Everything Vernon is known for
Songs written about the waterways and highways that run near Vernon.
Harrold, Texas, sits amidst the rolling plains of Wilbarger County, a landscape where the horizon stretches wide under the vast North Texas sky. This area, part of the Central Great Plains, is characterized by its grasslands and agricultural fields. While Harrold might be a small town, it's not without its notable figures.
Northside’s story is etched in the land itself. Being just north of the Clear Fork Trinity gave it a natural advantage early on. Think about it: the Chisholm Trail ran right through here. Drovers needed a place to rest, resupply, maybe even trade a bit before pushing south, and Northside was perfectly positioned. It never exploded like Fort Worth, thank goodness, but it thrived. Even now, being a little higher than the city, you get these beautiful, subtle views that most folks miss. It’s not just about geography, though. There’s a spirit here. And, of course, there's that 1985 football team – undefeated. But if you ask the locals why people stay, or why they come back after leaving, they won’t talk about the views or the history. They’ll tell you it’s the feeling, that small-town Texas charm you just can't find anywhere else. Maybe that buried treasure from the old stagecoach robbery has something to do with it, but I think it's just the people.
Northside, Texas, might be smaller than River Oaks, but it's got a story to tell. You can still feel the echoes of the old Chisholm Trail days, when cattle drives fueled the town's early growth. They say there's still treasure buried somewhere near the river, left from a stagecoach robbery. Now, I don't know about that, but I do know that Northside folks hold onto their history. That spirit shows in everything from the pride they take in Northside High's undefeated '85 football team to the way the whole town seemed to move to the "North Side" shuffle back in the early 2000s.
Roy Orbison, rock-and-roll singer and songwriter, was born in Vernon, Texas, on April, 23, 1936. He was the son of Orbie Lee and Nadine Orbison. He grew up in Wink, a small West Texas oil town, where his father taught him to play the guitar at age six. Orbison dedicated himself to music as a young man, performing at school and on the radio . While attending Wink High School he formed a country music group called the Wink Westerners, which featured Orbison as lead singer and guitar player. Only later, while attending North Texas State College—where he met fellow student and musician Pat Boone—did Orbison transform the Wink Westerners into his first rock-and-roll band, the Teen Kings. After two years of college he dropped out. The group played throughout West Texas and on a number of television shows and recorded "Ooby Dooby," which brought him to the attention of Sam Phillips, owner of Sun Records in Memphis. Reportedly, Midland/Odessa record shop owner Cecil “Pop” Holifield played “Ooby Dooby” to Sam Phillips over the phone. Orbison rerecorded the song for Sun, and in 1956 it became his first chart hit. It was made in the pioneering rock-and-roll style known as rockabilly—a frantic mixture of country music and rhythm and blues developed by Elvis Presley and Phillips. Unlike Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, and Jerry Lee Lewis, up-and-coming music stars who were also recording rockabilly on the Sun label, Orbison had little chart success. The Teen Kings dissolved, and Orbison left Sun. Most of his early success was as a songwriter. "Claudette," a song written by Orbison and named after his first wife, Claudette Frady, was a hit in 1958 for the country and rockabilly duo the Everly Brothers. In 1959 Orbison joined the small Monument label in Nashville, which resulted in a string of international hit records from 1960 to 1966, including such classic rock-and-roll melodramas as "Only the Lonely" (1960), "Blue Angel" (1960), "Running Scared" (1961), "Blue Bayou" (1963), "It's Over" (1964), and "Oh, Pretty Woman" (1964). Elvis Presley once referred to Orbison as "the greatest singer in the world." Roy's hits in this period featured his trademark three-octave voice with its soaring, emotional splendor; his lush songwriting with its beautiful melodies; sophisticated studio production; and dark, brooding themes of love, loss, and longing. Wearing his trademark black clothes, slicked back hair, and dark glasses, the short, pale, shy performer with the overpowering voice played his hits around the world. In England in 1963 he headlined a tour that included the Beatles, then on the verge of international popularity. Orbison's time at the top was brief. Claudette Orbison was killed in a motorcycle accident in 1966, and in 1968 two of his three