kjolly
0
- Joined
- Feb 1, 2008
- Messages
- 101
- Reaction score
- 7
- Location
- Austin, TX
- First Name
- Kevin
- Last Name
- Jolly
This was an interesting road. Old Texas 20 was a route from Hempstead, TX all the way to Alpine, TX in the 1920’s. Parts of it were paved, parts were dirt, and by the mid ’30’s it was being replaced by the new Highway 290 - which eventually stretched from Houston to El Paso. In the section from Paige, TX to Austin, TX they laid a whole new alignment for 290 south of where TX 20 ran, so Texas 20 is still there - as county roads - now called Old Texas 20 in a lot of places.
Old Texas 20 cuts off US290 (to the south) just east of Texas 130, and makes a loop through Manor up to Elgin. Past Elgin it runs north of 290 to where it ends just west of Giddings.
Old TX 20 is mostly a bare 2 lanes wide, with a lot of single lane bridges. Parts are paved.
The road parallels the Union Pacific tracks for most of the way.
I stopped in McDade for a look see. McDade was home to a notorious group of outlaws called the Notch Cutters in the years after the Civil War. There would be thieving and killings, and then the folks in McDade would hang three or four of the reprobates and things would calm down for a while. The most famous hangings were the Christmas Eve hangings. On Christmas Eve 1883 three outlaws were strung up right across from where my Ural is parked. On Christmas day the outlaw’s buddies came into town and there was a gun battle at the saloon and three more men were killed. The hanging and shootings were a regular thing in McDade until 1912. I kept my head down while in town.
Bank? Cafe? I looked through the window and it was full of bags of Purina Sow and Pig Complete - so maybe cafe is closer than bank nowadays.
Once past McDade the road is pretty much all gravel. These sections were paved when it was a state highway, but once it passed to the county they probably stopped maintaining the asphalt - even in the gravel sections you can find pieces of asphalt here and there. It's well graded and pretty smooth most of the way - just enough gravel to get you rattling.
I looked at this sign and wondered if it was saying Houston was left, San Antone was right and Bryan was gigged!
Next town down Old TX 20 was Paige - and my right hand mirror was spinning like a top - so open up the handy Ural toolkit -
Once I’d gotten to the end of TX20 - and saw how close I was to Giddings I figured I should hit the Giddings City Meat Market - never had their BBQ - You can see the Lee County Courthouse there to the left.
So, since it was a quick ride out - I was't planning to eat - I figured I'd just get some brisket and sausage and tote it home to my wife - who complains when she misses a BBQ run.
But I had to have just a taste. Nice brisket - good smoke, nice flavor - COW! Excellent sausage - more german style - beef and pork salt and pepper - simple - well cooked. Snow’s BBQ in Lexington gets their sausage here,
Re-invogorated, I decided to ride around through Fedor, past Lexington, and ramble around some county roads back towards home. Trinity Lutheran Church and Cemetery in Fedor is a pretty little German country church and cemetery.
At the junction of CR473 and CR472 in Williamson County I saw this old cabin being restored.
It’s on the property of the Lawrence Chapel and Cemetery
It’s haying time around here - lots and lots of round bales of coastal bermuda hay drying in the fields - you drive by and you can smell that fresh hay smell. No one in this area really does square bales anymore - which is too bad for the kids who don’t get to go out and buck 80 pound bales onto an old IH truck that you have to stuff a rag into the air horn to get started and stack them in Mr. Lindig’s barn for a nickel a bale. Or have that old man come out at two o’ clock in the morning when you finally have the last bale stacked and you’re burnt down to just a little crispy fifteen year-old cinder and he hands you a couple of quarts of ice cold Lone Star beer.
Little Roads in a Big State - gotta love it
Go Ride!