picnic
If you have read this journal for long you may have learned that the name comes from a long-defunct community called Prairie Point. The only remaining trace of that community today is a cemetery of the same name. When I was a boy there was an abandoned wood-frame church on the site also but it is gone now. An historical marker says the church was founded in 1860 and disbanded in 1910. My mother grew up on a farm just a piece down the road from this cemetery and now she lies here along with her parents and grandparents.
Every year in July there is a picnic here under these big old oaks. These picnic tables or ones like them have been here for as long as I can remember. People erect tents and bring in pot luck dishes to share with everyone. I don’t know how old this annual picnic is. Some say as long as a century, maybe more.
I don’t come very often. I actually saw only four people whom I knew among this crowd.
July 19th, 2006 @ 10:55 pm
I thoroughly enjoy this type of post. Why did Prairie Point become defunct?
July 20th, 2006 @ 12:21 am
That’s really nice that people come together to remember the old community! Funny how a place that once thrived could also fade away.
July 20th, 2006 @ 8:07 am
Linda: That is a good question. I’ll have to ask that of some family members who know more about these matters than I do. It may have had something to do with crossing points over the Trinity River.
Communities came and went in those days though. Even now there are small towns in Texas that are drying up.
July 29th, 2006 @ 9:25 pm
Is there also a building near that site that was once an old school house…but I think now is someone’s home? I also remember there was once a very old trellis bridge with a wood slats that we were scared to walk on because it was rotted and needed replaced. They finally did replace it and I remember being sad that it was gone.
When I saw your photograph, before reading the entry, I said “that looks like some family reunion photos my grandmother has”! If this is the place I am thinking of then I know exactly where it is. As a child we held our family reunions there. My Uncle was married in the little white church and I have relatives buried in that cemetery. As my grandparents got to be older and unable to go to the picnics we stopped going.
…but I would love to go back someday and photograph that site. Thanks for reminding me about that even though it may not be the same place. I will have to see if my mom remembers what it was called and how to get there.