sons were killed in a fire at his Nashville home. He married his second wife, Barbara Ann Marie Wellonen Jakobs, in 1969, and they had two more sons. Orbison underwent open-heart surgery in 1979. Although he continued to tour, this period of personal difficulty also saw his hit recordings dwindle. He experienced a revival of popularity in the late 1970s and 1980s, when such artists as Linda Ronstadt, Don McLean, and Van Halen recorded some of his songs and he released new recordings of his classic hits. His 1980 recording of "That Loving You Feeling Again" with Emmylou Harris won a Grammy Award, and in 1987 his recording "In Dreams" was featured in the soundtrack of Blue Velvet , a popular movie. That same year Orbison was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with a poignant introduction from Bruce Springsteen, whose monumental hit album of 1975, Born To Run , paid lyrical and stylistic homage to Orbison. In 1988, the year of his death, Orbison's renewed popularity was confirmed in a critically-acclaimed television special featuring his music performed by him and his musical heirs. He also released an album in 1988, The Traveling Wilburys, Volume One , featuring Orbison and his friends Bob Dylan, G
Harry (the Bear) Babasin, pioneering jazz cellist, was born in Dallas on March 19, 1921. His father, Yervant Harry Babasinian, was a dentist who had immigrated to Texas from Armenia, and his mother, Minnette Turner, was a Texas native who taught music at the public school in Vernon, Texas. Babasin grew up in Vernon, where, under the tutelage of his mother, he became intrigued with music at a young age and became proficient on numerous instruments. In high school he played bassoon, bass, cello, and clarinet. He had a short stint at the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas (now Texas A&M University) before enrolling at North Texas State Teachers College (now the University of North Texas) in Denton, where he was introduced to jazz. He and his friend Herb Ellis, later a legendary jazz guitarist, often attended concerts and showcases. At one such show in 1942 they saw the Charlie Fisk Orchestra, and, confident in their musicianship, told Fisk afterward that they could outplay any member of his orchestra. When Fisk asked them to prove it, Ellis and Babasin embarked on a staggering bit of showmanship. Impressed, Fisk hired them. A few months later, Babasin joined the Jimmy Joy Orchestra and was based in Chicago while that outfit toured the Midwest. Babasin was eventually featured on more than 1,500 recordings. In 1943 he joined the Bob Strong Orchestra and headed to New York City. He also worked with various other groups on the scene, including those of Gene Krupa and Boyd Raeburn, with whom he recorded Boyd Meets Stravinsky . He joined up with Charlie Barnet, with whom he moved to California by 1946. In Los Angeles Babasin worked with Benny Goodman, Charlie Parker, Louis Armstrong, and Chet Baker. In 1947 he appeared in the movie A Song Is Born , which starred Danny Kaye and Virginia Mayo. During the filming Babasin began experimenting with playing the cello in the role of the bass. This led to his development of the pizzicato jazz cello, possibly his most significant contribution to jazz. He recorded the first-ever jazz cello tracks with the Dodo Marmarosa Trio in December 3, 1947; they can be heard on the compact disc Up in Dodo's Room . Babasin performed with Woody Herman's Second Herd in 1948 and took part in a live recording session at the Hotel Commodore in New York. While on the movie set of A Song Is Born , he met a Brazilian musician, Laurindo Almeida, and this association led to another pioneering effort, the first "bossa nova" jazz recordings, in 1954. This fusion of modern jazz with traditional Brazilian rhythms was released on two LPs that were later remastered into a compilation entitled Brazilliance, Volume 1 . Throughout the 1950s and 1960s Babasin freelanced for radio and television and served as a session player. He and drummer Roy Harte formed their own record company, Nocturne Records, in 1954 and went on to produce ten albums. Babasin also formed his own ensemble, the Jazz Pickers. In 1974 he helped to establish the Los Angeles Theaseum, an archive specializing in the preservation of jazz and other music recordings as well as instruments and other artifacts donated by musicians. Babasin died of emphysema in California on May 21, 1988. He was survived by his wife Barbara and his sons Von and Perry. Von Babasin, also a jazz musician, released a three-CD boxed set, The Complete Nocturne Records , from his father's record label in 1998. The city of Los Angeles honored Babasin's musical contributions in 2002 during Los Angeles Music Week.
