UEST Book Sample

Small Towns & Cultural Districts UPPER EAST SIDE OF TEXAS

P.A. GEDDIE

INTRODUCTION 1

Royse City 94 Rockwall 98

SMALL TOWNS & CULTURAL DISTRICTS

Nacogdoches 4 San Augustine 8 Henderson 12 Kilgore 16 Longview 20 Marshall 24 Jefferson 28 Texarkana 30 Paris 34 Bonham 38 Greenville 42 Sulphur Springs 46 Mount Vernon 50 Mount Pleasant 54 Pittsburg 58 Winnsboro 62 Mineola 66

Lindale 70 Tyler 74 Edom 78 Ben Wheeler 82 Canton 86 Grand Saline 90

Terrell 104 Athens 108 Corsicana 114 Palestine 118 Jacksonville 122

EXPLORE THE REGION

The Royal Road 128 Star Struck 144 Boogie Woogie Highway 152 Red River Valley 168 Thirty Something 180 Cypress Creek Square 190 Eagle Country 200 Rhinestones & Roses 212 Towns Van Zandt 222 Blue Prairies 232 Over the River 240 Whistle Stop 250

Alphabetical Content 265

Contact Information 266

Photo Credits 268

Acknowledgments 270

“Carmen & Michelle Taking Time,” Linda Lucas Hardy

I N T R O D U C T I O N

The Upper East Side of Texas offers rich history, breathtaking scenery, fresh farm-totable experiences, and an abundance of artistic and cultural interests. This mostly rural parcel of the planet welcomes visitors to wide-open spaces and instant relaxation as they ease into a slower pace and meet friendly and nuanced people. As television’s Big Bang Theory character Sheldon Cooper said as he prepared for his Nobel Prize acceptance speech, “Growing up in the backwoods of East Texas is what makes me warm and relatable.”

The small towns and cultural districts are the stars of the region. The first section of the book presents thirty of the best, each with its own unique personality. Standing at the center of any of the communities, people get an immediate sense of the beauty that happens when the reverence of the historical past, the welcoming of contemporary culture, and a partnership with nature converge. That good vibration is the underlying current of the entire Upper East Side of Texas.

Visitors find the tapestry of history mixes well with modern amenities. Artifacts and stories of the Caddo Nation, Cherokees, Spaniards, and those of African and European descent, are carefully guarded in museums and celebrated in events. Among those treasures, guests enjoy coffee shops and wineries, boutiques, exceptional cuisine, live music, and theatrical performances in uncrowded spaces. Some dive in to shell peas at a farmers’ market, make pure cane syrup with mule power, play donkey basketball, or enter a fire ant calling contest. There is no shortage of authentic fun with a rich calendar of festivals, foliage and flower trails, train rides, farmers’ and artisans’ markets, and other events and ongoing attractions throughout the year.

Surrounding the communities are acres of land as far as the eye can see, naturally land scaped with enormous trees, prairies, wildflowers, and spectacular sunrises and sunsets. Beautiful vineyards, garden centers, resorts, and wildlife attractions dot the countryside. One is never far from a lakeside shore in this part of Texas, which is fed by the flowing waters of hundreds of rivers and creeks.

Section two of this book features backroad drives, meandering from one charming main street to the next, where explorers find hundreds of reasons to keep going back.

K I L G O R E

City of Stars

A pl Ace of signific A nt discoveries , Kilgore takes its oil boom days seriously. Stately derricks dot the township, crowned with stars that light up the night sky. Visitors learn about the community’s history at the East Texas Oil Museum on the Kilgore College campus.

The college is also home to the Rangerette Showcase & Museum, featuring displays of the famous dance drill team that brought “show business” to the football gridiron.

Several scenic parks invite guests to enjoy nature among the pines, and a steel forest of steeple-high oil derricks makes up the centrally located World’s Richest Acre Park.

Kilgore has a thriving downtown with boutiques, culinary options, historic murals, and intriguing architecture. Arts and culture abound with a nice array of exhibitions, performing arts events, theater productions, concerts, and book signings. Annual events include the Texas Shakespeare Festival, Reel East Texas Film Festival, East Texas Pipe Organ Festival, as well as ongoing holiday and seasonal events.

Kilgore offers an eclectic selection of culinary delights including home-cooked traditional country food and burgers, famous barbecue, steaks, seafood, and even Hungarian dishes made from scratch.

