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A couple of months back, I covered the first half of 1985 – just 25 years ago. I don’t think I could call anything much more recent than that “history,” but this week I’m going to cover the second half of that year. (Actually, my January 6 column ended with a story from August 29, so I’m going to start this with The Llano News from September 5, 1985.) The top story that week told of Gordon Hefner’s nomination for the Ladybird Johnson Award.

The headline on January 1, 1970, read “1969 sees good economic growth.” Other front-page stories told how Theo Crenwelge had been elected president of the Llano Chamber of Commerce for 1970, how People’s Savings and Loan had paid its first dividend after less than one year in business, and how there were 352 entries in the Llano County Junior Livestock Show that year. There were at least five grocery stores in Llano that year.

O.K. McDonald was born January 31, 1880, in Coryell County. When he was 12 years old, his family moved to Tow Valley, near the west bank of the Colorado River, in Llano County. He started a journal in 1964, recording his memories for posterity. His daughter Ida Zula McDonald Faris, who edited the journal, had this disclaimer for readers: “This journal should be read with the knowledge that it is his memories when he was older, and has been published intact with no attempt to verify or ...

Advance reservations were not required and guests may have been less than eager, but the historic Red Top Jail in Llano, TX is probably the town’s oldest bed-and-breakfast accommodation. Mayor Mike Reagor often begins his guided tours of the jail with the B&B analogy. He is one of several local volunteers who have studied the history of the jail, help with on-going restoration efforts, and provide guided tours. The exterior of the building is Llano-quarried granite, with int ...

At the height of Llano’s “Iron Boom,” the Llano Improvement and Furnace Company financed the building of a magnificent hotel in the fields on the north side of the Llano River. It was named the Algona Hotel, for the hometown of two principal investors: F.R. “Frank” Malone, and his brother, George.

Since the library was closed New Year’s Eve, I got the bound volume of newspapers from 1985 out of the archives at the old office of The Llano News. Walter Buckner was the Editor/Publisher back then; a single copy of the paper cost “24 cents plus tax,” and a subscription cost $10.51 for customers in Llano County.

Abby Najar is one of those very special people whose passion not only paid the bills (rare enough in itself), but earned respect, affection and recognition from its beneficiaries. Abby’s passion was cooking, and even after 26 years of cooking as a job at restaurants including the Club Llano and the Fireside and Starlight in Buchanan Dam, she wasn’t ready to call it quits.

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 roa ...

Referring to the Work Day on the Castell Road the previous week, The Llano News announced on January 20, 1916, that “Calloused Hands (are) a Badge of Honor.” “There were many sore men in Llano last Friday night,” the story reported, and “some have not yet recovered.” About 100 men and high school boys spent the day working with picks and shovels to repair the rough dirt road. Editor Wilkes announced sadly that reporter Wallace Wever had resigned aft ...

After researching a year that I can actually remember (1963) last week, I decided this week to see what was happening in Llano back in 1916. World War I was raging in Europe, but the U.S. was not yet involved, and I saw no mention of the conflict in the first two January issues of The Llano News. Crime rates were relatively low in the U.S.