May 20 and May 27, 2023
This trip was in two parts. I had originally mapped out two separate routes, meant to be explored over two separate days. But, after completing the first route we decided to go back and explore it a little more in-depth, and then end the day’s adventure by following the second route. So, I guess we DID do it in two days–just not the way that I planned it.
Anyway, where was all of this action? We were once again in Houston County, Texas.
Houston County was the first county organized by the Republic of Texas. It was established in 1837 and named for President Sam Houston. The county seat, Crockett, was named for the famous frontiersman and Alamo hero, David “Davy” Crockett. Houston County sat along the Old San Antonio Road, an important route in early Texas.
Houston County was sparsely populated in the first half of the 19th century. Most of the county’s economy was based on cotton and depended on slave labor. After the Civil War, an influx of new settlers brought with it an expansion of farmlands and a greater diversity of agricultural products, including peanuts, sorghum, beans, milk, eggs, and various livestock. The economy further expanded after the arrival of the Houston and Great Northern Railroad (now Union Pacific Railroad) in 1872, which made shipping of timber products and manufactured goods viable.
Houston County is still a major producer of agricultural products, as well as oil and timber. Crockett sits at the crossing of several important regional highways: U.S. 287, TX-19, TX-7, and TX-21.
Our adventure began at the Moosehead Cafe in downtown Crockett. The cafe was established in 2001 in a former hardware store and named for a taxidermy moose head that used to hang in the back of the store. The owners have since collected a few other moose heads, as well as other taxidermy displays. The cafe is a combination cafe and store and has quite a collection of Republican political memorabilia. So, be forewarned, if pro-Republican paraphernalia triggers you, then this might not be the place for you. But the owners, staff, and patrons welcome people of all political persuasions, so if you like friendly people and good food, then this is the place for you!
Kristi and I ate a delicious lunch and purchased dessert from a group of youth holding a fundraiser. Incidentally, the cafe does not consider it unusual to order onion rings with a Reuben sandwich.
After lunch, we took a quick stroll around the courthouse. The Houston County courthouse was built in 1939, using a grant from the Public Works Administration, to replace the previous courthouse building that was constructed in 1883.
The Bromberg Building, constructed in the 1870s to house a dry goods business, now serves as an annex to the courthouse.
Betty Boop’s Sandwich & Soup is located on the west side of the square in the former Knights of Pythias Lodge No. 193. The K of P is a fraternal organization–I suppose akin to the Freemasons. The lodge has moved to Copperas Cove, Texas.
The W. V. McConnell Building was built in 1891. It operated as a mercantile store until 1973.
The local Masonic Temple is located on the opposite end of the square from the former K of P Lodge. I appreciate the fact that this building is made of brick.
The parking lot next to the Moosehead Cafe was the former location of the Crockett Hotel, which was destroyed by a fire in 1972.
After our brief exploration of the square, we drove west on Houston Avenue toward Loop 304 and County Road 2076, where our dirt road adventure began.
But before I get into the details of the drive, I want to point out the fact that we are having a SPECTACULAR wildflower season this year. The flowers came out early and are still blooming–and in abundance! Below are pictures of some of the flowers we saw during our drive:
The above barely represents what we saw. There were abundant black-eyed Susans, winecups, prairie larkspur, winter vetch, and many others: whole fields and large roadside patches of flowers. We even spotted a few late holdouts of Indian paintbrush!
Now, back to the drive. As I stated above, our dirt road adventure began on CR 2076. The road starts out paved and begins at Loop 304 on the west side of Crockett. It leads to the site of an old community named Hall’s Bluff. Hall’s Bluff was located on the Trinity River and served as a shipping point, where loads of cotton were transported downriver to Galveston on flatboats. While never a large community, it began to decline after the railroad reached Crockett. Now, only a few houses exist near the site.
CR 2076 is also called Hall’s Bluff Road. A historical marker is located a short distance from the loop:
Route: Hall’s Bluff and Wheeler Springs
Hall’s Bluff Road is a beautiful, scenic road with lots of tree tunnels and pastoral views. Most of the road surface is dirt. It is in fair to good condition–parts of it were recently graded–but I recommend a vehicle with a decent bit of clearance (6+ inches) for some of the dicey bits. There are some rocky sections and sections of washboard surface along this route. Take it slow, enjoy the sights, and don’t try to drink a full cup of hot coffee while driving.
Not far from where the pavement ends, the road enters into a sort of tree tunnel through a winding section with pastures just outside the tree line on either side. Here, a small creek comes alongside on the left and follows the road for a short distance. I’m not certain of the name of this creek, or if it even has one, but it might be called Beaver Creek. Regardless, it’s a pretty spot.
The little creek veers away from the road to the south. A short distance from there, the road crosses what appears to be a bayou. This particular body of water was confusing to me when I was researching the area. I thought it was Hurricane Bayou, but it turned out to be part of an intermittent creek that flows into Hurricane Bayou. According to the aerial maps this deep-looking channel does not extend far on either side of the road.
A very short distance from the unnamed bayou is the actual Hurricane Bayou. I could not find any information on why it is named “Hurricane,” but the name appears on a map dated 1859, so it has been in use for quite some time. Hurricane Bayou also crosses TX-19 north of Crockett. It empties into the Trinity River.
There are very few houses out here. AT&T phone reception is weak or non-existent for much of the drive.
Campbell Cemetery appears on Google Maps a little west of Pleasant Grove CME church and cemetery, but this is incorrect. Campbell Cemetery is actually down County Road 2070, which starts on Hall’s Bluff Road to the east of Pleasant Grove. The road ends somewhere out in the woods. A sign located at the entrance to CR 2070 points the way to the cemetery.
