Red River Diggers

04/07/2022

12/02/2021

In September of 1931, the toll bridge that spanned the Red River between Love County, Oklahoma and Cooke County, Texas at the former Sacra's Ferry site closed for good in favor of the free bridge a mile upstream. The road to get to the toll bridge through Gainesville is Grand Avenue, but the free bridge served state highway 40, which we now all know and love as U.S. 77 and Interstate 35. Okay, maybe "love" isn't quite the right word.

The Gainesville Red River Bridge Company, which owned the toll bridge at Sacra's Ferry, filed an injunction to stop traffic on the free bridge. Unlike the opening of the free bridge between Colbert, Oklahoma and Denison, Texas in July of 1931, however, this injunction did not create a public-relations "war" between the governors of the states.

The argument in Gainesville rested on the problem that the road bed for SH 40/ Route 77 was two miles west of downtown Gainesville, thus bypassing the city and creating worry about its future commercial traffic. Further, the governor of Oklahoma discovered that the road bed on the Texas side "had settled approximately five feet below the bridge roadway," and therefore offered to provide Texans with road-building equipment (and the talent to actually use it, ha ha).

This didn't sit to well with some Gainesville citizens, who feared that their city's commerce would suffer. Therefore, they "raised funds by contribution to build the three mile detour from Highway No. 77 to the short, completed section of Highway No. 40." This contribution effectively stopped the problem on both ends: Texas got a decent road, and the highway was built much closer to downtown Gainesville.

If you'd like to read more about the exciting history of ferries, toll bridges, and free bridges, check out the book, "The Stark Ranch of Cooke County, Texas: History that spans the Red River" by John Schmitz, published by Red River Historian Press! It's a great gift for any infrastructure nerd.

You can find the book on my website: https://www.redriverhistorian.com/shop or on Amazon (also on order at independents, Barnes & Noble, etc): https://www.amazon.com/Stark-Ranch-Cooke-County-Texas/dp/1736745719

05/24/2021

The Stark Ranch of Cooke County, Texas: History that Spans the Red River

09/13/2020

A couple more ax heads to add to the collection!

07/13/2020

Found in Cooke County! Aluminum tax token, worth 1/10th of a cent, found just off the Red by Sy! During the Great Depression (1930’s) these would be used for taxing items worth as little as a penny!

07/03/2020

1902 Indian, 1920 Lincoln, and some jewelry from an old church site!

06/26/2020

Searching the cracks of what used to be the ole Gainesville swimming hole! Not sure of the date or construction or the date of destruction but I believe the black and white photo is about 1883. Post card has “Elm Creek Dam” stamped on the upper left corner. This is directly west of the entrance to Leonard Park. Check it out when the water is down you can still find the base of the dam!

06/25/2020

Sy’s 1856 Seated Liberty Dime pulled from the dirt SouthEast of Gainesville Texas a while back!

06/22/2020

One of Q’s favorite places to go out towards Mountain Springs. This homesites original owner hung in the The Great Hanging of Gainesville in 1862. Couldn’t find a good date on the buffalo nickel but minting lasted from 1913 to 1938 so the home was occupied for a while longer after his death. No remnants left other than an old rock lined well! Pocket watch lid as well as an old Hawk Brand Clothing button also recovered.

06/20/2020

Deleted the group and made this more of a page you can “like”. Please do so to keep up with my adventures/ finds! I (Quintin Boaz) will be gradually posting old content and hopefully dig up some new content along the way to share with you all. This page will mostly include finds from Sylar Sparkman, Myself, as well as friends we take with us along the way. Thanks for following!