Monkey Business

Home Sweet Home Part 1

Home Sweet Home Prompt # 1 May, 1st. '22 — A bit about the history of your town/area.
Every place has a history. Some towns were founded to support gold rushes, others were close to oceans.
What's the History of where you live? What was the early industry that made your town the place to be? Who founded your town and when?

         Where I Live: I live in Athens. No, not Athens Greece, or Athens Georgia, or any of the other eleven cities named Athens which litter the eastern United States. I live in Athens, Texas. I've lived in Texas my entire life and have lived in or near Athens for the last twenty-two years. What's the draw? I initially moved here to get away from a failed marriage and everything that came along with it. I left behind my parents and everyone I had known up to that point.

I initially moved to the Athens Texas area because it had a quiet country atmosphere, all the residents were friendly, and there are plenty of lakes, rivers, woodlands, and nature around. I stayed because I met my soulmate, who had also come to the area to leave behind a different life. But I should get back to the point at hand and answer the blog prompt properly rather than rambling on about things not in the prompt.

On April 7 of this year, I blogged about the history of Athens Texas (see "BCOF Day 3337 - A History"  for blog post) in my personal blog, "Dissociated Thoughts"  responding to a "Blogging Circle of Friends Prompt Forum"  prompt. But, to keep to the rules of this challenge, here are some of the highlights about the history of Athens Texas.

Earliest Days: The earliest settlers got here early in 1850. Matthew Cartwright donated 160 acres of his land for a county seat, and the commissioners had Samuel Huffer survey the streets, the city square, and 112 lots that would become the beginnings of Athens. The district court first met under an oak in the square. Later, they built first courthouse, a sixty-five-dollar log building that took all of a month to build. A jail made out of logs was built in 1856 next to the courthouse. Hoping that the town would become a cultural center, a lady by the name of Dulcina A. Holland suggested the name Athens. The name stuck and by 1855, Athens had a store, a Masonic lodge, and a Presbyterian church. And Athens continued to grow. Eventually, Athens also had a pottery plant, a brick plant, a cotton gin, a cottonseed oil mill, a compress, a newspaper, the arrival of the railroads, a bank, and a telephone company. By 1901, the town was hopping. Eighty years later, the town businesses included three banks, two savings and loans, oil, gas, and clay production, and manufacturers of televisions, clothing, bricks, steel buildings, mobile homes, medical supplies, boats, and bridge bearing pads. Where corn, cotton, tomatoes, and black-eyed peas were once raised in the area, agricultural revenue in the 1980s came principally from livestock, hay, and nurseries. The town had forty-two churches, a radio station, a newspaper, and a library.

I couldn't find what the original interest was with Athens. Perhaps it was the location, being so close to both the Trinity and Neches rivers, as well as a stop on the rail line. None of the histories actually saw though.

Fun Facts/Tales: There are loads of stories about Athens' history.
         We are purportedly the home of the hamburger, for one. A man called Uncle Fletch Davis claims to have "invented" the hamburger back in the 1880's and took it to the World's Fair in 1904.
         Athens is also called "The Black-eyed Pea Capitol of the World". Lofty name, if you ask me. However, we Athens residents like to have a good time, and we have a festival each year for the black-eyed pea too.

Urban Legend History: We also have a darker supposed history in Athens though. One of those stories is that there is an underground tunnel system directly under the city. The legend is that the tunnels are in the shape of a pentagram and each of the five entrances into the tunnel system are marked by the points of the pentagram, with the courthouse being at the center of the star. Supposedly, a coven of witches created this system and imbued it with spells that keep evil and negative spirits out of the town, and others within. The tunnels are rumored to have hosted a variety of ritualistic ceremonies including the sacrifice of small animals and in some cases humans.
         Then there's Fuller Park. The old park site has been shrouded with mystery ever since Mr. Fuller erected it park in 1938 after the death of his wife. Fuller Park is said to house one of the five entrances to the tunnels. There are many rumors of this park from the Monkey Cages (yes these are real) to the grave plot in the center of the park.
And... Monkey Bridge, under which a young man was found murdered, the killer never found. The story behind Monkey Bridge is that a traveling circus was attempting to cross that bridge who knows how long ago and that something happened to startle the horses, which in turn overturned the cart carrying the monkeys. All the monkeys supposedly escaped into the surrounding woods. Crazy things are said to happen on that bridge. Whatever the real story, the legend has buried it in the past with everything else.



My Hometown: Like I said, I'm a transplant to the Athens area. The town where I grew up has some interesting history of its own. I was raised in Abbott Texas. Haven't heard of it? That's okay. Most people haven't. I mean, the highest the population ever got was 714 people - and that was in 1914. But it still has its own claims to fame so to speak. Abbott is where Willie Nelson also grew up. He still owns property there too. In fact, he now owns the Methodist church that he once attended as a kid. Oh, and Abbott is alphabetically the first town/city in Texas.