As I traveled towards my second overnight destination in route to the Grand Canyon North Rim in July 2021, I spotted an abandoned church about a block north of the highway at the edge of a small New Mexico town. I had to stop to check out this old church.
The roadway from the highway to the church was gravel, but in good condition. There were other homes or building visible from the church site, but none were very close to the church, making it stand out from its surroundings.
I walked around the exterior photographing the church from various angles and capturing some of the exterior details, before I ventured through the front doorway.
Abandoned Church Exterior, Weathered and Scared SidingAbandoned Church Exterior, Weathered Siding
This post is dedicated to the exterior views. It was afternoon and the lighting was not great for capturing this weathered old church, but I knew I might not pass by again for a long time, if ever, so I had to make the best of the photographic conditions.
Abandoned Church Exterior, East SideAbandoned Church Exterior, Window and Interior ViewAbandoned Church Exterior, Back and East SideAbandoned Church Exterior, Window and Interior ViewAbandoned Church Exterior, Back and West SideAbandoned Church Exterior, Window and Interior ViewAbandoned Church Exterior, Front and West Side, New MexicoAbandoned Church Exterior, Window and View to Interior CeilingAbandoned Church Exterior, Front and West Side, New MexicoAbandoned Church Exterior, Window and Interior View
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.
Down the road a few miles from the old ranch and windmill, depicted in the previous post, is a small community, that was once more vibrant. Like many rural towns in the US, it has suffered from the evolving economy and technological advances that result in lost livelihoods. As people move away and are not replaced, homes and businesses are abandoned.
I have stopped in this community once previously to photograph an abandoned school under a clear sky. There were scattered clouds today, so I figured I might get more interesting images this time through.
Abandoned school on the high plains of New Mexico.
Just down the gravel street from this school was another one that I had neglected to photograph during my first stop here.
Abandoned school on the high plains of New Mexico.
Those big fluffy clouds added much interest and black and white seemed a good treatment of the images.
Abandoned school on the high plains of New Mexico
I could see a number of other abandoned homes and structures scattered around this little community, so I took time to photograph a few of those.
Abandoned house on the high plains of New Mexico
Abandoned commercial building on the high plains of New Mexico
Abandoned commercial building on the high plains of New Mexico.
Dilapidated Windmill and Water Storage Tanks on the high plains of New Mexico.
Abandoned house on the high plains of New Mexico.
Abandoned house on the high plains of New Mexico.
The trees die as they are abandoned along with the houses and other buildings.
Abandoned stone fence and home on the high plains of New Mexico.
Abandoned house on the high plains of New Mexico.
The final image in this post was chosen for Flickr’s Explore page and so far has received 5737 views and 192 favorites.
I spotted old, abandoned ranch structures and a windmill set back some distance from a highway, as I was traveling through the high plains of New Mexico a year or two ago. I resolved to stop and photograph the ranch scene on my way back through, since I was on a travel schedule, when I first noted these old structures.
I watched for that old ranch and windmill on my way past the area a couple of times, but I did not spot it again during those trips. The mental picture I had made for the ranch location was not accurate or maybe as time went by my memory became fuzzy. However, on my way home from the Great Sand Dunes of Colorado, I passed this way again and I spotted the windmill.
Abandoned ranch structures and old windmill on the high plains of New Mexico.
The ranch was, indeed, miles from where I had thought it was. I had made a mental note of the next town I went through for location reference, after first discovering that ranch. That town was miles away, but over time I became convinced that the ranch was just on the outskirts of that town. Consequently, I only began to look for it as I approached that town.
Lesson learned: even though my mental recollection is usually good, I should make written or recorded notes and/or GPS locations for places that I want to get back to.
Abandoned ranch structures on the high plains of New Mexico.
This area was volcanically active in ancient times and I’m fairly sure that is an old volcano cone in the background.
I had to shoot from a fence line with the house far on the other side. I considered shooting with an 80-400mm for which I have a 1.4x extender to get close up shots, but I think the shots with a 24-70mm at 70mm give a much better indication of the setting in this wide open landscape.
