DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Old Diboll Library, right there in Angelina County. Now settle in, because this building has lived more lives than most people you'll ever meet. Built about 1908 — and that 'about' is doing some work, because whoever put up these walls wasn't making a fuss about the calendar — T.
L. L. Temple raised this place for the employees of his Southern Pine Lumber Company.
A company man building something for the working folks. That detail alone is worth a moment's pause. For many years it served as a community library and recreation hall, which already sounds like a fine deal.
But here's where it gets interesting, because this building wasn't content to be just one thing. The lower floor held a reading room and recreational facilities — a place where a tired sawmill worker could rest his eyes on something other than timber. But climb those stairs, and the upper floor told a whole different story.
Living quarters up there, used at various times by the Temple family themselves, by single male employees, and by schoolteachers. Three very different kinds of lives, sharing the same roof across the years. Then the world changed, the way it has a habit of doing.
During World War I, that same building became a Red Cross sewing room — hands that once turned pages now working needles and thread for the war effort. And when the Depression bore down hard on East Texas, the building opened itself up again, this time as a food distribution point for families in need. A library that fed people.
Doesn't get much more useful than that. Later still, it served as a residence and an office. Same four walls, chapter after chapter.
Some buildings just seem to understand that their job isn't finished yet.
What the marker says
Built about 1908 by T. L. L. Temple for his Southern Pine Lumber Company employees, this building served for many years as a community library and recreation hall. While the lower floor included a reading room and recreational facilities, the upper floor contained living quarters used at various times by the Temple family, single male employees, and schoolteachers. The building was used as a Red Cross sewing room during World War I and as a food distribution point for needy families during the Depression. It later served as a residence and office. (1990)