Groom Texas - Life After the Jericho Gap

TEXAS LEGENDS

Groom - Life After the Jericho Gap

Another railroad town of the Texas Panhandle, Groom was laid out in 1902 and named for B.B. Groom, the first general manager of the nearby Francklyn Ranch. A general store and post office was established in the same year, a mercantile store in 1903, and by 1906 the town boasted a barbershop, a bank, a hotel, a lumberyard, a school, and several more new businesses.

When the town was incorporated in 1911 it had more than 250 residents. While benefiting from the oil boom of the twenties and the traffic along Route 66, it never grew beyond much more than 800 people.

Closed Gas Station at Groom, Texas

Closed Gas Station in Groom, Texas, May, 2004,

Kathy Weiser

The old service stations, as well as the local farmers and ranchers, once did a big business pulling stranded cars out of the infamous Jericho Gap, a stretch of muddy road to the east of Groom. And those travelers not stranded, breathed a deep sigh of relief as they entered the small town without having fallen prey to the treacherous piece of road.

If you missed the leaning tower on your way into Groom westbound, it’s worth a turnaround for a peek. Next to the leaning water tower was once the busy Britten Truck Stop, garage and restaurant. Though the business is long gone, the vestige remains of the tall sign still stand next to the tower.

Many people have often wondered how this water tower came to stand this way, some thinking that one leg of the tower is shorter than the others. Not true, nor was the tower swept to one side by a raging Texas tornado. Quite simply, it was planned that way, making for a good gimmick and lots of traffic at the Tower Restaurant when travelers stopped to inquire.

On the west end of Groom at I-40 and F.M. 295 is the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ Ministries. Built by a man in Pampa who was disgusted with the huge billboards advertising pornography along I-40 to Amarillo, the cross is the largest in the Western Hemisphere at 190 feet and can be seen from a distance of twenty miles on a clear day.

Today, this sleepy little village of Groom is home to only about 500 people.

Cross at Groom, Texas, September, 2007, Kathy Weiser.

his image available for photographic prints

and downloads HERE!

A few more miles down the road you'll enter a ghostly little town called Conway, with less than fifty residents. The last stop on the Mother Road before Amarillo, Conway saw its heyday with the travelers along the route. Once bypassed, however, there was little left to offer, but its memories. It's worth a quick stop to check out the "Bug Ranch," a spoof on the more popular Cadillac Ranch on down the road, as well as stopping in at the Longhorn Trading Post piled high with Texas souvenirs and even a few live rattlesnakes!

Keep travelin' on down the road to Amarillo.

Kathy Weiser/Legends of America, © August, 2007

Bug Ranch in Conway, Texas, November, 2005, Kathy Weiser.

This image available for photographic prints and

downloads HERE!

Long Horn Trading Post in Conway, Texas

Longhorn Trading Post in Conway, Texas,

May, 2004, Kathy Weiser

Conway, Texas Motor Court

Conway Old Motor Court, May, 2004, Kathy Weiser

Conway, Texas Old Station

Old Station in Conway, Texas, May, 2004, Kathy Weiser

SITES AND ATTRACTIONS

Britten Leaning Water Tower - Just east of Groom.

Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ Ministries - Standing tall above the flat prairie is a cross 190 feet tall which can be seen for almost 20 miles. The arms of the cross are 110 ft. wide. The structure weighs 2-1/2 million pounds (including foundation). At the intersection if I-40 and F.M. 295 just west of Groom.

WHERE TO STAY

Chalet Inn - I 40 Exit 113 E, Groom, Texas 79039, (806-248-7524)

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