Plum, Texas 6.25.2017
Plum is a small town just to the west of LaGrange. It is an historic town settled by Americans and German immigrants in 1869 along the MKT railroad track. The first settlers established the Baptist Chuch. Later it was a favorite place for Czech immigrants to settle, and with a larger Czech population, the community was able to build the Catholic Church. The stone for the Catholic Church appears to be transition limestone, which is quite flinty and much harder than one typically knows limestone. It was quarried at Muldoon.
The Catholic Church, Sts Peter and Paul, has hosted a feast every year since 1927, so this year was the 90th year that they put on this fund raising effort.
The food was good, maybe the best of all the church picnics so far this year. It featured fried chicken, sausage, smashed potatoes, sauerkraut, beans, and dressing, along with tea and a dessert.
The dining area was small, and the tables were close together, giving some feeling of congestion for those having to walk down the aisle between the long tables. One of the unique aspects of this picnic is that they make their own sausage just for this picnic. We were told that they made and sold 3500 pounds of sausage for this event.
The small building, on the grounds of the church is the sausage smokehouse.
As usual, we try to sit next to someone who may have some knowledge of the area. We found two ladies who shared lots of information. One was born in the Addicks area and moved to the Plum area with her family when very young. The growth of Houston required the land of their farm along with others, to build the Addicks Dam, a present day flood control project. They moved to Plum and began dairy farming which lasted until the kids were all grown and left the area. This was a time when most of the dairy business that was here shifted to an area many miles to the south of Plum. The lady now owns a gourmet food shop in LaGrange, a far cry from tending cows in her youth.
The music was a one-man affair, playing to a scant crowd, as most people were busy eating, chatting with old friends, or involved in the auction. The auction of common items is a staple activity at most church picnics.
The stone work of the church is impressive, with its tall bell tower. This is not one of the so-called painted churches, so the inside of the church is plain by comparison to some of the painted churches. Nevertheless, the church is really very beautiful and well maintained.
We like to explore back roads, so on the return trip we went directly south from the church on Plum Church Road. After only a short distance it turned into Old Lockhart Road which runs due west. It would be interesting to know the history of this old road as it is a long way to Lockhart from here. We travelled along on this solid road all the way to 195 where we caught it south to Cistern, then turning westward on the Jeddo Road.
Straight shot home from here, except we had to stop at Chapparal Coffee house in Lockhart for some hot coffee.
Plum is a small town just to the west of LaGrange. It is an historic town settled by Americans and German immigrants in 1869 along the MKT railroad track. The first settlers established the Baptist Chuch. Later it was a favorite place for Czech immigrants to settle, and with a larger Czech population, the community was able to build the Catholic Church. The stone for the Catholic Church appears to be transition limestone, which is quite flinty and much harder than one typically knows limestone. It was quarried at Muldoon.
The Catholic Church, Sts Peter and Paul, has hosted a feast every year since 1927, so this year was the 90th year that they put on this fund raising effort.
The food was good, maybe the best of all the church picnics so far this year. It featured fried chicken, sausage, smashed potatoes, sauerkraut, beans, and dressing, along with tea and a dessert.
The dining area was small, and the tables were close together, giving some feeling of congestion for those having to walk down the aisle between the long tables. One of the unique aspects of this picnic is that they make their own sausage just for this picnic. We were told that they made and sold 3500 pounds of sausage for this event.
As usual, we try to sit next to someone who may have some knowledge of the area. We found two ladies who shared lots of information. One was born in the Addicks area and moved to the Plum area with her family when very young. The growth of Houston required the land of their farm along with others, to build the Addicks Dam, a present day flood control project. They moved to Plum and began dairy farming which lasted until the kids were all grown and left the area. This was a time when most of the dairy business that was here shifted to an area many miles to the south of Plum. The lady now owns a gourmet food shop in LaGrange, a far cry from tending cows in her youth.
The music was a one-man affair, playing to a scant crowd, as most people were busy eating, chatting with old friends, or involved in the auction. The auction of common items is a staple activity at most church picnics.
The stone work of the church is impressive, with its tall bell tower. This is not one of the so-called painted churches, so the inside of the church is plain by comparison to some of the painted churches. Nevertheless, the church is really very beautiful and well maintained.
The inside of this church
We like to explore back roads, so on the return trip we went directly south from the church on Plum Church Road. After only a short distance it turned into Old Lockhart Road which runs due west. It would be interesting to know the history of this old road as it is a long way to Lockhart from here. We travelled along on this solid road all the way to 195 where we caught it south to Cistern, then turning westward on the Jeddo Road.
Straight shot home from here, except we had to stop at Chapparal Coffee house in Lockhart for some hot coffee.
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