Piney Woods: Towering Trees and Historical Roots
If your wanderlust aches for backwoods wandering and Southern small-town charm, grab your official state map and follow my 100-mile ramble. Look to the Piney Woods of East Texas—home of Toledo Bend and Sam Rayburn reservoirs, plus the Sabine and Angelina National Forests.
Testing ground for cell-phone towers? Nope. You’re looking at many-splendored oil derricks in historic Kilgore. Some 200 pumping wells remain here, and tall titans like these number around 60, each lit with a star during the holidays.
Local artist Doug Myerscough painted the four sides of Denison Pawn with murals, including this west-side series of panels representing some of Denison’s artists and their galleries. For more of Doug's work, visit www.murals.com
Side-road surprises abound along historic (and new) stretches of US 80, including road signs in downtown Mineola. On October 20, 1926, Colonel Ed Fletcher steered his automobile eastward from San Diego, California, resolute to reach Savannah, Georgia, in record time. The land developer's stunt was geared to drum up support for a transcontinental driving route to San Diego, even though road trips were considered "something of a sporting proposition." Indeed, most roads were narrow dirt lanes, slippery when wet.
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Piney Woods: A Region Where Fast-Paced Is Out of Place
