Small, rural towns across the U.S have experienced dramatic economic downturns as the agrarian industry evolved from one that required much manpower to one that relied more upon mechanization (machine labor).
I see much evidence of this in my road trips, occasionally taking time to photograph the abandoned businesses and homes, either in small rural towns or those scattered across rural farm and ranch lands.
Fading Facade15170
The title for this photo is taken from the street number that is hanging upside down on the post to the left of the door.
Wild Horse School
In spite of the obvious economic hardship indicated by numerous abandoned homes and businesses in one small community, this old school seem to be well cared for.
Out to Pasture
Old farm machinery rusting away in this farm field, may have been some of the initial machines that started the economic downturn in this small community.
Alone on the Plains
This lone tree in a vast, post harvest farm field, beneath the wide open sky caused me to pull over for a photo.
Until the next adventure and/or desperate need to photograph something overcomes me,
There is a small Texas town that I drive by on my trips westward and each time I go through it, I think I should someday take time to get off the highway and see what is in this old Texas town. Finally, on one of my homeward bound trips, I did just that.
This is not a ghost town, there are still residents, businesses, a post office, city hall, and some modern improvements, but I found numerous abandoned businesses in and around the downtown area and even an older, abandoned city hall.
I shot numerous photos, but many of the settings and the mid-day light were not conducive to getting interesting shots, so I’ve greatly culled the images to present in this post and I had to do some creative editing to add interest to these images.
Auto Sales
There is a crumbling building that was an auto sales business long ago.
Auto Sales
Given the smallness of this Texas town, I was surprised to find the remnants of an auto sales place here. This one appears to have been abandoned many years ago.
Barred Window
The back side of one of the downtown area’s abandoned business had a couple of windows, one of which had concrete rebar installed for security.
Flower and Window
The adjacent window had no bars and the lower glass pane was missing.
Wildflowers and WindowsBack Door
A street corner building had an interesting looking backside. The image above is cropped from a wider view to remove distracting items. The monochrome conversion seems more fitting for this subject than the original color version.
On road trips, I am always amazed and intrigued by the many abandoned, deteriorating houses and business building that I see, especially in rural areas. I’ve taken more note of these on my most recent trips through northwestern Texas and portions of Colorado, Oklahoma, Kentucky and Tennessee.
An abandoned farm house along US 287 in northwestern Texas. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nike Silver Efex Pro 2.
It has occurred to me that an interesting photographic project would be to seek out, photograph and document many of the more prominent and interesting abandoned buildings, perhaps, even documenting the history of those structures, the ownership and the stories behind how these came to be abandoned. One would also need to get permission from the appropriate people to photograph those that require getting onto private property to do so and this would take time and effort. A project of this magnitude would be a major undertaking and one that I am not likely to have sufficient time to pursue. However, I might try to take more time to photograph some of those easily accessible ones that I encounter on my journeys.
An abandoned house in rural Texas along US 287 with a newer farm house in the background. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
On the last leg of my most recent trip, between Amarillo and DFW, I eventually decided to take time to photograph a few, after passing up many other interesting looking abandoned houses. I only shot a few of these dilapidated structures, as I had a travel schedule and I could not take too much time stopping frequently for photos.
An abandoned farm house along US 287 in northwestern Texas. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.Abandoned house along US 287 in northwestern Texas. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.An abandoned business type building in northwestern Texas. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.An abandoned house in northwestern Texas. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 2.
A dedicated project to photograph these abandoned structures could take much time, especially, if one were to try to get the photographs from early morning to about mid-morning or middle to late afternoon. Photographing during various seasons would also be good, maybe getting fall color or spring flowering plants into the compositions, where possible, and maybe winter photos with snow on and around the old homes.
Abandoned farm buildings in northwestern Texas. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.
I will keep this idea in the back of my mind and maybe take a trip just to photograph these nostalgic buildings. I’m sure there are many of these scattered throughout the countryside near me; but those might take much exploring to find. On the other hand, there are many visible along major US and State highways throughout rural areas near many small towns, where changing economic conditions result in the displacement of people and businesses.
I will welcome readers’ suggestions on this topic. Maybe some of you are aware of interesting, abandoned houses and can share information about those.
