Bankhead Highway through Eastland County

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Bankhead Highway through Eastland County. Now, if you've ever watched the Texas landscape roll by your windshield and felt like the road itself had something to prove, well, you might understand what those early motorists were up against when they pointed their automobiles west along the Bankhead Highway. It all starts with the automobile.

Early twentieth century, cars are showing up everywhere, and suddenly the roads of the United States are not keeping pace. Senator John H. Bankhead of Alabama steps in, sponsors the 1916 Federal Aid Road Act, and that act starts supplying matching funds to states to upgrade their roads.

Out of that comes a transcontinental highway, east to west, Washington D.C. all the way to San Diego. They called it the Bankhead Highway. In Texas, the route touched Texarkana, Dallas, Fort Worth, and El Paso.

That is a long stretch of Texas, friends, and it had plenty of character along the way. Now, when the Bankhead Highway came rolling into Eastland County from the east, the very first thing waiting for those early automobiles was not a welcome sign. It was a hill.

A narrow, winding, extremely steep feature that locals knew as Thurber Hill, or Ranger Hill, or simply, the Big Hill. You can imagine a Model T squaring up against that grade and not feeling particularly confident about the arrangement. Somebody had enough good humor to put a Works Progress Administration roadside park near that hill, and just a little further west, a place called Scenic Point offered travelers a panoramic view of the surrounding countryside.

A chance to catch your breath and remember why you were making this trip in the first place. The highway kept moving. In Ranger, it crossed the railroad tracks, turned left onto South Commerce Street right at the 1923 passenger train depot.

And Ranger had a lot going on along that route. The municipal airport had been in use since 1911 and was officially dedicated in 1928. And not far from the highway sat the J.

H. McCleskey No. 1 Discovery Well, the site of Ranger's 1917 oil strike. That is the kind of landmark that reminds you a road doesn't just connect towns.

It connects moments in history. Moving through Olden and into Eastland, much of the Bankhead Highway lines up with what is now the I-20 westbound access road. In Eastland itself, the highway came in along East Main Street, passed the States Oil Company, turned on Bassett to Commerce Street, and went right past the 1928 Eastland County Courthouse.

And underneath those wheels, from Ranger all the way to Cisco, the road was paved with Thurber vitrified brick. That is the kind of detail that makes you look down and wonder what's still under there. From Eastland, you can follow the highway on Highway 6 toward Cisco.

And Cisco, well, Cisco has one particular claim worth mentioning. In 1919, a fellow named Conrad Hilton opened his first hotel there, the Mobley Hotel. Then the highway continues along FM 2945, past Putnam, and on toward the Callahan County line.

The Bankhead Highway was not just a road. It was a growing network of transportation and commerce laid right across the heart of Eastland County. And in a way, it's still there, hiding in plain sight, if you know where to look.

What the marker says

Early 20th century development of the automobile led to major road system improvements throughout the United States. Senator John H. Bankhead of Alabama sponsored the 1916 Federal Aid Road Act, which supplied matching funds to states to upgrade roads. The Bankhead Highway became an east-to-west transcontinental highway from Washington, D.C. to San Diego. The Bankhead Highway's route through Texas included the major cities of Texarkana, Dallas, Fort Worth and El Paso. As the highway entered Eastland County from the east, a narrow, winding and extremely steep feature known as Thurber Hill, Ranger Hill or the "Big Hill" was one of the first challenges for early automobiles. A Works Progress Administration (WPA) roadside park was developed near the hill, and another prominent feature to the west, "Scenic Point," provided a panoramic view of the surrounding countryside. The highway supported growing networks of transportation and commerce in Eastland County. In Ranger, the Bankhead Highway crossed the railroad tracks, turning left onto South Commerce Street at the 1923 passenger train depot. Ranger Municipal Airport, in use since 1911 and officially dedicated in 1928, and J. H. McCleskey No. 1 Discovery Well, site of Ranger's 1917 oil strike, also lie along the highway. Through Olden and Eastland, much of the Bankhead Highway is aligned with the I-20 westbound access road. The highway entered Eastland along East Main Street, passed the States Oil Company, then turned on Bassett to Commerce Street and passed the 1928 Eastland County Courthouse. The road was paved with Thurber vitrified brick from Ranger to Cisco. The Bankhead Highway can be followed on Highway 6 from Eastland to Cisco, the site of Conrad Hilton's first hotel (the Mobley Hotel) in 1919, and then along FM 2945 toward Putnam and the Callahan County line. (2015)