Written by Natalia Gonzalez Blanco Serrano , Photographs by Sean Fitzgerald | From the August 2022 issue | Updated: July 28, 2022 | Filed Under: Culture Issue Content People Travel News
“My family has lived in and around Gilmer for three generations. From all the other town squares I have been around, I think we have the coolest one. I might be a little biased, of course, since I live here. I’ve noticed many more young people walk-ing around, and a lot more skateboard-ers. Several restaurants have opened on the square, and others, like Joe’s Place, a hamburger joint, have been here forever. My dad ate there when he was in high school. We even have a sushi restaurant downtown, Sushi To’s, that’s pretty popu-lar. And a coffee shop, Uncle Joe’s Coffee, opened recently.”
“I joined the Gilmer Area Chamber of Commerce and am now its youngest-ever board member. The chamber has helped me out a lot; it has gotten me a lot more publicity. For example, I got an interview on a Tyler television station. And the chamber’s Facebook page promotes all our local busi-nesses, including mine.”
“The Yamboree was started in 1935 to cele-brate the county’s sweet-potato crop. It now lasts four days, attracting thousands of visitors. For me, the Yamboree used to just be the livestock show. I showed goats twice and then helped my buddy show chick-ens. But being downtown during last year’s Yamboree opened my eyes to how many people come. It was shoulder-to-shoulder on the square. And now we have several other events, such as Art on the Bricks [in May], where local artists show their work.”
“A lot of people, including me, enjoy going to Lake Gilmer, which is on Kelsey Creek in the Cypress River basin, a few miles west of town. There’s fishing, swimming, and a lot of hiking and biking trails. I enjoy riding my mountain bike there. Then there’s Barnwell Mountain Recreational Area, which is about 5 miles northeast of town. It is privately owned. Barnwell has trails for dirt bikes and ATVs, and there’s an RV park as well as tent-camping sites.”
Nearest City: Longview, 21 miles southeast
Marquee Event: East Texas Yamboree, Oct. 19-22
Historic Upshur Museum, 119 Simpson St.
“I have been out of high school a little over a year. A lot of my friends, like me, decided to learn a trade and didn’t go to college, though some did. Some are becoming elec-tricians or doing construction, while several do oil-field work in the Marshall area, or near Shreveport, or way out in West Texas.”
“Gilmer’s size fits me just fine, though I had to adapt to living in town after living in the country my entire life. The trash truck comes early in the morning, often disturb-ing my sleep. But I enjoy being able to walk to one of the square’s restaurants for a meal when I don’t feel like heating up some-thing in the microwave. Butters has become a familiar sight on the square when I take him for a walk. Butters’ ‘front yard’ is the lawn around Upshur County Courthouse. I have customers who come into the store just to see Butters. The biggest plus for me is that I am close to most everything. I no longer have to drive 15 miles just to get to the grocery store, or to buy lumber, or most anything else I need.”
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