I spent four of my childhood years in the small farming town of Vernon, Texas. I remember those days with such fondness. It was the mid 1970s and the world was a much larger place, especially for an elementary school age boy. Life was simple in northern Texas back then. Eating out meant a meal from the Pizza Point or Dairy Queen, toys, clothes or school supplies could be procured from either Gibson's, TG&Y or M.E. Moses and the groceries came from either Coy's, Piggly Wiggly or United. The town of Vernon provided just about everything a person could want, and if you couldn't find it around town, the city of Wichita Falls was just an hour away.
For those four years the town of Vernon was my universe and I road my Schwinn from one side to the other exploring everything like a peddling Ferdinand Magellan in cut off denim shorts and a Star Wars t-shirt. I saw my first movie in Vernon, I experienced my first snowstorm in Vernon, I learned about Jesus in Vernon and I developed a spirit of adventure and a thirst for knowledge peddling to places my parents had no idea I had ever been.
In 1978 my family moved west to Albuquerque, New Mexico where I learned to love rock music, developed a craving for spicy food and learned to both love and fear the opposite sex. The location changed but the seeds that were planted in the Texas cotton country grew into life-long passions and a moral compass that shape my life till this very day.
A little over a decade ago I was able to divert off my route across country and swing through Vernon. I hadn't stepped foot in the town for over three decades and I was saddened by what I saw. The once vibrant town of Vernon had dried up like oh so many towns in middle America where the simple old fashioned way of life just simply couldn't keep up with the changes going on around it.
I wrote Vernon off as just another town that's heyday had simply come and gone.
Recently, however, I returned to Vernon and discovered that miraculously the town had been able to bounce back and is presently going through a new renascence. There were a lot of new stores that opened up downtown along with new high end eateries.
I was happy to discover tonight that Vernon actually has a great website devoted to tourism and encouraging people to move there. I have to admit that a decade ago I wrote the town off for dead, but today I find myself pondering on a reason to actually move back.
That small Texas farming town is starting to look pretty darn good.
Here is some information from the Visit Vernon Texas website:
Whether adventure takes you across the Great State of Texas or across the country, Vernon is a great place to be. Located roughly halfway between Dallas/Fort Worth and Amarillo, Vernon is where the real West begins. In Vernon residents and visitors can enjoy a vibrant and growing town with unique and diverse shopping and dining opportunities. The Vernon Main Street District places a continued emphasis on historic buildings and revitalization of downtown. The community honors its cultural heritage of farming and ranching along the Great Western Trail, live music and the title of Hibiscus Capital of Texas. Visitors can enjoy a number of festivities throughout the year including celebrations honoring Roy Orbison, the Santa Rosa Roundup and other equestrian events, classic car shows during Summer’s Last Blast Cruise Weekend, and holiday celebrations like Munchkins on Main and Christmas on the Western Trail. Vernon looks forward to having you stop by!VISITING VERNON, TEXAS
Where The Real West begins!
Whether adventure takes you across the Great State of Texas or across the Country, Vernon is a great place to be. Located roughly halfway between Dallas/Fort Worth and Amarillo in North Central Texas, Vernon has something for everyone.Over 400 Hotel Rooms where you can rest and revive
Restaurants offering a wide range of cultural fare that will curb even the most ravenous appetites
Shopping with a variety of opportunities from antiques to the latest trends
The Red River Valley Museum brings out the adventurer in everyone through vivid exhibits, as well as historical sites celebrating our rich and storied history.
Vernon is ALIVE with Festive Community Celebrations Throughout the Year
Doan’s May Picnic – First Saturday in May
Celebrate the Western Trail and Red River Valley Museum International Art Show – First Weekend in May
Santa Rosa Roundup Parade and Rodeo – Third Week in May
Summer’s Last Blast – Second Weekend in August
Vernon Burnin’ Bike Ride – Third Weekend in August
Vernon Farmers Fall Festival – October
Cowboy Mounted Shooting – October
Red River BBQ Battle State Championship Cook-Off – Last Weekend in October
Lighting of the Community Holiday Decorations – On the Courthouse Square on Thanksgiving at 6 p.m.
Christmas on the Western Trail Lighted Christmas Parade – Second Saturday in DecemberVernon HistoryVernon, the county seat of Wilbarger County, is just south of the Pease River on U.S. highways 70, 183, 283, 287, and the Burlington and Northern Railroad, fifty miles northwest of Wichita Falls and sixty miles southeast of Childress in the north central part of the county. The site was called Eagle Springs by the Tonkawa Indians as early as 1858 for the unusual abundance of nesting eagles. Substantial numbers of settlers came into the area after the Civil War, and Robert Franklin Jones, an early resident, gave a half section of land for a new townsite in 1880. Application was made for a post office to be called Eagle Flat, but the postal department complained that too many Texas towns already had the word eagle as part of their name. The second-choice name of Vernon was accepted, and a post office was granted to the community in 1880. Though sources disagree, Vernon was probably named either for George Washington’s Mount Vernon or for a traveling whiskey salesman named Vernon Brown. Wilbarger County was organized on October 10, 1881, and Vernon, with a population of twenty-five, was chosen as the county seat. Within two years the Vernon Guard had been established there as the first newspaper, and by 1892 the Vernon Texan and the Vernon Call were also being published. By 1885 the Fort Worth and Denver City Railway had reached the town, and the next year the courthouse was completed. Settlers poured into the new trading center, and Vernon was incorporated on February 12, 1889. By 1892 it had 3,500 residents, who were served by a street railway, a fire department, electric lighting, three newspapers, two flour mills, and two ice factories. By 1900 more than eight church denominations had been organized there. The St. Louis, San Francisco and Texas Railway joined the Fort Worth and Denver at Vernon about 1901. The town population was estimated at 9,137 in 1936 and at 10,500 by the 1940s. Beginning in 1950 the population generally averaged more than 12,000. In 1990 Vernon was a center for agriculture-related products and for oil. At that time the city was the home of Vernon Regional Junior College and reported 12,001 residents. In 2000 the population was 11,660.
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