Tx - Former Theater Building

Tulia Tx - Street Marker

Ozark Trails West - Tulia Street Marker
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, July 2009

Tulia Tx - Street Marker

Ozark Trails East - Tulia Street Marker
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, July 2009

Tulia Tx - "Ozark Trails East"Street Marker

Tulia Tx - Ghost Coke Sign

Tulia Tx - Rose Hill Cemetery

Tulia Tx - Rose Hill Cemetery Historical Marker

Rose Hill Cemetery Historical Marker
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, July 2009

Tulia Tx - Rose Hill Cemetery

Tulia Tx - F-86 Display

Tulia Tx - F-86 Display

Tulia Tx - Closed Grain Elevator

Birds atop a closed grain elevator
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, July 2009

Tulia Tx - Grain Elevator

Tulia Tx - Grain Elevator

Tulia Tx - Welcome Sign

Tulia Chamber of Commerce
P.O. Box 267 Tulia, TX 79088
(806) 995-2296

Tulia, Texas Forum

Subject: The Tulia Courthouse

Thank you for the beautiful pictures of the Swisher County Courthouse. I lived in Tulia in the 50's while in the 5th and 6th grade and always had a fond remembrance of living there. The beautiful Courthouse in the town square, the drug stores with the cherry lime root beers, the brick streets downtown, the Swisher Creamery, ah yes, those were the days.

In the 80's I was traveling from Dallas back to California and thought I would take a detour and travel through Tulia and see the house I used to live in and even have a root beer in the drug store on the town square. My first stop coming in from Silverton from the North was the town square.

I looked at where the beautiful Courthouse once stood and could only whisper, "Oh my God, what had they done" It was GONE! The one thing of beauty in that dusty part of the world had been removed and in it's place was an ugly building void of character.

I did not stay to see where I used to live nor did I even look for that drug store. I simply turned around and drove out of town not looking back.

It is unimaginable that anybody with the sense to slip their shoes on in the morning could have destroyed that building.

Once again, thanks for the pictures.
- Joe Wilkerson, Riverside Ca., December 23, 2007

Tulia watertower, Texas

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