John Cary Morgan, Medal of Honor recipient, was born in Vernon, Texas, on August 24, 1914. He attended New Mexico Military Institute and began flying lessons at the University of Texas. He received his pilot's license at age twenty. He also attended Amarillo College, Schreiner Institute, and West Texas State Teachers College. About 1934 he went to the Fiji Islands, where he worked on a pineapple plantation and in a gold mine. After three years he returned to the United States and worked in various Texas oilfields. He was refused entry into the army air corps because of a poor academic record and a neck injury he had sustained years earlier, but went to Canada and enlisted in the Royal Air Force. There he received pilot training in the RCAF and was posted to England in 1942. In March 1943 he transferred to the United States Army Air Corps with the grade of flight officer and a rating as pilot. In July 1943, Second Lieutenant Morgan was copilot on a B-17 as part of a large formation when his aircraft was attacked by a large force of enemy fighters. The windshield was shattered by a cannon shell. The pilot, who had received a severe head wound that left him crazed, fell over the controls with the wheel in his arms. Morgan took the controls on his side and, despite the frantic struggles of the pilot, brought the aircraft under control and back into the formation. Because the interphone had been destroyed it was impossible to call for assistance. The waist and tail gunners were unconscious because of damage to the oxygen system in the rear compartment. Hearing no fire from their guns, Lieutenant Morgan concluded that they had bailed out. He faced the prospect of flying the plane to the target and back to England unassisted. For two hours he flew in formation, with one hand holding off the pilot and the other on the controls, until the navigator entered the pilot's compartment and relieved the situation. Morgan's heroic performance resulted in the successful completion of a vital bombing mission and the safe return of the aircraft and crew. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for "gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty." His mission inspired the novel Twelve O'Clock High! by Sy Bartlett (1948). After the mission on which he earned the Medal of Honor he continued to fly combat missions. On March 6, 1944, his aircraft was shot down over Berlin. He spent the remaining fourteen months of the war as a German prisoner. He left the military in 1945 and was married to Chris Ziegler in 1947. They had one son. Morgan was recalled during the Korean War and finally retired in 1954. He had begun work with Texaco in 1938 as a truck operator in Oklahoma City. He returned to Texaco after each period of military service and retired from the company as division manager of the International Aviation Sales Department after thirty-nine years of service. He died of a heart attack at Midlands Hospital in Papillion, Nebraska, on January 17, 1991, and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. In addition to his Medal of Honor he also received the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with One Oak Leaf Cluster.
Oldest drugstore in county. Founded 1882 in a dugout. First building (1884) housed office of Dr. H. H. Rhoads, co-owner and 40 years county health officer. First newspaper in county, the "Vernon Hornet", had its shop in the store building. Passing by were horse-drawn streetcars. Present building erected 1901. Store filled its 1,000,000th prescription in 1958. Customers include first Anglo-American born in Wilbarger County. (Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, 1966.)
(May 20, 1837- November 6, 1902) Frontier trader and merchant; a Quaker, peaceable on troubled frontiers. With nephew C. F. Doan, came from Ohio and entered hides trade in Indian Territory, 1874-75. In April 1878 opened trading post at Western Cattle Trail crossing on Red River (12 mi. NE). C. F. Doan moved down that fall to run post. Jonathan Doan continued to trade on frontier. Doan's store and the family were famous and respected among the Indian, the cattlemen, and the frontiersmen. Recorded - 1972
Features one of Texas' famed regional collections of Indian artifacts, tracing history of early man along the Red River. Before Chisholm Trail days, when thousands of cattle crossed Red River at nearby Doan's Crossing, Vernon area was home to tribes of Comanche, Kiowa, and Wichita. Mr. and Mrs. J. Henry Ray of Vernon spent 30 years gathering artifacts, which they donated to Wilbarger County, Oct. 14, 1963. (1967) 	
47 stories, landmarks & places within ~20 miles — the same local lore RoadyGoat plays as you drive through.
