History
The oil boom which propelled Texas into a new age, brought many changes to the old west. A little company named Sinclair built the "Honea Station" in 1903. It had a very early 7,000 square foot concrete pour that was stamped with the maker's mark. The steel girders framing the barn were shipped all the way from Pennsylvania and carry the Carnegie Steel Company mark. It has withstood several hurricanes and many tornadoes over it's 104 years and now it's home to our Fire and Ice Hall.
When we first arrived at the ranch, we were stunned to find almost 20 metal, tapered "cans" that we believed were molds used for making ice. Since we make our living as ice carvers it was an almost unbelievable connection. We weren't absolutely certain that they actually were ice cans until 12 years later when an older couple pulled up into our driveway to visit and Joy began to tell us the story about her life here and about the old compression station. She was born here on the property in the early 1900's in one of several homes located on the east side of the property. These homes were used by the superintendent
( her father ) and visitors from around the world who came here see this pipeline technology showcase. Parts of the giant diesel pumps were painted different colors to allow a better showcase for these visitors and the cement floor was polished and said to have shined....
Joy told about the many families that worked here and all the men that rode here on horseback to work in the plant...moving the oil and the occassional pig ( a small chamber which carried messages or small cargo ) on down the line to the young refineries that were processing fuel for the early days of the industrial age and the cars that were beginning to populate the cities. It was her specific job , as a little 8 year old girl, to pull the the ice from the ice making system that they had!! She sent us several pictures of the old station...with very few trees, but there were our majestic old pecan trees...as mere sapplings. It has changed very little over the years. We have tried to maintain it's integrity outside ( which explains why many people mistake it for an old industrial building ), but the inside has been turned into a warm, inviting, almost magical event facility.
There is a huge old water cistern on the property...just behind the little red " schoolhouse " ( it was actually the office for the station, but was built by a schoolhouse builder! ). If you see the cistern, you will be immediately reminded of " Petticoat Junction" if you're seasoned enough to remember that television show. It's 20 feet tall and 30 feet across and it's only ever held water. Over the years we've heard dozens of stories about how everyone would come here to swim in the cistern, but Joy gave us more details. The huge roof system on the station was connected by downspouts to an underground system that sent rainwater to our little pond. The water was then pumped up into the cistern and the height of the tank created enough pressure to power over 20 water " cannons " that were positioned around the old compression station just in case a forest fire should ever head this way. It was pretty advanced technology for it's day.
She told us the station had a " pulse " ( which we,ve heard many times over from neighbors since then ) that sounded like a heartbeat for miles around. It created electricity for 28 families who lived near the station and worked here every day. The workers... who were unionized ( we've found some of there old union pins ), earned .20 cents an hour and the foreman earned .35 cents an hour. There was an old slant drilled water well
( another very early example of technology that's common today )
that provided water for all of those same families. To this day, we still get water from an artesian spring here on the property.
We purchased the Silver Star Ranch in 1984 and went to work.
It had only ever been an industrial property and it had all but been abandoned and the land was in terrible condition. It was so overgrown that we didn't even find the retaining pond ( which is only about 100 yards from the house ) for almost a year!! We restored the water systems and lifted the little schoolhouse back up onto it's pilings... replaced over 250 broken windows and repaired concrete in the barn that was lost when the old equipment was blown out with nitro-glycerin!! As part of our purchase agreement with the former owner, we harvested some of the trees on the property. The first logging truck that left here only held 5 huge trees!! We were able to save the oldest, most beautiful trees, but we counted 175 rings on one of the huge old stumps left in the woods. We still have several very old growth bald cypress trees... which are all but extinct ( at their age ) in this entire area.
We hope you'll come visit the ranch and take a look around! You'll find two of the old ice cans hanging from the old 8-ton crane in the barn ( which still works ) and two old oil drilling bits that we found up in the front window.... lots of antiques and family memorabilia hanging on the walls. We were told that just before we purchased the property, over 55 Model A's and
Model T's were pulled out of the woods. We have found countless headlamps and assorted parts... the one thing we haven't found yet though is the old underground ice house that we have been told is here somewhere!! If you know where it is...
call us!!!
We have added lots of quilts and saddles, cowhides and an old player piano... thousands of twinkling lights and even a mirrored ball over the dance floor, but we think the old Honea Station is enjoying the atmosphere and she's generating happiness and some amazing memories these days.