Several places to stay are conveniently located to all that is gushing in Kilgore.

Easily walkable streets lined with unique boutiques, mercantile and music stores, eateries, preserved Art Deco buildings, and even an old-fashioned barbershop make downtown Kilgore a place for an enjoyable stroll just about any time of the year. The thirty-seven statuesque oil derricks standing nearby and carefully displayed signs of the town’s famous high-stepping Rangerettes keep visitors in a celebratory mood. It is all part of the plan to make sure visitors discover genuine Southern hospitality in Kilgore.

Above/fAcing Downtown Kilgore

Taking center stage in downtown Paris is the Culbertson Fountain, made of Italian marble and surrounded by an inviting plaza with green grass, large trees, and attractive landscaping. It is a favorite landmark for those participating in the annual bicycle rally that takes riders downtown around the plaza before traveling along the Trail de Paris, part of the one hundred thirty-mile Northeast Texas Trail running through nineteen towns and seven counties. The trail goes through a ninety-acre wooded area in Paris and beyond with sites featuring unique bridges, creeks, rippling water, huge sugarberry and other varieties of trees, crape myrtles, honeysuckle, fireflies, underpass art, wildflowers, and pastoral scenes.

Walkers on the trail enjoy picking up a meal from a local restaurant or buying picnic ingredients from the local farmers’ and artisans’ market and finding a perfect spot to enjoy the day. There is no shortage of good dining opportunities in Paris, both downtown and on the loop that circles the city. Texan Parisian dining offers outdoor patio and indoor seating with a variety of culinary choices, including comfort foods like chicken-fried steak and bread pudding, plus steaks, gourmet tamales, street corn, Italian gelato, buffalo wings, and waffles on a stick. An artisan bakery sells European-style breads and pastries. Many locations offer craft beer and wine.

Other things to do in Paris include visits to the Red River Valley Veterans Memorial, Lamar County Historical Museum, the Sam Bell Maxey House State Historic Site, and the Valley of the Caddo Museum & Cultural Center. Several parks and lakes adorn the Paris landscape. Lake Gibbons is a refuge for geese. Lake Crook is perfect for fishing, boating, and picnics. Pat Mayse Lake is used for recreation and is the entrance for the Barber Hills Bike Trail.

Above Annual Tour de Paris below

Red River Valley Veterans Memorial

Culbertson Fountain, Downtown Paris

A T H E N S

Escape the Hustle and

Bustle

A serene mix of A rt , nAture , history , A nd culinA ry delights , Athens invites visitors to kick back, relax, and enjoy fun activities at a slow, but never boring, small-town pace. The downtown area’s carefully-restored historic buildings are home to uncommon boutiques, antique shops, art studios, cafes, and performance venues. A good place to learn about the history of the region is at the Henderson County Historical Museum housed in a Victorian-styled, two-story building. Visitors find Caddo pottery, antique pharmacological paraphernalia, and a replica of a nineteenth-century general store.

Athens is well represented in arts and culture. More than thirty local artists are featured in downtown galleries. An award-winning community theatrical troupe presents plays regularly at the Henderson County Performing Arts Center. The Texan: A Landmark Venue brings local, regional, and national live music acts to the historic downtown district.

Athens is a food-loving town. Area restaurants serve country comfort food, burgers, ice cream, fried green tomatoes, baked goods, gourmet sandwiches, barbecue, and various ethnic foods. There is a coffee shop and a brewery downtown and four local wineries nearby, each with their own getaway ambi ance. The seasonal Athens Farmers’ market features fresh produce, baked goods, and hand-crafted artisan items.

Downtown Athens is home to many events throughout the year, including the Old Fiddlers Contest & Reunion, the longest running fiddle competition in Texas. Fiddlers of all ages compete and entertain along the courthouse grounds. Athens also lays claim to the title of Home of the Hamburger. Its history recognizes that local citizen Uncle Fletch Davis invented the hamburger and shared his invention for the first time at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair. Also noted as the Black-Eyed Pea Capital of the World, Athens regularly celebrates its culinary honors.

Above Downtown Athens

fAcing pAge Fiddlers Festival

The Terrell Heritage Museum, is in a Carnegie Library building built in 1904, and features artifacts from the town’s rich history. The museum also maintains archives and an extensive photograph collection available to researchers.

