Old Country Communities in Angelina County, East of Diboll, Texas

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I was in Diboll, Texas on minor business and found two old country cemeteries (on my Angelina County map) on Texas Hwy 1818 East of Diboll. Both had an active Christian church with a maintained cemetery.

The first was the Prairie Grove Church and Cemetery. This was founded in the 1800s with its cemetery. There were some interesting and expensive granite grave stones. Two of of the markers showed that the person resting there were Masons.

I drove a few miles East and found the Pine Grove Church and Cemetery. This is a newer facility then found in Prairie Grove. I wanted a pic of inside the Pine Grove Church. Since the glass window had glare and a strong reflection I tried my old method. I placed my camera directly on the glass window to get the inside view of the church.

I saw no homes near the two churches, so the worshipers were country folk that had to drive (or ride horseback) to church for services.

I drove just South of Diboll on US Hwy 59 and made a stop at a gasoline station. Behind the station I saw the Emporia (ghost town) Cemetery. Emporia was a town founded around a sawmill in the 1890s, by the new Houston East West Texas Railroad. Emporia had a post office from 1893 to 1907. After the sawmill closed in 1906, most of the people moved North to Diboll with its major sawmill (still big business today). Emporia was completely abandoned by around 1926.

Just North of Diboll is the town of Burke, another old sawmill town. I made a brief stop there on my way home to shoot the Burke Methodist Church and the Burke Mesonic Lodge.

completed

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Photos

Prairie Grove Cemetery
a Mason

Prairie Grove Cemetery
a Woodman of the World

Prairie Grove Cemetery
a Mason

Pine Grove Church
inside