Arizona Road Trip ~ Day 1 ~ Vol. 1 ~ Anderson County Courthouse (Texas No. 4)

I left on Thursday, June 23rd, to drive 1200 miles from Deep East Texas to Central Arizona to visit my daughter and grandson Em.  I was so excited I couldn't wait to get on the road and finally pulled away from our farm at 6:10 a.m.  It was a bit foggy and it just got foggier the closer I got to Garrison, the little town whose zip code we use.  This is what the fog looked like around the historic Wiley Hotel down by the railroad tracks.

A little over an hour down the road the fog was still a little bit patchy but not a problem when I stopped to take a picture of this old store in Maydelle.  Maydelle has a population of about 250 people, a number which has remained stable for the past 20 years.  It reached its peak population of 450 in 1929.

My first full-fledged stop of the day was in Palestine (pronounced here as Pal-us-TEEN), the county seat of Anderson County.  The county was formed in 1846 and the current courthouse constructed in 1914.  I   fell in love with this little town and found many photo ops there, but decided since it's only 75 miles from home I'll dedicate a day trip someday soon to return.  I definitely want to go inside this beautiful courthouse as it is reported to have a center spiral staircase with a stained glass window in the dome.

To be continued ....