Winters in Runnels County, Texas — The American South (West South Central)
Winters Brass Band
Focus of social life during Winters’ early years, the band played throughout the area for box suppers, old settlers reunions, and political campaigns. Charles Grant organized the group in 1901 (sever years after the town was incorporated) and conducted when it played for the coming of Winters’ first railroad in 1909. Grant served as bandmaster for fifteen years.
Sunday afternoon concerts were presented in the bandstand (then located in Tinkle Park), and members traveled in a bandwagon drawn by four white horses to play in small towns nearby. Favorite tunes were “The Anvil Chorus,” “Stars and Stripes Forever,” and “Poet and Peasant.” New uniforms, blue with gold stripes, cost $14 in 1905. After 1920, the retired members helped the city school organize a band by lending some of their instruments to the students.
About 200 brass bands once flourished in Texas, and music was a cultural activity in the state’s first colony in the 1820's. Many towns had started to build bandstands by 1850, using them for political rallies, church socials, fund-raising drives, as well as concerts.
Once the largest brass band west of Fort Worth, the Winters group and others like it contributed much to the cultural growth of Texas.
Erected 1967 by State Historical Survey Committee. (Marker Number 5870.)
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Arts, Letters, Music • Entertainment. A significant historical year for this entry is 1901.
Location. 31° 57.961′ N, 99° 57.755′ W. Marker is in Winters, Texas, in Runnels County. Marker is at the intersection of N. Main Street (U.S. 83) and E. College Street, on the right when traveling north on N. Main Street. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Winters TX 79567, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Robert Cooke, M.D. (about 500 feet away, measured in a direct line); Old Cotton Oil Mill (about 700 feet away); Winters FFA Chapter (approx. 0.2 miles away); Winters Korean Veterans Memorial (approx. 0.3 miles away); Blue Gap Post Office (approx. half a mile away); Winters (approx. half a mile away); Winters Public Library (approx. half a mile away); Winters State Bank (approx. 0.6 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Winters.
Also see . . . Brass Bands in Texas. An article from the Texas Monthly magazine. (Submitted on April 18, 2015.)
Credits. This page was last revised on November 28, 2020. It was originally submitted on April 18, 2015, by Duane Hall of Abilene, Texas. This page has been viewed 383 times since then and 5 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on April 18, 2015, by Duane Hall of Abilene, Texas.