Commerce Street Tour     Locate on map
Standing at the corner of Main and Commerce and looking across at 
the tracks, it is impossible not to imagine the first train depot, 
which was located directly in front of where we stand, on the north 
side of Main Street. Here is where many of Ranger’s newest citizens 
arrived during the boom. 


It exists only in the imagination now. Across Main, however, the 
main red brick terminal built by the Texas and Pacific Railway and 
now a museum of local history looms before us. One wonders what it 
looked like as young men and women departed in the service of their 
country during the Second World War and others. Many trains passed 
through this station daily at one time.  It has been described as 
the largest station between Fort Worth and El Paso in its heyday. 
Perhaps not as obvious to the uninformed, one could go inside and 
find evidence of the separate waiting rooms, rest rooms, and 
drinking fountains for colored and white passengers that linger in 
the memories of older persons.  No longer standing is a similarly 
styled red brick freight building immediately south of the passenger 
terminal. The thought of railroads (five tracks) has caused us to 
wander a block south of Main.


Across from the depot on the corner of Pine and Commerce is the 
Social Science Laboratories, which made supplementary materials for 
schools. 

On the opposite corner is the 
commercial-looking, red brick
building that has housed the 
Second Baptist Church. Prior 
to the establishment of Second 
Baptist, another church named 
Calvary Baptist was at the same 
location. Before the Calvary was
the Central Baptist church. The
building was constructed as a
hotel during the boom days.

After the alley is Houghton’s Garage for car repair; then comes a 
service station, Frank Penn owned the Texaco Service Station for 
many years. He also had another location on the corner of Pine 
and Austin, next door to the Chevrolet dealership.  What was 
Penn’s may have had other owners besides Ronnie Guess, who now 
operates it. 


Let’s drive back down Main 
toward the railroad tracks. 
At Commerce glance down to 
the north to see the stone-
faced building that served 
as both a hotel on the second 
floor and the offices of the
Ranger Lumber & Supply Co. 
on the bottom. Ada Gordon once 
remodeled these hotel rooms to 
accommodate persons not wanting 
to live in a house but unable 
to afford the Gholson. The site 
now is home to a brand new restaurant named the Open Range.


The tour of downtown Ranger has ended.  You can tour old Highway 80
at this time or end the tour.   End Tour