While you are on U.S. Highway 69 going one way or the other in East Texas where the pine trees cast long shadows, you’ll drive through a small town with big history, the town of Alto, Texas. Before I get started I want to share a webpage with you that I found while searching for some factual information. Click here: Two Hundred and Fifty Years: History of Alto, Texas, 1686-1936. Take a moment to read about this town.
I’ve stopped here a dozen or more times while driving to Angelina County. There is no business for me there but I like to pull off the highway and drive through town with my camera. Sometimes I take pictures, most of the time I do but not always for posting here. Here is a link to the post from May 2011. This time I drove around a while, sat in my car while listening to Gabe Rockhand – Moose Tracks & Maple Facts and called my husband to see what he was doing in the late afternoon. I don’t call with ETA’s anymore with the technology we have. He can look me up using some locator app and find me. But it is pleasant to have his company even by phone. I like to drive around the block a few times, sometimes getting out to talk to someone or take a picture of a bug crossing the uneven pavement carrying off the conversations of neighborhood.
Not much is going on in this town on a Sunday afternoon. A rusty chain swung back and forth from a business sign on Busy Bee Avenue. There was a bit more traffic coming in on the 21 and the 294 and I had to wait to turn left for a large slow moving truck come in with about 20 cars patiently following. Maybe not so much for some. On these two lane backroads you’ll find yourself slowing down and sometimes for miles. What are you in a hurry for? Plan ahead, be prepared, and then relax.
Old Palestine Baptist Church sits about 3 miles east of Alto and while I did drive about a mile east on San Antonio Road, I did not have this marked as a place to visit although I should have. I passed First Baptist Church that that stands tall against the road. Don’t tell me you cannot find that church on Sunday morning. It hovers over the street. Get your Sunday best on and get yourself to church. There are about eight churches in Alto so you’ve got a good choice. Why wasn’t I there on this Sunday?
Years ago, I found Lacy’s Fort historical marker when driving into Alto from Crockett doing some geocaching. Caddo Mounds is west of Alto on State Hwy 21. I’d recommend stopping by.
Travel with curiosity.
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