Woodville, Texas - Heritage Garden Village

Have you ever heard of Heritage Garden Village? I'm not sure if it still exists, but I went there several times on school field trips, as a lad growing up in nearby Beaumont. A man named Clyde Gray ran the place. It basically consisted of a lot of old, turn of the century junk that he had collected over the years, around which he built a lifesize replica of a western town. Gray was a "poor man's Mr. Knott". His idea wasn't so bad except that he had no sense of restoration, nor did he do much to protect these artifacts from the harsh Southeast, Tx elements. Visiting "Heritage Garden Village" was almost a science project for me in that, over time I could keep track of how wood decays and metal rusts away.

The place was a virtual shambles by the time I graduated high school in 1978, but Gray had kept it going.

In 1988, I visited "HGV" and found it still in operation and shabbier than ever. Clyde Gray had long since died and the place had been taken over by a younger couple. I paid the admission and strolled the weed-ridden grounds, all the while remaining cautious not to step on a rattlesnake or copperhead. NOTHING had changed.

One final note about "HGV": Clyde Gray showed the members of my high school class what he claimed to be the wallet that outlaw Clyde Barrow carried when he was ambushed. In the wallet was a bloody note Clyde supposedly was planning to mail to his mother. I don't know what happened to the wallet after Gray's death, nor do I know if it was authentic. But, as of July 1988, one could buy copies of the note in the "HGV" gift shop. [Kelly Asbury, 08/29/1997]

[RA: This attraction has been cleaned up. It's now known as "Heritage Village Museum" and it's run by the Tyler County Heritage Society. Maybe some copies of Clyde's bloody note are still for sale -- it couldn't hurt to ask.]