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"Big Doings in Ben Wheeler"
2008-2010 will be Banner
Years for Ben Wheeler...
There is a new civic pride and an atmosphere of progress in this
beautiful
community in the rolling hills along Hwy 64
between Canton and Tyler.
The non-profit Ben Wheeler Historical & Art Foundation is
looking for new tenants for the town while renovating the existing
buildings downtown, making the town reminiscent of the
1935 era when Ben Wheeler was a booming town with businesses, a
hotel, movie theater, gas stations, blacksmiths and much more. The
foundation and its founders Brooks and Rece Gremmels are doing
everything they can to make Ben Wheeler a place with an old fashioned
small town atmosphere where residents can visit downtown, sit and listen
to local musicians, and just enjoy the old time country life like it was
before World War II. If you have a business that would make
a great addition to that downtown project, contact the Ben Wheeler
Development Corporation.
A few facts
about Ben Wheeler...
Just in case you
wondered... Ben Wheeler was the first man to carry mail into
Van Zandt County. In the late 1800's and early 1900's families would
arrive in
horse-drawn wagons or horse, come to town and get their supplies plus sell
or trade their goods.* Farms and Ranches were the mainstay. That
changed
with World War II as it did all over the "rural areas" when people started
to leave the country to go to the big cities for work. It seems that is
a trend which is reversing with more and more people looking for that
small town experience and the clean air, friendly neighbors & the
American values seemingly lost in the big cities.
Ben Wheeler is a
Community at the crossroads of Hwy 64 Southeast of Canton and
FM 279. This a pretty area has an East Texas look with lots of trees and a roll to
the terrain. There is a Post Office in Ben Wheeler, a very nice Bank of Ben
Wheeler,
some businesses along the Hwy and lots of friendly folks. It is about 11 miles
SE of Canton, about 66 miles East of Dallas, and about 22 miles West of Tyler.
East of Ben Wheeler is the Historic Roseland Plantation
with a B&B, chapel, trails,
and more. See pictures on the Ben Wheeler picture page. Ben Wheeler
students go to the nearby Van Independent School District.
*Facts about Ben Wheeler were taken
from an article "The Resurrection of Ben Wheeler" by
Tom Geddie in The County Line Magazine,
a monthly East Texas magazine. It is a great source
of information about the happenings of the "Upper East Side of Texas".
Pick it
up at lots of locations throughout East Texas. It is free!
Click here to
see a Pictures taken
around Ben Wheeler
 Be sure and
see the pictures taken on the Old
Fashioned 4th of July in Ben Wheeler, sponsored
by the new Ben Wheeler Development Company
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