Jimmie
Rogers – Part 2
The
Father of Country Music, and Kerrville, Texas
For
many years I've been curious about exactly where Jimmie Rogers lived
in Kerrville Texas.
I
first experienced Kerrville when I nearly bought a wonderful old
1920's stone house there yeas ago. It was on a hilltop and even had
ramparts. Built with that famous white Texas limestone, it had
beautiful stone work, and was almost a castle by any definition. It
had the most amazing 360 degree view of the famed hill country. I
made quite a few trips there at that time for the due diligence, and
fell in love with the place, and Kerrville ... but I digress. Part of
the Kerrville allure was a tidbit of a history mystery I had picked
up years before.
The
famous “Yodeling Brakeman” Jimmie Rogers* had lived in Texas for
a time, and I subsequently learned it was in Kerrville.
I
knew of Kerrville originally in the 1970's because of the famous
music festivals. This was long before the internet of course, so back
then it was hard to find information without doing a lot of serious
gumshoe detective work, and on site research. I never had the time to
pursue it, although my brief house hunting venture rekindled my
curiosity. I never really found out much more about his time in Texas
until just recently.
Fast
forward 30 years …
Now
that we have the internet, all that mystery disappeared magically and
effortlessly the other night when, on a whim, I casually asked a
search engine – “Where did Jimmie Rogers live in Texas ?”.
In moments the answer populated my screen, and answered a question
I've been puzzling on since the 1970's !
First,
let me comment that I am always gobsmacked and amazed at the arcane
information that resides literally at finger tip command these days
within a simple hand held device! It's an amazing new world ! Star
Trek realized .. a communicator multi-tool ! It's so easy. Whenever I
have a question, just a few keystrokes into my mobile phone can
retrieve the most astounding information instantly. It's a brave new
whirl ?! Check the footnotes to see what else turned up.
Huge
thanks for my answer goes to Hillbilly Hideaways, and their great
site – featuring homes of the great country music stars ! ***
The answer was simply –
617 West Main Street, Kerrville – “The Blue Yodelers Paradise”
as he named it, and it's still there !
Jimmie
Rodgers Home ~ 1928-1932 "The Blue Yodelers Paradise"
***
617 W. Main Street, Kerrville,Texas
- The Singing Brakeman shared this 2,601 sq. ft. home with his wife and daughter until shortly before his death in 1933, when they relocated to Montrose Ave in San Antonio.
- After the stock-market crash, Rodgers was ailing financially as well as physically, and had to sell the house in 1933 just before his death. “Mrs. Jimmie Rodgers and her daughter Anita Rodgers Court have sold their fabulous Kerrville mansion, “Blue Yodelers’ Paradise”, purchased during her husband’s glory days as a nationally famous Victor recording artist, and moved to a smaller house in San Antoine.”(sic) LaFourche Gazette
- On May 26, 1933, he died of tuberculosis in his room at the Taft Hotel in NYC, while there for Victor recording sessions.
"The
Blue Yodelers Paradise" 2015 ***
Alas,
this lovely brick house was not the limestone castle I had nearly
purchased years ago. Still, Kerrville remains a
favorite place of mine, and a highly popular weekend getaway location
with its' music festivals, beautiful vistas, cool breezes, and
Guadalupe river cutting through town. Folks come from all over just
to go 'tubing on the river', and enjoy the 'hill country'. Next time
I pass through Kerrville on I-10, I'm definitely going to pull off
and find the 'Blue Yodelers Paradise', and take a selfie !
It'll
be one more item checked off my bucket list !
*
* *
Notes
*** House photographs – then and now, thanks to Hillbilly Hideaways for their great site – homes of many famous country stars. Fascinating and wonderful photographs.
Notes
*** House photographs – then and now, thanks to Hillbilly Hideaways for their great site – homes of many famous country stars. Fascinating and wonderful photographs.
https://www.facebook.com/hillbillyhideaways/photos/a.684593708317335/699377366838969/?type=3&theater
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