BROADWAY HILL HOUSE

I feel certain all of you recognize this house, located on Broadway across from the Presbyterian Church. The second photo is of the old garage apartment on the property.

I've always been fascinated by this house, but every time I see it I remember a story from high school. I think it was in our Sophomore year that a 14-year old Freshman football player from Talpa moved into the garage apartment. His name was Wesley Stokes, and he was supposed to be the answer to the football team's prayers. It seems a local businessman -- and perhaps more than one, rented this garage apartment and moved Wesley from Talpa into his new home just in time for football season. I was very curious. How could a 14-year old boy take care of himself? Who would cook for him? I was told there had been an arrangement with the owner of the house that meals would be provided to him as part of the deal.

Gee! How lucky can you get? A private apartment with no parents overlooking your every move! Someone would cook for you and not expect you to wash the dishes afterwards. I was in awe, and did not understand how this came about. When I asked questions about it, I was told in hushed tones that this was not to be widely discussed.

Recently a friend of mine was reading a book many here in Ballinger have been discussing. Gene Keel (of Keel Drug) is written about in the book as a member of a Masonic orphanage football team. The book is titled, "Twelve Mighty Orphans" and is written by Jim Dent. The following excerpt peaked my interest, and reminded me of the time Wesley Stokes was recruited to play for the Bearcats:

“In some respects, Texas was still a raw and rowdy frontier in the 1930s, and the high school kids in shoulder pads and leather helmets furthered that tough image. Stadiums started filling up right after the end of the Big War. West Texans would soon go gaga over football…”

“In the Oil Belt, the roughnecks, speculators, wildcatters, and toolpushers had money to wager and an insatiable appetite for winning. Recruiters combed the countryside searching out the best football talent. So hungry were the little towns for a state championship that football fans went to any length to lure a top prospect into their school district. One of the most popular tricks was hiring away any father with talented football-playing sons. A roughneck making a couple of bucks a day in Mineral Wells would gladly take five bucks to pack up and move his family to Breckenridge. That is, if he brought along his sons…”

And sometimes, as was the case in Ballinger in the 1950s, they just moved the football-playing son!

Marilyn