Friday, February 20, 2009

Ovalo Texas School House 1911 Old Antique Vintage Postcard

Visit Moody's Postcards, your source for vintage, collectible postcards!

Subscribe to Moody's Postcard Blog by Email

Today I want to visit a small Texas town similar to the one I grew up in in an effort to highlight the characteristics that make these great old postcards so attractive. Our destination is Ovalo Texas with the Public School Building shown on this circa 1911 post card. Ovalo is located in Taylor County and is near Abilene Texas in the middle of the state. The town is located in an oval shaped valley and was named for the Spanish word meaning oval. In 1909, the Abilene and Southern Railway Company ran tracks near Ovalo and lots went on sale in the same year. A year later, there were forty six businesses and two churches in Ovalo which will give you an idea of the impact of railroads on town locations and health. Ovalo children attended the one room Bald Eagle School until 1910 when a new school was constructed and named Ovalo School. NOTE: This postcard was mailed in 1911 so this should be the Ovalo School since the Bald Eagle School was a "one room school". Ovalo added the First State Bank in 1914 and the population grew to 300 by 1920 and 600 by 1930. In 1988, the town was back down to 200 people and only had a post office, Baptist Church and a combination grocery store and gas station. The 2000 census listed the population as 225. This has always been a small town and as such, postcards on this town are going to be very hard to find. Do your research on potential purchases to help you determine the potential supply available so you can get a feel for the value. This postcard is available in my Texas listings along with 10,000 additional postcards on my website Moody's Postcards.

CATCH POSTCARD FEVER!! Your ticket to interesting out of the way places.

No comments: