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Antiques
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Georgia Caraway
in Alpine STONE VILLAGE TOURIST CAMP AND MARKET in Fort Davis OAKDALE PARK in Glen Rose RAINBOW COURTS in Rockdale
The previous columns on tourist courts made me wonder about tourist courts that are still in business. We’re fortunate in Texas that some of these gems along the road remain. I wish that the Davenport Tourist Court still existed.
The lodges and camps that survived did so by offering updated plumbing and air conditioning, new flooring and furnishings, and other amenities. Others did as little as possible to change things structurally wanting the experience to be a trip back in time, back to when things were slower.
Some of the tourist courts and lodges still operating in Texas are: ANTELOPE LODGE The following descriptions are from the websites of the tourist courts: Antelope Lodge in Alpine is like a 1940s -period postcard. White stucco cottages with covered porches and vintage metal lawn chairs frame a grassy courtyard studded with picnic tables. The foothills of the Davis Mountains loom against a big blue sky behind the retro redtile rooftops. The Antelope Lodge’s office also houses the Last Frontier Museum of Rocks & Gems, where guests can view native agate.
Fort Davis and the Stone Village Tourist Camp —constructed of rock, adobe, and stucco plaster—has been in continuous operation since 1935. At the time, area tourist attractions were on the rise, including the Civilian Conservation Corpsbuilt Davis Mountains State Park and the Pueblo-style Indian Lodge. The tourist camp has been completely remodeled.
One of the state’s oldest surviving motor courts and tourist camps is Glen Rose’s Oakdale Park. Oakdale celebrates its 90th anniversary in May. Oakdale’s 330,000-gallon pool, called “The Plunge,” is one of the largest swimming pools installed in Texas at the time.
Rainbow Tourist Camp in Rockdale opened in 1918 before US 79 was paved. Nathan Monroe Bullock built the central Texas camp for migrant workers as well as tourists. Then his brother, Ira Benjamin Bullock, joined the business. By the early 1930s, the camp had morphed into a bedand-breakfast. They started off with four cottages and it grew to 50. Several structures on the 4.6acre property date to the late 1880s, including a carriage house and a schoolhouse moved to the site in the 1940s.
I am headed to the Big Bend area next week and sadly am not staying in any of the tourist courts, although we are staying at Indian Lodge in Fort Davis and Terlingua Ranch Lodge. I have never been in this part of Texas and am so excited to spend time there. I hope to find some neat antiques to write about in future columns.
Georgia Caraway and her partners at Howe Mercantile hope you will come by 107-109 East Haning to shop and visit. Three new dealers added to the Mercantile. Come see their new offerings. SHOP LOCAL. WE CAN SHOW YOU HOWE.
