Wichita Falls and History

Every city, no matter how great or small, has a history. It is only when you become aware of that history that the city where you live takes on meaning. I was fifty when I discovered the history of Wichita Falls, a city that I had grown up in. One day while sitting in my chair contemplating my life I realized that I was fifty and what did my children know about my childhood? The Downtown area of my childhood had decayed when the mall was built and stores moved there. Gone were the five and dimes of my youth, the movies theaters had become a movieplex and vacant lots stood where I used to buy plastic airplane models. So, I decided to record my childhood for my children. I grabbed my camera, a micro recorder and took a walk downtown.

It was there that I met a man who told me of a bank robbery in the late 1800s and showed me a building that still had a part of the bank attached. A whole new opinion of my town opened up and new opportunity.

Because of that chance encounter I met Carroll Wilson, Editor of the Times Record News, and for 18 months wrote a series of articles on the local history. These articles asked the quesiton and the reader was to find the answer before the following article the next Sunday. Thirty of these articles have been included on these pages. Due to these articles I have received more information from some of the old timers of the city, of which I am fast becoming, but I have learned an appreciation for a city I thought I knew but didn’t.

So, when you are feeling that there is nothing to do, grab a camera, a tape recorder and look for history. Until you do though, take a walk with me through the city of my childhood and learn of Wichita Falls.

Tony (wfeditorials@yahoo.com)