The idea to build a nursing home in Grapeland began in 1973. It was the brain child of Dr. E.G. Cutshaw and Mr. B.A. Maxwell. Plans for the home did not go as smoothly as they would have hoped.

Before construction could begin a survey of need had to be made by the State Health Department to determine if the area had a need for additional nursing home facilities. Necessary procedures were followed and the State Department granted the certification of need to Grapeland. 

Delays in construction and financial matters caused the state certification to expire. The usual procedure for recertification was necessary. This marks the point when major set-backs began for the nursing home. Between the time of the first certification and the second application for certification, the departments which issued the certificates had changed from the State Health Department to the Deep East Texas Council of Government (DETCOG). When application was made for re-certification, it was apparent that the DETCOG chose to ignore the previous certification made by the state in favor of an addition to an existing facility in Crockett.

The future of Grapeland Nursing Home rested not only with the decision of the DETCOG but also with the citizens of Grapeland who would have to take action if the Nursing Home Project was ever to get off the ground. 

Interested Grapeland residents were busily at work gaining data to justify the request for a certificate of need. Petitions were prepared and a list was compiled of people who would be willing to enter the home upon it’s opening. Because of the citizens of Grapeland, the facility was awarded a certificate of need. 

Grapeland Nursing Home formally opened its doors to the public Sunday, August 7, 1977. A government official who had been involved in the certification of the home commented that he had never received such total community response on a single issue since he had been in office. 

The nursing home opened with 66 beds, 17,000 square feet, and the latest in up-to-date equipment and furnishings. The original stock holders were the E.G. Cutshaw family, the B.A. Maxwell family, the Alfred Grayson family, and the Dan Walling family.

Today, the nursing home is a 68 bed facility which usually remains full. Grapeland Nursing Home has a superior rating and gives each resident special attention and quality care. Currently, the stock holders are the E.G. Cutshaws and the Dan Wallings.