Thursday, August 2, 2012

Old buildings near Jetmore

I received this from a reader who tells me the story of the old buildings near Jetmore.

Hi Amy, your assumption was correct in that the old buildings south of Jetmore were moved into the pasture.  The old depots were formerly located in Hanston and Jetmore and perhaps even one from Dighton, I think that for some reason--maybe that's the one sitting behind the larger one you couldn't see.  The old country school house used to sit on a corner of US 283 and was attended until about 1971 when the area country schools all finally closed down.  

Jack Warner moved the buildings onto the Warner Ranch and for a time he lived in one of the old depots.  He was the Libertarian congressional candidate from Ford County who threw his hat into the ring every few years but never was elected, he passed away in 2011.  He was rather eccentric and after the depot he was residing in caught fire, he kind of let everything go to disarray.  The country school has been kept up better than the old depots.  It was exciting to see the Warners utilize the old buildings at first and try to save them on their land, but the task must of been a bit daunting and whatever great ideas Mr. Warner had for the buildings never seemed to pan out.


One of Jack Warner's aunts, Kate Warner Krumrey, wrote two pretty interesting books years ago that were published and told the story of settling in Ford and Hodgeman County .  "Saga of Sawlog" and a sequel aptly titled "Sequel to Saga." They are scarce & sell for a pretty penny online, but we have copies in our library and I'm sure there are others around. 


The photo you took of Backtrail Road and the bridge running north and south on 283 goes over the  "Sawlog Creek." The Warner's Ranch is sometimes called the Black and White Ranch because they only raised Morgan horses and Black Angus cattle, and painted the farm buildings and fence white.The Warners often rode in parades and such and were quite a handsome presentation in their black jeans and white shirts on their black mounts. Up until a few years ago they hosted a successful bluegrass festival in the "Warner Grove," an heavily wooded and lush area down the road from the home place.  Down inside 'the grove' it was easy to forget you were in the flatlands surrounded by trees and shade and cool breezes along the creek.

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