Tag: Rural

More Relics in Rural America – Part 5

This is a continuation of photography of old, abandoned homes or other structures that I’ve found, while traveling in middle America.

Stone House in Tall Grass

It is unusual for me to come across such finds as this late in the day with the sun low in the sky or with such great clouds in the sky from a clearing rain storm. I had to walk through tall grass to get near enough to shoot this old homestead in Middle America.

Tiny House in Tall Grass

This tiny house (or storage building?) is behind the bigger house (first image).

Maybe a Bath House?

Walking around to the back side of the tiny house, I found this pile of rocks from the collapsed structure, an old cast iron bathtub and other debris.

A Prince Came Calling

The title for this image is inspired by the small object I spotted in the upper left corner of the door frame. I know that object might be too small in this image for a viewer to identify, but it is an old Prince Albert tobacco tin. Prince Albert tobacco is still produced and it was very common and popular, when I was a kid growing up. Empty, discarded tins like this were common litter items back then.

Abandoned Prairie House and Windmill

There are two abandoned houses at this homestead, the one in the first image and the one in the image above.

 

Abandoned House, Windmill and Bathtub

Shooting the windmill from another direction, shows the first house and the tiny house in the background.

Like a Jigsaw Puzzle Scene
The Backside of House 2
One Side of House 2

 

Past and Future

There are modern electric power generating windmills on the far horizon in this image, indicating the continuity of wind energy in Middle America from the past into the future.

Open and Shuttered

Thanks for following,

Ken

 

More Relics in Rural America – Part 4

This is a continuation of photographs of rural relics I encountered in a spring of 2025 road trip through middle America.

Home on the Range
Just off the Beaten Path
The Door is Always Open
Retirement Meadow
Windows in the Past
Why?

Didn’t I always shelter you from the rain and the cold? Wasn’t I always here, when you returned from a hard days’ work?

More relics are down the road,

Ken

 

More Relics in Rural America – Part 3

More photos taken in rural America, during an early June 2025 roadtrip.

Yellow Gate Barn
Open and Airy Barn
House on the Hill
House on the Hill 2
House on the Hill 3

My first inclination was to call this “Puddle House” for an obvious reason. I had to shoot this old, abandoned house from a fence line near the roadway with a big zoom to get the close up image.

House of the Red Cross
House of the Red Cross 2

More relics are just down the road,

Ken

More Relics in Rural America – Part 2

This post is a continuation of photographs of relics I encountered during my June, 2025 trip to and from Badlands National Park, South Dakota.

Swagger

This old house in a small rural town has so much lean that it appears to be relishing its status with a “swagger”. It was raining lightly, when I stopped to photograph here, so I moved around as expeditiously as I could, while capturing these images. Weeks later, when I got around to processing these images, I at first thought that my lens had distorted this old house, since I did not recall noting this much lean in real time. After examing multiple images, I had to conclude that the lean was not exaggerated by my camera.

Swagger 2
Swagger 3

The concrete pad out front with the water hydrant, makes me think this could have been a business site, maybe an old service station?

 

Nice Roof

Across the street from “Swagger”, is this old boarded up house with a metal roof that seems to be in much better condition than the rest of the house. Maybe this place has not been abandoned for too many years.

Made in the Shade

There were a number of other abandoned homes and other old structures in the same neighborhood. “Made in the Shade” house seems to be relaxing in the shade of a tree, retired after a long life of sheltering others.

Not as Neat as I Once Was

“Not as Neat as I Once Was” is done with the days of neat and orderly, with more important things to contemplate in its old age.

Outdoor Laundry

This old home has multiple outdoor laundry facilities.

Outdoor Laundry 2
Gravity Wins

“Gravity Wins” is the likely future for the abandoned structures in this post.

More Relic to come,

Ken

More Relics in Rural America

On my way to and from Badlands National Park in early June 2025, I drove through many small towns and rural areas between Texas and South Dakota. I always keep my eyes open for photographic opportunities to break up the long drives. One of my favorite targets for such are old, rural structures, especially those that appear to have been abandoned. This post will feature some of those photographs from this trip.

