She has raved about the pretty court houses in Texas before, but this might be the grandest of all. In fact, the Texas visitor guide claimed that this is one of the most photographed buildings in all of this very big state. Knowing that, we had to take more than just one picture ourselves. We've seen state capitols that weren't as majestic as this county court house.
Even though it is grand, it was abandoned for 40 years when the county built the modern (and ugly) county court house next door. What were they thinking?
It took a ten-year refurbishment process, but the court house is looking really good, and now houses a museum on its first floor. We were impressed that the four clocks at the top of the dome are all working!
Right across from the court house, is an interesting statue. The three guys in this historical setting are obviously pondering an important message. This is Telegraph Park, where the first telegraph station in Texas was established in 1854.
We drove through the two college campuses in town--East Texas Baptist University and Wiley College, but didn't even take a picture. (That might be a record.)
Sunday after church we headed to the little town of Jefferson, Texas, for some more exploring. Its historical downtown district specializes in antique shops and bed and breakfasts.
Obviously a tourist town, we had been told about a restaurant that served unique sandwiches. So we ended up at Kitt's Kornbread Sandwiches and Pie Bar. They don't even have a slice of bread in the place, as all their sandwiches are served between slices of corn bread. It was an interesting sandwich, with a couple of good sides as well.
And of course, we had to have pie for desert--coconut buttermilk pie, to be precise. All over the town of Jefferson, these old buildings are decorated with the iron balconies that remind us of New Orleans. Just for the record, Denisa is proud that she didn't even take a picture of the small and disappointing court house here in Jefferson.
Situated on the river, Jefferson has a lovely trail that leads from downtown to the river bank. We took pictures of the wild wisteria that we are seeing everywhere! Even though they are beautiful this time of year, this purple-flowering vine can totally smother its host tree in the wild.
We couldn't stand around to take too many pictures, however, because the mosquitoes were vicious on this trail. We have found that all the extra rain that this area has gotten this spring, has led to an early crop of very hungry mosquitoes.
As we are heading through the country-side to our next destination, we pass a large white plantation home beside the highway. This is the childhood home of Claudia Alta Taylor. That won't mean anything to most people. Perhaps it will be more familiar if we use her married name--Lady Bird Johnson. This first lady of the United States was born and raised here near Karnac, Texas.
She was married to a young congressman, also from Texas. When the army was looking for a location for an ammunition plant, Lyndon B. Johnson was instrumental in securing the forested area down the road from the Taylor house. This provided lots of jobs for this community, while the plant was open for close to 50 years. When it closed, it was handed over to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to become a wildlife refuge in 2000. So today, we are touring the Caddo Lake National Wildlife Refuge near Karnac.
Even though their brochure bragged that 216 bird, 47 mammal, and 90 reptile species occur in the area, it was the most wildlife-less wildlife refuge we have ever visited. Aside from the flocks of mosquitoes, we didn't see any other wildlife. The good news is the roads were empty of visitors, so it was a great (and flat) place to ride our bikes. An occasional bunker or factory building was the only reminder that this forest was once an ammunition plant where they produced trinitrotoluene. Most of us recognize that by its more common name--TNT.
We have made many stops during our four-day stop in this part of east Texas. We're about to the end of our current tour of Texas, so we will end this blog as we started it. We feel comfortable in saying that we have indeed found the best court house in the entire state--until we find a better one.
I really enjoyed your post today. You brought to life in photos remembrances of my native state and some things I didn't know. I especially like your take on the old courthouse in Marshall. My home town of Nacogdoches had a historic old courthouse until about 60 years ago when the brainless county leaders tore it down to make room for a new and ugly one. I don't think anyone has ever forgiven them. Always enjoy your blog. We, too, are fulltimers and seem to have a similar outlook on life. Maybe we'll cross paths one of these days.
ReplyDeleteUtterly delightful!
ReplyDelete