Kountze
Kirbyville
Newton
Kirbyville
Newton
That weird city in East Texas
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145 Replies |
Last: 1 yr ago by Bill Bigfoot
Trinity
EOT
EOT
This thread is awesome. I have three things to add:
1. Happy not to see Palestine anywhere on this list.
2. Palestine folks think Athens is full of rich snobs
3. West Tawakoni has to be on this list somewhere. Seeing people walking along the highway in West Tawakoni shirtless is like the Texas version of Groundhog's Day. The first one signals five months of summer.
1. Happy not to see Palestine anywhere on this list.
2. Palestine folks think Athens is full of rich snobs
3. West Tawakoni has to be on this list somewhere. Seeing people walking along the highway in West Tawakoni shirtless is like the Texas version of Groundhog's Day. The first one signals five months of summer.
I have been enjoying reading this thread too. We travel this way when heading north out of state to visit family and it is a very pretty drive. So, we travel I45 to Buffalo or Fairfield and then head east on 79 or 84. (Depending upon the interstate traffic we jump off early or later). For those of you who live or grew up in East Texas, where does East Texas begin? I have been to some of the larger cities/towns that have been mentioned like Athens, Paris, and Palestine- our children call it going 'round the world.' There is one section of roadway (maybe on 79?) that is just lines with the tallest trees and small acreages and so pretty. Guess it goes to show that there is more behind the scenes than I'll ever know.
* I will have to ask you all for good eats recommendations the next time we are headed out. The kiddos always want to stop at the Whataburger and there is nothing wrong with that, but sometimes the local burger is pretty tasty!
* I will have to ask you all for good eats recommendations the next time we are headed out. The kiddos always want to stop at the Whataburger and there is nothing wrong with that, but sometimes the local burger is pretty tasty!
The "where does it begin" is a good question.
For the northern half of the region I think it starts around Canton on I-20 or Sulpher Springs on I-30. Further north of 30 I have trouble viewing Paris as east Texas; the black land farms and prairie land just make it feel more like Denton or Gainesville than Longview or Lufkin. Further east of there though (but just as far north) I view Clarksville and Dekalb as prototypical east Texas type towns and mentalities.
Further south, I think I-45 is as good of a border line and starting point as any. Corsicana? No. Athens...yep. College Station? No....Crocket and Conroe? Sure.
So all of that said, for me, Houston is the Southern starting point. Run NW on 45 until you're south of Athens, then straight north curving up through Sulpher Springs and continuing the curve NE until you hit the Red?
Just my 2 cents.
For the northern half of the region I think it starts around Canton on I-20 or Sulpher Springs on I-30. Further north of 30 I have trouble viewing Paris as east Texas; the black land farms and prairie land just make it feel more like Denton or Gainesville than Longview or Lufkin. Further east of there though (but just as far north) I view Clarksville and Dekalb as prototypical east Texas type towns and mentalities.
Further south, I think I-45 is as good of a border line and starting point as any. Corsicana? No. Athens...yep. College Station? No....Crocket and Conroe? Sure.
So all of that said, for me, Houston is the Southern starting point. Run NW on 45 until you're south of Athens, then straight north curving up through Sulpher Springs and continuing the curve NE until you hit the Red?
Just my 2 cents.
I have been to Canton! Well, sort of. Passed through it. The first time was heading north w/the kiddos and it was this sleepy little town. On the way back home to CS, decided to let the teen with the learner's permit drive to get some highway miles (after crossing into Texas). We hit Canton on trade days; something at the time we had never heard of (shopping isn't my thing). It was quite the lesson in:
a. Driving and watching out for pedestrians who walk anywhere they feel like.
b. People watching in general.
So when teen driver got to A&M a couple of years later, it was a piece of cake.
There is another town, Crossroads, we always thought was aptly named. It was also the town where we tended to make a wrong turn the first few times. My spouse said the town was small enough they might want to put up a sign that says, "******* Family, turn here" with an arrow.
a. Driving and watching out for pedestrians who walk anywhere they feel like.
b. People watching in general.
So when teen driver got to A&M a couple of years later, it was a piece of cake.
There is another town, Crossroads, we always thought was aptly named. It was also the town where we tended to make a wrong turn the first few times. My spouse said the town was small enough they might want to put up a sign that says, "******* Family, turn here" with an arrow.
Quote:
where does East Texas begin?
