Since the 70s

[Sherry]

Since the 70s - we have no Dairy King, Tiger Den, or F&F Rootbeer.  We do have a Sonic, Hawkins (used to be Dairy Queen), and MacDonalds.  Daingerfield has had traffic lights installed at the intersections of Hwys 259, 11, 49.  

The Hill House is now El Incas.  Blue Moon Cafe is gone.  But we do have one of the best Chinese restaurants around!  No full serve service stations!   Smoot's and Piggly Wiggly's are both gone.  Does anyone remember the small grocery markets - Kirkhams, Camps, Beavers, Reeds?  The two big hardware stores in Daingerfield are gone - Irvin's and Williams.  No dress shops - Rena McCain's and Knieff's are both gone...now we have dollar stores.

No "drug" stores.  Both Star Drug and Pearson's are gone.  No Glass Chevrolet or Connor & Skipper Ford.  No Ben Franklin.  No Leslie's Farm Supply.

[Kenny Nix]

I'm really afraid to come home now. It sounds like everything has completely changed. Could someone with a digital camera take pictures of the town and email them to me to post? I for one would love to see what Daingerfield looks like now. I'm sure that others would love to see pictures too.

You can email pics to me at: xinnek@yahoo.com

[Lisa Lilley Boyd]

I will make it a point to go to D-field tomorrow and take some pictures around town.  I'll e-mail them to you soon.

[Fay Maricelli Mullins]

honestly kenny, you DON'T want to see the sad, pathetic state into which the once proud town of Daingerfield, TX has fallen...just be happy with what we had in the past.  there are no future possibilities here, nor do i anticipate any to come...

[Shannon Wright]

I knew it had changed, but I wasn't aware to that degree.  I remember driving through one time and saw that there was a McDonald's.  As far as all the other things, I had no idea. 

[Beth Thomasson]

I work at McDonalds. It's amazing how many people come in asking " Where am I."  " What town is this." It makes me wanna say " You mean you don't know? It's DAINGERFIELD.  Haven't you heard of the 60's or the 80's  football teams.  I've only been out of highschool 10 years. But it's like this is not the same town anybody I know remembers from highschool. Like I've heard some people say they used to walk around down town, or something at night.  Not know you don't. I'll show you the person in mine or my brothers ' year book that will shoot you. That's the sad part, when you know the person that might do it. You still gotta go down town  to check your mail or do some stuff, but most of it is a ghost town. My parents moved here in 89.  agree with the lady that said something about remembering the once proud town the way it used to be.  I didn't even go to a sporting even this year at  the school. It's not the same. The students aren't proud to be at DHS either, & nobody takes pride it this town much either.

[Sherry]

This area had nothing until the 40's when LSS was built.  People could then afford to feed their families AND their cows.  Everything revolved around LSS and oil.  Thanks partially to the oil bust in the early 80s and cheap foreign steel, LSS virtually shut their doors.  What remains is a shell of what once was.  I understand that they no longer manufacture steel, they purchase it from overseas and turn out a finished product.

With LSS shutting down/cutting businesses on the edges that supported LSS closed.  Families moved.  Businesses failed.

I remember hearing the "grownups" talking when I was a kid.  In the 60s and 70s our local businessmen did not want competition.  They also sat on the city council and were successful in denying rezoning requests for new businesses that would have been their competitors.  If they had only had the foresight to see what would happen to this town after they were gone then perhaps we would have more here...

[Beth Thomasson]

Does anybody know the Allan Jackson song " GOd Bless the Little Man" about the small town. Reminds me of Daingerfield. 

[Brad Thomas]

yes... I know that song. It's all about the little man ( and the town) being shut out and down by big business - or, "The Man."

I think those type of arguments are rather silly, to be honest. If the lowest price is what I am after, then the little man has very little to offer me. It's not big business driving the little man out - it's the customer who decides not to shop there in favor of the big corporation.

And that customer is you, me and everyone else who decided not to walk through the doors of "Ol Jimmy's Bait and Gas Stop." If you're looking for someone to blame for the demise of the "little man," look to yourself for shopping at WalMart. Otherwise, enjoy your low prices and wide assortment.

[Beth Thomasson]

I shop at Wal-mart & or  even Longview Mall for  convience & the fact that I get more choices. I guess that's what most of us want in convience & a wide assortment of choices instead of 2 or 3.  I can Go to Wal-mart, get my groceries, my clothes, gas up the car, get my perscription, & my hair cut all in on stop. The gas station thats been there for years can't do all that. I guess most of America is like that. Just about everywhere inthe country has a town like Daingerfield. I've got a sister in Seattle ( which is no Daingerfield by any stretch of the imagination), that said the people there don't go to places like Wal-Marts often, because they don't want the " mom-n-pop" stores she called,  to go out of business.   

[Brad Thomas]

I'm not sure if most of America is like that, although there is probably a large portion of the population that might fit the description. For myself, the only real thing I would do at WalMart from your list would be fill a prescription... Not that I hate WalMart - exactly the opposite, in fact. It's just that I've sort of grown out of the whole WalMart "look and feel." The last time I looked at the clothes in WalMart, I remember thinking, "Why is everything brown, and why are the winter clothes on clearance when there's a foot of snow on the ground?"

[John_Harrell]

The last time I was in town it was looking pretty bleak.  Much has changed since I left 13 years ago. 

[Musicradio]

I miss the Dairy Queen and the original 1560 KEGG call letters. That was the first radio station for me to work for, way back in 1978.

I stop by every now and then to see what is new.

[Chris Bridwell]

I agree about the consumers causing small businesses to shut down. I've talked to several ex-owners, managers, etc. about this. It seems that alot of people around Daingerfield would "charge" stuff from local business's when things weren't going their way (LSS layoffs,etc). People would pay a little here...a little there..meanwhile the owner isn't actually making anything. When things would pick up though..the people would drive to Longview to get their stuff. No loyalty I guess you could say. Also most people would just automatically assume that whatever it was they wanted to buy would be cheaper in Longview. (and yes alot of things are cheaper there) How many of ya'll have that dad/mom/grandma...that will drive 35 miles to save 2 dollars??? lol