July 25, 2016 - Members and guests of the Timpson Area Genealogical and Heritage Society “took another look” at some of the historical buildings around town at their July meeting last Thursday. The audience viewed a slide show of recent photos of interesting architectural details on homes and buildings around town and then tried to identify the building to which it belongs. Each attendee was given a numbered answer sheet upon which he or she was to write the identity of the building in the photo, with “where Aunt Martha used to live” or “the building next to where the old ice plant was” being acceptable answers. After a pause, a photo of the entire building was shown. The person getting the most correct answers would win a gift certificate to Whataburger.
The difficulty of identification varied widely, with some details universally recognized and others a mystery to almost everyone. From the chimney on the Leonard Tyer house on Bear Drive to the brickwork on the Blair building downtown to the shrubbery leading to the entrance to THS, contestants were visually whisked all over the city. Though not really a building, SoSo Park's stone bridge and the bronze WPA plaque from the park's entrance were included. Most buildings were featured only once, but some local buildings contain so many interesting details that they were in several slides. The old bank building has so many interesting details that it was the subject of three slides. After all twenty-eight eight architectural elements and the buildings to which they belong had been shown, the seaarch for the contestant with the highest score began by counting down the number of items missed. The difficulty of the contest was evident when it was revealed that everyone had missed at least ten of the twenty-eight questions! TAGHS member Garland Downing had the high score and was awarded the gift certificate. There were no losers, though, since audience members shared many wonderful facts and memories about the buildings and homes shown.
TAGHS meets at 2pm on the third Wednesday of each month in the Meeting Room of the Timpson Public Library, located on the corner of Austin and Bremond streets. The public is invited.