More abandoned structures down the road from here will be in the next post,
I had seen a number of abandoned houses and/or ranch/farm structures along my route home on previous trips this way. I decided that I would take time to photograph a few of these on my way home.
Roof Collapsing.
Abandoned House and Sheds
A closer look at the sheds
A closer look at the house
Abandoned House
All of the structures in the photos above are in close proximity to each other and on private property. I’m sure all of these were part of one settlement, ranch or other operation at one time. These are just off of a major highway, so they are easily observed by anyone traveling that highway.
The abandoned house in the following photos is not very near a highway, but it can be spotted from a major highway by a careful observer.
That’s all for this portion of my homeward journey,
I have driven the same route through the Texas Panhandle numerous times in my travels, seeing numerous old, abandoned houses and businesses. Occasionally, I will take a few minutes to stop and photograph some of these, if I have time in my schedule to do so.
This house is just off of a highway and almost completely surrounded by high grass and trees. I had made a mental note of it several times and finally decided to stop by to photograph it.
The view above is seen as one is driving to the northwest. If driving from the the northwest, the house is almost hidden and can easily be overlooked.
The sun was almost directly overhead, the light bright and harsh, so I converted the images to monochrome, which gives more pleasing images under these conditions.
I photographed all around the house, but with the dense vegetation, I did not get good images from other view points.
Driving between destinations, trying to maintain a travel schedule, I often see things that I neglect to take time to photograph. I have driven by the same places numerous times, thinking I should someday stop to get a photograph, even if it is midday with the harsh light of the midday sun directly overhead and minimum or no shadows.
If I stopped at each of these numerous places, I would obviously fall far behind in my travel schedule. Today I decided to take time at one such place that was some distance off of the highway, but clearly stood out in the wide open space in this part of New Mexico.
The architectural design of this structure suggest that it might have been a school house in this tiny community in the wide open plains of New Mexico. I probably should have stopped somewhere to inquire about this old place, but I did not take the time.
Driving towards Del Norte on FSR 380, I stopped at the ghost town of Summitville, an old mining town. There are abandoned, weathering old structures here and some old mine equipment in a parking area that overlooks the current modern mining operation.
Summitville, Colorado. iPhone photograph.
I had previously passed through here with my son and DIL, having lunch in the parking area, but I had not browsed around the abandoned structures. So today I walked around with my iPhone getting a few images of this historic site.
Summitville, Colorado. iPhone photograph.
The lumber planks on some of the sidewalls of these old buildings had weathered to a wonderful patina.
Nail heads and tarpaper. Summitville, Colorado. iPhone photograph.
There are remnants of the original tarpaper covering, held in place by rusty nails, on the outside walls.
I was intrigued by the weathered patina on the exposed lumber on the exterior walls of these old buildings.
Nails and weathered wall plank, Summitville, Colorado. iPhone photograph.Abandoned house, Summitville, Colorado. iPhone photograph.
It must have been cold in these old buildings in the winter here, as there did not appear to be any insulation in the walls or ceilings, just tarpaper covered exterior walls.
At least the residents and workers here had good views of the mountains, which were probably much more attractive in those old days before the pine bark beetles killed so many of the evergreens.
Old, abandoned houses and modern mine structures, Summitville, Colorado. iPhone photograph.Abandoned facility, Summitville, Colorado. iPhone photograph.Rusty, broken door hinge, Summitville, Colorado. iPhone photograph.Abandoned structures, Summitville, Colorado. iPhone photograph.
Imagine how this might look with healthy evergreens around, rather than the beetle killed trees.
Abandoned and Weathered, Summitville, Colorado. iPhone photograph.Abandoned Structure and Modern Mine Facilities, Summitville, Colorado. iPhone photograph.Abandoned Structures, Summitville, Colorado. iPhone photograph.
