Welcome to Crawford, Texas...
Hometown of President George W. Bush!
Crawford has changed quite a lot since the President and First Lady purchased their 1600 acre Prairie Chapel Ranch from
the Engelbrecht family in 1999. Dubbed "The Western White House," where once the buildings were closed and boarded up,
now tourists and townsfolk sip their morning coffee and stroll the sidewalks of this reborn little town.
Several gift shops have sprung up along the main street. One shop (now closed) was in the oldest building still
remaining in the downtown district. Built in 1894 to house the S.E. Powell & Son's General Store with The Mason's meeting
on the second floor. The Crawford Post Office moved there in 1910 and remained there until about thirty years ago and boarded
up since. Now the original windows are open again and customers are walking on those old slat boards on the floor. When perfectly
quiet, you can actually hear the mortar lightly falling from between the old bricks like whispers from the past. You are welcomed
into the building to shadow the steps of some of the original town's people and purchase items emblazoned with the name of
it's most famous resident. On May 3, 2003 the steps of the shop were crossed by Australian Prime Minister John Howard, making
him the first foreign leader to actually visit the people of Crawford in the business district. He chose to make this historic
building his first stop, purchasing a "Friends and Allies" coffee mug as a gift for British Prime Minister Tony Blair's 50th
Birthday. (See photos and information on the 'Foreign Visits' page and at http://www.WesternWhiteHouseGifts.com)
President Bush has been known to visit the small coffee shops in town and has mingled with residents and posed
for photos, with Secret Service agents standing nearby. The President has stopped by on his way to the golf course for
coffee and shooting the breeze with 'Bugger' and the morning coffee gang at the Crawford Fina Station which was owned
by Stan and Kathy Nagel at the time.
Bush has made The Coffee Shop in nearby McGregor a tourist attraction on it's own by visiting there several times and even
negotiating and going over the details of his purchase of the ranch in their back room. The Coffee Shop has since catered
to the president and the press when they are in town. There is a large collection of exclusive photographs on display of the
First Family as well as superstar McGregor native Jessica Simpson (even photos of Jessica with the George W Bush stand-up...
"just like the tourist do" ) displayed there. It is now the home of Western White House Gifts.
On Crawford's main street, the beloved old cottonwood tree that once graced the corner before meeting it's fate with a
chainsaw to expose a new enterprise by a Waco entrepreneur, gained state wide attention as the lead into a cover story in
Texas Monthly Magazine's November 2002 issue. A good deal of the town's residents still get upset at the mention of the loss
of the tree that graced the corner for as far back as anyone can remember.
The tiny old jail in it's tin shed still sits on a plot of land just off the main road. The craftsmanship of the flat steel
bars and the size of the area law breakers were kept in is a must see when in town. Imagine the heat inside the building on
those hot Texas August days!
President Bush may not have been born here, but he chose Crawford as his home town! That's even better!
