Granbury's Langdon Center

Tarleton State University reaches out to its extended community through visual arts, historic preservation, writers' conferences and cooking classes

By Charles Lohrmann

On a bustling Friday afternoon, the traffic on US 377 Loop through Granbury tests my patience. I might not be so edgy if I were a daily traveler among these folks  driving home from Fort Worth, 30 miles or so away, or navigating back toward the Metroplex for the weekend. The fact is, I get impatient because I know that in a few minutes, I’ll make the turn off 377,  drive across the Lake Granbury bridge that marks the channel of the pre-lake Brazos River, and enjoy a getaway in Granbury’s quiet historic district.

On two of my more recent trips to Granbury, my destination was the Langdon Center, an outpost of Tarleton State University in Stephenville, which engages visitors with concerts, poetry events, writing conferences, and monthly cooking classes. Like its hometown of Granbury, the Langdon Center embraces both the arts and historic preservation, sharing its enthusiasm with folks from around the region.

The two-story, Victorian A.P. Gordon House anchors the Langdon Center on its block just one street over from the Hood County courthouse square. This house shares the block with the Concert Hall, a 100-person-capacity building that once served as Granbury’s First Christian Church, and two other residential-scale buildings that house classrooms and meeting rooms.

One of the quirky features of the A.P. Gordon House is what it no longer has—more than half of its original size. As Janice Horak, Tarleton’s Director of External Relations, explains, “In a very literal down-sizing project, descendants of A.P. Gordon dismantled the sleeping porches and several rooms from the back of the house. The final changes came in the 1970s, when the last Gordons decided to add a modern kitchen.

'Until work started on the building, no one knew it had the vaulted ceiling. The acoustics are so alive in this building that musicians really love playing here.'

“The house went through the same stages as many Victorian houses, even renting rooms after World War II,” adds Horak. “I walked through the house with one of Mr. Gordon’s great-grandaughters, and she shared details of the house’s history. When Dora Lee Langdon bought the house in 1982, she made some changes, including adding the elevator.”

The Langdon Center’s Concert Hall, built in 1892 by the First Christian Church on a site five blocks away, also serves as a venue for conferences, classes, and meetings. It was moved to the site in the early 1990s in a difficult project that required shutting off the power to the square. “Until work started on the building, no one knew it had the vaulted ceiling. The acoustics are so alive in this building that musicians really love playing here. And it is perfect for intimate performances for 50 or fewer,” Horak explains. 

One of the center’s signature events is the Langdon Review Weekend, which takes place for a few days in September and accompanies the release of the annual publication of the same name. The schedule starts midweek on the Ste-phenville campus of Tarleton with workshops for high school students. Then, the venue shifts to Granbury, where writing workshops and performances draw a few dozen participants, primarily from surrounding communities. 

The 2010 Langdon Review Weekend draws attention to the work of Texas Poets Laureate, and Langdon neighbors Dominique and Charles Inge invite the group to enjoy a picnic lunch on a shady expanse of their lakeside property. Following the meal, several poets laureate gather to read their work under a particularly palatial live oak that the Inges dedicate to sheltering such readings. Now, the Inges have acknowledged the tree with a plaque that outlines the tree’s standing in the realm of Texas poetry.

“The stimulation of the annual Langdon Review Weekend workshops refocused my lifelong interest in poetry,” says Charles Inge. “And this re-sulted, in 2010, in publication of my Brazos View collection of poems. I have been impressed with how important Langdon Review Weekend has been to other poets from all across the state who have participated in the programs.”

Dominique Inge adds, “We have supported Tarleton’s Langdon Center since its inception because its stated mission, ‘enriching lives through education and the fine arts,’ has special meaning for us. It’s gratifying to see how the Langdon Center has grown into an important cultural and educational gathering place.  Its location in the heart of downtown Granbury, with its park-like grounds, historic home, and concert hall, helps build our community.”

One of the other programs that draws participants to the Langdon Center is the monthly cooking class staged at the nearby Inn on Lake Granbury, a hostelry that combines its bed and breakfast with meeting rooms and a superb and inviting view of the lake. On my visit, the Inn is hosting conference participants for lunch in the specially configured kitchen and conference room where the cooking classes take place. I’m tempted to seek out the hammock slung between two oaks standing guard over the lake view. If only there were time for a dip in the lavishly landscaped saltwater pool.

And it’s important to point out that the day-to-day cooking that takes place at The Inn on Lake Granbury deserves a class of its own. Breakfasts include compelling combinations of French toast, eggs, fruit salads, and pastries.

And a visit would not be complete without a stroll around the courthouse square, which defines the heart of Granbury’s historic district. One of the longtime merchants, a gourmet specialty shop called The Pan Handle, also serves as a sponsor for the Langdon Center’s cooking classes.

As Dominique Inge explains, “The Langdon Center hosts a broad range of indoor and outdoor cultural and educational programs and activities that enrich the quality of life here, and my own life has been enriched immeasurably by these diverse offerings.”

With such support and enthusiasm, the Langdon Center now serves as a proven model for a partnership between a historic Texas town and a state university with deep roots in its community.

See the full article in the April 2011 issue.

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