This is where we lived when this photo was taken. This house was owned by Alvin Carter, son of Jesse Carter, and we rented it. (Gordon, Margie, Mike, and Linda) I was 15 at the time, would turn 16 the coming December. The front step up to the porch was a big hand-hewn sandstone that Jesse had carved his initials into on one corner, "JC". That very light colored car is a 1964 Ford Falcon 4-door, and it was all mine! Looks like we had company, there's a pickup in the driveway, and dad did not own a truck back then. The very large tree to the right was a big Elm, one of few not wiped out by Dutch Elm disease. Me and dad measured it one day, and 3 feet from the ground it was 11-1/2 feet around. That works out to about 44-inches through. (Diameter) It was an enormous shade tree; we'll never see another like it. The big tree to the left was a Black Walnut, and it had a 20-inch bicycle rim nailed to the side facing the road, and it served as my basketball goal. The gravel road was the court. The scraggly tree in between was a pear tree, and it grew loads of pears every year! No running water there, if you look just over the windshield of the pickup truck you can see the well box where we drew all our water. To the right you can just make out the driveway cutting through the cornfields of our neighbor and good ol' guy Elijah Romans. I never quite trusted his Black Angus cows. I wore out many a bicycle tire riding on these gravel roads. The Ready Store was only 5 miles away, and if I had 75 cents, I would ride my bike over there just to get a coke and candy bar. Different times. This road used to be called the Ready-Tilford Road, it now has a different name. It cuts toward Ready (on Hwy 185) where J.D. Hudson Road runs into Bryant Ridge Road. The county line runs right through there, and we had the choice of going to Butler or Grayson County school. My uncle Dewey Bratcher owns the property now, the old house is gone.

If you look down in the corner you will see an old shed, there was a peach tree by it and around to the back of the shed was the entrance into the outhouse.

To add to my previous comment, this road is now called Ready-Jackson Rd

As a small boy, I remember Jesse so well from Wilson Home church! And yes Lidge Roman's was a dear friend to all. He and my papaw Roy Hudson were best buddies!

Hi Lelan,

Thank you for sharing your fond memories of Jesse and Lidge Roman's. It's so great to hear personal stories from our Vintage Aerial community! Do you remember anything specific about the area surrounding Wilson Home church during the late 70s? It's always fascinating to see how things have changed (or not changed) over the years.

Remember how Roy Hudson used to saturate the gravel road in front of his house with gallons and gallons of used motor oil to keep the dust down? He did that every summer for as long as I can remember!