Footprints in the Sand Monument

Carthage, Texas, United States

Landmarks and monuments

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Listed, not yet checked · Oct 2026

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A 14-foot bronze statue of Jesus carrying a man, by Carthage sculptor Bob Harness, illustrating the poem "Footprints in the Sand". It stands in a memorial park at Southwest Loop and Dixie Lake Road in Carthage, Texas, reached by a path of large footprints.

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Footprints in the Sand Monument

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Site-level location · 32.1546° N, 94.3382° W

FIELD GUIDE

The story

Beside a loop road in East Texas, a 14-foot statue of Jesus carries a man along a path of oversized footprints. The monument illustrates the poem "Footprints in the Sand", which KLTV's East Texas Weekend credited in June 2025 to Mary Stevenson and dated to 1939, noting it is treasured by many Christians. Sculptor Bob Harness, who is from Carthage, told KSLA in 2017 that he first read the poem at a friend's funeral several years earlier, and that "I donated my time and talent for it because God has been so good to me". The Marshall News Messenger described the figure in 2016 as a bronze Jesus carrying an elderly man.

The park stands at the corner of Southwest Loop and Dixie Lake Road, on a three-acre site, according to the Marshall newspaper. Accounts of its timeline differ. The Dallas Morning News reported in October 2014 that the statue had been finished and delivered that August, with the rest of the park still under construction, and described the memorial as privately funded. In April 2016 the Marshall paper reported that a video of the statue being installed had drawn about 660,000 views, and KSLA reported a dedication ceremony in June 2016.

KSLA said in 2017 that the project had been funded purely by donations, with about $100,000 still sought for an entrance gate, driveway and other finishing touches. KLTV described the park in 2025 as a place to follow the large footprints along a winding "sand" pathway to the central sculpture, with memorials to local loved ones and devotional Bible verses along the way. The City of Carthage's visitor page describes the park as open day and night and lit after dark; KLTV's June 2025 visit is the most recent dated account.

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WHAT TO EXPECT

A memorial park where large footprints on a winding pathway lead to the 14-foot statue, with memorials to local people and Bible verses along the way (KLTV, June 2025). KSLA reported in 2017 that it was funded purely by donations; the city's visitor page describes it as open day and night.

ACCESS

At the corner of Southwest Loop and Dixie Lake Road, 1320 Dixie Lake Road, Carthage, about a quarter-mile south of Highway 315. A public memorial park, open day and night according to the City of Carthage's visitor page.

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