Rotan writer talks to Tumbleweed

Debbie Toliver of Rotan will be featured on Tumbleweed Smith's The Sound of Texas this Thursday, November 30.

Toliver is an award-winning poet who earnestly began writing in 2015, according to a 2022 article in the Double Mountain Chronicle.

Personally, Debbie is a quick-witted individual who is an anomaly, in the best way. I first saw her at a city council meeting, where we greeted each other with a nod. I then met her face to face in The Country Store in Rotan while shopping. Her sharp observation of a situation is immediately evident and she emits the aura of a person of culture.

The broadcast featuring Debbie can be heard on KXOX radio, transmitting from Sweetwater, as well as many other stations across Texas.

Local store to return

It is looking optimistically likely that the Family Dollar Store will reopen in Rotan, in the same place it was before, 110 West Sammy Baugh.

In the last issue of the Double Mountain Chronicle, there was a notice for application to sell alcohol at the Family Dollar. That's almost a sure sign.

The store has been sorely missed. It is as close to a department store as the town has. No more having to drive 20-30 miles to buy a package of socks, a waterhose and a lighter.

Welcome back, Family Dollar

Popular reading program available for Fisher County

Dolly Parton's Imagination Library program is now available for Fisher County children. Once signed up, a child will receive a free book every month until the age of five.

Registration is available on-line, in person (Abilene Public Library branches), or by mail.

Other local counties eligible to participate in this program are Jones, Taylor, Callahan, Shackelford, Coleman and Runnels.

The Imagination Library is brought to these communities by The United Way of Abilene.

Early boom ignites oil hysteria

- Montour et al -

If you'd like to see a completely over the top reaction to an oil boom, look at the September 30, 1937 issue of the Sweetwater Reporter on The Portal to Texas History site. 

Along with sensational headlines (NEW GUSHER BOOMS ROTAN) and claims of how oil will make everything shiny and new, this forty page document is a rich collection of historical information, much of it regarding Rotan and Fisher County.

In this special Oil and Progress Edition of the publication, a frenzy of articles was unleashed after the discovery of the Montour, Abrahamson & Largent well in Fisher County. It was a 13,000 barrel "gusher" in the Robinson Pool.

Something interesting to note on page 18 is an article titled "Gas pressure determines life of many oil fields" that states "Wells in the Rotan field produce oil from gas pressure, and are not equipped with pumps."

There's a lot of information covered in the articles, along with photos and ads. Technical as well as entertaining writing makes this a well-rounded historical source.

On page 28, Elliott Howard, claiming to be a former director of the Rotan State Bank and Rotan citizen since 1890, said that the Rotan townsite was where three ranches, the O-Bar-O, Pitchfork, and Hitson, once converged.

The advent of electric and telephone service and many well-known businesses and buildings are documented in this newspaper.

Photo credit: The Sweetwater Reporter via The Portal to Texas History

Drinking water watch

Do you wonder how your county is doing in the management of your water? The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has many areas of public interest that can be searched online.

Facility information can be found by starting at the Home Page>scrolling down to Facility Site>County>Search. You can also search by name or permit.

To look at the status of an individual license, go to Home Page>Licenses>Individual Search>Enter Name.

There are multiple ways to search for information and see the status of water delivery systems in your community and around the state.

Puzzle complete; David Castle architecture in Rotan

- Callan House, Rotan -

The first result that comes up when using the search term "Rotan, Texas" on The Portal to Texas History website,which I look at nearly daily, is a photo and link showing the blueprint for the Dr. W. W. Callan residence, drafted by noted architect David S. Castle in 1923. I began to be curious if this house still existed.

After searching land records on Texas File, I got it into my head that the Murdoch house was the old Callan house. There was a transaction in 1990 from the Callan's to the Murdoch's, so I thought it must be. The problem was that a lot of renovation would have had to have taken place to make the house the shape it is now from the original plan.

According to Fisher County Appraisal records, the Murdoch house sits on block 217, lots 10, 11, 12, Inside Addition. A description of a brick veneer residence built in 1925 fit the timeline between the 1923 plan and Dr. Walter William Callan's death in 1928. Still, something was off to my mind's eye.

I searched Fisher County Records, Fisher CAD, The Portal to Texas and a lot of other websites trying to make the pieces fit. I looked for old phone books and perused Fisher County history books trying to find the specifics on the house. If I could have found an old phone directory or Polk Directory, I could have simply looked up the address, but I wasn't successful in that endeavor.

I looked more closely in Texas File, the holder of the oldest records, which go back to 1910 for the Callan's. I came upon a deed from the Duffer's to W. W. Callan, dated 1923. This property description is block 215, lots 10, 11, 12, Inside Additon. 

There is a house that stands on that property, but appraisal records show it as being built in 1920, outside of the timeline. Also, again, the shape wasn't quite right. It was similar, but the porte cochere was on a different side.

I drove by these houses over and over again, trying to match up things by sight. Finally, I used satellite imagery, comparing it to the blueprint overview to find the shape of the building. There it was, a block over from where I had originally been looking, and a few houses down from the 1920 house. Property description block 215, lots 7, 8, 9, Inside Addition.

There was a real sense of satisfaction in figuring it out, this puzzle that could have easily been put together by asking any number of people in Rotan or Fisher County. It was fun to dive back in time, though, and read the articles and look at the maps from a hundred years ago of the town and community I inhabit.

Photo source: The Portal of Texas History, Google Earth