The Cooper Family -- Persimmon Gap Visitor Center, Big Bend NP TX
N 29° 39.603 W 103° 10.398
13R E 676793 N 3282512
A sign of history inside the Persimmon Gap Visitor Center at Big Bend National Park preserves the history of the Cooper Family, who ran several stores and schools in this area
Waymark Code: WMV069
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 01/31/2017
Views: 0
An exhibit inside the Persimmon Gap Visitor Center shows how folks lived in this remote area from the 1900s-1940s. Part of this exhibit is this sign, which preserves the history of the Cooper family as follows:
"THE COOPER FAMILY
Around 1929, William A. Cooper, his wife Erna and their five children arrived from the Del Rio area and established the Persimmon Gap Ranch. It didn’t take long for Mr. Cooper to see the need for a store at Persimmon Gap, which he built north of the present entrance station along with living quarters for his family and a separate building to house a one-room schoolhouse. Bill Cooper Jr was 10 years old when his family moved to Big Bend.
[photos]
These photos are from Bill Cooper Junior’s family life at Persimmon Gap from 1937 until 1945
[photo]
Wedding photo of Jimmie Hill Cooper. She married Bill Cooper Jr on April 17, 1937. Jimmie taught school at the San Vicente school on the Rio Grande from 1937-1940.
[photo]
Judy Cooper on her tricycle in front of “The Old Rock Store” located 8 miles from Persimmon Gap at the corner of the Harte Ranch Road.
[photo]
Charles and Judy Cooper with Bumblefoot” the chicken and kitten”Mary”
[photo of burro]
Judy writes, “This is where Dad (Bill Cooper Jr.) had his candelilla wax vats, where some of his hired hands gathered and melted the wax plants down and then Dad hauled it to San Angelo Texas and sold it to a company that made candles.” Notice Dog Canyon in the background.
[photo]
Judy Cooper, almost four years old, gazes up at the two deer that her father had killed for meat."
Group that erected the marker: National Park Service
URL of a web site with more information about the history mentioned on the sign: [Web Link]
Address of where the marker is located. Approximate if necessary:
Persimmon Gap Visitor Center
Big Bend National ParkTX
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