We decided to do a day trip to Orange to visit the Shangri-La Botanical Gardens (see my other…read morereview) and thought we'd stop at this old home for our elderly guest. You cannot go straight to the house for a tour, you must meet at the Stark museum across the street, purchase a ticket, and then be accompanied by a tour guide to the house. The museum is free if you'd like to visit that while you are there. Once you walk over to the house you cannot bring a camera in with you. A knowledgeable and very long winded tour guide will bring you around the average sized home for about an hour describing every room in detail. It's a pretty home from the outside and I wish that was all I had seen. The long tour of the inside was boring. Our tour guide was obviously very proud of the home and the history of the house in relation to Orange, Texas, but it wasn't as interesting to out of town people. I don't think that I am being overly harsh. My 70 year old mother-in-law accompanied us; she is a huge fan of old homes and antiques. She found the tour to be too long and to focus on mundane items in the house. My suggestion... go to Orange for the day. Visit Shangri-La and stop in front of this home to see how pretty it is from the outside.

We like going here around Christmas when the house is decorated and there is a small ensemble…read moreplaying Christmas music.

Being a history buff I just had to stop and check out this historical marker and monument when…read moretraveling the back roads not far from the Sabine River and the Louisiana / Texas state lines. The Old Military Road stretched about 130 miles from Niblett's Bluff to Alexandria my journey started at Neblett's Bluff. About 58 miles of it existed in modern day Beauregard Parish. Calcasieu Parish had 18 miles, Allen Parish had over one mile, Vernon had 17 miles and the remaining miles were in Rapides Parish. This monument was erected in 1958 by Louisiana and Texas Divisions of the United Daughters of the Confederacy and as remote as this location is it's still adequately maintained today by who I don't know. The Confederate army cut this trail to bypass Union blockades and transport supplies to Maj. Gen. Richard Taylor's troops. Because the Union army captured New Orleans in 1862 and closed the mouth of the Mississippi River, southern forces desperately needed inland roads to survive, this had to be quite the undertaking if you're familiar with the thick underbrush in the pinewoods of Louisiana, add in the temperatures, humidity and mosquitoes I can't imagine this being a labor of love or an assignment any enlisted men would volunteer for. This is one of the few reminders that this road ever existed...

IH-10 BRIDGE, SABINE RIVER CROSSING, ORANGE COUNTY, TEXAS - This bridge includes entrance and exit…read moreramps for tourist information centers on both sides of the river and the turn-arounds at both approaches for this mile long, 120-ft. wide bridge on IH 10. It seems both Louisiana and Texas have been playing tic for tac since the settlers first appeared here in the 1820's. The center of the river represents the official border between these two states and have been the focal point of disputes since the territory was first divided and conquered. There really nothing magnificent about this concrete structure besides being the largest bridge crossing the Sabine River which is 33rd longest river in the U.S. at 553 miles long. Most of the river crossings prior to this bridge was via ferries or wooden truss bridges.

It's a bridge! I didn't fall in the water. It's structurally sound. I think. Close enough anyway…read more 10/10 would bridge again.

The hours of operation stated 24 hours, but the facilities were closed upon our arrival. No big…read moredeal! I was still able to walk the grounds reading the historical markers. The building seemed in disrepair, but overall was impressive in its historical aura. Support your local historical site by donating time and money to restore the house to its original granduer.

It's a old historical site. The owner died and left it to the town along with a large sum of money…read moreto take care of it. The town took the money during bad times on the promise the town would take care of it. Water front property.

Very friendly and helpful desk personnel. Very nice quiet atmosphere. If they don't have a book I…read morewant to, I have always been able to get it through the internet library loan system.

Nice recently renovated building but heavily filtered internet makes it impossible for people…read moretrying to do anything but the most basic tasks online over wifi. Didn't try their desktops they had available. Couldn't use any port besides http/https so VPNs, socks proxies were out of the question. Hope everyone who goes here realizes there is no way for you to securely browse the internet because of the blocks they have in place

I went today for a procurement fair. Restrooms were in the front lobby and the building is dated,…read morebut this is a spacious meeting area with ample parking. No complaints! Minus one star for being dated.

I didn't have business in Hardin County, just sightseeing this interesting courthouse with a heck…read moreof a history, and the quiet weekday morning gave me time to take in both the midcentury building and the unexpected architectural relic sitting beside it. The current courthouse is a 1958 modern design, all clean lines and turquoise panels, the kind of practical government architecture Texas counties embraced when they were ready to move past the classical domes and clock towers of the early 1900s. It has that grounded, horizontal look that tells you the county wanted efficiency more than ornament, and walking the grounds you can feel how decisively they stepped away from the old courthouse tradition. What really stops you, though, is the dome. It isn't attached to the courthouse at all, and that's the surprise. It's the salvaged dome from the 1905 courthouse, a much grander classical building that once stood here with tall columns, a full clock tower, and all the architectural confidence of a county announcing its place in the world. When the old building came down in 1960, Hardin County couldn't quite let go of its most recognizable feature, so they set the dome on an octagonal pavilion at the edge of the grounds. Seeing it up close, perched on its own little forest of columns, feels like stumbling onto a piece of a vanished courthouse still trying to tell its story. The contrast between the two eras is what makes this stop memorable. You've got the modern courthouse doing its midcentury thing, and then this orphaned dome nearby, a reminder of the county's earlier ambitions and the architectural language Texas once used to express civic pride. It's a strange pairing but an oddly charming one, and if you enjoy courthouse history or just like seeing how places evolve, Hardin County gives you both versions at once, side by side in the East Texas quiet. [Review 348 of 2026 - 674 in Texas - 25535 overall]

Great food with generous servings... friendly service .... got…read moreOur food very quickly . Friendly, laid back atmosphere.