George Washington Green

The chant that made Bobo and Blair famous has no single origin. A Bob Bowman column credits three: Shelby County National Guard men who used the towns in place of the usual 'hup, two, three, four'; dice players calling for a ten; and a railroad conductor reciting the stops on the way to Shreveport. Bobo was named for John Henry (Billy) Bobo, who opened a sawmill there, and Blair began as Blair Switch. Tex Ritter, who knew the four towns from boyhood in neighboring Panola County, recorded the chant.

What the plaque says

George Washington Green (December 22, 1858 - December 14, 1937) Georgia native George Washington Green grew up in Tennessee and in 1878 set out for Texas. He married Tempie Ann Fowler in Logansport, Louisiana, that year, and they settled in this part of Texas. Green worked first as a sharecropper, growing cotton and corn, before purchasing his first parcel of land in 1883. Two years later, as the Houston East & West Texas Railroad began to build its line through Shelby County, G. W. Green purchased more land on both sides of the rail line and soon became a prominent landowner in the area, operating a general store and cotton gin. The Bobo community, primarily a train stop, was established on Green's land and operated a post office from 1893 until 1898. The phrase "Tenaha, Timpson, Bobo and Blair," used by the railroad conductor to announce stops along the rail line, became very popular and was used as a cadence during World War I. In 1905, George Washington Green made a lasting contribution to the area when he developed Green's Lake as a recreational spot and water source for the railroad. From 1905 through the 1940s, families came to picnic, swim and fish, and churches held baptismal services in the lake. George and Tempie Green reared four children: Luther (1880-1956), R. H. "Cooter" (1889-1969), Inez (M. Drewery) (1895-1965) and Nubern (1900-1959). George died in 1937 and is buried in the Buena Vista Cemetery. His contributions to the development of the rail line and to the Bobo community remain a significant part of the history of Shelby County. (2001)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Tex Ritter Museum and Texas Country Music Hall of Fame — 16 mi
  Carthage's country music museum, with Tex Ritter's boots, guitars and saddles in a room styled like a movie theater, and exhibits on other Texas stars, Jim Reeves among them.

More markers nearby

• Timpson — 4.3 mi
• Woods New Hope Baptist Church — 7.3 mi
• Old Center Cemetery — 10.0 mi
• James Rowe — 10.0 mi