Since we have added the latest group of local history items to our Portal to Texas History it has been great fun to see how they mesh with the Alto Heralds and with the Flickr photograph collection. For instance, one of the papers by Mildred Nicar Bertilino has to do with the History of the Fairris (Ferris) farm. Mildred, who grew up on the Fairris Farm wrote a short theme about the property for an essay contest when she was in school. Then later, she expanded on the story in a letter. E Geiger, the next owner deeded it to…

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For years, Alto schoolchildren have learned in the third grade that Alto was founded as Branchtown in 1849 by Robert Mitchell and renamed Alto in 1852, but Alto was not really a town, not really incorporated until 1909. Once the incorporation took place, it was time to elect city officers and establish the city government. According to the July 9 1909 Heralld: The election for city officers for the newly incorporated town of Alto was held Tuesday, the following being chosen: Wm. Blanton, Mayor; J G Moore, Marshal; M J Hogan, C C Francis, J W King, M C Parrish…

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While searching for something else in the on-line Alto Herald newspapers, I came across a poignant front-page story with a picture about man’s best friend. In the latter part of September, 1956 there were three people killed in a head-on collision about 10 miles south of Alto on Highway 69. After the bodies were removed and the wounded hospitalized, a wrecker brought the two cars to Alto and placed them on the Pearman Chevrolet lot. The next day a black dog was seen lying under one of the cars. When anyone walked up to the car, the dog would come…

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Buzz words for July in Alto – hot – dry – watermelon – and of course “Holcomb Reunion”. The July 24 1958 Herald gives a detailed history of the gathering: In 1897, George and Thomas Holcomb (brothers) who lived in Houston County arranged with their niece, Maggie Holcomb Singletary of Cherokee County to spread the word about a big family reunion to be held in the Cold Springs community. Cold Springs was chosen because it was a central location and the springs provided water for the horses and oxen. The Houston County contingent set out in ox wagons, buggies or…

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The tornadoes that have been so much in the news these last few weeks brought to mind a question. When did we stop calling them cyclones and start calling them tornadoes? That is just the kind of question that can be answered by a search of our online Alto Heralds. The most serious storm to hit Alto, referred to as a cyclone, took place in 1893, before the Alto Herald was in existence, but in 1933 a “Forty Years Ago” column recalled the catastrophe.. Many of the downtown businesses and the Presbyterian church were damaged, while the high school building,…

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It has been just about a year since I started scouring the online Alto Herald for interesting stories to share with Cherokeean readers. The search process is not fool-proof, but it is easy and fun. For instance, for my first column on the Titanic, I just put the word “titanic” in the Search box and included all the collection – from 1908-1966. I got 20 hits. Several were using the word titanic as an adjective, some even before the ship was built. Then the big front-page story in 1912, with several follow-up articles. The movie references began, surprisingly, in 1913…

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Did you know that Alto once had a soft drink bottling plant? I knew, because my late father-in-law, Grady Singletary, had told me about it. So I was very excited when my daughter Anne found and purchased on Ebay this bottle from the Artesian Bottling Works Alto, Texas, 1915. A search of the online Alto Heralds yielded more information. The whole thing began in May of 1914 when A D Lesterjet arrived from Nacogdoches with a well-drilling outfit and a crew of four men and began operations at once to bore for artesian water for a city water works for…

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What was happening in and around Alto half a century ago? Let’s take a look at the Alto Herald and see. 1963 started off with a bang-up annual Football Banquet honoring the Alto Yellow Jackets team that won the district title in 1962. The theme of the banquet was “Starlite on the District Champs” and the gym was decorated with white crepe paper and lots of gold stars. The centerpiece for the head table was the district trophy surrounded by gold chrysanthemums. Besides the presentation of letter jackets, awards and gifts to the coaches, there was plenty of entertainment. Mr.…

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The start of school has always been big news in small towns. Browsing the September issues of the Alto Herald shows how AISD has developed over the years. The 1914 school year at AHS started off with the organization of a couple of clubs, the Alto Athletic Association and the William Jenning Bryan Literary Society. Surprisingly, both had the same set of officers: Clinton Harrison, Jewel Singletary and Ben Little, with the addition of Grady Singletary as Doorkeeper of the Literary club. Anyone who knew my late father-in-law would agree that a Literary Society is the last place to expect…

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Did you know that Gone With the Wind was originally to be called Tomorrow Is Another Day? And that when it came out it sold 600,000 copies for an unprecedented $3.00 each? These facts are found in Editor Frank Weimar’s column A Little Ado About Something by A. Hick in the Alto Herald of February 18, 1937, even before the book was awarded the Pulitzer Prize. I never knew Mr. Weimar well, but I was a little surprised to find him following the news about the book and the casting of the movie in his column throughout the years 1937-1940.…

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