Published: July 18, 2008 05:33 pm         

3:10 to Cleburne

Stagecoach station coming to museum

A new stagecoach station, complete with porte-cochere and a bell tower, will soon join the historic Wardville Courthouse at the Chisholm Trail Outdoor Museum west of Lake Pat Cleburne on U.S. 67. Work on the structure, to be named the Johnson Stage Line Station, is under way and should be complete in about two months, said David Murdoch, president of the Johnson County Heritage Foundation. Heritage Foundation members operate the outdoor museum.

The members hope, depending on availibility of funds, to install a Spanish red-tile roof and a tin ceiling in the station.

The museum already has a stagecoach, said to have been used in a couple of John Wayne films, and a buckboard wagon. Plans call for transforming the buckboard into an authentic chuck wagon, Foundation member Billy Cate said. A bell, owned by Cate, will be installed in the tower soon, he said.

Devon Energy and Red Oak Water Transfer and a local Boy Scout donated supplies and labor to bring water to the museum.

“This was a coordinated effort by people who care about historic restoration,” Murdoch said. “Johnson County Commissioner R.C. McFall contacted [Construction Supervisor] Jay Ewing at Devon about our water situation. Ewing in turn got in touch with Alan Bennett [owner] of Red Oak Water Transfer, who donated the 1,300 feet of expensive two-inch water line.”

A Devon construction crew, lead by Construction Foreman Shane Cornelison, dug trenches and laid the line, Murdoch said. Reid Kelley of Boy Scout Troop 673 served as project coordinator.

“Kelley chose this as his required project [to earn his Eagle Scout badge],” Murdoch said. “His troop was on hand to work the completion phase of this worthwhile event.”

Ewing called the outdoor museum a worthwhile project and asset to the county.

“Now, for a little more money, we can arrange to put Devon Energy on a big stone sign, which everyone will be able to see from the highway,” Murdoch said jokingly.

The site presently holds a recreated historic cemetery, teepees and the Wardville Courthouse, which served as Johnson County’s original courthouse.

“You’ve all done an amazing job with this project,” said Cathy Marchel, Cleburne Chamber of Commerce president. “It’s brought a lot of people into our community.”

Carl Watson, Cleburne’s director of tourism, agreed.

“No question, this makes my job easier,” Watson said. “This is going to be one of our major tourist attractions. It already is.”

Future plans for the outdoor museum call for a church, school, jail, blacksmith shop, trading post and other attractions.

Work continues as donations, which are badly needed, become available, Cate and Murdoch said.

The museum will announce regular hours of operation once work completes on the stagecoach station, Murdoch said.

Those interested in volunteering half a day a week to work at the museum, or those wishing to donate, should call 817-648-1486.

     

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