Telegraph Store

"TELEGRAPH, TEXAS. Telegraph is on U.S. Highway 377 thirteen miles southwest of Junction in southwestern Kimble County. Ranches in the area near Telegraph by the 1890s included those of O. B. Fleming and Thomas C. Taylor. A post office was established there in 1900 with Ruth Holms as postmistress. Rancher Thomas C. Taylor became postmaster in 1902. During the 1920s Telegraph was a popular vacation spot for campers, hunters, and fishermen. In 1925 the community had a resident population of twenty-five, a tourist park, a gas station, and a post office-general store. The estimated population remained stable for the next forty years, increasing briefly to fifty-six in 1966 but declining to thirty-one in 1970 and eleven in 1974. Telegraph was named for the telegraph poles cut to support communication lines to early United States Army forts just east of the town in Telegraph Canyon, which was once part of Governor Coke R. Stevenson's ranch. In 1990 the population was reported as three. The population remained the same in 2000." cited from the Texas State Historical Assocation website.

We all have our own memories of Telegraph Store.  Some of my favorite memories include RC colas and peanuts, peanut butter crackers, and ice cream sandwiches.  And of course the mayor!

Telegraph Store was our post office and school bus stop.  Good ol' bus number 7 driven by Mrs. Billo (and later Mr. McReynolds) would pick us up and drop us off at the store.  Mayor Stanley Brite would always be waiting on the Heap kids with a smile on his face.  He would usher us inside the store and tell us to pick out an afternoon snack because he knew we had had a rough day of schoolwork.  On pretty days, we would take our spots on the front porch and enjoy our snacks.  On cold days, we huddled around the gas heater sitting on stools and milk crates.  Mama worked in town so we would wait for Daddy or Grandmom to pick us up from the store. 

Stanley insisted on us calling him by his first name (which was hard to do when raised to address our elders with a Mr. or Miss or Ms. or Mrs.).  He would tell us stories about how a group of wild Indians lived on the hill and only showed themselves at night.  Or about how a mountain lion slept on the front porch of the store just the night before.  Or about having a direct line to the North Pole Post Office and often talking to Santa about how good or bad the Heap children had been. 

It was with great sadness when we heard the news of our beloved Stanley passing away.  Telegraph Store was never the same without him.  I've got memories of a witty man that always had a sparkle in his eye.  Sometimes I will stop at the store just for a minute.  I will sit on the front steps, close my eyes and I swear Stanley is sitting right there with me whistling a tune that only he knows.  "There's no place like Telegraph, Texas!"  I've got the t-shirt that proves it. :)