Author: jscruggs

Bankhead Highway AKA US Highways 67 and 80

In its earliest incarnation, it was known as The Bankhead Highway; prior to it’s inclusion in the national highway system, it was known as Texas Highway 1. It is known as one of the earliest transcontinental highways in the United States. With one end in Washington, D.C. and the other end in San Diego, CA passing through several states, including Texas. The only part of the route we are interested in, here, is its path through Texas.

Originally, The Bankhead Highway went through Texas on Texas Highway 1, From Texarkana to El Paso. When the US highway system came into being portions were designated as US Highway 67 and other portions were designated as US Highway 80. When the interstate system came into being, and specifically I 30 to I 20, I 20 to I 10 and I 10 to the Texas State Line swallowed many of the original paths of the highway as well as US Highways 67 and 80.

The Bankhead Highway dates back to 1917. Over the years, it was realigned several times due to new technology and paths taken. After each realignment a new area of highway or even a new town would see traffic. Subsequently, new businesses would sprout to take care of motorists passing through along the road.

Here are just a few of the images from the Highway in East Texas.

  • US67_Bankhead_Highway_Business_Sign_Mount_Vernon_Texas
    US67 Bankhead Highway Business Sign Mount Vernon, Texas
  • US67_Bankhead_Highway_Neon_Church_Sign_Sulphur_Springs_Texas
    US67 Bankhead Highway Neon Church Sign Sulphur Springs, Texas
  • US67_1936_Bankhead_Highway_Rest_Area_Titus_County_TX
    US67 1936 Bankhead Highway Rest Area Titus County, TX

And here is the link to our static page, including more images, many more: https://www.texas-travelers.com/historic-texas-highways/bankhead-highway-texas/

The basic path of the bankhead highway, today, through Texas is simple. From Texarkana Interstate 30 to Interstate 20 to Interstate 10 ending in Elpaso. Along this route there are many original paths that remain, today. It’s not our intention to map out the routes that remain, those exist. Our intention is to photographically document some of the old artifacts along the way that still exist. For route information please see links, below.

Links to more information about The Bankhead Highway

Texas Historical Commission has a really good map of the old highway through various alignments broken into sections.

Texas Time Travel very nice page and map showing some of the attractions to see along the road.

More information about Texas’ Historic Highways

New System for Looking up County Pages

As we get farther along in creating county pages and adding to menus, it is becoming very clear that using menus to find pages is cumbersome. We also thought that if a person knew what part of the state they were interested in seeing, it would be nice to have pop up or clickable information. So, we are working on creating a map system.

Below, you will find our map, at least the beginnings of it. For this preview it is just a static map that isn’t up to date. Click on “Read More” to see the real thing.

In the menu, at the top of all pages on our site is “County by County” menu item. On that page is our interactive map. Click on a county and away you will go …..

Monument Hill and Kreische Brewery State Historical Site.

Monument Hill

Monument Hill Kreische Brewery State Historical Site Entry
Monument Hill Kreische Brewery State Historical Site Entry

We toured and photographed the Monument Hill and Kreische Brewery State Historical site in June of 2017.  It is similar to a Texas State Park located in Fayette County across the colorado river from Lagrange Texas and up the hill.  Monument hill is fairly self explanatory, to a certain degree.  It is a monument on a bluff overlooking the colorado river.  The serenity of the setting is clearly, by design, given the subject matter of the monument as well as the reason for its existence.

Monument Hill is a commemorative monument and burial site for the men of the Dawson and Mier Expeditions.  This is one of many, many centennial markers and monuments that were dedicated in 1936 for the Texas Centennial celebration.  This particular monument was placed to encapsulate and preserve the original burial vault that was suffering the ravages of time and neglect.  Texans that had perished at the battle of Solado Creek were buried at this site.  I’m not going to explain in detail exactly what happened and why they are buried here, in the pictures, below, are detailed explanations of the events that took place.  As you read the explanation, imagine drawing a black bean and writing your letter home ……

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Kreische Brewery and Home

The Kreische Brewery site is the runis of the Kreische Brewery as well as the restored Kreische Home.  Both of the structures were hand built by 
Heinrich Kreische, a german immigrant and very talented stone mason. The structures were created using locally quarried stone.

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Monument Hill Information and History
Historical Site / Park Information

Dinosaur Valley State Park – Footprints of a lost era …..

