Sunset - Promise of a New Day

Every sunset brings the promise of a new dawn (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

Last March, on a trip back to Texas from Atlanta, we had just crossed the Chattahoochee River and came into the little hamlet of Columbia, Alabama. The combination of church and sunset, made us stop, it just looked magical.

Finally coming around, editing the picture - I did some research on that church building and found out that the Columbia United Methodist Church had quite a little history in its walls.  According to a website that seems to not have been updated in over 15 years, the town of Columbia was founded in 1821.

So called circuit riders (clergymen on horseback who rode from congregation to congregation to give their sermons) were the first to teach, until 1845 when a full-time pastor was appointed. After being housed in a single room building, where the High School is now, the church saw a need for a new building as their congregation was growing. In 1889 the pictured church was completed on Church Street (also named Alabama State Route 52) and Davis Street. After World War II, in 1949 the church was bricked and in 1956 and 1978 tow annex buildings for sunday school and a fellowship hall were added.

But not everything is new, the website says that the church still houses the original bell of the first church, which was carried over to the United Methodist Church in the picture.

Sources: Columbia United Methodist Church

Sunset At St. Peter's

Sunset at St. Peter's Roman Catholic church in the north Texas small town named Lindsay. The church, originally build in 1903, seriously damaged in 1917 by a Tornado and rebuilt, is now part of the National Register since 1979.

 Extensive renovations in the inside and roof are now completed and the church shines in this gorgeous sunset.

Heavenly Reflection

On a roadtrip we took a detour to examine the ghost town of Antelope, Texas in northwestern Jack County between Jacksboro and Wichita Falls.

Antelope, once a bustling frontier and ranching town - the West fork of the Trinity river is close - with a town square, hotel and general store, once was proud to have a population of 300 people. By mid-century it was down to half and by now there are about 50 people, calling Antelope home. Highway 281 bypasses the town by just a mile or so, but it's worth taking the "town loop" to explore this North(west) Texas heaven. And if it's only for the Baptist church, suddenly emerging before reaching the highway again.

This shot and other photography of mine are available through Dispatch Press Images for publication.