January 12, 2014 – 9/11 Flight Crew Memorial – Historic Grapevine

The 1½ life-size sculpture

on a limestone base on which the names of the flight crews are etched on granite slabs … one of whom, Victor Saracini, lived in the same town as we did in southeastern Pennsylvania and whose daughter worked in the same bakery as Debbie

His co-pilot is to his right, as he is located to the right on the pilot in the cockpit. He is alert, his safety manual in his hand, and pointing to the western horizon, the intended destination of all four flights

The female Flight Attendant stands with her hand held in the international sign signal for “stop”, shielding her passengers from harm

Piece of a steel girder from the World Trade Center

Limestone fragment from the impact zone at the Pentagon

Stone from the crash site at Shanksville, Pennsylvania

Normally, two robotic “gunfighters” (Nat Barrett and Willy Majors, both down-on-their-luck cowboys and wannabe train robbers) appear at the doors below the clock for a shootout. Unfortunately, today’s event was cancelled due to high winds

Weather vane atop the steeple

Interior staircase

This building was put in service in 1903 and was manned by a “crossing guard” who oversaw two intersecting railroad lines, dictating which had the right-of-way and which had to stop

Still operates for tourist trips and events – This train repair barn was closed but, as with so many other sights we’ve wanted to see, we were invited in.

The Arch bears symbols of the military branches of the service and faiths. The faces of the seashells on the arch represent soldiers’ experiences in exotic lands. A watch without a face depicts how time can stand still when a loved and is far from home

A soldier embracing his lover after returning home

The 1888 Grapevine Cotton Belt Railroad was originally owned and operated by the St. Louis Southwestern Railway (also known as the Cotton Belt Route) until 1972 when it was closed

The three skaters portrayed were designed from photographs of three children (Mary Virginia, J.E. and Dorothy Bess) who grew up during the 1920s and 1930s and lived all of their lives in Grapevine … as well as a pet dog that used to run free during those times. Note the old fashion skates which required a skate key to tighten them on to the children’s soles. Also, no one in those days thought of wearing pads or helmets.

You’ve got to love the politically incorrect Southwest

Horse-drawn Hearse

Recognizing famous Americans who have been Masons

Depicting the history of Grapevine

In 1940, seats cost as little as 10 cents and 5 cents for children. It was also the home to Grapevine’s Grand Old Opry.

A former mercantile store, it was renovated in the 1930s and a then-modern Spanish stucco Mediterranean design was added

Benjamin Wall (1876-1955) started the Grapevine Sun in 1895 at the age of 19. It was sold two years later to James Keeling whose son took over the as Editor in 1912 with the help of his wife … followed by their daughter who ran the paper until her death in 1976

Opened in 1900, the Grapevine National Bank operated until closed in 1918 when reestablished as the Grapevine Home Bank. In 1932, two friends of Bonnie and Clyde held up the bank at gunpoint and locked the bank officials in the vault. Both were caught shortly thereafter and the money recovered.

In 1845, when settlers came to Texas, most families brought at least one cow with them. As towns grew, a market for milk and milk products developed and farmers started selling milk to people who lived in their community. The ground floor provides vehicular access, flanked by two pedestrian portals. A stone base supports the milk-washed brick. Corbelled brick supports the brick railing of the terrace overlook the second floor has four-over one windows and wood doors with cast stone spandrels above the windows and projecting brick pilasters.

From 1844 to 1970 Grapevine truck farmers grew tomatoes, cantaloupes, watermelons, squash and cucumbers while Grape Vine farmers grew cotton, wheat, oats, milo and peanuts. Locally grown produce was sold in this building and taken to markets as far away as Oklahoma City and Joplin, Missouri. The base of the building features granite and “iron spot” brick which blends color from purple to black. The building has metal store front windows with a sign band and recessed vestibule with leaded glass transoms. The projecting cast stone pediment tops the wall area containing five wood windows with stained glass fabled transoms separated by a cast stone band. Above the windows and under the pediment is a band of grapevine has relieve of cast stone. The circular turret features the running band pattern base with the case stone sill. Tall, narrow wood windows are topped with cast stone arched transoms separated by a cast stone band. Above the windows and under the pediment is a band of grapevine bas relief of cast stone.

Land Patent Office – The building, with its smooth plaster and painted exterior, features Victorian and Italianate influences in keeping with the architecture that would have been found in the business districts of early Texas. Of note are the eyebrow window lintels, wood storefront with transom windows, distinctive wrought iron railing and a gilded eagle in the lunette above the second floor. The zinc cornice with repeating brackets features pine cones, wreaths and shell ornaments.
Dunn Mercantile Building – The 25½’x 75’ building’s early Victorian-style clapboard façade with wood windows and transoms reflects the materials Grapevine’s first Main Street storefronts. The vertical wrought iron railing and two pair of two-over one windows on the second floor lead one’s eyes upward to a band of dentil ornamental molding and cornice embellished with ornamental medallions, shells and teardrop finials

With spoons and a large bolt in the center

In June 1909, the Grapevine Town Council voted unanimously to build the community’s first “calaboose … or town jail. The 8’ x 10’ x 8’ concrete

A 1991 replica of the originally Wallis Hotel built in 1891. Designed to cater to traveling businessmen, it had a separate entrance for women and children to “shield them from the “rougher aspects of the 19th century”. Unfortunately, the hotel was never economically viable and closed in 1926

Seated on a bench in front of the Wallis Hotel, the figure is not intended to be a real judge but, rather, a person exercising his powers of observation, sizing up the town’s folk

This statue honors the settlers who walked to Texas along side their wagons as they sought prosperity and a better life for themselves and their children

A four-term mayor of Grapevine

Dedicated on September 17, 1999, the 212th anniversary of the U.S. Constitution