Last Saturday I had the pleasure of digging my fingers into some fabulous Texas history. I’m coming down to the wire for my current manuscript (deadline is August 15 – Ack!) so I knew it was time to start thinking about my next project.
The final story in my Patchwork Family series is going to be a novella with a heroine who serves as a Harvey Girl in one of the early Harvey Houses of Texas – Gainesville.
Sherryl and Bonnie
As it happens, Gainesville is within easy driving distance from my hometown of Abilene–a little over 3 hours. So when I first decided to set my story there, I posted about it in my Facebook group, The Posse. As it turns out, one of my members lives right outside of Gainesville, and she offered to arrange a research day for me. Bonnie is my new hero! I really wanted to get into the Sante Fe Depot building (which is still standing) and see where my character would have worked and slept, but the depot museum wasn’t open on Saturdays, the only day I can travel with my day job. But Bonnie made it happen! She worked with the museum to arrange a private showing for me. Not only that, but one of the museum volunteers, Sherryl, went out of her way to provide me with all kinds of old newspaper clippings, original photographs, and all sorts of historic memorabilia for me to dig through to give me a feel for what the town was like at the turn of the century.
At the top of this post is a picture of the Morton Museum which is located in a historical building that used to house both the fire station (1st floor) and City Hall (2nd floor). Sadly, only the first floor remains, but they have turned it into a wonderful little museum! The highlight of the trip for me, though, was getting to walk through the actual Santa Fe Depot.
The Harvey Lunch Counter was drawn into the plans for the new brick Santa Fe Depot building constructed in 1901-02. In the picture below, you can see the plans for the north half of the depot building starting with the lunch room, then moving to the pantry, the kitchen, and the refrigerated storage.
Left – Building plans for the Harvey Lunch Room. Right – A sample Harvey House menu from 1888 that I uncovered in my museum research.
The Gainesville depot design was very unique, in that nearly every section of the long building had it’s own exterior doors. So, the staircase that led up to the living quarters for the Harvey Girls and manager was in the pantry, but it also came out right next to an exterior door.
Upstairs was this wonderful narrow hall with 7 rooms for the Harvey Girls with a two-room apartment at the end of the hall for the manager. Two of the rooms were set up with furnishings from the turn of the century time period. They had iron bedsteads, trunks, washstands, a shelf behind the door with hooks, and even a Harvey Girl uniform laid out on one of the beds. The rooms were small, sparse, and functional, but each girl had a window and her privacy for when she wasn’t working–which wasn’t often. The windows of the rooms we viewed overlooked the tracks, and while we were there A TRAIN CAME BY! I felt like a had just stepped back in time.
Downstairs in the lunch room area, there were displays from other historical events, but I want to draw your attention to the floor. Even today, you can still see the outline of where the Harvey House Lunch Counter stood. The large, horseshoe-shaped counter dominated the room.
For a gal who has gotten used to doing the majority of her research online, this trip was a feast for the soul. And sharing my time with two ladies who love history as much as I do, was a treat in and of itself.
- Are you interested in the Harvey Girls?
- What is a favorite historic site that you’ve visited?
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Wow, what a fantastic research opportunity, Karen!
I loved every minute of it. Walking the halls where the Harvey Girls stayed was my favorite part. I could feel the history in that building!
Loved this post and wish it had come last month.😬
We were in Flagstaff, Arizona and went to the train station there since it has been turned into a tourist information spot. There were several pieces of information about the Harvey girls. Now I wish I had looked deeper into the subject.
Looking forward to your novella.
How fun, Jen! I’m looking forward to writing this story. I’ve been interested in Harvey Girls ever since I saw Judy Garland in the music with that name as a teenager. This will be my first chance to really dive into the experience.
Research trips are so fun! Thanks for letting us tag along with you in this post. 🙂
I was such a tourist. I took 124 pictures (though some were of research documents). I decided not to post them all. You’re welcome. 🙂
Looking forward to your new book. Yes, I’m interested in the Harvey girls. I would like to read more about them but don’t know where to look. Any suggestions?