A must-see in Terrell is the No. 1 British Flying Training School Museum, the first and largest training school for British cadets learning to fly during World War II. The museum holds hundreds of historical items and education materials in the cooperation with the British commonwealth and American government.

Among the many carefully maintained homes in the Terrell Historic District is the Cartwright House. Built in 1883, the Victorian residence is a recorded Texas Historic Landmark.

Above Cartwright House below

No. 1 British Flying Training School Museum fAcing pAge Terrell Heritage

Museum, Carnegie Building

E D O M

Where Art Comes to Life

mAybe ArtisAns followed the stAr formed by the roads that come together to define Edom’s city limits. With a population of less than three hundred seventy-five people, many of those are artists: writers, musicians, actors, potters, painters, photographers, weavers, metal and fiber crafters, and others. The natural beauty surrounding the town is inspiring, with its rolling hills, magnificent pine and oak trees, wildflowers, and colorful songbirds.

Edom was established in the mid-1800s and, like many small towns that time forgot after World War II, it was nothing more than a dusty spot in the road when the late potter Doug Brown landed there in 1971. He opened Potters Brown, started the annual Edom Art Festival that is still going strong today, and invited other artists to join him. Year after year, artists set up shops along the one-block downtown farm-to-market road that is at the heart of Edom. Fifty years later, the community is known far and wide for its authen tic charm with numerous working artists and galleries adding the spark that makes Edom dazzle.

Folks in downtown Edom sit on porches and enjoy visiting with their neighbors and watching travelers slowly approach the only light in town. There is ample parking within easy reach of the galleries and working studios where more than fifty artists are represented. Live music takes place weekly with art shows sprinkled in regularly. During the summer, there is an abundance of blueberries for picking or purchasing at a rustic general store. Edom is a perfect mix of laid-back simplicity and creative energy.

The Potters Brown legacy lives on with local artists carrying the torch under the name Potters Brown Collective. Several other long-standing artist studios continue in Edom, including Zeke & Marty Jewelry. An old refurbished gas station is now Edom Art Emporium, with more than thirty artists represented in a gallery setting and during special events hosted throughout the year. Across the street is Edom Log Cabin, a dining experience offering comfort food.

Above Potters Brown Collective

Edom Art Emporium

The Arts!Longview Cultural District is a great place to enjoy unique experiences. Guests hear the Longview Symphony in concert, take a walking tour of the downtown murals, and visit the Gregg County Historical Museum to see how the town got its start. The museum is also home to a large collection of Caddo pottery discovered in the region. Downtown boutiques and shops offer clothing, gifts, and vintage items, and guests can even enjoy sipping wine while settling in to read a new book at a combination bookstore and wine bar.

Special events take place all year long and visitors often plan around them to spend a few days in Longview. Events include boat shows, vintage and farmers’ markets, and the Great Texas Balloon Race. In between events, there is always something creative to experience.

left “Spring Melody,” Wendy and Ava Arnold Above Longview Symphony right Gregg County Historical Museum

Above Boogie woogie and blues legend Omar Shariff, Marshall

Boogie Woogie Highway

i n the l Ate 1800 s , tr A ins filled the A ir with melodic background noise for the families of railway laborers living among the piney woods of the Upper East Side of Texas. The rhythm of the Texas and Pacific Railroad steam engine trains — running parallel to Highway 59 between Marshall and Texarkana — made its way into a genre of music called boogie woogie. Two other influences were ragtime — made famous by composer and pianist Scott Joplin who was born and raised in the region — and jazz, which entered the area via steamboats bringing people and goods to Jefferson from New Orleans.

From ragtime, jazz, and boogie woogie, came rock and roll and other exceptional music from generations of musicians who helped define the cultural heritage of the area, including the Eagles’ Don Henley, folk singer Huddie “Leadbelly” Ledbetter, gospel musician Stuart Hamblen, blues legends

Aaron T-Bone Walker, Omar Sharriff, and Floyd Dixon, and several country music stars.

pAge Marshall Train Depot

Highway 59 from Marshall — the official hub of boogie woogie — goes south down to Panola County and meanders north through Jefferson and several other small towns before arriving in Texarkana. Gone are the rowdy makeshift juke joints where the music was born, but today the region carries the spirit of that era through its well-preserved history and a continued appreciation for the sound of music.

