By Sally Beauvais
If you've spent any time waiting for the train to arrive at the Amtrak station in Alpine, you may have noticed it, too: a telephone pole, sticking clear through the pitched roof of a warehouse on the other side of the tracks -- as if it just grew there, like a tree.
The pole doesn't appear to be connected to any kind of system, and there aren't any other poles in the immediate area that resemble it.
Alpine resident Mike Green asked West Texas Wonders what it's doing there.
The answer begins with the history of the building, which was once a wool and mohair warehouse (and, over the years -- a feed store, saddle shop, consignment sales warehouse, back up vault for the local bank, and space for livestock shows and dances) and ends with Santa Claus.
This story features Bob Wills' Steel Guitar Rag, as well as audio from this historical video.
Listen to it at the top of this page.
