This is an early 1900's view of the East side of the Mt. Pleasant city square during a celebration for the local fair.   The sign the men are holding toward the left side of the photo (visible in a digitally-enlarged copy of the original photo) says "Northeast Tex. Fair ... The Fair For You."   The first word at the top of the bass drum appears to be "Blodgett", followed by "Texas"; "Band" in the center; "Pittsburg" at the bottom.

Buildings (left to right) are as follows:  Lilenstern's (the white or light-colored building), Elizarus (can't read the rest of the sign), Riddle and Stephenson's (the tallest building), W.M. Parker & Company Grocery, and Seeman's Place.

We find two signs interesting.  First is the Riddle and Stephenson sign.  In addition to being a furniture store, Riddle and Stephenson was one of Mount Pleasant's early undertakers.  The left side of the sign reads "Furniture" over "Undertaking".  "Riddle & Stephenson" is in the center.  "Sewing Machines" over "Carpets and Rugs" is on the right.

Below "W.M. Parker & Company Grocery" are the words "The Pure Foods Ice Cream & Bottling Works."  Apparently they packaged food for distribution in addition to selling groceries.

The Lilenstern's and Elizarus buildings no longer exist.  The roof of the Elizarus building, which was occupied by Bullington Drugs at the time, collapsed when refuse blocked the roof drains during a heavy rain.  While demolishing that building, the Lilenstern building was damaged and had to be demolished also.  The space that they once occupied is now a parking lot.

This early 1900's view of Jefferson Street and the East side of the Mt. Pleasant city square shows the town turning out for a parade.  The first float, a horse-drawn wagon, contains an entire band.

Judging by wires hanging between poles in the foreground and the absence of motorized vehicles, we think this early view of Madison Street and the West side of the Mt. Pleasant Court House square was probably taken after 1902 and before 1920.

This a photo of the 200 Block of North Jefferson Street looking from the north toward the south was probably taken in the early 1900's.  The sign "First National Bank" is on their original building on the northeast corner of East Second and North Jefferson Street.

We posted this scene from a photograph over a year ago.  We receive new information weekly, and since posting this photo again with a current photo for the April 1, 2008 update, we came across a post card with the same photo.  Press-printed below the photo was, "Shipping Peanuts, 640 bushels, October 23, 1907.   Mt. Pleasant, Texas."

Hand-written across the end of the card was "This seems to be a good farming country, but has been very dry for two or three years in this section and crops short in consequence.  Be glad to hear from you.

R. B. Foss"

This photo of the 200 Block of North Jefferson Street was taken April 12, 2007 from the second floor window of Carr Denman's Ellis-Kelley building.  The camera angle is close to the original, but the original photo was probably taken from on top of the building's original flat awning along Jefferson Street, which isn't possible today.

This is view of South Jefferson Street at Cross Street looking north toward downtown Mt. Pleasant.  Two residences sat on the corner of West Cross and South Jefferson where Autozone is now located.  Residences were located down the right side (in this photo) of South Jefferson from East Cross Street to the South Side Church of Christ.  That land is now occupied by Jiffy Lube, Taco Bell, Tobacco Plus, and Bluebonnet Internet.

This original photograph is a non-standard size, measuring 8" high x 24" long.  It was apparently taken with a panoramic camera which depending on model can either have several lenses or by a single lens that rotates to create one long picture on a single piece of film.

The writing at the below the photo is hard to read in this copy, says "North and East Sides of Courthouse Square, Mt. Pleasant, TX - 1906 - A candidate speaking".  There is no mention of the day of the week that this photo was taken or which candidate was speaking, therefore we don't know if the candidate was very popular and drew a very large crowd or if the photo was taken on Saturday when everyone came to town (or both).

A careful examination of the photo shows that the Mt. Pleasant business district, and possibly some other parts of town, had electricity and telephones in 1906.  (Electricity was here at least by 1901 and telephones in 1902).  If you look carefully between the gazebo and the row of buildings to the left of it, you can see a power pole with a transformer mounted on it.  Harder to see in this reduced version, but visible when you enlarge the original, other poles are visible on both sides of the gazebo.  The photo shows that Mt. Pleasant, or at least parts of it, also had telephones as there is another series of lines strung below the cross-arms that carry the power lines.  For safety reasons, telephone lines are always attached to shared poles several feet lower than power lines, with the uninsulated power lines being attached to the cross-arms and the telephone lines attached directly to the pole.

This photograph shows the east side of the Courthouse square in approximately 1949.  Buildings from left to right are Harkrider's Department Store (dark building partially out of photo), Bullington Drug, Pirkey Tires, Unknown, O.M. Fuquay Ready to Wear, Henry Mason Hardware, Webb's Grocery and Market, Milstead's Men's Shop, Cafe, Scarborough's Grocery (street level) with Temple Lodge 70 AF&AM upstairs in the white two-story building partially out of photo.

This early Mt. Pleasant street scene is thought to be North Jefferson Street.  There is nothing in the photo that can be used to date it or to know where it was taken.

This photo was taken in approximately 1914-1915 at the intersection of West First Street at Madison looking north.  The columns and Greek architecture of the Merchants and Planters Bank bulding is visible on the northwest corner of the square toward the left side of this photo.

This photo from the same location was taken in April, 2007.  Due to a difference in the strength of the respective camera lens, the Titus County Court House does not show in this photo.  The columns and awning were removed from the Merchants and Planters Bank building during one of several remodels before the 1950s.

This early photo shows the west side of the court house square as it appeared in May, 1888.  The buildings shown no longer exist and have been replaced by others.  We do not know what happened to them, but suspect that they burned.

Signs that we can read, left to right:

Two story building at left of photo:

Sign over first door [unreadable name] over "Drug Store"

A small sign over the right side of the awning of the same building reads "[unreadable name] Hotel", but the sign is barely visible in this photo unless it is greatly enlarged.

Large letters over second building: "Morris and Son"

Sign over 1st door on left of "Morris and Son" building:  "Sidney Suggs"

Sign below the word "Morris":  Hutchinsons Drug Store

G.M. Rutledge  Watches, Clocks, & Jewelry

W.M. Rutledge Watchmaker

Watches, Clocks, and Jewelry

An ox is harnessed to the wagon in the street.  Notice that a picket fence (foreground of photo) surrounds the court house.  The picket fence was later replaced by a solid wall.  When the photo is enlarged, you can see that wooden steps lead up from the street and down into the court house square through the fence.

This photo of the east side of the town square taken in approximately 1915 shows a mix of horse-drawn wagons and Ford Model Ts as the motorized age was beginning to take hold.  Notice that the streets are still dirt.

This photo of the south side of the town square taken in approximately 1917 still shows a mixture of Ford Model Ts and horse-drawn wagons.  While we can't read the license plates on the vehicles, their shape is that of state-issued plates used in the  period of 1917-1922.  Notice that the streets are still dirt and there is a solid wall around the court house (left side of photo).

The first floor of the Caldwell-Carr (aka Masonic Lodge or Jo's Antiques) building is occupied by a business belonging to Jim Brown.  Unfortunately the sign is at too great a distance to read even when the photo is enlarged and enhanced, so we don't know what Jim sold.

This photo was taken from about the same location in December, 2007.

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