Southlake Historical Society presents Fall Speaker Series

The Soil Conservation Building on the grounds of Nash Farm in Grapevine.

The Southlake Historical Society kicks off Fall Speaker Series, “Farming the Land: Southlake’s Sandy Soil and Grapevine’s Black Land Prairie” on Thursday, Sept. 12 at 6:30 pm in the Soil Conservation Building on the grounds of Grapevine’s historic Nash Farm, 626 Ball Street.

The evening’s speaker, Mr. Bob Flanagan, tends to the crops at Nash Farm and has farmed the area since a boy in the 1940s. The Nash Farm provides an excellent example of late 19th-century Texas farm life, and Bob will offer a view of farm life and the hardships of living off the land–land that was very different for the families who farmed the sandy soil in present-day Southlake (many of them poor and itinerant farmers who trucked their crops to Grapevine to sell) and those who worked the black land soil of the Grapevine prairie, raising the king of crops–cotton.

The Soil Conservation Building, built in the 1930s, was originally used to teach local farmers better ways to cultivate their land and the conservation techniques needed to halt soil erosion. After his program, Bob will conduct a tour of the Nash’s 19th-century farming equipment and outbuildings.

SHS lifetime members will be recognized and all returning members invited to renew their annual memberships. New members are always welcome.
Membership levels include:

Student: $5
Individual: $15
Family: $25
Corporate: $50
Lifetime: $150

The Southlake Historical Society is grateful to the City of Southlake and the Southlake Public Library for partnering in preserving the history of Southlake.

For more information about the program, contact Connie Cooley at cecooley@verizon.net or 817-223-9606.