That's a question for the ages. We always said we were from Northeast Texas. For me, a good rule of thumb -- with a NE Texas bias -- is as follows for our great state:
Anything west of I-35 is West Texas (Fort Worth advertises itself as "The Place Where the West Begins"
Anything east of I-45 is East Texas
Anything east of U.S. 59 is Louisiana
Anything south of I-10 is Mexico
I grew up in a small farm town in Northeast Texas. When I got to A&M I thought I was from "east Texas" but a guy in the dorms from Nacadogches told me no my hometown was not east Texas. After living in Tyler for 8 years I gotta agree. Anything north of I30 is not east Texas.
I do include north of I20 bc of Wood County, Gilmer etc are all up there.
I do include north of I20 bc of Wood County, Gilmer etc are all up there.
Anything north of Nacogdoches is Canada.
RockOn said:
I grew up in a small farm town in Northeast Texas. When I got to A&M I thought I was from "east Texas" but a guy in the dorms from Nacadogches told me no my hometown was not east Texas. After living in Tyler for 8 years I gotta agree. Anything north of I30 is not east Texas.
I do include north of I20 bc of Wood County, Gilmer etc are all up there.
I hate it when people refer to college station as east texas. Not even close. I dont consider it east until the davy Crockett national forest.
Fonzie Scheme said:Quote:
where does East Texas begin?
That's a question for the ages. We always said we were from Northeast Texas. For me, a good rule of thumb -- with a NE Texas bias -- is as follows for our great state:
Anything west of I-35 is West Texas (Fort Worth advertises itself as "The Place Where the West Begins"
Anything east of I-45 is East Texas
Anything east of U.S. 59 is Louisiana
Anything south of I-10 is Mexico
Still the best representation ever on film-
People do that? We've lived here for over a decade and I guess I consider it south central. The I-45 delineator kind of aligned with how I imagine it.
Another bit of our travels I remember is along one of the roads you can see what I'm guessing is a horse farm? It has what looks like a real race track with those special track rails and everything. It was neat.
We also crossed over a small lake(?) that was filled with lilypads. That might have been further north though.
My kiddos like when we take the route that goes by the dam.
Another bit of our travels I remember is along one of the roads you can see what I'm guessing is a horse farm? It has what looks like a real race track with those special track rails and everything. It was neat.
We also crossed over a small lake(?) that was filled with lilypads. That might have been further north though.
My kiddos like when we take the route that goes by the dam.
YES! My hometown didn't make the list. Though, I was born in Gladewater and have been to many a pasture/barn party in towns mentioned on this thread.
To me, East Texas begins with the pine trees. I drove to College Station via Hwy 21 and just west of Crockett, the pine trees ended and I began to see mesquite trees. To me, that was the boundary.
Growing up in Longview the term "Northeast Texas" didn't exist. I never once heard that term and you still dont. Longview and Tyler were and are the center of the East Texas universe.
It never even dawned on me until my geography class at A&M that towns south of Lufkin considered themselves East Texas as well.
It never even dawned on me until my geography class at A&M that towns south of Lufkin considered themselves East Texas as well.
AgLaw said:
This thread is awesome. I have three things to add:
1. Happy not to see Palestine anywhere on this list.
2. Palestine folks think Athens is full of rich snobs
3. West Tawakoni has to be on this list somewhere. Seeing people walking along the highway in West Tawakoni shirtless is like the Texas version of Groundhog's Day. The first one signals five months of summer.
Not sure if Hunt County/Tawakoni is East Texas. Will agree about people- sheriffs office calls Tawakoni " the largest unfenced penitentiary in the world".
The western edge is easy. Edgewood. It's the edge of the woods anything west plays to close to DFW.
For me, Lake Tawakoni is one of the gateways to East Texas. My definition of East Texas has always been Red River due south to Fairfield (including Greenville, Tawakoni, Gun Barrel City/Cedar Creek) and and then everything east of 45. The southern boundary is Huntsville and due east to the Sabine.Owlagdad said:AgLaw said:
This thread is awesome. I have three things to add:
1. Happy not to see Palestine anywhere on this list.
2. Palestine folks think Athens is full of rich snobs
3. West Tawakoni has to be on this list somewhere. Seeing people walking along the highway in West Tawakoni shirtless is like the Texas version of Groundhog's Day. The first one signals five months of summer.
Not sure if Hunt County/Tawakoni is East Texas. Will agree about people- sheriffs office calls Tawakoni " the largest unfenced penitentiary in the world".
The area area between Houston and LA was always "South Texas" to us. The real South Texas was North Mexico.
IMO, if it's not behind The Pine Curtain, then it is not East Texas. It use to really irritate me back in college when some people would refer to B/CS as being in East Texas.
