Mineral Wells or Winnsboro (Weatherford, Richmond: environment, relocate, hotel)

[SnowBunny]

I was just wondering if anyone could give me any info on living in Winnsboro or Mineral Wells Texas. Good Schools?

Thank you.

[fallguy]

I don't know anything about Winnsboro or Mineral Wells schools.
I've been to Winnsboro twice to see my late maternal grandfather's elderly
1st cousin & that cousin's wife.

But if I had to choose between living in the two and no other towns, I'd immediately pick Mineral Wells b/c it's bigger than Winnsboro.

Thanks,

fallguy

[Skky]

Hello again folks!! Now I'm looking into the whole area of Mineral Wells to Possum Kingdom to relocate. Could any of you share your experiences or observations for this whole area? It's just me and my husand and we prefer country living or lake living, whichever is more secluded. So what say you all???? Enjoy your day!

[ag925]

If you haven't perused the City-Data.com site thoroughly, do wander through it starting from the homepage. Lots of interesting info to be found.

http://www.city-data.com/city/Mineral-Wells-Texas.html

You might want to look closely at the data available for Mineral Wells. There are parts of it that appear charming, but this is a town in decay. Standard of living is quite low, there is little opportunity for employment, housing is (mostly) simplistic. Since the Baker Hotel closed down permanently (and has now been condemned) and the Army base shut down, Mineral Wells has fallen on tough times. If you're looking for somewhere to retire and you don't need to work, it might be a bargain place to live. On the plus side, it's mostly wide-open space, low air pollution most days, and a small-town environment.

Possum Kingdom Lake incorporates several distinct areas (it's a large lake). The area near the State Park is Caddo, Texas. Other cities that are considered "PK" are Graford (East side), Graham (West side), and Strawn. Breckenridge is also close by. Some properties are "deep water" and others are shallow; generally, deepwater property is more expensive than property on the shallows. (Location, location, location!) Most of the "tourist-y" places are on the peninsula, and that's where you'll find jobs. There are some campgrounds, marinas, and restaurants scattered around the lake, but not much in the way of industry out there. It's a gorgeous lake, and hands-down our favorite place to vacation. Living there full-time would be a challenge, I think, but probably do-able if you like solitude and don't mind long commutes for health care beyond the basics. By the way, no one actually owns waterfront property; the Brazos River Authority (BRA) owns it all, and leases it to homeowners. You can own your house, but not your land. More info can be found at:
::Brazos River Authority:: Possum Kingdom

Hope some of this is helpful.

[NOTAM]

i love PK and miss it very much-i used to live and work in Graham (Young County)...and frequented PK and Lake Graham often.
Graford is a total redneck country town-love it. Breckenridge is really nice-totally Texas. Mineral Wells was kinda trashy but right now, after living in South Texas, i would even take Mineral Wells over this any day!! p.s. if you are in Mineral Wells, stop at Woody's....a hole in the wall burger joint/bar. very cool.

[Skky]

Thanks ag925 and bellestaroftexas for the information you provided about Mineral Wells and Possum Kingdom. It really, really helps since we're moving from outside Richmond, VA to that area somewhere. Thanks also for those web sites, I checked it out. I was born and raised in TX, but not familiar with all that area. Also, how "open minded" are the majority of the people in these areas? Like could I find a Yoga Class to participate with? And what about the quality of air and water?? Have a wonderful day!! Thanks

[NOTAM]

air and water great...yoga? umm..................yer in cowboy country..lemme think....maybe maybe in Weatherford? there might be some city slickers in that town that have started things like that.........cant ya do yoga by yourself on the wide open range? i didnt think it was a team sport!

[ag925]

Mineral Wells exists because of its water, thus the name. And only on rare occasion would I expect the pollution from D/FW area to settle there, especially when you take into account that most breezes are West to East or South to North, unless a strong front comes through.

Water at PK is, well...interesting. The lake itself has enough salt content that some saltwater fish will survive there. Because of the high salt content, the water at the State Park has been deemed "non-potable" by State (or Federal?) standards. We used it for years with no ill effects, and it hasn't changed any -- just the standards changed. However, I do always use bottled water for coffee, cooking, and general drinking. Washing dishes, showering, whatever else you do, the water has always been okay, although you can expect spotting. Also, we're careful to rinse out anything that longterm salt exposure could damage once we're away from PK.

The entire area around PK has been slowly undergoing an upgrade to the public water system; I think this started 3 years ago. Because of conflicts, we just haven't made it out there in a while, so not sure what the status of the water system is at this time. The last time I stayed on the peninsula, the water there was deemed non-potable.

Here are some photos from PK. The cliff pic is from the famous Hell's Gate. There's also a pic of the campground at the state park looking towards the area known as The Broadway, and a shoreline photo of the North Shore area just across from the state park.

Enjoy.

[NOTAM]

ag925 ya just had to post PK pics..........gawd am i homesick. had many many a good times at PK.............also great country bar/dance floor there-Sams or something? i forget...and a very very cool laid back beer and pool joint called Rusty Nail.

[Skky]

Greetings,
Thanks so much for the pictures. I have been seeing pics like this online, that's why I'm interested in that area, beautiful!

The comment about Yoga appeared to be a judgement. I live in the country, in the woods up here in VA and I took a yoga class here. And yes, I do practice here in the country, alone. The only reason I asked, is because I enjoy the company of those "types" of people. I am not a city person, never have been.

Enjoy your day and be happy! Skky