The “first” annual Smithville Music Festival was a rousing success by all accounts. There was an eclectic mix of music all day and well into the night and the crowd was festive with many couples finding room to dance. Festival goers found a great selection of refreshments and great food. To top it all off, the weather was perfect.

Governor Rick Perry sent a proclamation extending his greetings to everyone attending the festival. Marc Fort, representing the Texas Music Office, brought the proclamation to the stage and Smithville’s Postmaster Dana Anderson, emcee for the evening, read it to the crowd.

What many in the audience may not have known is that the governor’s proclamation pointed out a hidden bit of Smithville history. The governor shed some light on West End Park, a local stop for blues acts like T-Bone Walker, B.B. King and Johnny Clyde Copeland along with soul singer Joe Tex and dozens of others.

The park was part of the “Chitlin’ Circuit,” a network of performance halls across the south where African-American entertainers performed during times of racial segregation. The governor pointed out that West End Park was a bastion of African American culture and its history should be remembered and celebrated.

Some of that history has been brought to light by Michael Corcoran, a longtime Austin American-Statesman music critic and sometimes resident of Smithville.
Shortly after moving to Smithville, Corcoran ran into world-class composer and jazz trumpeter Hannibal Lokumbe at Mary Catherine’s sandwich shop.

Lokumbe grew up in Smithville and shared his memories of West End Park with Corcoran, explaining that the little juke joint on the far side of town was not only famous for its music, but had a good deal of baseball history, too.
“West End Park was owned by I.T. Harper and his wife Sis. I.T. pitched for the Kansas City Monarchs in the Negro Leagues, and he used to book baseball players for exhibition games against the Smithville team,” Corcoran said. “In the mid-50s, Satchel Paige had a pitching duel with Harper. Paige eventually won, 2-1 in extra innings.”

Corcoran has a few more stories about West End Park, although he says it’s getting hard to find any documentation and new leads are drying up. The old club, a working bar until a few weeks ago, is still standing. There’s a backstop in back of the club, the remains of the ball field.

Corcoran shared a story about Roosevelt Thomas “Grey Ghost” Williams, a blues pianist who was inducted into the Austin Music Hall of Fame in 1988. Grey Ghost, born in Bastrop, was named for his appearances at West End Park.
“He lived in Bastrop, and would hop the train to play in Smithville. He would wear overalls on top of his suit, and when he got to the station at Smithville he would shed the overalls and hide them,” Corcoran explained. “He would walk to the West End where he would appear out of the woods – nobody knew how he got there, no one saw him coming or going and he got the nickname, Grey Ghost.”

Corcoran wrote about West End Park and the Smithville Music Festival a few weeks ago. He said that the park used to be a hub of African American culture in Bastrop County but now “there is none of its history to be read. On Nov. 7, it will be a forgotten stop on the so-called ‘Chitlin circuit’ no more.”
He may be right about West End Park, but it looks like new history was written this week with the “first” annual music festival, which might be legendary in a few years, thanks to the hard work of the volunteer efforts of the community and the people of Smithville.