The Last
our opinion: COLUMN
BY MARK BROWN
Word
Things Are Not The Way They Used To Be
JANUARY 2016
PA R K E R C O U N T Y T O D AY
I
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was driving in Weatherford the other day and got stuck in
traffic. I couldn’t help but think back a few years to a time
when I never got stuck in traffic in Weatherford.
I don’t know if it’s just me or if you have noticed it too
— the traffic here has increased exponentially.
That started me thinking of how other things in
Weatherford have changed.
When we first moved here in 1986, if we wanted to go
out to eat after about 6 p.m., Petro/Iron Skillet was really
the only place to go. Not that way now. We’re too cool for
school now, new high school, bypasses, widened access
roads, South Main finally a little wider, getting a Movie
Tavern (which I fervently hope will have Raisinettes) now.
I remember going to the movies when we moved to
Weatherford, and the movie theater was on the square, and
there was a weird ramp you had to climb to go up to one
of the screens. It was a cool experience.
I remember driving a lot between Fort Worth,
Weatherford and Mineral Wells, because my father had a
business in both Weatherford and Mineral Wells, and there
was a Chevy dealer on the west side of Weatherford called
Ferrel Chevrolet, and that became Jerry’s Chevrolet, and
that was where we bought our first pickup for our business.
So, speaking of change, I have had an ongoing discussion with a friend of mine named Pete. Every time Pete
and I get together we talk about what used to be in
Weatherford, in Fort Worth. We sort of reminisce.
I thought I would mention a few of the places we talk
about, maybe some of you might remember along with us.
Camp Bowie —
There was a large hotel on the south side of Camp
Bowie called the Western Hills Inn, a huge place with a
large, cool swimming pool.
If you’re familiar with El Fenix on Camp Bowie, that
building used to be a Howard Johnson Restaurant.
The spot where the Camp Bowie Bennigan’s was, until
recently, which is now some kind of buffet, was originally a
Kip’s Big Boy, a hamburger restaurant that had great chocolate malts.
La Madeline on Camp Bowie was originally a great
drug store called Ridglea Drugs, with a soda fountain, and
great malts and burgers.
As I remember growing up in Fort Worth there were
five great theaters with balconies, and at least four drive-in
movie theatres.
On the west side there was the Ridglea, and a little
farther down w 2F