Residents felt safe in the village until 1996, when Thelma Scroggins was killed, and the bodies of two other women were found in the area. As a result, Brown won't answer the door after dark. No store, no doctor, no fire and rescue squads, no gas station, no theater, no school. The church continues to grow wile Lignum's Baptist church is struggling to find members and a full-time pastor.
Traffic rushes by, unnoticed by residents.
When the Willis Store closed in 1981, the community lost its main social spot. Locals gathered there to talk about everything from crops to politics. He spends his days fixing appliances. Edwin Willis, a fifth-generation landowner in Lignum, walks around the family's home place, which recently was sold. She is a retired elementary school teacher.