Photographs of Blooming Grove -- storefronts, churches, schools, parades, portraits, and a scattering of team and community-night pictures old enough to sit alongside them.
162 photographs
The town, as it was
J. E. Walker Hardware Store, 1910Captioned on the print: "Blooming Grove, Texas."Hardware store interior, 1912Captioned on the print; the man in the center is named as John Everett Walker.Group portrait outside a buildingCaptioned on the print "Campbell, Carpenter, Ferris Sts." -- meaning not confirmed, possibly a photographer's or studio credit. Undated.School class, June 1927Captioned on the print; the rest of the handwriting is not fully legible, so the school and grade are not confirmed.A woman at the Blooming Grove city limit signUndated.
The town, as it is now
The water tower and a grain elevatorBlooming Grove Fire Department, Engine 2Reads "Blooming Grove Fire Dept., Engine-2" on the truck.Peggy's Place -- store, cafe and baithouseRoadside sign; the exact location is not confirmed from the photograph alone.
The 125th, 30 May 2015
The community sign on the parade route, its marquee lettered "BG 125th" and the date "5/30" · 2015The school band lines up behind a golf cart carrying the United States and Texas flags, at the stone entrance sign lettered "Blooming Grove" · 2015Blooming Grove FCCLA members on a flag-trimmed trailer, their hand-lettered sign reading "FCCLA Officers" · 2015A bagpiper in full Highland dress, waiting on the street before the parade · 2015An antique open-cab fire engine, driven in the parade · 2015Blooming Grove Fire Department, Engine 2 · 2015A fire department brush truck, unit 711, on the highway stretch of the route · 2015Looking down the main street: a tanker lettered "Blooming Grove T-3460", riders on horseback behind it, and spectators along the curb · 2015The band on the route -- trombone, bass drum and cymbals -- past a building hung with bunting · 2015The parade comes up the street past the church, led by a pickup and followed by fire engines · 2015The First Baptist Church bus, with "125 Years" pennants at the windows · 2015A John Deere Gator carrying hand-lettered pennants: "Quasquicentennial" and "Blooming Grove" · 2015A restored John Deere 630 tractor in the lineup · 2015A restored Chevrolet pickup on the route, past the church pavilion · 2015A side-by-side passes the school building, its wall painted "Home of the" above a lion's head · 2015A game warden's truck in the parade, lettered "Texas Game Warden" · 2015A student in an FFA jacket lettered "Texas" and "Blooming Grove", beside the chapter flag · 2015The Blooming Grove Lions Club float, beside the club banner · 2015A Jeep carrying a hand-lettered "BG NHS" sign for the National Honor Society · 2015A float hung with historical photographs of the town -- one of them captioned "Carroll Bros. Meat Market" -- under a hand-lettered sign reading "Our 125 Years" · 2015The parade lined up along the street, storefronts on the left and spectators on the sidewalk · 2015A sign reading "Happy 125th Blooming Grove" beside the anniversary float, lettered "1890" and "2015" · 2015A man and woman in period dress on the anniversary float, with a parasol · 2015A float carrying a tiered paper cake lettered "Happy Birthday" · 2015A 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air in the parade, on 1955 Texas plates · 2015A Ford Model A sedan before the parade, on a year-of-manufacture plate reading "Texas 1930" · 2015Riders on the antique fire engine pass a storefront lettered "Eagle Elite Gymnastics" · 2015The parade along the street, the cake float at left and a line of antique cars behind it · 2015Riders on a Polaris Ranger pass the row of brick storefronts downtown · 2015A pickup pulls a hay-bale float of students through a cloud of silly string · 2015A van in the parade, lettered "Central Baptist Church -- Blooming Grove, Texas" · 2015A couple watch from a bench outside a storefront, the window notices reading "Junk in the Trunk" and "Through the Grapevine" · 2015
The 125th: after the parade
A bagpiper plays at the veterans memorial, its face engraved with names · 2015A bagpiper passes the Texas historical marker for the City of Blooming Grove · 2015Three band members outside the building marked "City Hall / Municipal Court" · 2015"Happy Birthday" letters and a "125" hung on the pavilion rail in the park · 2015"Blooming Grove FCCLA Bake Sale -- Fried Pies, Cupcakes, Cookies, Brownies", one sign marked "125th Anniversary" · 2015A tamale stand at the celebration: "$10 Pork & Chicken Tamales / $12 Beef Tamales" · 2015A vendor sells jars under a banner reading "Cessna Sassy Salsa -- Hot, Medium & Mild" · 2015A popcorn wagon on the square · 2015Students on a flatbed trailer hung with small flags, in shirts reading "Anchored in Success -- Blooming Grove" · 2015
Downtown, building by building
A barbershop, customers in the chairsUndated. Which shop is not confirmed.J. A. King's barbershopNamed in the archive's own caption.Barbershop interior, a second shopWhich shop is not confirmed.Bank interior, teller windows and staffA butcher shop, meat on displayByrd's grocery storeCarroll Brothers MarketA domed downtown buildingBuilding not identified.A drugstoreWhich drugstore is not confirmed; a second, named drugstore photograph is published separately below.Reid's DrugstoreFurniture store interiorFirst of three views of the same store; the store is not named on the print.Furniture store interior, a second viewFurniture store interior, a third viewA furniture store storefrontWhether this is the same store as the three interior views above is not confirmed.A gas station, pumps out frontGeorge's storeNamed in the archive's own caption.A grocery store, exteriorA grocery store, a second storeGrocery interior, two men behind the counterThe archive's caption names them as John, Dorsey and George; which name belongs to which man is not confirmed.The Hill BuildingNamed in the archive's own caption; the business inside is not identified.Holditch's groceryA hotelWhich hotel is not confirmed.Jordan & Gillen, interiorClerks and customers inside the store; identified from the archive's own caption.Jordan & Gillen, exteriorThe sign reads "Jordan & Gillen, Grocery, Market & Ice."A mercantile storeSaloon interiorWhich saloon is not confirmed.A man at a desk in an officeBusiness and name not confirmed.Tillman's groceryThe train depotTurk Brothers and WebbFirm name from the archive's own caption.The post officeA cotton ginSpires Market, horses and wagons out frontNewspaper delivery boxes on a postA newspaper officeThe water tower, close up
