In 1945, as the Second World War drew to a close, John T. Floore, manager of San Antonio's Majestic Theatre, purchased land in this vicinity. He created the Floore Subdivision, planning it as a center for the community of Helotes, which had developed at the site of a centuries-old stream crossing for travelers. Floore and his wife originally operated a Red and White Store. Following the example of Bert Hileman, who owned an early dance hall in Helotes, Floore built a store and dance hall at this site circa 1946, offering "bar, café, dance, meats, groceries, real estate and every thing nearly at Floore Country Store." A noted promoter, Floore featured country music acts big and small; notables included Bob Wills, Patsy Cline, Hank Williams, Kitty Wells and Elvis Presley. Residents came from nearby communities for the regular shows. Floore also promoted the Helotes community, helping establish the local volunteer fire department and Lions Club. In addition, he edited the Helotes Echo newspaper, and his articles were said to be instrumental in the creation of the Northside Independent School District for Helotes-area students. His business establishment served as a gathering place for several organizations and events, including the annual Helotes Cornyval Festival. Since Floore's death in 1975, his legacy has continued. Helotes incorporated in 1981 in order to preserve a separate identity from the ever-growing city of San Antonio. With the continuation of musical acts at Floore's County Store, and through the local organizations that grew out of Floore's ideas and civic efforts, the community of Helotes maintains a link to its early years as a stop for refreshment and entertainment at the edge of the Texas Hill Country.

In the 1870s the people of this community met in the Lawrenceville School for Christian worship services. Thirteen local Baptists organized their own church in 1883, continuing to meet in the school building. Founding member Georgia Whatley suggested the name Judson Missionary Baptist Church for a church she had attended in Lawrenceville, Alabama which was named in honor of Adoniram Judson (1788-1850), America's first foreign missionary. In 1886, the Judson Missionary Baptist Church began to support mission work.

Members began to plan for their own house of worship in 1891. Georgia and Hiram Whatley donated a plot of land, and the structure was erected in 1894. Baptismal services were conducted in the creek east of the church after the yearly summer revival had taken place. The baptisms later were held on a member's property and then at nearby Whitehurst Lake.

In the late 1890s H.A. Whatley gave one acre for a cemetery. Sunday School began in 1901, a ladies' auxiliary was formed in 1902, and the Baptist Young People's Union was organized at the Judson Church in 1924. A new church building was erected in 1935, and the church was able to hire its first full-time pastor in 1941. By 1900 Public School District No. 2, Gregg County, was known as Judson. In 1952, a U.S. Post Office opened in the community, taking the name Judson.

The membership, many of them descendants of the pioneers of this part of Gregg County, numbered more than 260 in 1998. The congregation continues to be active in mission work and in service to the community of Judson.

Incise on back:
J.B. Baucum, Jr.; Mitchell Billingsley; B.M. Birdsong; Nellie Boyd; Louise Brelsford; E.T. & Martha Briley; Billy R. Cabbiness; Charles Davis; Dwayne Harris, Diane Hollis, Buck Jordan, Judson Lions Club; June Whatley Killingsworth; Jo Ann, Kethryn & Ray Landers; Kathryn McAfee; Thomas McAfee; Edwin McKnight; Jessie McKnight; Mattie Belle Reppond; Byron Roach; Sam Satterwhite; Judge Mickey Smith; Melvin Sparks; Larry Stokes; Harold Stone; Keith Stone; George Whatley; Robert Whatley; Wesley L. Whatley; Linda Whitehurst; Tommy Young.

Joseph V. Frnka, born in Industry, Texas, built a home here in 1906. A self-taught lawyer, Frnka was admitted to the Texas Bar in 1915. A business leader, he was active in the local Masonic Lodge and helped found the Columbus Lions Club. In 1923-1927 he represented this area in the Texas House of Representatives. He practiced law locally and in 1945 was appointed Assistant State Attorney General. Following World War II he served as a prosecutor and judge with the U.S. military government in Germany. Frnka later served as chief title examiner of the Veterans Land Board in Austin.

The Port Arthur Townsite Company, planning the layout of Port Arthur in 1898, set aside Lakeshore Park along the Sabine Lake shoreline. In 1920 a portion of the park was named Lions Park in honor of the Lions Club members who made numerous improvements there. Through the years, the Lions Club provided playground equipment, water fountains, landscaping, picnic tables, and a two-story southern colonial style bandstand.