A striking, beautifully restored red-brick building at the end of Washington Street in Marshall is home to the Texas & Pacific Railway Museum, which preserves the area’s rail

Hunt County is home to one of the most decorated soldiers of World War II and American actor Audie Murphy. The region keeps his memory alive with historical markers, building dedications, a museum, and annual celebrations. A Texas State Historical Marker stands where he was born in 1925 near Kingston, Texas, off U.S. Highway 69. Another is four and a half miles north in the community of Celeste where his family moved so he and his siblings could attend school. Part of their time there was spent living in an abandoned train car.

The marker notes his World War II accomplish ments, including receiving the U.S. Congressional Medal of Honor. It also mentions his film career and the movie in which he plays himself, To Hell and Back, chronicling his war service.

Murphy moved to Farmersville, Texas, to work as a rancher as a teenager. He returned there to a homecoming parade after the war on June 15, 1945. A marker stands in Farmersville “commemorating the efforts of a grateful nation and hometown.” The celebrations continue today with Audie Murphy Day held each summer in Farmersville. The Audie Murphy Trailhead there is the beginning of the Northeast Texas Trail on the west side.

A Texas State Historical Marker is at the Old Greenville Post Office, noting the site where Murphy enlisted in the war on his eighteenth birthday in 1942.

The Audie Murphy American Cotton Museum in Greenville features a military “Hall of Heroes,” honoring Murphy and other Hunt County veterans. On the museum grounds is the Hunt County War Memorial. It features a ten-foot bronze statue of Audie Murphy sculpted by Greenville artist Gordon Thomas. The statue stands vigil over the war memo rial honoring the memory of the two hundred seventy-one soldiers of Hunt County who gave their lives to protect and defend the United States in times of war during the twentieth century.

Above Heritage Park fAcing pAge Emma Grace Hotel, downtown Cooper

Above

Barefoot Bay Resort, Lake Bob Sandlin fAcing

“Lily Pads,” Donna Page

Cypress Creek Square

b ig c ypress c reek crosses through Franklin, Titus, and Camp counties in the Upper East Side of Texas. In the 1940s, regional planners dammed the creek in two places, cre ating a series of lakes that forever connected the four towns that share the waters — Pittsburg, Winnsboro, Mount Pleasant, and Mount Vernon. Besides the lakes — Cypress Springs, Monticello, and Bob Sandlin — the towns share an abundance of boutiques, high-end restaurants, arts, history, wineries, interesting attractions, and fun events throughout the year.

Known for great fishing expeditions and other recreational activities, the lakes also offer breathtaking natural surroundings, seasonal foliage, and exceptional sunrises and sunsets.

Lake Bob Sandlin has a state park with tent and RV campsites and there are other places to stay, such as Barefoot Bay RV Resort & Marina. The state park offers camping, hiking, moun tain biking, geocaching, swimming areas, and pier fishing. Barefoot Bay rents bicycles, kayaks, paddleboats, and paddle boards, and has a game room, nature trails, a horseshoe pit, volleyball court, pool tables, and a clubhouse.

Lake Bob Sandlin presents a good opportunity for kayaking and canoeing and there are coves for wet biking on surface water.

Lake Cypress Springs offers marina services, including the Marina at Lake Cypress Springs, with a restaurant and private reservations. Others provide boat rentals. Several

a main salt bed that runs across most of East Texas and western Louisiana about four miles beneath the surface. The Salt Palace Museum and Visitors Center in downtown Grand Saline is a good place to learn more.

U.S. Highway 80 goes through the north side of Van Zandt County, running parallel to the Union Pacific railroad tracks and connecting Grand Saline with Fruitvale, Edgewood, and Wills Point. Once part of the early auto trail known as the Dixie Overland Highway, the road originally ran from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean. The area of U.S. High way 80 west of Dallas is now decommis sioned and what remains is a route splitting off from Interstate 30 in Dallas all the way to Savannah, Georgia. Besides Van Zandt County in the Upper East Side of Texas, U.S. Highway 80 runs through Kaufman, Wood, Upshur, Gregg, and Harrison counties before entering Louisiana. Twice a year, a giant Hi-Way 80 Sale takes place with vendors set up along the road across the Up per East Side of Texas.

