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For at least the first quarter-century after the railroad first arrived in 1892, trains were the dominant force in Llano’s economy. The freight and passenger depots northeast of the bridge were the hub of the town’s business activity, and commercial buildings crowded the area around the track. But cars and trucks and roads were the wave of the future, and much of the news in 1916 was focused on the advance of the automobile.

Almost every week there was some story about road-building and/or car sales. Up until that time, cars were used mostly for local travel, but in 1916, there was a race on to build roads between towns, and the April 27 issue of The Llano News contained a front-page article claiming that Llano was “in the lead” in a contest with Brady for Mason’s business because of the good road from Llano to Mason. Mason did not have a railroad; the railroad had reached Brady from the north in 1903, but even though Brady was bigger and closer to Mason, there were no good roads between the two towns. In the paper on June 3, an article told how a convoy of 32 cars carrying 150 people from Mason had made the three-hour trip to Llano for a celebration on the square.

Most of the news from Mason was not so good; a March 3 story told how Mason stockman F.W. Jenkins had been shot from an ambush about ten miles west of town. The first shot smashed the windshield of his car, and the next two hit him in the back. He was expected to recover. And on June 29, there was a story about a duel in Mason where Will Kettner had been killed by Jim Turman. Kettner had been armed with a 45-caliber single-action revolver, and had wounded Turman (who was armed with a .38 Special) several times before he died. When Turman recovered, he was brought to Llano for trial.

Back in Llano, Judge M.D. Slator made the news by buying a Buick from T.S. Parker, who also sold Monroe and Grant cars in 1916. Mr. Parker also made news by setting a new record for travel to Dallas; it took him only 12 hours in April of 1916.

During a two-week period in June of 1916, Watkins Motors sold 17 Fords! Buttery Hardware sold two Studebakers; the article didn’t say which models were chosen, but Buttery advertised a 4-cylinder sedan with “Room for Seven” for $875. The 6-cylinder sedan cost $1,085, and a 50-horsepower Roadster cost $1,060 (the ad said, “And there’s COMFORT for THREE Full-Grown People”). Interestingly enough, Rockwell Lumber advertised “plans, lumber and millwork” to build a five-room bungalow for just $776.

That ad was very timely; several stories that spring and summer mentioned a shortage of housing for the growing population in Llano. A somewhat-related story on the crowds at Llano’s Trade Days said, “Is this Llano, or is it New York?” The school board ordered a bond election in May of 1916 “to relieve the congested condition of our school.” (But it would be nine years before the addition would be built for the O. Henry school, where all Llano’s children were educated then.) In a remarkable discussion (by today’s standards), the board also pondered the best way to “impart a proper knowledge of the Bible.”

The advent of cars had some unfortunate side-effects. Raymond Rogers suffered “several bruises and a broken rib” when he was run over by a car, and John Stotts was quite severely injured by an explosion while working (with dynamite) on a road near Honey Creek. The county was debating a $50,000 bond issue for “good roads throughout the county.”

There was plenty of other news. Matt Smith, of Cherokee, reached into a hole to retrieve an armadillo that his dog had been chasing. He was bitten by a large rattlesnake (8 rattles), and died 24 hours later. The communities of Valley spring and Lone Grove held large picnics. The Baptist Church on the north side of Llano held a revival. Herbert and Louis Dodd were convicted of bank robbery and murder in Marble Falls – the crime for which Willis Newton and O.C. Wells had first been arrested. A group of local merchants banded together to make 6 p.m. their official closing time. They were: Allan Newsom, A.C. Chism, Acme Dry Goods, M.Lauterstein, Gray’s, Buttery Hardware Co., Johnson & Byfield, S.H. Watkins, D.L. Carl, Moss & co., L. Fichtenbaum, Miles Buttery, Geo. M. Watkins, Atkins-Qualls Hardware, Lange & Co., Llano Furniture co., H.E. Hedeman, Jno. A. Chism, Frank Kothmann, Llano Feed Co. Martin-Jacobs, Mrs. E.W. Heard, Mrs. Grady Faubion, The Popular, McMurray Lumber Co., and Rockwell Bros. & Co.

Pancho Villa’s escapades continued to make headlines, and President Woodrow Wilson demanded a “show of good faith” from the Mexican government after repeated raids across the border. Two months later, a headline announced, “Villa cuts ears off Carranza soldiers.” Wilson was re-elected later that year, Emperor Francis Joseph of Austria died at age 86, and the German army made news by capturing the city of “Cravoca, Roumania” in November.

In the meantime, Llano had been “Working Hard for National Highway” (according to one headline), and was expecting that the “Great Puget Sound-to-Gulf Highway” was “very likely to pass through the county.” An editorial opined that “Llano as a town is growing faster than any other trading point in Central Texas.” A delegation from Llano attended the San Saba County Fair in a procession of 75 cars. W. J. Rogers opened a new bar “on the North side, in the building belonging to Judge Louis H. Bruhl, and at one time occupied by the wholesale house of the Goodman Liquor Co.” The new bar was “directly north of the H. & T.C. freight depot,” and was called “H. & T.C. Bar.”

That fall, the school board decided that the $6,000 bond approved earlier by voters would not be sufficient to build a new school, and scheduled another bond election. The city passed a $20,000 bond for streets, and began to draw up plans for a sewage disposal plant. A hospital was planned for “the old Llano house.” O.G. Porter sold his interest in Corner Drug to Ira Daniel and Ray Franks, and, just before Christmas, I.W. “Bill” Williams was shot at the Crystal Bar, apparently by Joe Bozarth. That was 1916.