The bandstand in the center of the park became a focal point of community social, political and recreational activities. The park was an especially popular gathering place for citizens of all ages during the long, hot summer months.

Texas Senator (and future Governor) Allan Shivers, campaigning successfully for reelection in 1938, appeared at political rallies in the park. W. Lee "Pappy" O'Daniel, successful candidate for Governor of Texas that same year, and his band, the Light Crust Doughboys, also appeared in a rally at the park.

City records indicate that the bandstand was razed in 1954. The park was donated to Lamar University, Port Arthur in September 1989 and has become a focal point of Lamar's campus.

Henry P. Mayer, a member of the Paris Independent School District Board of Education, proposed the establishment of a junior college in Paris in 1992. He quickly gained the support of the community, as many leading citizens and local civic organizations, including the Chamber of Commerce, the Lions Club, and the Rotary Club, promoted the junior college movement in Paris. The PARIS MORNING NEWS published favorable ads and editorials, and citizen support was overwhelming. On June 6, 1924, the Board of Education passed a resolution formally establishing Paris Junior College and approved six areas of study: english, math, history, and foreign languages, education and science.

Plans called for the college to be housed in the renovated post office building downtown, but because work on that structure was delayed, the new institution was housed in a wing of the high school for it's first year. Ninety-one students registered for the first session in september 1924, and the college quickly attained accreditation. Enrollment grew to 424 within a decade. By 1940 Paris Junior College occupied a new campus on the east side of the city, made possible by a bond election, Federal Works Progress Administration funds and financial gifts form local citizens. Many students left to serve in the military during World War II, and the college instituted a number of programs for returning veterans after the war. The school continued to grow in the second half of the 20th Century. With expanded facilities in Paris and satellite campuses in several surrounding counties. Enrollment Topped the 3,000 mark in 1998. As Paris Junior College prepared to enter a new century with service to its students and community.

Born in Chester County, Tenn., son of Joseph Cyrus and Emily Kirk Carroll. Married Claudia Haltom, 1900. Graduated 1901 from University of Tennessee. Moved to Claude, 1914. In career of 54 years, delivered over 2500 babies. A staunch Democrat; a Mason and a Shriner; charter member, Claude Lions Club; director, First State Bank of Claude; president, Potter County Medical Association, he was honored, 1950, when city of Claude named this park for him. Dr. and Mrs. Carroll had four children: Kirk, Ralph, Perry, and Roberta. The son Ralph became a physician in Amarillo.

Peyton Colony was a freedmen's community established in the 1860s under the leadership of former slave Peyton Roberts. In addition to homes, the community included a local school and Mt. Horeb Baptist Church. This lime kiln was built by Peyton Roberts and his neighbors to provide high quality materials with which to make mortar for buildings in Blanco County, some of which remain today. The kiln was restored in the 1960s in conjunction with the construction of a roadside park at the site. It stands as a reminder of the efforts of ex-slaves to begin new lives.

The rapid growth of the petrochemical industry in Jefferson and Orange counties in the early 20th Century led to increased population in this area. In order to serve escalating transportation needs, plans began in the 1920s for the construction of a bridge to span the Neches River.

Due to the depressed economy and differences of opinion among business leaders, the campaign to build the bridge (led by the Port Arthur "News" and American Legion Post No.7) lasted for seven years. In 1934 Gov. Miriam A. Ferguson signed a special law to enable county bond and Federal Public Works Administration funds to pay for state highway bridge construction.

The project engineer, G.G. Wickline, used innovative techniques to design a bridge that would cross 7,742 feet of marshy terrain and river bottom. The bridge's 680-foot central span, designed to clear a Navy ship carrying a moored dirigible, was, at 176 feet, the world's highest elevated roadbed over tidal waters.

The final cost of the bridge was $2,750,000. Its dedication on September 8, 1938, drew huge crowds and was a major local event. In a 1957 contest sponsored by the North Port Arthur Lions Club, it was named "Rainbow Bridge."

The original five acre tract of land for this burial ground was purchased from the C.B. Livestock Co. on September 7, 1915, four years after the town of Ralls was founded. The cemetery was first used for the interment of W.H. Shell (d.1915). The Georgia Marble Bible, erected in 1963 by the Ralls Garden Club, is one of many beautification projects by local organizations, including the Lions Club and Cemetery Association. Prominent community members are buried here, including John R. Ralls, town founder. Graves also include those of veterans of several wars.