In Edgewood, visitors find the Heritage Park Museum of East Texas. Covering three city blocks, the site encompasses more than twenty authentically restored and furnished structures representing rural life in East Texas from the 1800s to the 1920s. Special events take place throughout the year and an annual heritage festival is held every second Saturday in November.

Wills Point is a charming little town known as the Bluebird Capital of Texas. It hosts an annual Bluebird Festival each year in April along its downtown brick streets. There are several noteworthy historical landmarks in Wills Point, including the Rose Monument in a downtown intersection, the Texas and Pacific Railway Depot, a train caboose, and Wills Cabin. The town is close to Lake Tawakoni State Park.

Above Heritage Park Museum of East Texas in Edgewood

fAcing pAge Moore’s Store Jam

Whistle Stop

t r A ins A re A big pA rt of the history and today’s ambience of the Upper East Side of Texas. Many people in small towns throughout the region hear the long, haunting whistle of the iron horse daily. Sometimes the trains slow down, wheels screeching to a halt on the rails, as they stop at a station. Far more of them pass on through, blow ing whistles at crossroads to alert pedestrians and automobile traffic.

For an up close and personal experience, visitors to the Texas State Railroad climb aboard vintage steam and diesel locomotives that take them across the piney woods of Anderson and Cherokee counties. The fifty-mile round trip runs between the quaint towns of Palestine and Rusk. Depending on the season, passengers experience the spring blooms of dogwood or the autumn trees as they change vibrant colors. Hosted by friendly and informative attendants, guests ride in comfort able early 1900 coaches traveling along gently rolling hills. The route passes over twenty-four bridges, one more than a thousand feet long. Unusual railroad structures — such as the locomotive turntable located midway — dot the historic route.

The four-hour ride includes an hour layover with plenty of time to peruse both the Rusk and Palestine depots with upscale gift shops and historical story boards. Each end of the route has a beautiful park with a depot complex with its own identity. The Palestine depot represents the Victorian era of architecture, popularized when steam engine trains first crisscrossed the American landscape more than a century ago. The Rusk depot is a beauti ful rock edifice. It has a vintage movie theater and on select evenings shows movies filmed on the Texas State Railroad trains, including The Great Debaters starring Denzel Washington, O Brother, Where Art Thou? with George Clooney and John Goodman, and Rough Riders

Just four miles north of downtown Jack sonville is Love’s Lookout. It is a rest stop for travelers and a delightful destination all of its own. Visitors go for picnics, to take photographs, and to soak up the scenic surroundings. At an elevation of seven hun dred twenty feet above sea level and rising two hundred forty feet above the surround ing terrain, the vaulted ridge affords a panoramic view of the eastern horizon as far out as thirty miles on a clear day.

A structure on the site that is fifty-five thousand square-feet, includes a dynamic central breezeway, framing the view that entices visitors to the expansive rear ter race. The gardens surrounding the facilities are equally impressive. Vibrantly-hued shrubbery punctuates the bedding areas, partnered with perennials poised to entice a plethora of butterflies and bees.

A historical marker reveals the origin of the Lookout’s name. Though people might assume it comes from being a “make out” hilltop for lovers, Wesley Love is its namesake. A popular recreation spot for people in the area since the mid-1800s, the site has seen a peach farm, an amphitheater, a concession stand, and an Olympic-sized swimming pool come and go. Amenities today include bathroom facilities, an information center, vending machines, and tables and benches to relax and enjoy the view.

Love’s Lookout is an inspiring spot for travelers to contemplate their next adventure in the Upper East Side of Texas. Through the region’s small towns and wide-open spaces; rich history, art, music, and architecture; fresh-from-the-farm produce and fine cuisine; and boutiques and overnight getaways, visitors find authentic experiences for making treasured memories.

Above

“The Lookout, 1974,” Hank O’Neal fAcing pAge Love’s Lookout

Explore the small towns and cultural districts of the Upper East Side of Texas. Find rich history, breathtaking scenery, fresh farm-to-table experiences, and an abundance of artistic and cultural interests. Experience wide-open spaces and instant relaxation while meandering through the backroads from one main street to the next. Standing at the center of any of the communities gives an immediate sense of the beauty that happens when the reverence of the historical past, the welcoming of contemporary culture, and a partnership with nature converge. That good vibration is the underlying current of the entire Upper East Side of Texas.