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History of the Frisco Emblem

Few employees of the Frisco Railroad are acquainted with the history of the Frisco emblem or insignia which appears on timetables, advertising material, annual reports, calendars, etc., and is used by Employee Clubs on the railroad in making up their yearbooks.

Several years ago a pageant was given at Springfield, Mo., which told the history of that city on Frisco Lines, and after much research the story of how the Frisco emblem came into being, was uncovered. The story is authentic, and was compiled by Miss Eula Mae Stratton, employed in the Springfield General Office.

Before the turn of the century, so the old timers say, Mr. G.M. Nettleton, then Vice-President of the railroad (which was then known as the old KCM&B) was making an inspection tour of the system. The train pulled into the station of Neosho, Mo., (some old timers say it was Carthage, but most historians say it was Neosho), with the private car stopping in view of the west end of the depot building on which was tacked a coon hide to dry.

When Mr. Nettleton saw the coon hide, he immediately summoned the agent (Sam Albright, so the story goes)... to the business car.

"What's this thing tacked onto the depot?" roared the Vice-President... "and just why are we using company property for tanning hides?"

We are told that Sam, not a soft-spoken man anyway, and a very busy railroader, told the Vice-President that it was hard to support a family on the $1.25 per ten hour day railroading, and that he was catching, tanning and selling coon hides to supplement his salary.

"Don't you know railroading comes first?" said the Vice-President, and then to Sam's surprise the Vice-President grinned and said... "Well, having a hobby is OK. How much will you take for that coon skin?"

The story goes that Sam was so started that he blurted out... "Two bucks."

And the deal was closed, leaving Sam in wonderment as to what on earth the official wanted with the pelt.

But it was not long afterward until an ink outline of the tightly stretched coon hide began to appear on Frisco drawing boards in the General Office Drafting Room in St. Louis, but instead of hanging up-and-down, the hide was turned horizontally.

Since the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway is made up of a number of smaller roads, some of which were – the old Southwest Branch, the Pacific Railroad, the KCM&B and others, with General Offices in St. Louis (and at one time before the Civil War the Frisco and Santa Fe operated jointly into San Francisco, Calif) it was only logical to combine the "F R" from Francisco, the "I S" from the latter part of St. Louis, and the "C O" for Company, which produced...

FRISCO

Jewett Area History

Settled in 1825 by Judge Jewett, for whom the town was named, Jewett grew into a successful farming community. In 1877, J. H. Leavell erected the first business structure made of stone from a large rock concentration East of the town. The building still stands on the main street.

Jewett has the distinction of being the first town in the United States to elect a woman mayor. She was Mrs. J. T. (Hattie) Adkisson.

Years ago, a Judge Brown assigned a strip of ground between the railroad and the town, called it "The Reservation" and set it aside for the mutual use of the railroad and the town. A city park and baseball grounds once occupied part of it.

Located in Leon County, Jewett is surrounded by excellent farm lands which produce cotton, corn, oats and diversified truck crops. The town had cotton gins and was a trade center for the area.

Jewett also belongs to the Texas Heritage Trails Program. The Texas Brazos Trail is an eighteen-county area of Central Texas which roughly stretches from Waco to College Station to Georgetown.   This area of Texas is rich in the early history of the state. Early explorers found the waters of the Brazos River to be the lifeblood of their quest, establishing numerous colonies that thrived and became the cities we now know. Some of the most beautiful architecture in the state is preserved in these cities in the old homes and historic downtown areas. To learn more, feel free to visit their website by clicking here.

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