Most people in the Mountain West are familiar with the tradition of putting the first letter of a town on the nearby side of the mountain. This might have been the early version of Googlemaps. The pony express could see which town was next before they actually arrived.
In addition to the towns posting their letter, schools started to do the same. The University of Utah has it's U on the mountain put there in 1905. Of course Brigham Young University had to follow suit. In 1906 they set out to put BYU on the mountain but after backbreaking work to get the Y finished, they postponed, then abandoned the project. Now high schools have gotten into the act with letters on the mountain. For a great website on this subject visit Mountain Monograms.
Texas (at least part of Texas) is different. While a few towns in west Texas can boast the letter on the hill (El Paso has at least two), the flat land of east Texas doesn't provide a vehicle for the monograms we love. What do you do in the flatlands? Why build a water tower of course. Not only do you have room for a letter, usually you can put your entire name on the tower. If you don't have your name on a water tower, then you're not an official town in Texas.
Towers make better canvases than mountains. On a water tower you can have graphics to add that extra touch. Perhaps my favorite tower however, is located in Raymondville TX.
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3 comments:
Very interesting! Post some photos of your new house!
Hey guys, just checking in. The other day Kaeden made me walk over to your old house to prove to him that you were gone. He said he heard Hank and wanted to see. We miss you guys. Are you enjoying it so far? I love that we are able to stay in touch this way. He made me replay Jaylen's cool soccer video almost 8 times. He thinks she is soooo cool!!!!
I agree with Lisa! While the commentary on water towers was quite interesting, I was really hoping to get the scoop on your latest purchase!
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