Dinosaur Valley State Park – Introduction

Dinosaur Valley and Footprints in the sand? Millennia ago, there were. Today the footprints are encased in rock, in the Paluxy riverbed. Some above the waterline, some below. They say late summer is the time when the most footprints are visible and the least amount of water is in the riverbed. There are several things to see and do in the park.

Dinosaur Valley State Park – Things to do

Campsites … we didn’t camp within the park, but, there are a pile of water/electric RV sites to use.

Artifact Collection – There is much to learn all over the park. From the displays in various locations to the displays in the visitors center.

Hiking / Biking / Equestrian – There are numerous trails throughout the park for foot travel as well as for bike and horse use.

The best thing about being in the park was, without question, discovering and seeing the dinosaur tracks. There are two types of tracks, 3 toed predator and round, kind of like an elephant. Seeing all of these tracks is simply awe inspiring.

We highly recommend everyone see this park at least once. There is plenty to do for a day. Those with kids, this park will absolutely keep them busy and learning for hours at a time. This is really a special treat for the kid (and the adults that act like kids ;). The trails are well marked and not overly difficult to walk. Great exercise.

More Information

State Park Main Page

Our Pictures

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Modify RV Air Conditioning System Digital Thermostat

Introduction

There are significant differences in the way RV systems work in comparison to home systems. My goal with this mod is to move those differences in air and heat closer together. We have totally separate heating and air conditioning systems, the short falls are there is little air movement when the heat is running and Gas furnace, alone, really tends to dry out the air, moreover, neither unit has a particularly accurate thermostat, this mod fixes that.

Changes in the System

Removing the analog thermostat and replacing with a digital is key to the entire operation. We are well aware of our optimal winter and summer temperature preferences and analog is so difficult to set up. Digital tends to be more “set and forget”. We plan to run the fan in the AC system with an electric heat element to warm the air without drying it so much, and whenever the gas furnace does operate we want the AC unit to help distribute the heat (air) more evenly.

Parts Required

Parts in the RV:

  1. Coleman 48000 Series (48203) Roof Top AC System (Mechanical Controls)
  2. Atwood AFSD12 Furnace
  3. Atwood Mechanical Thermostat

Parts necessary to perform Mod:

  1. Coleman 9330C755 heat ready control box
  2. Coleman 9233A4551 heat kit
  3. Coleman 6536A3351 2 Stage Heat Pump Digital Thermostat (12VDC)
  4. Altronix Timer Relay (2)
  5. 3 General purpose Diodes

We will provide a schematic of our hook ups for this unit below.

The Mechanical controls on both heat an AC systems are to be removed for this mod.

Video Description of Mod Testing

Impressions

This mod operates very well. We, actually, also carried an oil filled space heater along and between the space heater and the heater in the AC we never once had the furnace kick on. This trip we camped out in 20 degree weather in a significant cold snap in north Texas, just before Christmas. We also have very accurate control of the AC and Heat Temps and this all totally worked better than ever before. In this mode of operation, we are completely hooked!!

Realize, however, the AC and Electric heat will only work when connected to 110 V …. heat from the furnace will always work with 12VDC. Boondocking is no problem in the wintertime. For this mod to work, and clearly to have AC, one must use a generator or inverter to create 110V while boondocking.

Support Documents

Schematic 1: This is the hookup details for the parts listed above. This particular schematic will operate the Mach 3 in both AC and heat modes, and will also operate the propane furnace. The Mach 3 fan will not run when the furnace is running in this setup.

Air Conditioning Mod for Mach 3 AC System

Schematic 2: This is the hookup details for the parts listed above. This setup requires 2 additional Timer Relays. This particular schematic will operate the Mach 3 in both AC and heat modes, and will also operate the propane furnace. The Mach 3 fan will continue to run when the furnace is running in this setup.

Coming Soon!!

RV Mod: Adding / Installing an RV Dinette

Adding an RV Dinette Introduction / Description

We do quite a lot of RV living in the winter months. We have a hybrid and in the winter it just isn’t comfy sleeping in a tent. Subsequently, we were looking for a way to have a permanent bed, as well as a table for additional counterspace, work, and eating meals. We came up with, considered heavily, and acted upon a plan for a fairly thin table that takes up about 6 inches of walking space.

Our plan involved buying 2 table legs and a 12 inch plank. We have been using this new table for several days and, for us, it works out perfectly. Our RV has very little counter space, and for cooking, we needed just a bit more. This table is a total score!! For working on the laptop, it also works well.

Below is a video we made for the installation.

Installation Video