Arp, Texas

Ever been to East Texas?  Of course.  Ever been to Tyler? Sure.  Ever been to Arp? Um, huh?  This is what I was thinking when someone recently told me they lived in the town of Arp, Texas.   How could there be a place so close to the D/FW area  I’ve never even heard of.  I decided it needed further investigation.

Just minutes southeast of Tyler, you can find Arp off of Highways 64 and 135.  The town began as a stop on the Missouri Pacific Railroad in the mid 1800’s.  Originally named Jarvis Switch, the town changed its named to Strawberry Junction and finally renamed itself to Arp after a famous newspaper reporter.   

My excursion to Arp begins on a bright sunny day of mild Fall weather.  My daughter accompanies me and my plan is to meet up with my friend who lives there.  One of the first sights to greet me before I get into town is a rustic red barn facing the highway.  In the field was the obligatory longhorn resting in the grass and staring at me.  The scene was just begging to have its picture taken.  I pull  over on the side of the road to grab my camera.  There wasn’t much of a shoulder so I am pretty close to the traffic.  The next 18 wheeler that comes by practically takes me out.  To get the best picture it requires actually crossing the highway.  I look back to the car and see my daughter cover her eyes.  When I decide I have the right picture I run back to the car and try not to trip.

 

When I get to the Arp city limits I decide to get out and take another picture. Again, narrow shoulder. Again, aggressive 18 wheelers.  Again, my daughter yelling at me to not get killed.  I miss getting hit but the fire ants get me.  The drivers of some of those trucks I'm sure get a good laugh at me jumping up and down trying to knock the biting ants off of me.   I decide it's time to quit the extreme photogging and continue on our journey. 

I finally catch up with my friend, Laura, who would turn out to be our unofficial Arp tour guide for the day.  As an educator in the Arp ISD I can think of no one better suited.   The first place she wants to show me are the ruins of a college that closed over 100 years ago.  Just outside of town, we stop the car next to a wooded area.  She gets out of the car and begins telling us the history of the college.  Confused, I look around trying to find where the heck this college might be.  Then Laura starts walking into the thick woods saying, “If you didn’t know it, you would never know it”.  We follow her into the woods about 20 feet or so pushing the vines and branches out of our way.  And then, with my jaw dropped,  I am standing in front of the crumbled facade of the Summer Hill Select School.   I can't believe it. 

 Steps lead up to a brick wall mostly covered in graffiti and vines.  Apparently, this is the place of choice for teenagers to hang out away from the watching eyes of their parents.  We walk up the steps and through the entrance into the belly of what used to be the school's gymnasium.  The roof is nothing more than a steel frame with tree branches snaking through it.

 

We have to carefully climb through a window and scale down a wall to go further.  When we get to the dirt floor we look around stunned at what we see.  Partial stone walls surround us encasing the thick green growth of trees, vines, and ground cover. The ground is damp and every vine looks like a snake to me.  Curiosity and trepidation battle each other inside of me as I look around not sure where to go next. 

 

 

Our unofficial tour guide, Laura.

 

 I let Laura lead the way to the back side of the school.  Enormous rock walls stand in remarkably good shape.  It's hard to believe a school so well respected that it attracted students from all over the country now stands cloaked and camouflaged by the forest from the rest of the world. It truly is this community's best kept secret.

 

 

 

We head back to the car and I'm thinking it will be difficult to top this discovery.  But we venture on. 

Laura drives us around this sweet and peaceful town pointing out houses that have been homes to important citizens in their history.  Generations of the same families have lived in many of these homes.  She tells me that low property tax and close proximity to Tyler keep residents in Arp.   For a small town, there are quite a few churches.  At least 5 by my count.  However only one bank.  As a matter of fact, when Laura told me to meet her at the bank, I responded, "Which one?"  She laughed and said,  "There is only one." 

Old mailbox

 

 

 

 

 

There is not a traditional grocery store in town.  You can buy most staple food items at the Valero, otherwise you need to travel to the next large town to do your major shopping.  Below is a building that  if you look closely to the top you can see where it used to say Piggly Wiggly. 

 

 

There are two large cemeteries, The Mason and Ebenezer.  Both were founded in the 1800's.  As we respectfully walked around reading names and dates, we notice than a good number of people were alive before Texas was a state.  What history these people must have witnessed!  Many of the family names on the tombstones are still the names of  Arp residents today.  I even recognize one of the names from Laura's history lesson she gave us.

 

 

Our last significant point of interest is in a nearby town of Old London.  An awful tragedy happened there in 1937.  Fortunately, something very important and life saving was the result of it.  Below is the text from its historical marker:

 

On March 18, 1937 a massive explosion destroyed the New London Junior-Senior High School instantly killing an estimated 296 students and teachers.  The subsequent deaths of victims from injuries sustained that day brought the final death count to 311.  The explosion was blamed on the natural gas leak beneath the school building.  Within weeks of the disaster the Texas Legislature passed  a law requiring an odor to be added to natural gas which was previously odorless and therefore undetectable. 

 

Can you imagine the devastation to such a small town? They lost practically every teenager in the community.  I never knew this is why an odor was added to natural gas. 

 

(the current) New London High School

 

We end our day with a delicious meal at Bruno's Pizza in Tyler.   It was interesting to see how bustling Tyler seemed compared to Arp.  Living in Dallas, I consider Tyler the sleepy town. Funny how our perspective changes with the backdrop. 

 

My daughter and I drove back home facing the setting west sun.  As the sky grew dark I thought about how much I enjoyed my day.  I always say there is a story everywhere and Arp certainly has theirs. 

 

 

A big thank you to Laura Dacus for our tour and a lovely time.