The earliest graves we saw in Campbell Cemetery were from the early 20th century. There were several veterans from World War II, and several family sites. We could tell that it was visited recently, but some maintenance is needed. Overall, it was a quiet, peaceful place.
Oddly, a few of the headstones used stickers for the names and dates, and the stickers had fallen off or faded. It appeared that all of these headstones were for members of the Delane family. My impression is that several headstones in this shape were premade, then used as needed. Stickers make sense in that context, but it does not appear that they have been maintained since originally installed.
We left the cemetery and drove back to Hall’s Bluff Road. Some parts of the road cut through low hills. The cuts make some interesting and pretty scenes.
After a while the terrain began to flatten out a little as we approached the end of the road. Hall’s Bluff Road turns north and becomes County Road 2080, also called Wheeler Springs Road. A ranch is located there.
As I mentioned earlier, there are very few homes down Hall’s Bluff Road. There are several old, dilapidated houses and barns in the area, though. We stopped and took pictures of a few of them from the road.
One of the exciting things about our adventures is that we sometimes find something significant tucked away in some remote part of the countryside. Wheeler Springs is such a place. We had no idea it existed until we went on this adventure.
Wheeler Springs Road ends at Old Navaho Road. A historical marker for Wheeler Springs is located here, but the community is actually on the other end of the road near Hall’s Bluff, about a 5-mile drive from the marker. To get to it, turn off of Wheeler Springs Road onto CR 2106 and drive all the way to the end.
Another historical marker is located at the site of the Wheeler Springs School. A church and two abandoned buildings are located nearby.
A structure that appears to be an old well is located behind the marker.
Opposite the two structures above is the Wheeler Springs Missionary Baptist Church.
The cornerstone reads:
WHEELER SPRING
BAPTIST CHURCH
ORG. 1928
REBUILT 1944
PASTOR
REV. J. L. WARD
DEACONS
ED MURPHY
H. M. MURPHY
IN CHRIST
The walls of this and the other structures in the area were mostly made of some kind of iron ore (limonite?) conglomerates. I suspect that it was locally sourced, possibly from in or around the nearby Trinity River.
There are a few houses in the area, but the community itself is long gone. It’s sad to see such magnificent buildings decaying, but the little church appears to still be active.
We returned to Wheeler Springs Road and continued our drive to its end. Along the way we came to a corner and wondered, “Whose corner is this?”
Near the corner we positively identified as belonging to Cloyd, is the David Densen Memorial Cemetery. The grass here was very high and we didn’t want to venture into possible snake country, so we didn’t explore it.
A little way from the cemetery we spotted a mailbox that was really only a suggestion of a mailbox–it was just a mailbox with no bottom attached to a post. We also saw an RV trailer that had a real wood door. (No, we didn’t take pictures.)
We ended the first route at the corner of Wheeler Springs Road and Old Navaho Road, where the Wheeler Springs Community historical marker, above, is located.
Route: Pipeline Road and Old Crockett Road
The second half of our adventure began on County Road 2135, starting on Old Navaho Road northwest of Crockett. The drive was mostly through forest, including some areas with new growth. In one clearing we spotted a huge hawk sitting in a dead tree.
I suspect that this was a white tailed hawk. It looked like the bird we saw on our Around the Lake adventure. We tried to get a closer picture, but it took off, and disappeared into the trees on the other side of the road.
There is a point along CR 2135 where it passes between two houses. It looks as if it is going to either end or turn into someone’s driveway, but the road does continue on. Just be aware of this “pinch point” in case you venture down there.
CR 2135 ends at Pipeline Road. To the left, Pipeline Road heads to a pump station on the shore of Houston County Lake. We turned right, heading east.
While crossing a creek at the bottom of two hills, I saw what I thought was a VERY deep ravine (by East Texas standards). It was a little difficult to comprehend what I was seeing, as it was through the trees and the light was dim. Kristi looked and saw the same as me, but then suddenly the scene came into proper focus: we were seeing a reflection on the surface of a pond. I drove forward a little and took this picture:
But this little pond had another surprise: a chorus of frogs!
Pipeline Road passes by the Houston County water treatment plant, and then ends at County Road 2120, also called Old Latexo Road and Old Crockett Road. We turned left and headed north toward the town of Grapeland.
Old Crockett Road parallels the route of TX-19. The Union Pacific Railroad track follows the same route between these two roads. For a short distance it runs very close to Old Crockett Road.
Much of this road runs through forest and by pastures. There are also several houses along this route–much more than down Hall’s Bluff Road.
One of the houses we passed had this sign in the front yard. It looks like an official landmark, but I could find no information about it. It is located at the corner of Old Crockett/Latexo Road and County Road 2123 in Latexo, Texas.
The house looks well-preserved, but also modernized. If I can find any information about it, then I will post an addendum.
While not as interesting a drive as Hall’s Bluff and Wheeler Springs Roads, Old Crockett Road is still pretty and worth a trip to visit. It feels far from civilization for most of its length, but TX-19 is never far to the east.
As we approached Grapeland, the forest gave way to pastures and more homes. In the distance, between Old Crockett Road and the railroad tracks stands what appears to be an old fire lookout tower. I could find no information on a lookout tower in this location, but one is registered a little distance to the south on the other side of TX-19. Satellite maps do not show the “official” tower, so I wonder if it was moved to this location when it was decommissioned.
Houston County has a lot of interesting and beautiful places to explore. Although we have not mapped out any additional routes at this time, I would like to explore more of the northwestern corner around Houston County Lake. There are still lots of places we haven’t been to in the east and southeast, too. Maybe this summer we will concentrate our explorations in those areas.