Alone

I spotted this magnificent old house just a few miles before my first ovenight stop over in Kansas. It sits well back from the roadway in an open field. I shot from a fence line near the roadway with my 24-70mm, then used my 80-400mm to get a closer view of the house.

Alone 2
Alone 3

The following day, not long after leaving my overnight area, I spotted more intriguing structures, which required some minor rerouting to get close enough to shoot.

Stone House in Field

This stone house appears to be in fairly good condition, but seems to be abandoned. It is not far from a dirt road, but there is no indication of any roadway access to this structure.

Roofless

I had to walk a considerable distance on a muddy, dirt road in a drizzling rain to get close enough to shoot this old one and even then I had to stop at a fence line and photograph from a distance. I had only brought my 24-70mm lens mounted on my D850 and wished I had put on my 80-400mm, when I had to stop at that fenceline.

Roofless 2

There was another, smaller structure, in similar condition, down the hill from the house, but I was too far away to get a good shot of that with my 24-70mm.

Roofless 3

I would have liked to have gotten closer, but I did not want to cross that fenceline and trespass, since that fence was obviously there to keep people out. There was no evidence of graffiti, which I suspect is an indication of the lack of easy access from the local roadways and the remote rural location of this structure.

Stay tuned for more Rural Relics,

Ken

 

Trick or Treat 2024

Halloween Sunrise 1

Don’t be here, when the sun goes down tonight.

Halloween Sunrise 2
Friendly Neighbors

Our neighbors here in the backwoods of Indiana are friendly, but I don’t know about their dog.

Not Tonight, Babe. I’m Bone Tired!
Won’t You Come Into My Workshop?
The Kids Will Be Out to Play Soon
Something Sinister is in the Wind

Happy Halloween and stay safe,

Ken

Indiana Fall 2023, Part 4 – Old Country Home

Abandoned Home 1, Indiana Backroad October 24, 2023

I found this old, abandoned house just a short distance from the cabin in which we were staying in the fall of 2022.

I returned this fall (2023) to photograph it again.  The fall leaves had mostly fallen the year before, when I found it.  This year the fall color was good and not yet peak.

The house is little changed since 2022, but the weeds around it were taller and thicker, as if the lot is more neglected now.

Abandoned Home 2, Indiana Backroad October 24, 2023

More Indiana Fall to come,

Ken

Road Trip Photography Between Destinations – Part 5, September 2022 – House of Eight Gables

This is a continuation of September 2022 road trip photography.

House of Eight Gables 1

This old, abandoned block facade house, sitting in a wide open area along a gravel roadway was visible for some distance from the highway I was traveling on in Kansas.  It is impressive enough to justify a detour to check it out.

Through A Window
Interlocked
House of Eight Gables 2
Corner Collapse
House of Eight Gables 3
Stairwell

Until the next adventure,

Ken

Road Trip Photography Between Destinations – September 2022, Part 4 – Rural Abandonment

This is a continuation of road trip photography of September, 2022.

No More Loads
Pastured
Abandoned Farm House, Kansas
Roofless
Window Sitting
In the Hay

To be continued,

Ken

Road Trip Photography Between Destinations – September 2022, Part 3 – Abandoned Farm Homes

This is a continuation of road trip photography of September 2022.

Prairie Home, Nebraska High Plains
The Gate
Homeward Lean
Still Spins

After shooting and driving away from this abandoned Nebraska home, I realized that I should have used a slow shutter speed to capture the motion of the windmill.  The windmill still spins, but the pump is disconnected.

Old Prairie Home
Stormy Horizon
Duplex Model 55

This is apparently a popular pump gear box that is or was used with windmills.  In researching this item, I found online listing for parts for this model gear box.

Listing Porch Roof
No Panes
Distraught Tree

The evergreen tree on the left seems to be distraught about the dilapidated condition of this abandoned farm house.  Maybe children once played around that tree.  This image was chosen for Flickr’s Explore Page.

Hanging On

Even more road trip images in the next post,

Ken