304 N. Glover Drive, Longview, Texas 75601
It could be of interest to the readers of the Iron Men’s
Album Magazine to know that a new building to house artifacts
collected by the Gregg County Historical Society is scheduled to be
erected at the Gregg County Fair Grounds at Long View, Texas in the
near future. For several years our Historical Society has been busy
which were used in past years. The G. A. Kelly Plow Works, which
began operations in 1864 and continued until 1972, has given us two
ancient stationary steam engines one of which is a huge Corliss
with a flywheel which weighs 16,000 lbs. The other engine is a
GALES-BURG, and has a 9′ high flywheel. An Oil Refining Company
has indicated that they will give us two large OIL FIELD boilers.
It has fallen my lot to have these engines and boilers moved to
proper locations and properly set up, with new paint jobs and all
necessary repairs made. We plan to have these engines in condition
to operate by steam generated by the two steam boilers which, as
already mentioned, will be given to us. An expert mechanic, one
skilled in making steam whistles, has promised to make and give to
us a whistle which can be heard for many miles about the
country-side.
We plan for this effort to contribute to the forthcoming
Bi-Centennial celebration scheduled for 1976. Also, the Texas State
Railroad is being rebuilt in this section by the State Parks and
Wildlife Commission, and will be one of the leading tourist
attractions during this national celebration. This railroad was
built chiefly by convict labor nearly 80 years ago, and is being
rehabilitated by that same type of labor. Four steam locomotives
will be used to power the tourist trains, running from Rusk, to
Palestine, Texas, a distance of 32 miles. This railroad runs
through some very beautiful country. Three parks will be available
to tourists, with camping and hiking facilities. We are looking
forward to having people from all sections of the nation to visit
us during 1976.