History on the Line: Recent Episodes
Tony McCullough
As part of the Mexican-American War in the 1800's two crates of gold were intended to be paid to the Native Americans for an alliance with Mexico. The gold was hidden in an East Texas river never to be found again.
Caddo Lake is a 25,400-acre lake and bayou in East Texas straddling the border between Texas and Louisiana. It’s located in northern Harrison County and southern Marion County, Texas, and western Caddo Parish in Louisiana. Caddo Lake was the home for Native Americans for thousands of years. Today the lake is a popular attraction for camping, fishing and sightseeing, with its numerous slews and water accentuated by alligators and the Spanish moss whispering from the natural Cypress trees. The lake saw commercial development with the introduction of the steamboats to the area in the 1800s.
This episode will take a closer look at the natural beauty of Caddo Lake and even a not-so-repeated story of an early 20th century pearl industry.
The Music City Texas Theater is located in Linden, Texas (home of Don Henley). Richard Bowden, John Early and the rest of the impressive Board of Directors for the non-profit organization bring incredible musical acts of all genres to perform in East Texas in the remarkably renovated 1950's-built brick building. This podcasts gives some of the history behind the making of the venue, and some of the founders involved in the project.
The GM Record Company & Sound Studio in Gladewater, Texas, was frequented by Elvis, Johnny Cash and decades of singers and bands through the decades. "The East Texas hangout for Elvis, and the place where Johnny Cash worked on writing his first #1 song which became one of the biggest hits of his career, I Walk the Line”.
This is the story of the man and his work in the little building in Gladewater - ELVIS, JOHNNY AND GEROME : THE GM RECORD AND SOUND STUDIO.
The Reo Palm Isle Ballroom is a landmark, not only for East Texas, but for the State of Texas as well. Over the years is was the destination for not only millions of country music fans, but a legendary venue talked about and played by performers and bands nationally. Opening its doors in the 1930s and continuing to provide entertainment through the end of the century, the Reo brought such acts as The Dorsey Brothers, Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Randy Travis, George Strait, Garth Brooks and Willie Nelson to play on the small stage in front of the 2000 square foot dance floor. Follow the history of the Reo Palm Isle Ballroom in this podcast.
Mattie's Ballroom was known not only across America, but was also a top destination of visitors from other countries. The Dorsey Brothers and many other orchestras popular in the 1930's played the little ballroom just outside of Kilgore, Texas during the oil boom and it was visited by many celebrities of the day, including a young actor named Ronald Reagan. This is the story of the owner of that ballroom, Mattie Castlebury. Mattie was a lady that stood for women's rights and suffrage before most knew there was such a cause. This is her story, and the tale of how she made two night clubs world famous while bringing the best in entertainment to Texas.