We’ve all thought it, or something like it.

“I wish I had recorded more of what Grandma used to tell me about.”

“I wish I could remember the stories Great-Grandpa used to tell me about when he was a kid.”

“If only I had written down what PawPaw remembered about the good ol’ days!”

Good news, y’all.

The Wood County Historical Commission is doing just that.

The WCHC has been recording these memories of lost places for over a year. These one-on-one interviews, which last between 20 and 40 minutes, are posted on YouTube for the public to access freely.

This effort is part of the WCHC’s mission to “record and promote Wood County history,” and to “(preserve the) county’s historic cultural resources.”

“The good old days weren’t good all the time,” said Ulna McWhorter, WCHC chairperson, with a laugh. She paused quietly, then continued. “But it had a lot of good things about it. I think people…took time to enjoy simple things.”

McWhorter was excited to announce that the WCHC is branching out in its unique effort to capture memories that would otherwise be lost. Not only will interviewer and project head Jim Phillips have recorded memories of lost schools, but he hopes to soon interview people who lived through the Great Depression in Wood County, people who lived during the early farming era of Wood County, and (more recently) people who lived through World War Two in Wood County.

“We do (put a lot of work into our projects). We’ve spent a lot of time (on these things),” said McWhorter. “Why do we do it? Well, we’re interested in history, and we want to preserve history! We don’t want it to fall by the wayside.”

Some of the videos already posted on the WCHC YouTube channel include memories of Cartwright, Coldwater, Gunther, Fouke, New Hope and more.

The WCHC’s YouTube channel is called “@woodcountytxhistoricalcomm9959,” and as of July, they have 35 videos up and ready to explore.