Strange Tales in Texas: Gun Turrets at The Brookshire's Warehouse

I have lived and worked in East Texas my entire life. So I remember a lot of these East Texas rumors. Like the one in the 80's that claimed Disney was going to build a park along I20 in Lindale. Of course, it wasn't true.

More recent rumors include Buc-ee's being built along I20 in Lindale. That remains to be seen but perhaps.

Monkeys and Tunnels in Athens

Another East Texas tall tale is of a circus that was coming through Athens in the 1960s. The train that was carrying the monkeys for the show derailed.

The monkeys escaped and killed their handlers. Some say that you can hear the screams of those handlers in the area of Thunder Bridge around West College Street.

Yeah, East Texas Has a Lot More Tales of the Weird That Can Be Passed Around

One of those easily dismissed "tall tales" is actually true though. Have you ever heard about the gun turrets at Brookshire's Warehouse on Loop 323 in Tyler.

I remember my mom telling me stories of those turrets when I was a teenager. You won't find a lot of information about it online except for a thread on Reddit where a couple of former employees talked about what they saw when they worked there.

One "former employee" talked about the pillbox (a small, concrete building with a small opening in the front used to fire a small weapon out of) that could seen from Old Jacksonville Highway.

Another one of these "former employees" talked about the turrets that were on the front corners of the building. There is also an area just past the guard gates that contains steel poles that can be raised from the ground that are strong enough to stop a vehicle.

It's not clear why such security measures were put in place.

Some believe the Brookshire family was simply protecting their business. Others believe the family was paranoid of people rushing their warehouse for supplies in an apocalyptic event.

I did some extensive searches online and couldn't find anything but that Reddit thread. But the story my mom told me, backed up by a conversation with one of our sales team last week, adds some weight to the truth of the gun turrets at Brookshire's Warehouse.

Neither the pillbox nor turrets exist anymore. It is believed those were removed in the early to mid 1990s. But the story will remain an unbelievable tale for those who are new to East Texas, but a true story for those who have always called East Texas home.