A change in the landscape

- Sweetwater High demolition -

It was a bit of a shock to drive by the Sweetwater High School this week and see that half of it was gone. 

It was also funny to see buildings that had not seen full sunshine in their lifetime brought to the forefront.

The old band hall and cafeteria courtyard had been eclipsed by the tennis courts, ag building and gym for decades. 

The gym was the last of the original Newman High School structure, I believe.

I remember occupying those spaces for four years, during my time of education on that campus.

I could be wistful, but after I felt shock, I remembered that I didn't like school very much.

It's time to welcome the new generation.

Small town economy growth

- Hardware store site -

It looks like it's really going to happen. 

A "Coming Soon" sign has been placed on the combined lots of the former  Family Dollar Store and White's Hardware.

In a small town like Rotan, this is very exciting. It's been a very long time since the community has gotten to break in a brand spanking new store.

Most businesses make do with old buildings, like both the demolished stores were.

This could be the start of a new trend. Next the town needs a department store. A place to buy water hoses, socks, underwear, pens, paper, curtain rods, bathroom rugs and what have you would be mightily appreciated.

Lots cleared and staked

- Former White's lot -

Two prominently damaged buildings in downtown Rotan have been demolished.

The Family Dollar Store and White's Hardware were both ruined in a severe storm last June.

The photo is a view looking west across the lot from Cleveland Ave/SH 70. The Lance Theater sign can be seen peeking over the tree tops on the left side of the picture and the bank and Landes Furniture can be seen on the right. The white wall straight ahead is the east side of the library (click on photo to zoom).

The local newspaper, The Double Mountain Chronicle, reported that plans are being made to build an Ace Hardware Store on the site.

Public sales for May 2024

GovDeals has 120 salvage road signs up for auction, bidding ends May 6, 11:59 p.m. The signs are located in Midland.

Perdue Brandon tax sales for Nolan and Mitchell Counties, as well as other Texas counties, will be May 7, 10 a.m. at the respective court houses.

Jones County has three foreclosure properties up for bid May 7, at varying times.

Coke County is selling a police responder vehicle, bidding ends May 10.

Rotan hospital changes hands

- Callan Hospital, built 1938 -

The Rotan City Council accepted a bid for the historic Callan Hospital.

The council voted to put the building up for auction during their March meeting.

The only bidder was David Mullins, who offered $760. Council members agreed to include minerals in that price.

Bidding ended Wednesday at 5 p.m.

Public sales for April 2024

Many properties will be available to bid on at the Perdue Brandon Nolan County Sheriff sale April 2, at the Nolan County courthouse, 2:00 p.m.

Also at that court house on April 2 are two trustee sales, one property is in Sweetwater: Reyes/Gwinn at 10 a.m., and one is in Roscoe: Borders at 2 p.m. 

The Whitley May Farm Sale in Loraine will be on April 6.

Bidding on the Callan Hospital in Rotan ends April 10 at 5 p.m. Contact city hall for more information.

The Rotan Farm Sale is on April 20, 9:30 a.m.

Hospital on the hill

- Callan Hospital, 1938 -

The old Callan Hospital in Rotan was recently put on the block for public auction by city council. It is in poor condition, so much so that the Rotan  High School students use it as a haunted house at Halloween.

There was a time when the building was a source of pride for the community.

Excerpts from 1938 issues of The Sweetwater Reporter and Nolan County News reported progress of construction on the new hospital.

On site excavation for the hospital began January 3, 1938, and was finished by January 20. The building plan included two stories, a ground floor and a basement; thirty rooms, twelve in the basement; the ground floor was to have six private rooms and two wards. The exterior was to be made of native rock. R. T. Martin was in charge of construction and had projected it would take five months to build the hospital.

Famous Families of Fisher County, a book published around 1986, cites that the hospital opened with 9 beds and office space for the Callan Clinic. The outside is covered in rock.

On September 30, 1938, the hospital had been open for a few weeks and an open house set for October 1 & 2.

Famous Families recounts Dr. Chester Uri Callan's part in establishing the hospital.

