PrintTurkey, Texas
The hometown hero of Turkey, Texas: Bob Wills
Photography courtesy of www.bobwills.com
When settlers first came to this part of the Texas Panhandle in the 1890s, the banks of Turkey Creek were home to wild roosting Rio Grande turkeys. The town that grew up there was first known as Turkey Roost, then simply as Turkey, and is now best known as the home of Bob Wills. The King of Western Swing was a barber in Turkey in the 1920s before finding fame with the Texas Playboys, and after he left, Turkey found its own fame as Wills’ hometown. Eventually, The Bob Wills Foundation bought several old school buildings and installed the Bob Wills Museum, and also built a monument and Bob Wills Park to honor the town’s most famous son.
The biggest Bob doings happen on the last Saturday of every April, when the Bob Wills Day festival draws thousands for music, food, and fun; you just missed the 2010 festivities, but it’s not too soon to start planning for April 30, 2011. If you happen to be in town on any first Saturday, head for the Gem Theatre on Main for the monthly jamboree (dinner is served in the patio area). The historic theater opened in 1928 showing silent movies, and during the 1930s Wills performed there. In 1941, the Gem presented Take Me Back to Oklahoma, which starred Wills in his first motion picture role.
• Info: Turkey, Texas, is 100 miles northeast of Lubbock, 100 miles southeast of Amarillo, and 300 miles northwest of Dallas. For more information on Bob Wills and Turkey, visit www.bobwills.com, www.bobwillsday.com, and www.turkeytexas.net, or contact Marie Cruse at the Turkey Heritage Foundation at 806.423.1420. The Bob Wills Museum is open Monday – Friday, 8 a.m. – 12 p.m. and 1 – 5 p.m. 602 Lyle St., 806.423.1253.
Issue: July 2010