Well, I'm 'not from around here,' as people like to say but living in CS I wouldn't consider it East Texas either. Simply on driving observations alone, it just doesn't look the same, more rolling plains than pine trees.
If you see pine trees, you're in East Texas. Bastrop being the exception.
I grew up in Arp, it was just small, not overly weird.
Newton has a weird feel, and so does Cleveland.
Newton has a weird feel, and so does Cleveland.
Turning east on 190 in Livingston, headed out towards 69 in Woodville, you'll see "DON'T METH WITH TEXAS" billboards.
My list:
Evadale
Deweyville
Jasper
Buna
Vidor
Zavala
Hull Daisetta (actual two towns)
Woodville
Evadale has a red neck race track... mascot is still the rebels complete with stars & bars flag... there's a terrible smelling paper mill... and an annual catfish festival... hard to top that.
My list:
Evadale
Deweyville
Jasper
Buna
Vidor
Zavala
Hull Daisetta (actual two towns)
Woodville
Evadale has a red neck race track... mascot is still the rebels complete with stars & bars flag... there's a terrible smelling paper mill... and an annual catfish festival... hard to top that.
---
Class of '10 - A&M Undergrad & Master's Alum
Class of '10 - A&M Undergrad & Master's Alum
Could easily produce a HBO/True Detective type TV show based on a spooky/weird East Texas town.
For me, I grew up spending summers with my grandparents in Groveton and have since spent a lot of time at the small farm we have there now. The mystique of the pines, the dirt roads that go miles into the forest, the backwoods shacks, the greedy/redneck politicians and staple families, the inherent racism, the radical Christianity, the drugs and alcoholism, etc. make that area spooky and mysterious to me. I'm not from there, so often times I wonder what I'm looking past and what's going on that the whole town knows about but that the out-of-towner doesn't.
But, maybe I've just watched too much TV.
Note:
Recently, I was driving down a dirt road outside of Groveton and some a-hole literally passed me going 40-45mph and intentionally ran me off of the road. It's a dirt road that's just wide enough for two vehicles to pass, but usually one vehicle will courteously pull over while the other car passes. I was putting at maybe 10-15mph when this happened. Had two other Ags that can testify to this and I actually had my hand on my Glock 19. Thankfully, that was the first time I've ever thought I was about to have to kill to defend my life
For me, I grew up spending summers with my grandparents in Groveton and have since spent a lot of time at the small farm we have there now. The mystique of the pines, the dirt roads that go miles into the forest, the backwoods shacks, the greedy/redneck politicians and staple families, the inherent racism, the radical Christianity, the drugs and alcoholism, etc. make that area spooky and mysterious to me. I'm not from there, so often times I wonder what I'm looking past and what's going on that the whole town knows about but that the out-of-towner doesn't.
But, maybe I've just watched too much TV.
Note:
Recently, I was driving down a dirt road outside of Groveton and some a-hole literally passed me going 40-45mph and intentionally ran me off of the road. It's a dirt road that's just wide enough for two vehicles to pass, but usually one vehicle will courteously pull over while the other car passes. I was putting at maybe 10-15mph when this happened. Had two other Ags that can testify to this and I actually had my hand on my Glock 19. Thankfully, that was the first time I've ever thought I was about to have to kill to defend my life
Why were you going so slow?
who?mikejones said:
Why were you going so slow?
Giving my Ag buds a tour of the area. I should clairify that this was oncoming traffic so speed in this situation was irrelevant. Besides, it's pretty standard for vehicles to go 20-25mph on this particular dirt road.
594 say no more.
I've always generally thought of East Texas being south of I30 and East of the Trinity excluding DFW.
Overton...
I had a lot of interactions with this town and holy hell this is where the term "low rent" is embodied.
Edited to add that basically the entire 42 to 135 corridor is just like going to another country... or at least close to it.
I had a lot of interactions with this town and holy hell this is where the term "low rent" is embodied.
Edited to add that basically the entire 42 to 135 corridor is just like going to another country... or at least close to it.
IceCream14 said:
Could easily produce a HBO/True Detective type TV show based on a spooky/weird East Texas town.
In True Detective season 1, they show McConaughey driving into Orange/Beaumont on I10-W. It's the biker gang episode.
---
Class of '10 - A&M Undergrad & Master's Alum
Class of '10 - A&M Undergrad & Master's Alum
Quote:
where does East Texas begin?
The east bank of the Pecos River
Fred
Colmesneil
Zavalla
Newton
Colmesneil
Zavalla
Newton
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