Sweet Chariots - Eastland County Safety Rest Area - Ranger, TX
N 32° 29.462 W 098° 33.042
14S E 542211 N 3594954
The Eastland County Safety Rest Area on westbound I-20 has a sign to provide some history of two of the area's most popular automobiles, the Franklin Touring Car and the Ford Model-T.
Waymark Code: WM12C6Q
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 04/25/2020
Views: 1
They're called "Safety Rest Areas" because there are storm shelters to be found, a change from the classical rest stops along the Interstates that are just facilities with picnic areas and vending machines. They are a good place for those on long drives to practice safe habits by taking breaks and taking in some local history, in the form of signs and exhibits for notable attractions in the area. When the two Ranger Safety Rest Areas (the other is just across the Interstate) were opened in 2016, the idea was to add some background for the old Bankhead Highway, once a major thoroughfare through the area, now absorbed primarily by I-20 and other roads, although some sections have been reclaimed by Mother Nature. A look at Google Maps from above will give the reader a nice view of a section of the Bankhead Highway that was just north of the parking lot. This sign stands in front of a restored Model-T, and it reads:
The automobiles that drove the old Bankhead Highway were mobile sculptures, extraordinary works of art. With their flowing curves, rakish lines and technical innovations, they were created by a generation of artist-mechanics the like the world would never see again. One of the most popular cars to set out on the Bankhead in those years was the Franklin Touring Car, among the most advanced automobiles of the time. Like most models of the era, this upscale motor car was essentially handmade and featured many innovations like the first six-cylinder engine and a light aluminum body. Paint colors and color schemes were based on English horse-drawn coach livery. Never before had cars been so colorful. Even Henry Ford said he would offer his cars in any color as long as it was black.
Ford was the first to build motor cars on an assembly line. Of his Model-T Ford he said: "I will build a car for the great multitudes. It will be large enough for a family, but small enough for the individual to run and care for it ... It will be priced so low that no man making a good salary will be unable to own one and enjoy with his family the blessings and hours of pleasure in God's great open spaces."
It is easy to fall in love with these beautiful machines. But not everyone does. Note J.D. Salinger. "I don't like old cars," he wrote, "I'd rather have a damn horse. A horse is at least human, for God's sake."
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Insets show photos of a 1928 Franklin and a Ford Model T, in black, of course.
Group that erected the marker: Eastland County
Address of where the marker is located. Approximate if necessary:
Eastland County Safety Rest Area
I-20
Ranger, TX USA
76470
URL of a web site with more information about the history mentioned on the sign: Not listed
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Visit Instructions:
Take a picture of the marker, preferably including yourself or your GPSr in the photo. A very detailed description of your visit may be substituted for a photo. In any case please provide a description of your visit. A description of only "Visited" or "Saw it while on vacation" by anyone other than the person creating the waymark may be deleted by the waymark owner or the category officers.