Ayish Bayou Bridge

A road trip over the weekend took me to San Augustine, Texas, a short distance east of here near the Louisiana border.  San Augustine is sometimes called the Cradle of Texas Liberty and has been in a boasting match with Nacogdoches for almost two centuries over which town is the oldest in Texas.  We'll talk about some of that another day.  But since yesterday's post drew a question from Tracy about what was all the green around the old wooden bridge and my answer back to her was "Jungle!" I felt the urge to post a picture of another bridge with lush green undergrowth.  The Ayish (named for the Ais Indians) Bayou rises from deep springs in the north central part of San Augustine County.  Coahuila y Texas was united as one state in the new republic of Mexico in 1921.  Under the alcalde system, in 1824 the settlement of the Ais became a department of Bexar (pronounced BAYER) and in 1927 the settlement became the Ayish Bayou District.  Also at one time known as Fredonia, the later name of San Augustine has been the name of the area since the 1830s.  This bridge over the bayou comes into San Augustine near the railroad tracks and there is a footbridge built by the Boy Scouts down to the bayou and underneath the bridge, which just reopened last year after having been closed for a number of months for needed repairs.  I think by looking at the vegetation you can see why I call it a jungle.  I'm convinced that if the moccasins don't get you, then the skeeters and the gators will!