On July 4, the U.S. will celebrate its 250th birthday.
The landmark occasion is preceded by the momentous celebrations of 1976. Wichita Falls and towns across the country held multiple events to mark the nation’s 200th birthday — its bicentennial.
One memorable event for Wichita Falls was a visit from the Bicentennial Freedom Train. The train’s cars were filled with artifacts collected from museums and hauled on railroad tracks across the country. The purpose was to show these pieces of history to Americans who otherwise would never have the chance to see them.
The Freedom Train Foundation estimated that more than 7 million visitors toured the train between April 1975 and December 1976. It stopped in 140 cities.
The foundation also estimated that more than 40 million people watched the train pass by on its journey.
It slowed down as it went through smaller towns so gawkers could glimpse some of its treasure through special windows installed in the cars.
Railroad historian and author Steve Goen said the train was not originally scheduled to stop in Wichita Falls.
Goen said Ray Howard, then publisher of the Times Record News, was on the Fort Worth & Denver Railroad Board and pulled some strings to get the train to come here.
Goen said Wichita Falls actually acted as a guinea pig for the occasion. He said a steam locomotive that had been sitting idle in Fort Worth since 1952 was overhauled to carry the train on its Texas stops. He said the steam locomotive made trial runs from Fort Worth to Wichita Falls to ensure it could handle the long trip.
Once it hooked up the bicentennial cars, it traveled to several Texas cities before chugging its way to Wichita Falls.
On March 6, the Freedom Train stopped in Bowie and picked up Wichita Falls dignitaries and reporters.
Clusters of people lined the tracks and gathered at crossings, cheering and waving flags as Texas & Pacific Engine 610 roared along with its priceless cargo, belching steam, clanging its bell and blowing its horn.
Crowds grew larger as the train entered the city, stopping at Sheppard Air Force Base.
A Times Record News article on March 8, 1976, estimated that thousands of people from the Wichita Falls area boarded the special train.
They were whisked along on a moving sidewalk to see more than 500 treasures of Americana that included George Washington’s copy of the Constitution, the original Louisiana Purchase, Martin Luther King Jr.’s pulpit, Judy Garland’s dress from The Wizard of Oz, Clark Gable’s script for Gone with the Wind, a moon rock and Joe Frazier’s boxing trunks.
Buses carried vistors from downtown Wichita Falls to the base.
After three days here, the Freedom Train rattled on up the tracks and out of Texas to continue its historic trek across the American landscape.
This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Wichita Falls saw US treasures on the 1976 Freedom Train
Reporting by Lynn Walker, Wichita Falls Times Record News / Wichita Falls Times Record News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