The attractive, colorful weathered patina on the wood planks appears to be on mostly the sides facing a southeasterly direction, while all the other sides have mostly a grey patina.
During our July, 2020 stay in Ridgway State Park, Colorado, after our early morning photo shoots, my son drove us around the area, exploring 4WD roads and other Colorado State and County Roads.
I captured some of the local scenery with either my DSLR or my mobile phone camera. I will share a few of these photographs in several blog posts.
There are numerous 4WD roads and county roads that can be accessed from US 550, aka The Million Dollar Highway, which is a treat in itself to drive.
An abandoned mine site near Silverton, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 24mm, f/11, 1/320s, ISO 200, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.An abandoned mine site near Silverton, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 26mm, f/11, 1/320s, ISO 200, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
This area is rich in minerals with many old, abandoned mine sites, as well as modern mining operations.
An old mine site near Silverton, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 70mm, f/11, 1/200s, ISO 200, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
My son posed an interesting question while walking around the mine site shown in the images above, “Did the miners who worked here enjoy the beauty of this setting or were their lives so hard that they did not appreciate this scenery”?
I think some, at least, would have admired the local beauty, while maybe others just wanted to be drinking in a saloon and enjoying other delights of a more populous area.
Remnants of an old wheel at an abandoned mine site near Silverton, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 50mm, f/11, 1/80s, ISO 200, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.Abandoned mine site near Silverton, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 62mm, f/16, 1/250s, ISO 200, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
We stopped to enjoy our picnic style lunch at the site of these last two images.
A lone tree on mine tailings near Silverton, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 45mm, f/16, 1/320s, ISO 200, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
We were all immediately drawn to the lone evergreen tree standing near the top of a large mound of mine tailing. This image, was selected for Flickr’s Explore page, the day it was posted, much to my surprise, as I was not too keen on this photograph, waffling about whether to crop it more severely to remove some of the bottom, making the tree more prominent. After lunch, I even tried shooting this again with my phone camera, as I kept thinking none of my photographs were capturing this well and the story told by my photograph would not be clear.
On the mountainside across the road from our lunch site was a beautiful, long waterfall. We were too far away to get a photograph of that fall. Even my 400mm lens, if I had had it with me, would not have been sufficient to get a suitable close up shot of that waterfall and one might have to cross private property to approach that mountainside. I will try to remember that waterfall and maybe try to get nearer to it on a subsequent visit.
In the spring of 2019, returning to Texas from Colorado, I spotted a group of abandoned farm buildings near an exit from I-70 on the high plains of eastern Colorado. I immediately wanted to photograph those old farm structures, but I had already passed the exit and I did not want to take the time required to backtrack, so I just made a mental note of the location in case I passed that way again.
In July of 2019 I was on that route again, returning from another trip to Colorado. I remembered the exit number from the earlier trip and this time I did not pass up an opportunity to stop and photograph those old buildings.
Old Farm Building on the Colorado Plains. iPhone photograph, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
It was late morning, the sun was high, the light harsh, but it was unlikely that I would ever be here at a better time, so I did the best that I could with what I had. I decided not to get out the DSLR equipment and just stroll around shooting with my iPhone.
Old Farm House on the Colorado Plains. iPhone photograph, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
I decided that the best post processing for these images would be a conversion to monochrome, given the light conditions and the subject matter.
Old Farm House on the Colorado Plains. iPhone photograph, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.Old Farm Building on the Colorado Plains. iPhone photograph, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.Old Farm Building on the Colorado Plains. iPhone photograph, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
I was lucky to catch a bird flying out of the old barn.
Old Farm Building on the Colorado Plains. iPhone photograph, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
I’m glad that I took a few minutes to stop here. There have been so many times that I’ve passed up opportunities to shoot places such as this, because I was on a time schedule for getting to some destination. I hope that I will have more time, during future road trips, to photograph a few more of the old and abandoned building that are scattered across our country.
Abandoned house on the high plains of New Mexico.
Abandoned House and Sheds
