Cedar Station Texas. (original) (raw)

Cedar Station, Texas

"Cedar Station was built between 1947 and 1948 by my grandfather T.H. Eastman, his stepson J.B. Chapman, his stepson-in-law Ed Shepard and a family friend named Preacher Laxton. My grandfather built it for his step daughter Jayme Chapman and her husband Ed to run. My grandfather purchased a machine to make all the blocks used to make all the buildings.

The first building built was a one room wooden structure where my aunt and uncle lived until the house was built. This wooden structure later became the wash house and was located behind the house. The house had two bedrooms with living room, kitchen and bath, later a front porch was added.

The station itself was one room and had two gas pumps out front, one was regular and the other was Ethyl (premuim), it was a Texeco station.

My mother Alinda Eastman Turner can not remember the year that the two room (each with bath) building was built nor the year the tin barn was built. The two room building was built for weary travelers to stay in. My grandfather built it for people who broke down on the highway, it was called Tourist Courts.

Right behind the station was a power plant on a cement slab (not very big) that provided all the electricity for all the buildings. Looking from the highway from right to left you would have seen the house, Cedar Station, Tourist Courts and the tin barn.

After my aunt, uncle and their family moved to Oklahoma in or around 1949 1950 my grandfather moved his family from the ranch house to the house at Cedar Station. My grandfathers ranch was across the highway from Cedar Station. They continued to live there until his death in 1963.

In 1964 my grandmother Faye Rodgers Chapman Eastman and my mother (T.H. Eastman's only child) leased the station to a man named James "Jim" Smith where he ran it with his family until ?.

My mother told me a story that one day a plane landed on the highway to refuel. The pilot took my grandfather first up in his plane, then my grandmother, and then my mother. My grandparents loved it but my mother not so much, the mans plane had to be washed out (enough said). My father told me that my grandfather would take naps on a 18 wheeler inner tube (my grandfather was a tall man) that he placed just inside the station doorway that way he would hear if anyone pulled up to get gas. Unfortunately we have only two pictures that we have been able to come across from when it was a working station. Momma said that they really could not afford a camera back in those days. It was a hard living to make and that is the main reason that my mothers half sister and her family left it behind. My mother is not sure but thinks that she may still own the property. The ranch was sold off years ago but no mention of the Cedar Station property is in the sell of the ranch.

Hope this helps you understand Cedar Station TX just a little bit more." - Carrie Turner Perez, September 29, 2012

"My grandfather, sister and father" - Carrie Perez

"My grandfather holding hands with my siblings and my father sitting under the Cedar Service Station sign. My father told me that a wooden car port was built onto the station where the cars were worked on." - Carrie Perez

Cedar Station
Photo courtesy Phil Bebbington, October 2012

Cactus and graffiti. Former gas station in 2016
"The station itself was one room and had two gas pumps out front, one was regular and the other was Ethyl (premuim), it was a Texeco station." - Carrie Turner Perez
"My dad, Jim Smith, leased Cedar Station and about 600 acres around it. He operated the gas station that is shown. He sold gas, food, drinks, etc., and fixed flat tires."- Randy Smith
Photo courtesy Abdul Khan, October 2016

The former gas station in 2005
Photo courtesy Erik Whetstone, August 2005

The house close up
Photo courtesy Abdul Khan, October 2016

"The house had two bedrooms with living room, kitchen and bath, later a front porch was added." - Carrie Turner Perez
Photo courtesy Abdul Khan, October 2016

Photo courtesy Phil Bebbington, October 2012

Photo courtesy http://philbebbington.com, October 2012

Cedar Station former Tourist Court
"The two room building was built for weary travelers to stay in.
My grandfather built it for people who broke down on the highway, it was called Tourist Courts" - Carrie Turner Perez
Photo courtesy Abdul Khan, October 2016

Another view of the Tourist Court
Photo courtesy Abdul Khan, October 2016

The Tourist Court in 2016
Photo courtesy Abdul Khan, October 2016

Cedar Station

Photographer's Note:
"These images are from Terrell County taken on August 18th, 2005 and are of the remains of the town of Cedar Station. At least I think it's a town. I haven't been able to find anything on it, but it was showing on my map as a town east of Dryden on Hwy 90.

All three buildings are in close proximity of each other, and are pretty graffiti covered. You can barely make out the town name on one building and Grocery on another in faded black paint." -

Erik Whetstone, March 30, 2006

Cedar Station, Texas Forum

• Subject: Cedar Station Texas
  I just googled Cedar Station Texas and found your site. My mother used to live in Cedar Station. I dont know much about it other than as you look at the buildings from the highway the hay barn was to the left of the station in the middle and the house was to the right. As a child whenever we visit my hometown of Sanderson we would stop by Cedar Station. As the years went by it got more and more run down. My grandfather owned the property and the ranch across the highway. - Carrie Perez, July 17, 2012
• Subject: Cedar Station Texas
  I saw your page on Cedar Station, Texas. I used to live at Cedar Station in about 1963-65. I lived in that house shown in the first picture on the Cedar Station page.
  My dad, Jim Smith, leased Cedar Station and about 600 acres around it. He operated the gas station that is shown. He sold gas, food, drinks, etc., and fixed flat tires. He also raised sheep and goats and had horses on that land. My mother, my two brothers and two sisters and I lived in that house along with my dad.
  There was a small motel there at one time (the third picture). I believe my grandmother, Dorothy Alice Smith, once sold decorative rocks out of that building as well. - Randy Smith, May 20, 2006
  Nearby Destinations:
  US 90 E - Langtry, Comstock
  US 90 W - Dryden, Sanderson, Marathon, Alpine, Marfa
  On Hwy 349 N - Sheffield

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