  TIME Central Standard Time NEIGHBORING STATES New Mexico Oklahoma Louisiana REGION South West States
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 ON THE TEXAS FORTS TRAIL The Texas Forts Trail , a 650-mile driving trail, provides visitors with a spellbinding look at that part of West Central Texas where US Army Forts sought to protect settlers in the mid-to-late-1800s. On the trail you discover not only eight historic forts, each an impressive monument to the Texas pioneer spirit, but historic courthouses and some unique cultural events and historical reenactments. You will rub shoulders with cowboys, ranchers, soldiers, buffalo hunters and all the characters that would people a good western movie – and there are breathtaking Texas landscapes to boot. Strung along the Texas Forts Trail like a necklace of San Angelo's concho pearls are a number of delightful communities. The Abilene visitors’ center is housed in the Texas & Pacific Railroad Depot, one of the city's outstanding landmarks restored to its 1920's appearance. Here you can pick up an interpretive folder which provides details of nearby Fort Phantom Hill's three-year life. ABILENE HOTELS Abilene has preserved the traditional heritage of the Old West while providing all the advantages of a thriving contemporary city. The Grace Cultural Center in Abilene is a restored historic 1909 hotel, now the setting for three museums: historic, children's hand-on and fine arts. Nearby is the restored Paramount Theatre with Spanish-Moorish design features. All form part of a National Register Historic District. Some 14 miles south of Abilene is Buffalo Gap Historic Village, first a natural pass for buffalo and later a stop on the Dodge Cattle Trail. Among the 100-year-old buildings are the original Taylor County courthouse and jail, a schoolhouse, a general store, doctor's and dentist's rooms and a railroad depot. In Albany, one of the gems of West Central Texas, you will learn of the Fort Griffin Fandangle, Albany’s musical pageant of the area’s history. Some 400 volunteers recreate frontier life with song and dance in an outdoor theatre on the last two weekends of June. The Prairie Theatre comes alive with horses, longhorn cattle, Indians and settlers. Barbecue is served on the lawns of The Shackelford County Courthouse. The likes of characters like Doc Holliday, Bat Masterson, Billy the Kid, Lottie Deno the Poker Queen no longer walk Albany's streets, so the 1877 jail has been put to a remarkable use. It is now The Old Jail Center, a critically-acclaimed art gallery. Another city with custom-built tours on the Texas Forts Trail is San Angelo. SAN ANGELO HOTELS The heart of the city's historic district is Concho Avenue. Here your clients can soak up history as they shop and browse in specialty shops such as a country store, antique malls, several unique eating establishments and designer fashions, each located in renovated historic buildings. Slip into any jeweller for a look at its collection of Concho Pearls. For over 400 years the Concho River and area lakes have yielded these unique pearls. Concho Avenue had a rather tarnished history as the street where over 35 saloons and bordellos were once located. Don't miss Miss Hattie's Parlor & Museum, a memorial to the working gals who were part of San Angelo's frontier past. Its huge copper roof-top resembling a covered wagon, the new San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts is an architectural masterpiece on the banks of the Concho River. Not far from San Angelo, the Campbell's Ranch at Paint Rock is not only a working sheep ranch but the site of historic Indian pictographs. South of San Angelo is Eldorado where your clients can tour the first woollen mill built in the state of Texas (1939). The Texas Forts Trail leads you to eight frontier forts and a Spanish presidio in West Central Texas: • Solemn stone chimneys and a stone commissary, guardhouse and powder magazine are all that remain of Fort Phantom Hill, north of Abilene. • Near Albany, Fort Griffin, whose ruins and restored buildings spread on both sides of the highway. The official state herd of Texas longhorns grazes at Fort Griffin State Park. • East of Throckmorton, several stone structures have been restored at Fort Belknap where a county museum is housed in the former post commissary. • Fort Richardson, in Jacksboro, was the most heavily garrisoned military installation in the United States during the Buffalo War of 1874 and 1875. • The ruins of the cavalry stable are all that remain of Fort Mason at Mason but a reconstruction of officers’ quarters at the site give an idea of the fort buildings. • The entrance to the ruins of Presidio San Luis de Las Amarillas (partially reconstructed in the 1930s) is at the western edge of Menard. • Some 17 miles west of Menard are the extensive ruins of Fort McKavett which had more than 40 buildings at its peak in the 1870s – many have been restored. • San Angelo's amazing Fort Concho, called the best preserved western fort in the United States, has also been wonderfully restored. • The ruins of Fort Chadbourne are on private property and can only be viewed from a vehicle, but nearby is a well-maintained historic cemetery. TEXAS HOTELS Photo: Restored Fort Richardson near Jacksboro – Photo courtesy J. Griffis Smith |
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