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I drove to Best, Texas the other day. Back in the twenties, this was quite a city. It faded away as some Boom towns do. In 1937, my boss at Piggly Wiggly in Wink told me to go to Best and look at a big building with intentions of moving it to Wink. As best I remember (this is not a pun) there were many building there but the town was practically deserted. He didn't buy the building. However, a man by the name of Branch bought the hotel building and moved it to Crane. An imposing structure, this was made into a very nice residence on 6th Street across from the football field. Mr. Branch was Mayor of Crane at the time. When he left, the John Clarks of Clark Brother Ranch, the K Bar, bought the house. When they moved, John and Mary Alexander bought it. After Johnny, as we called him, passed away, Mary moved to California and sold the house to the Tom Hogan, Jr. family. Tom and Joan said it was perfect for them and their children with five bedrooms upstairs. After being remodeled several times, it became a lovely home. By the way, Tom Hogan, Sr. stayed at this hotel in the twenties, when he was drilling in Texon. His family was in Stiles, another West Texas ghost town. |