Cass County has its share of iconic buildings

One one corner of Marietta four-way highway intersection is this brick building which has been a grocery store for several families at various times.
One one corner of Marietta four-way highway intersection is this brick building which has been a grocery store for several families at various times.

Towns and communities are often identified by certain buildings, which may either be new or old but still standing stately and say something about the people who live there.

Why was this building built this way? What has its life been like through the years? These questions come to mind, especially for the visitor traveling through who is seeking an impression of the locale.

Here are a few Cass County communities and their noteworthy buildings:

Atlanta's First Methodist Church, now Church of the Nazarene, on North Louise with its tall spire is central to the town. People pass it a dozen times each day, each time receiving a small uplift.

Inspiring, too, is Atlanta's former post office-now its town library-distinguished by its Greek style front. The building makes one proud to live here.

Linden, of course, has its incomparable courthouse. But it also has Music City Texas upon its hill near the former high school baseball park. Once the VFW meeting spot, the building was home to the widely enjoyed Linden Lions Follies, in its day one of the best sources of entertainment found in Cass County.

Bloomburg has its once-magnificent-now-derelict three-story building, which is Cass County's tallest business building. It was Bloomburg State Bank, first organized in 1908. Now it induces a mute testimony of the community's past.

"This must have once been a prosperous village," the passer-by will think to himself.

That building was so impressive that when it reached its end, it was first given to the city and then sold by the city to a preservation group for $1. Otherwise, it would have been torn down.

McLeod has its wonderful Texas Alamo-style high school building. Its front makes one think of Texas independence. Its ranch outline and style, along with its interior auditorium, are inviting to the public and this is intended. McLeod looks like a community with pride and is almost worth a drive out to see for yourself.

Huffines has its impressive community center. It looks as if must have been a school, and it was. Huffines' cemetery is wide and prominent along the FM 251 roadside on the rise of a hill. It makes Huffines seem like a meaningful place to rest.

Avinger has its two water towers that dominate the town's skyline even as a highway-size billboard is tall and dominant in the middle of the business district.

Marietta has its four-corner highway intersection at its center of town. The town hall is on one of those corners and adds a definite testimony to a once-vigorous life here. The other three corners are abandoned.

Douglassville has a similarly impressive four-corner highway intersection. It's clear that some time ago villagers must have walked or rode-either horse, wagon or bicycle-to the center of the community to meet and talk to one another. What an unusual occurrence that seems to us today.

Douglassville also has an historic-appearing building in the Methodist Church just a block from town center. The Methodists are just across the highway from the Baptist Church there, and sometimes the members do cross the road and join with each other.

O'Farrell once had its red-and-white community center in as pretty setting as could be. But it burned early on the morning of Feb. 16, 2016, when lightning struck a tree and tumbled flaming limbs onto its roof. The former Methodist Church had been remodeled into a red-and-white community center by residents and neighbors in 1994. The loss was tolerated but appears never to be replaced.

Queen City has a huge red warehouse standing close to the railroad crossing but with little or no identification. It seems to have been a gin, and one of several that must have been such a big part of the town's life.

Finally, there are plenty of homes and lots of lakes in Cass County that make visitors want to stop and photograph. Numerous tree, cattle and pastoral views are especially picturesque with their seasonal, round hay bales. They are good for anybody with a paintbrush, too, and help explain about why people choose to live here.

Four examples of these buildings are pictured here because they were easy and impressive to see. Do you readily know which each one is? When looked upon together and at one time, they seem to say, yes, we're really all alike as communities.

Here's a short explanation of the four pictured:

- The Linden Garden Club Rock House

The prominent rock building one block off the square in Linden was a Texaco Service Station in 1934 when U.S. Highway 59 came from Jefferson to the center of Linden at Main Street and Houston before turning right to go on toward Atlanta. Highway 59 is a bypass now.

The station was bought by Linden First Methodist and used as men's Bible class and MYF hall. In 1964, the Methodists deeded it to the Linden Garden Club, which would be its first building and an unusual acquisition for a garden club. The club remodeled the building two years ago.

- Kildare's Masonic Lodge

Jim's Bayou Masonic Lodge is iconic for the village and dates to 1878, a prosperous time for Kildare. The village's lodge and Baptist Church met in the same building, the lodge upstairs and church downstairs. The 216-pound bell rang for both. In 1959, when the church moved to a nearby location, it could not be determined who owned the bell. Finally, the church gave in and cast its own bell. The building of the Fraternity of Independent and Accepted Masons was one of the best built in Northeast Texas and held many colorful meetings.

- Grocery Story in Marietta

While this building in Marietta looks purposeful and singular, it actually was the scene of several grocery stores through the years. These store names included Wood's Grocery and McCoy's Grocery and, as the writing on the free-standing door at left says, "Smith's 1904."

Still, the building looks important and permanent as if it had many stories to tell-which it probably does as it is still owned by Nell Hawkins, who is in her 90's.

And across the street is the Marietta Town Hall. So if law and government are important on one corner here, food and supplies are equally so on the other.

"Lodge in Avinger'

This very substantial building in Avinger is relatively new and does not seem especially inviting to a public. It's a building that says, "What's inside stays inside."

It is, however, a former service station and was a family residence for the Clark family. It's now owned by the Despains of Jefferson.

The brick structure and its design hold up so well that as a building it seems to represent a stable and long-lasting community.

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