Gause, Texas: another sleepy Texas town

[Dan]

Another little Texas town. From Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gause,_Texas):

The population reached its peak around 1915, when 1,000 people lived in the community. Gause slowly declined over the next few decades. Its bank was discontinued in 1927 after 17 years in operation. The combination of a decline in the number of businesses in Gause and the introduction of the automobile precipitated further downturns in the local economy. By the 1960s, the community had 278 residents, down from 750 in the 1940s. The population began to rebound in the late 1980s as more people chose to live in Gause and commute to jobs in nearby industrial plants. In 1990, Gause had 400 residents and eight businesses. The population remained unchanged as of 2000. Despite its unincorporated status, Gause continues to have a functioning post office (zip code:77857).

Main Street: frontage road parallel to US 79










Nice old Methodist church, in the style of a traditional synagogue.




New church. I wonder if prefabricated, factory-built metal structures were available 80 or 90 years ago, would they be as common then as they are now?




Next to the county cemetery.




I don't understand why there's a picnic area -- with very solid brick benches and tables -- next to the county cemetery.

[otterpop]

Why a picnic area next to the cemetery?

If you go to Bozeman you will find a very nice park that you drive through to get to the city cemetery.

I visited Tucan, Ecuador years back. The cemetery had fantastic topiaries, benches, tables. In short it was park-like. Not many people there own cars. Going to the cemetary from the hinterlands is time-consuming.

I think it may harken back to slower days. When the trip into town by wagon or Model T took up much of the day. So, the family on Saturday packed a picnic lunch, went into town, did the shopping, had a picnic at the park and visited Grandpa and Grandma's (and perhaps Little Sis - who died of diphtheria in 1909) gravesite, before heading back to the farm.

That, or perhaps the town planned to be a larger community and dedicated too much land for a cemetary. When the town's ambition did not meet reality, and the dead were not stacking up as expected, they found themselves with extra land. So they made a park.

[danthonyjr]

It's not uncommon at all to see picnic tables, chairs, etc. at cemeteries in the South. When I was growing up, the large cemetery down the street (with paved pathways throughout) was the de facto community walking track; it was also a beautiful green space with lots of old trees.

[Rygor]

I love how it's a "Gro. & Mkt." They just couldn't scrounge up the money for those extra letters. That's quality.

[FueledByRamen]

As others have aluded to, in many small Texas towns, the cemetery is the only "park" around. My grandparents have always gone for walks in the local cemetery...everyone does in their town. I wonder how spending so much time in a cemetery (for recreation, not macabre stuff) impacts peoples' perspectives of death....