The Respess Family and Respess Creek. In the 1870s Richard Ormand Respess (1839-1906) and his wife…read moreNannie Lois Williams moved here from Harrison County. Respess gave the land and taught at the first school built in the Frog Pond community, known later as Liberty Chapel. His oldest son Charlie O. (1859-1917) lived near this site and operated a general store. During the years that the family allowed free access for perch and cat fishing, the stream became known as "Respess Creek." It is the only reminder of the pioneer family who lived here. Located just east of Carthage, Texas on US 79 this historic marker is not difficult to find but there isn't any access for viewing except for pulling off the road on what's left of the gravel and grass shoulder so allow yourself plenty of room to exit your vehicle to view this marker this highway has plenty of truck traffic traveling at speed that can pass rather closely.

When this marker went up, I was the one and only reporter present. My children's dad's grandmother…read morewas Annie Respess. We called her Mamah. The creek bed is practically dried up. Annie Respess married Ed Langford. The land remained in the Langford family after Mamah died and the remainder of her children died. My photos were 35 mm, not digital. Travis Jim Reeves is buried on grounds near this church. His dog is buried with him. It's actually all one large piece of land. Yearly in July there is a family reunion and graveyard working. The family is proud of this heritage.

If you are driving around East Texas not a bad place to stop for gas, food, and clean rest rooms…read more In the area of Nacogdoches and Carthage Texas.

Visually stunning. This memorial is a sight. Definitely recommend if your are in the area. And go…read moreat different times in the day. Sunset v sunrise etc. it will only take a few minutes out of your day though, so make sure you have other items on the agenda.

This was a nice spot to have a picnic , we had salads and watermelon. The statute is huge, with a…read morepowerful meaning. ---remember not to walk on the footprints.

Take Highway 96 North to Tenaha and Highway 84, turn right, east, onto 84 and continue for 3 miles…read moreto the Ramah Baptist Church. The cemetery is across the railroad tracks on the left side of the road. I am sure when this area was originally settled one of the first orders of business after building shelter and securing stocks of food supplies was to establish a house of worship and a place that could be used to educate the young, often times these buildings were one in the same. If you look back through history it was the church property that also provided the final resting place for the faithful. Since the church was the major influence on the community and responsible for establishing and enforcing the core values of the towns people the caretakers of the cemeteries were usually members of the church and although it was rarely spoke of, the business of these cemeteries were often guarded and political in nature. It wasn't to be assumed that when one passed onto the afterlife that you would be guaranteed a plot within the gates of this revered property. To be denied entrance often brought shame and embarrassment to the family so the possibility of rejection was meant to serve as a deterrent from partaking in the evils of the world or going against the agenda or what some may call "the teachings of the church". These pulpit driven proclamations could have influenced the need to create alternatives such as public, ethnic, or culture based cemeteries or the private family cemeteries which are often thought were reserved for the privileged when in reality could of been started out of necessity that forced the family to make private arrangements for their heathen relatives. The following few paragraphs validate the impact on the citizens of the community, showing a annual business meeting held in some form or another for the past 137 years and the "acknowledgment" or credit given to those that contribute along with tax information so much for "The separation of church and state". RAMAH CEMETERY DAY-SAT, JUNE 6, 2015 Sun, 05/31/2015 - 11:11am Ourtown1 --- Date: Saturday, June 6, 2015 - 11:00am Ramah Cemetery will be holding their annual cemetery gathering and business meeting on Saturday, June 6, 2015 at 11:00 a.m. Bring a covered dish for family fun and fellowship afterward. The oldest marked grave found in Ramah Cemetery is dated 1878. This cemetery is located on land later deeded for burial by William Tell Pou. In 1909, William tell Pou deeded 3.6 acres of land to Ramah Church, with approxmently 3 acres used for the cemetery. J. E. Christian deeded an additional 1/3 acre in 1958. The Christian Broadcasting Company deeded another 2 acres as directed by William Tell Pou in 1979, along with another acre deed by Mattie Christian, et al, in the same year. At this time, 1979, the cemetery contained approximately 6 acres of land. In 1990, special improvements were made to the inside service road. This work was made possible due to donation made by the Corine Martindale Wood and the Winnie Mae Rich Families. Friends and family members often choose to express their respect in a more enduring way than with cards or flowers a receipt for tax purposes will be sent to donors.

They do a fantastic job with keeping the land well groomed. Would definitely recommend.read more

I tagged along with my husband when he went to the government building to get his driver's license…read morerenewed and everyone was so sweet and helpful. It only took him a few minutes to complete the paperwork and take the photo and the license arrived in the mail a few days later. It's really nice to see a government office that was so kind and easy to work with, I guess it's one of the advantages of a small town!

Great selection of books and friendly staff! There's something for everyone. Public libraries are…read moreso important and need to be utilized

This is a clean, modern library with a staff thats friendly and professional. They ate a great…read moreresource for many things. I was also impressed that they are having a holiday toy drive for needy kids in our community.

SPIVEY, TEXAS. Spivey was twelve miles north of Center in northern Shelby County. It was…read moreestablished in the 1860s and named for the Spivey family, early settlers in the area. The community received a post office in 1890, with Isaac W. Spivey as postmaster. The post office was discontinued in 1903 and the mail forwarded to nearby Paxton. In 1896 the community had a sawmill, the Friendship Baptist Church, Friendship Cemetery, and a population estimated at fifty. By 1946 Spivey had ceased to exist as a named community. There's not much one can say about Spivey since it doesn't exist any longer and consider a vanishing ghost town. This historic roadside marker is one of the few reminders left that it ever existed. Located next to a old railroad track in the middle of the piney woods off US 84 near Joaquin, Texas it can be easily missed. There is a small paved area to pull off the highway to view this marker if you're interested. There are references a few graves marking the town original site I didn't realize this until much later so I can't speak to this.

Our postal system continues to amaze. Underfunded & understaffed, they continue to be the bright…read morespot in our daily contact with an otherwise dysfunctional government.