The Upshaws of County Line

The Upshaws founded the community of County Line in the 1870s in deep East Texas. As with other relatively autonomous black communities, the Upshaws sought a safe place to raise their children and create a livelihood during Reconstruction and Jim Crow Texas. In the late 1980s photographer Richard Orton visited County Line for the first time and became aware of a world he did not know existed. Covering a period of twenty-five years, Orton juxtaposes his images with text from people who grew up in and have remained connected to their birthplace.