Vernon, Texas, sits up here at 1,209 feet, giving you a real sense of those big Texas skies. It's a place built on the land, you know, agriculture and all that comes with it. Mesquite trees dot the landscape – tough,…
Wilbarger County spreads across the rolling plains of North Texas, a landscape where agriculture has long reigned. The area's sandy loam soil and moderate climate proved ideal for cotton, which became the dominant crop…
Oldest drugstore in county. Founded 1882 in a dugout. First building (1884) housed office of Dr. H. H. Rhoads, co-owner and 40 years county health officer. First newspaper in county, the "Vernon Hornet", had its shop in…
You're driving past the home built in 1906 for Sterling P. Huff, a lawyer who served as a District Court Justice and on the 7th Court of Civil Appeals. In 1914, William David Berry, a former educator and civic leader…
(May 20, 1837- November 6, 1902) Frontier trader and merchant; a Quaker, peaceable on troubled frontiers. With nephew C. F. Doan, came from Ohio and entered hides trade in Indian Territory, 1874-75. In April 1878 opened…
Roy Orbison, rock-and-roll singer and songwriter, was born in Vernon, Texas, on April, 23, 1936. He was the son of Orbie Lee and Nadine Orbison. He grew up in Wink, a small West Texas oil town, where his father taught…
Harry (the Bear) Babasin, pioneering jazz cellist, was born in Dallas on March 19, 1921. His father, Yervant Harry Babasinian, was a dentist who had immigrated to Texas from Armenia, and his mother, Minnette Turner, was…
John Cary Morgan, Medal of Honor recipient, was born in Vernon, Texas, on August 24, 1914. He attended New Mexico Military Institute and began flying lessons at the University of Texas. He received his pilot's license…
You're driving through Vernon, Texas, the birthplace of Jack Teagarden, a jazz legend. Born Weldon Leo Teagarden in 1905, he learned piano from his mother and picked up the trombone at just seven years old. He even…
You're driving through Vernon, Texas, where Robert Lee More built one of the most incredible collections in the world. Starting in 1888, More spent over fifty years collecting bird eggs. By the time he stopped in 1941,…
You're driving through Vernon, Texas, the birthplace of jazz trumpeter Charlie Teagarden. Born in 1913, Charlie spent much of his career in the shadow of his famous trombonist brother, Jack. But Charlie carved out his…
You're driving through Vernon, Texas, the birthplace of Norma Teagarden, a remarkable jazz pianist. Born in 1911, Norma grew up in a musical family, often performing with her famous brothers, Jack and Charlie Teagarden.…
You're driving through Vernon, the county seat of Wilbarger County. This spot was known as Eagle Springs to the Tonkawa Indians as early as 1858, named for the many eagles nesting here. When settlers arrived after the…
You're driving through Wilbarger County, a place that was once the hunting ground of the Comanche. By the 1870s, the buffalo were gone, and the army had moved the tribes out. But this land didn't stay empty for long. In…
You're driving through Vernon, Texas, a town that owes much of its mid-20th century prosperity to T. Edgar Johnson. Born in Fairfield back in 1889, Johnson earned his law degree and even studied at Oxford before serving…
You're driving through Vernon, Texas, the birthplace of Clois Lee "Cubby" Teagarden. Born in 1915, Cubby was a jazz drummer and singer, part of a musical family that included his famous trombonist brother, Jack. While…
Right here in Wilbarger County, you're driving past the birthplace of Vernon College. It all started with a vote in January of <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1970</say-as> to establish a county junior college.…
Harrold, Texas, sits amidst the rolling plains of Wilbarger County, a landscape where the horizon stretches wide under the vast North Texas sky. This area, part of the Central Great Plains, is characterized by its…
Features one of Texas' famed regional collections of Indian artifacts, tracing history of early man along the Red River. Before Chisholm Trail days, when thousands of cattle crossed Red River at nearby Doan's Crossing,…
You're driving through Wilbarger County, formed in 1858 and organized in 1881. It's named for brothers Josiah and Mathias Wilbarger, who arrived in Texas back in 1829. Josiah famously survived being scalped by Native…
You're driving through what was once Béxar, the site of the legendary Alamo. Right here, William Blazeby, an English immigrant and printer by trade, found his final stand. He joined the New Orleans Greys, rising through…
You're driving through Wilbarger County, and right here, you're passing through the ghost of Doans, Texas. In 1878, Jonathan and Corwin Doan set up a trading post right on the Western Trail, a vital artery for cattle…
You're driving near the North Fork of the Red River, a place that played a key role in the Indian Wars of the 1870s. Right here, on September 29, 1872, Colonel Ranald S. Mackenzie launched a successful attack against a…
