 The storm clouds became increasingly more dramatic as I drove toward the town of Zavalla. It had already been a long day - 400 miles and two Concords already visited, and when the skies open up in sheets of rain, I had to pull off the side of the road. The torrent seem appropriate since the town of Concord in Angelina County lay under 30 or so feet of water. The Concord Missionary Baptist Church established in 1860, but there had been a fishing town and trading post for a long time situated on the edge of the Angelina River. In the 1930's they had a handsome school and good farm lands. In 1928, that handsome school became $15 dollars richer!  4/25/1928 Dallas Morning News With the develop of better roads the steamboat stop in Concord became less important and the town dwindled down to a single store and a church with a scattering of houses. In the late 1950's and early 1960's, the Army Corp of Engineers dammed up the river, the church and cemetery were relocated to Zavalla, but the resident were despondent about leaving. "We're not going till the government pays us for our land, even if we have to take to an ark like Noah." The government did not compensate them properly for their property, but it was the relocation of the graves that bothered some Concord families the most. One former resident complained: "When they move the graves, the souls of our pioneers won't have any place to rest. They'll just roam around, never leaving Concord."  1/5/1960 p. 6 Dallas Morning News  Just beyond the church a dirt road winded through think forests. Suicidal critters kept leaping out of the underbrush (Texas has to be the roadkill capital of America - possums, raccoons, deer, and the "Texas speedbump" the armadillo. ) The road once continued down to a little bridge, but now it stopped at the edge of the largest lake wholly in Texas.  Somewhere near here lay Concord.  Robert was enjoying a quiet weekend fishing. He told me the he often fished off the steps of the old church when the water level was low enough.  Water levels were historically low a couple of years ago and the site of the Concord church was exposed. (courtesy of www.TheHistoryCenterOnline.com)
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
ArchivesCategories |
RSS Feed