February 6, 2022
Today we took a quick trip along a road that is very familiar to us. Bishop Road runs between FM 1696 and TX-75 in northwestern Walker County. Kristi grew up in this area. We used to explore this and other nearby roads together back in our younger days. Not a whole lot has changed along Bishop Road in the past three decades.
We started at the FM 1696 end of Bishop Road. The road is dirt, but it is very well maintained and easy to drive during good weather in practically any vehicle.
Sadly, I don’t know much about this area, and I haven’t been able to find any significant amount of information through my usual resources. But, I hope you will enjoy the pictures and the commentary.
The road has several sharp turns. At the first one, we encountered this old, run-down house.
This area lies about halfway between the community of Crabbs Prairie and the town of Bedias, Texas (pronounced Bee-dice). Kristi is a descendant of the namesake of Crabbs Prairie, Hillary Mercer Crabb.
This sign is located across the corner from the dilapidated house pictured above. (We saw another one of these signs on FM 1696.) We’re both really curious who had them made, and why. A group of friends, maybe?
A little further on, and a few more turns later, we came to Paul Chapel Cemetery. Kristi knows a few people who are buried here–there are several “old” area family names.
There are several named Merchant buried here–Merchant is a common name in nearby Huntsville, Texas. Corporal J. C. Merchant served at Army Air Force Base Unit 1346 in Tezgaon, India during World War II.
Most of the graves are from the 20th century, but there were a few from individuals who lived and died in the 1800s.
The cemetery has several very large, old loblolly pine trees. The bases of both of the large trees featured in the image below were probably nine or ten feet in circumference.
Overall, there is a sense of peace and rest here. The views are beautiful.
After exploring the cemetery, we continued along Bishop Road. The scenery alternates between pastures and woods, with an occasional creek along the way. Bishop Road meets up with Guerrant Road, which leads back to FM 1696, a short walk from where Kristi grew up. That area was once known as Goose Paddle.
I first saw the structure below probably thirty years ago. A Coke vending machine sits on the porch. It has made me wonder whether it might have been a store at some point. Most likely it was just a house.
After driving past some large areas of open pasture, we came back to the trees. The sun was getting low, casting long shadows and golden light through the trees and over the road. What was up ahead?
A little beyond the creek pictured above is General Sam’s Offroad Park, which offers a different type of dirt road experience for those who are inclined toward such things.
And then our short adventure ended at TX-75. Well, not really. I suppose that the adventure never ends in one sense. We stopped at a grocery store in town, then went home where Kristi fixed us a delicious steak dinner. We talked about what we saw today and where we might go next. There are still several roads we want to revisit in the area, but a few obligations might have to take precedence over the next week or so. Hopefully we’ll be back on the road for some longer journeys soon!
P.S. – The Spaceship Car is still waiting on that part.
Another nice trip. Good to see your home places Kristi. Like you, I always wonder who lived in the old houses. In my mind, they are still there, looking over the place and, like us, wondering, “What happened?”