 omewhere between Poteet and
Floresville we pulled over to read the historical marker thinking it might have something
to do with the Fairview Church of Christ just across the street. Not so. It
told of Fairview, a hard luck community long since gone. Just when things started
looking up, back before the Depression, their luck ran out. And when that was over
things got worse. And, since worser than worse was insufficient, Fate dealt them
another blow. 
According to the marker Fairview was once busy
growing. Replete with homes, churches, doctors' offices, a blacksmith shop, cotton
gin, public school, Masonic lodge, and telephone exchange.
Their economy was dependent on two things, cotton and
lawmen. Seems the boll weevil wiped out the cotton part and the lawmen, all twenty
seven of them, must'a wore out their mortal form and headed for The Promised Land. (I
reckon they arrived before 4p.m.)
Fairview's most famous resident was Texas Ranger
Frank Hamer (1884-1955), one of the men who hunted down Bonnie and Clyde.
Seems those outlaws did Hamer and Fairview a big favor by turning to a life of crime and
assuring Hamer, Fairview and most of Texas a small place in history and legend. I've been
saying all along Bonnie and Clyde have done more to assist the bragging rights of
small communities in Texas than all the Alamo heroes put together.
Just up the road once stood the Fairview Methodist
Church made of rock until the 1886 when a tropical storm wiped it out. Not willing
to be put off by the unfortunate turn of events the residents built a woodframe church in
its place. (Didn't these folks read "The Tree Little Pigs"?) You guessed
it. Mother Nature took her best lick and disappeared that church in 1942. Fact
is, the only original structures left in Fairview are gravestones.
In 1943, not willing to be put off (or taking a hint)
by their history of misfortune the congregation built a third woodframe church. ( If
you'll allow me to be truly facetious, I can't understand why they didn't use straw this
time.) This structure, shown in a photo at the top of the page, is a replacement not a
replica. Obviously the church is still standing but the congregation, in their
infinite wisdom, lit out for Floresville in 1995. (I trust they didn't leave Mother
Nature a forwarding address.)
Vaya con dios...
PAGE
1: HEADIN' OUT / PAGE 2: DEVINE
PAGE 3: BIGFOOT & PEARSALL / PAGE
4: POTEET AND FLORESVILLE
POSTSCRIPT: FAIRVIEW / THE MAP
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