Schools and churches
A school group photographWhich school and what grade are not confirmed.Carroll schoolhouse, 1928Dated in the archive's own caption.Christian ChurchA horse-drawn wagon parked outside a schoolChurch of ChristA school class, 1960Dated in the archive's own caption.Central Texas CollegeWhether this institution operated in Blooming Grove itself, or the region, is not confirmed from the photograph alone.An early, one-room schoolhouseSchool faculty, group portraitNames and year not confirmed.First Baptist ChurchFirst Methodist ChurchThe grade school buildingThe school, side viewOlive Grove Baptist ChurchThe archive's caption reads "Mount Olive Church"; the 1934 Sanborn map names the building Olive Grove Baptist Church.Presbyterian ChurchThe school, 1930Dated in the archive's own caption.A church buildingDenomination not confirmed.Tyree churchCommunity or congregation name from the archive's own caption; not otherwise confirmed.The high school, as a postcard imageIsbell HallGirls outside Isbell HallUndated.
Parade day
A parade floatA parade passes downtownThe parade, a second viewThe parade, a third viewThe parade, a fourth viewThe parade, a fifth viewThe parade, a sixth viewThe parade, a seventh viewWhich parade, and what year, is not confirmed for any of the eight parade photographs above; they read as the same event.
Friday nights
Blooming Grove Lions players before an inflatable mascot tunnelCredited "clp" in the corner.Blooming Grove Lions players celebrate on the sidelineCredited "clp" in the corner.Blooming Grove Lions volleyball teamTwo Blooming Grove Lions cheerleadersBackground removed by whoever built the original site graphic.Football team, 1933Dated in the archive's own caption.Football practiceUndated.A group of lettermenUndated.Girls basketball teamUndated.Girls basketball team, a second squadUndated.Girls basketball team, a third squadUndated.Boys playing hockey on a frozen pondIce on a pond is unusual for this part of Texas; whether this was made locally is not confirmed.Pond hockey, a second viewSame note as above -- locality not confirmed.A rodeoUndated; which rodeo grounds is not confirmed.The rodeo, a second view
Independence Day
Gordon Griffin sells American flags at the Fourth of July celebration, 2013Jean Hinkle at the Fourth of July celebration, 2013, the year she was Grand Marshal
Around town
A Victorian home behind an ornate iron fenceThe same home, further down the fence lineA horse-drawn wagon outside Spires's storeA crowd gathers on the downtown streetAn ice-delivery wagonA covered wagonHeflin's mule teamA downtown street cornerThe cotton yard, 1900Dated in the archive's own caption.Picking cotton in a field
Faces of Blooming Grove
A visit to Blooming Grove, said to be by Harry TrumanNamed as a Truman visit in the archive's own caption; not otherwise confirmed.The Huffstutler familyNamed in the archive's own caption.The Huffstutlers, a second photographA group portrait, said to be from the Forgey studioStudio name not confirmed.Mel Deason beside a railroad cabooseNamed in the archive's own caption.A women's social club, group portraitA crowd gathered at a pavilion or grandstandPortrait of a womanName not recorded. From a Blooming Grove Historical Society photograph album.Portrait of a woman, a second photographName not recorded.Portrait of a woman, a third photographName not recorded.A man holding a babyNames not recorded.Children, portraitNames not recorded.A group of teenagers, portraitNames not recorded.Children in front of a buildingNames and building not recorded.A man posed beside automobilesName not recorded.A woman, tintype-style portraitName not recorded.A serviceman, portraitName and service not recorded.A young man, portraitName not recorded.A young man, a second portraitName not recorded.Veterans, group portraitNames and conflict not recorded.Servicemen, group portraitNames and service not recorded.Women, group portraitNames not recorded.
Some of these were kept by an earlier Blooming Grove website. The rest come from the town's own archive material, a collection of individually captioned historical prints; a number of those appear to have been saved from the Blooming Grove Historical Society's own Facebook album. The photographs of the 125th anniversary on 30 May 2015 were taken that day by Cindie Phipps and Robert Phipps.
About these pictures. The historical prints were made by people in these towns and their families. They are published here to be seen, with no claim made over them — if one is yours and you would rather it came down, write to directory@blacklandtx.com and it comes down. The modern photographs are the work of the people credited above; please ask before using one commercially.
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Farm and ranch, land, homes and commercial in Navarro, Hill and Ellis counties. Blooming Grove, Texas, established 2005.
