| | The Town of West, Texas | Hits 8 | | | | |
| | | | Site Information | | | Located in Central Texas and known for its Czech culture. Features contact information, community directory, Westfest information, and history.
| The first settlers of northern McLennan County arrived in the 1840's. They were farm and ranch families drawn from the east by the rich lands made available by the government sale of land to build schools in Texas. The area farmers cultivated the land growing cotton, wheat and maize and raising cattle. The farming community centered around a fresh water spring that became known as Bold Springs. In 1860 Bold Springs had a population of about 300 and provided services such as a blacksmith, churches, and a post office.
The Katy Railroad was laid between Hillsboro and Waco in the fall of 1881. The path of the railroad cut through land owned by Thomas West. Mr. West moved to the area in 1859. He farmed land that he had purchased and served as postmaster of Bold Springs. A train depot was built on the land he sold to the railroad company and the land running beside the tracks was divided into small sections and sold to people wanting to start businesses. The new depot included a post office and from that time forward it was known as the West Post Office. Mr. West served as postmaster while opening the first general store. He became a successful businessman later owning a hotel, a furniture store and a bank.
The railroad brought prosperity to the area during the 1880's. More businesses were opened and more surrounding land was purchased. Czech immigrants came to the area purchasing the rich lands to farm and start a fresh life in the new world. They also opened businesses sharing their European culture. By the 1890's the Czech businesses flourished in West.
On June 11, 1892 West was officially organized into a town. It had became the center of commerce for the area. There were cotton gins, grocery stores, churches, schools, doctor's offices. Many of the farmers and business men of West contributed to the success of West as a great little farming community.
The turn of the century brought electricity, running water, and natural gas. The population of West and surrounding area grew. The Czech's brought with them the custom of having very large families and by the 1920's they became the dominate culture in West.
Many of the descendants of the original settlers continue to farm the lands and run the businesses still today. You can still hear Czech spoken by some of the older folks around town.
The West Depot is now home for a railroad museum and Information Center for West. In it you will find information and old photographs of the railroad and it's relation to the West community.
Train Crash at Crush, Texas
Crush, Texas was a town for only a day in the late summer of 1896. Locate about 3 miles south of the town of West it was the site for the biggest publicity stunt of the time. W.G. Crush, general passenger agent of the Missouri/Kansas/Texas (Katy) Railroad, came up with the idea of crashing a couple of trains together to attract public attention to the railroad company. The site was selected and a date was set for September 15, 1896. For months the event was promoted by the railroad company with posters and ads in newspapers along the railroad towns for thousands of miles.
A separate set of tracks were laid along side the railroad. Two trains that were being retired were selected for the event. Test runs were performed to get the speed right. The railroad company was sure it had made appropriate modifications to the engines to prevent any kind of explosion. After all, the attraction was publicized as a safe event.
People swarmed in for the event. Many walked or came by buggy so no accurate number of spectators could ever be determined. Estimates range between 30,000 and 50,000 people attended the attraction. Although there was no charge to attend the crash the railroad sold lots of tickets to bring passengers to the new town named in honor or Mr. Crush. Two-hundred constables were hired to control the crowd and a jail was built to hold the law-breakers.
The trains were freshly painted. One was painted green with red trim and the other red with green trim. Each pulled several cars behind with advertising space. The two engines rolled up to each other for a cheer from the crowd. Each rolled back a distance of one mile. When Mr. Crush gave the signal the engines roared toward each other at full speed, the engineers jumping off to avoid the collision. The locomotives hit with a crash which was followed by a roar as one of the boilers exploded sending debris in all directions. Two people were killed and more were injured from the flying pieces. Others were burned as they rumbled through the wreck for souvenirs.
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| | | Contact Information | | | The Town of West, Texas http://west-tx.com/ E-mail The Town of West, Texas | | | | If you're the owner or webmaster of this site then please Claim this Link Once you claim this link and we approve it you will be the only one who can modify the listing in the future. |
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| | Date Added: Wed Oct 05 2005 | | Last Updated: Wed Oct 05 2005 | | | | |