You're driving through northeast Wilbarger County, not far from the Oklahoma border. This area, now known as Elliott, was settled in 1904 by farmers from Williamson County. They were escaping a devastating boll weevil…
You're driving through Odell, Texas, a town that owes its very existence to a railroad line. Back in 1908, the Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railway pushed into this area, and Odell sprang up around its station.…
You're driving through Wilbarger County, heading towards Vernon, and you're passing through what used to be Wheatland. That's right, this spot was established in the late 1880s by the Fort Worth and Denver City Railway,…
You're driving through northeastern Wilbarger County, and right here is the community of Oklaunion. It started life as Mayflower, but in 1888, a man known as 'Buckskin Joe' Works renamed it Oklaunion. He hoped it would…
You're driving through the Lockett Community, named for the T. J. and J. B. Lockett families who settled here starting in 1888. Their father, Wm. Lockett, died on Christmas Eve that same year and was one of the first…
Wilbarger County, situated on the rolling plains of North Texas, bears the imprint of its early settlers. Though named for an Anglo pioneer, the county's cultural landscape was shaped by a diverse mix of European…
Northside’s story is etched in the land itself. Being just north of the Clear Fork Trinity gave it a natural advantage early on. Think about it: the Chisholm Trail ran right through here. Drovers needed a place to rest,…
Tillman County, nestled in the Central Great Plains, tells a story etched in the land itself. Once part of the vast, open range where cattle grazed under endless skies, this area underwent a dramatic transformation with…
You're driving through Davidson, Oklahoma, originally called Texowa. This town owes its existence to a homestead lottery back in 1901, and the arrival of the St. Louis and San Francisco Railway. The post office opened…
Davidson, Oklahoma, founded with the arrival of the railroad at the turn of the century, sits amid the expansive prairie of Tillman County. The town, named for railroad official W.A. Davidson, quickly became a hub for…
You're driving past Doan's Crossing, a vital point on the Western Trail. Starting around 1876, hundreds of thousands of cattle thundered through here, heading north from South Texas to Kansas. In 1878, Jonathan Doan set…
You're driving past the site of Doan's Adobe Building, built in 1881 by Corwin F. Doan. This adobe house was more than a home; it was a hub for cowboys driving thousands of cattle up the Western Trail. Doan's Crossing,…
On a cold December morning in 1860, Texas Rangers under Captain Sul Ross attacked a Comanche camp on the Pease River. Among the fleeing figures, a Ranger grabbed a blue-eyed woman clutching a baby. She was screaming in…
Tillman County lies within the Central Great Plains, its landscape a tapestry of gently rolling prairies ideally suited for agriculture. Settlement accelerated here after the opening of Indian Territory, with farmers…
You're driving past the site of a major agricultural breakthrough! Back in 1909, this area was home to the first planting of sudan grass in the entire United States, brought all the way from Africa. This research…
You're driving through Wilbarger County, and right here is Harrold. It wasn't always called Harrold, though. Back in the early 1880s, it was just Cottonwood. Then, in 1884, the railroad arrived. The town was renamed to…
You're driving through West Texas, and right here, you're passing through the land that was shaped by Francis Oral Masten. He started with just five dollars and a cotton sack in 1909, picking cotton for pennies. But…
You're driving through the Texas Panhandle, and right here, you're passing through the story of Dr. Evelyn Gass Powers. She grew up in Tulia believing all doctors were women, thanks to her own mom! After graduating top…
You're driving through Chillicothe, a town with a colorful past. It started in the 1870s near the R2 Ranch headquarters on Wanderer's Creek. The town officially got its name and a post office in the early 1880s, named…
You're driving through the site of Medicine Mound, a town that rose and fell with the railroad. Originally, Native American tribes camped here, drawn to the healing properties of the nearby mounds. Anglo settlers…
You're driving past the site of the Hicks & Cobb General Merchandise Store. Brothers-in-law Lon Cobb and Ira Hicks opened this store in 1927, selling everything from clothes and groceries to horse feed. Regulars even…
You're driving through Medicine Mound, and right here, in 1937, this site was part of a big public health project. The W.P.A. worked with the state and county to replace unsanitary outhouses with improved facilities,…
You're driving past the site of Old Mounds, a community that took its name from local hills with medicinal springs. Established by the late 1800s, it had a store, school, and church, with this cemetery nearby. The sole…
Six million longhorns crossed the Red River right here. Doan's Crossing in north-central Wilbarger County was the last piece of Texas a trail drover touched before pushing his herd north into Indian Territory on the…