Around 1935 and 1936, during Dr. Callan's time as Rotan Mayor, he wanted to build a hospital using Works Progress Administration funds, but the city council did not support him. He found other means to achieve his goal.

After the new hospital broke ground, Dr. Callan resigned from his mayoral duties, around April or May of 1938.

After nearly forty years of service, the Callan Hospital was closed in 1976.

Dr. Callan died May 18, 1987 and is buried in the Belvieu Cemetery east of Rotan.

The deed for the property was transferred to the city in 2000.

Citations:

1.  The Portal to Texas History: (Break ground - Sweetwater Reporter, Wednesday, January 5, 1938), (Excavation finished -Sweetwater Reporter, Thursday, January 20, 1938), (New mayor -Sweetwater Reporter, Friday, May 13, 1938),(Hospital opens - Sweetwater Reporter Friday, September 30, 1938)
2. Famous Families of Fisher County, Fisher County Historical Commission, page 49, Dr. C. U. Callan Family
3. Fisher County Appraisal District
   

Around the county

Thomas Pohlman is the new Fisher County sheriff, appointed by commissioners after the resignation of the former sheriff, Simon Wade.

The City of Rotan has an open auction for the historic Callan Hospital building.

There are two employment opportunities listed on the Fisher County website: telecommunications corrections officer with the sheriff's office; part-time personnel with the district clerk's office.

A permit for the Cougar lease has been issued by the Railroad Commission, about a mile northeast of Rotan.

North Texas Auctions & Real Estate will be hosting the Rotan Farmers & Ranchers Sale this year. It is scheduled for April 20, 9:30 a.m.

Searching for a connection

- The Hotspot -

It has been about two years since I last reported on the state of internet in my far flung rural setting. I'm still running a Netgear hotspot with a $55 per month (plus taxes and surcharge) prepaid AT&T card. That buys me 100 gigabytes for 30 days. I can't find that deal anywhere, anymore, so I think I've been grandfathered in on that plan. 50 gb for $55 is what it has been changed to.

I checked in on the legislation from 2021 that was supposed to help implement rural internet. According to an article written by the Texas Tribune, many of the businesses that were given funds to expand internet service to rural communities took the money and ran. It looks like the same thing is fixing to happen again, so I hold no hope that soon I will have easy to access internet with a reasonable amount of data.

I've been scouring the internet (hah! ironic), looking for the next best thing to ease my woes. Verizon touts a wi-fi home internet service, but I have put in every address I can think of, even some from Zillow and post office locations across the nation, and it comes up unavailable every time, even in residential areas where I know the neighbors have this service. I guess they have overserved and are now pulling back on issuing connections. AT&T has lousy plans, T-Mobile says unavailable, satellite service wants a two-year promise with a 200 gb limit, and so on and so forth with all services I found.

Except one, and I am hanging some high hopes on this little device: TravlFi. It's like a hotspot on steroids, if the boasts are true. I've ordered the Journey 1 and I am looking forward to testing out this little booger. The device is less than $200, plans are prepaid, and they use all carriers signals so you're not stuck with just one. 

The unlimited plan is $129 a month. Now, we all know unlimited doesn't mean unlimited in cellular lingo, but TravlFi unlimited is anything over 800 gb, far exceeding the usual unlimited limit, which runs around 60 gb on AT&T and others. Whew! I think I just set a record for using the word unlimited.

Anyway, I'll report back on how it all works out. I hope I have not become gullible during my search for the next great connection. It's almost as bad as looking for the fountain of youth.

Meeting procedures and rules in Texas

Have you ever observed a commissioners court or city council meeting and wondered what all the hullabaloo is over procedure? Well, you, too, can become some sort of minor authority on the official directing of public meetings with the help of The Open Meetings Handbook and Robert's Rules of Order (this link goes to a cribsheet, not the full volume). A basic knowledge of Parliamentary Procedure can't hurt, either.

If all those footnotes and case studies in the handbook seem onerous, go on down to page 82 to see an outline of everything that comes before. The entire document is only 186 pages, less than half the size of a regular fiction novel! Power through, skip the notes. Read it over and over if you feel you can't understand it the first time. It becomes clearer with reading repetition.You'll be all the wiser for it!