If you are looking for non-fiction, I have a couple of great research books that I am using. THE HARVEY GIRLS: WOMEN WHO OPENED THE WEST by Lesley Poling Kempes is the most in-depth book on the Harvey Girls themselves instead of biographies of Fred Harvey. HARVEY HOUSES OF TEXAS by Rosa Walston Latimer is a great little book that focuses specifically on Texas. I met Rosa at a speaking engagement in Post, TX a couple years ago, and her book is what sparked the idea of doing a Harvey Girls collection. I also recently acquired a book called APPETITE FOR AMERICA by Stephen Fried that focuses more on Fred Harvey and his civilization of the west. But there is a good chapter that digs more deeply into the Harvey Girls.
If you are looking for novels, a few that come to mind are Tracie Peterson’s The Westward Chronicles series, and I think Margaret Brownley’s Calico Spy had Harvey Girl elements in it as well.
Happy Reading!
oh what a wonderful time you had. i love to immerse myself in history like this. have to put this on my list of places i want to go. i love reading about the Harvey Girls. thanks for sharing
You’re welcome, Lori. It’s a great little museum. Very well preserved.
Will this novella be part of a multi-author, multi-story book or will it be published alone. I love the topic.
Hi, Sue. It will be a multi-author collection with me, Tracie Peterson, Jen Turano, and Regina Jennings. I’m super excited about it. I’ve been wanting to do a project with Jen and Tracie for quite some time, and I love working with Regina. Each story will be set at a different Harvey House in a different time period.
Thanks for sharing all about your trip! I loved all the pictures and everything you discovered…I adore history! 😁 I hope you were able to enjoy yourself as you researched. Can’t wait to see how you fit the history into your book!
Thank you, Rachel! I have to admit that this trip was one of my favorite research trips to date. I don’t get to travel too often for research to begin with, but being able to walk in the very same halls, rooms, and depot building that my characters will was a thrill!
Thank you, Bonnie and Cheryl! 😊. There are many wonderful historical places, and I don’t think I could pick just one. But I did take my small class of 3rd-4th graders to our local historical society and it turned out to be an amazing experience for me, and hopefully for my students. Those wonderful volunteers who are in it for the love of the story are amazing (as are any who might be fortunate enough to make a living at it!).
Hooray for volunteers! Absolutely. I made some side comment about seeing something about an opera house in my research of Gainesville, and Sherryl immediately dashed off to find me an historical photograph of the building. Her knowledge and helpfulness were such a blessing!
How fun! I love visiting historical sites and learning more about past eras. Thanks for sharing!
My pleasure, Winnie. 🙂
I’ve always been very interested in the Harvey Girls! This is awesome!
Me, too, Heather. Ever since I saw The Harvey Girls musical with Judy Garland when I was a teen. They had such a significant impact on settling the west and opening the world of employment of women.
I love history, but had never heard of the Harvey Girls until now. This sounds like a fascinating piece of history!Thanks for sharing!
You’re welcome, Becky. I love learning new tidbits!
Isn’t it so exciting to tread where your characters have trod? Sounds like a wonderful experience, and kudos to your friend for arranging it! For me, a highlight of a recent research trip was sitting on one of the wood pews at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, the “Mother Church of Country Music.” Another highlight was finding buildings at Vanderbilt University that also existed in the 1940s. Such fun to seek them them out with a 1942 campus map!
That sounds wonderful, Janice!
I loved reading your post. I have written a historical novel on the Harvey Girls, Romance Along the Rails, which is available on Amazon. The story takes place in the Topeka and Emporia, Kansas Harvey Houses in 1885. It is the first in a series. My WIP takes place in 1900.
Your survey trip sounds amazing.
How fun, Joyce! Thanks for sharing about your story. 🙂
Loved the walk back in time. This time period is sooo interesting. Love the history!