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

Cuervo, New Mexico, March 2023, Part 6

Cuervo Ghost Town 31
Cuervo Ghost Town 32
Cuervo Ghost Town – Openness
Cuervo Ghost Town -Target Object

In rural U.S. it is not unusual to see bullet holes in abandoned objects and road signs.  This is perhaps a sign of the U.S. love affair with guns.  Shooting at such objects as this abandoned vehicle could put other in danger, since there are still a few people in this area and many vehicles pass through on I-40.

Cuervo Ghost Town – Abandoned Automobile

One can see in the image above an indication of the traffic along I-40 through Cuervo.  I usually tried to wait until there was no traffic in the background of my shots, but sometime that required more time than I had the patience for.

Cuervo Ghost Town – Abandoned Automobile
Cuervo Ghost Town 32

I made the shot of the kitchen area of this abandoned house through an open window, I think (or doorway, I don’t recall which).

Cuervo Ghost Town – Parting Shot

I made this last shot as I walked back towards my vehicle.

This concludes this series on the mostly abandoned community of Cuervo, New Mexico.  More history of this ghost town can be found here.

Thanks for following,

Ken

Cuervo, New Mexico, March 2023, Part 5

Cuervo Ghost Town 25
Cuervo Ghost Town 26
Cuervo Ghost Town 27
Cuervo Ghost Town 28
Cuervo Ghost Town 29
Cuervo Ghost Town 30

To be continued,

Ken

Cuervo, New Mexico, March 2023, Part 4

Cuervo Ghost Town 19

More photos of abandoned houses in Cuervo, New Mexico, taken as I was passing through, returning from another landscape photography destination.

Cuervo Ghost Town 20
Cuervo Ghost Town 21
Cuervo Ghost Town 22
Cuervo Ghost Town 23
Cuervo Ghost Town 24
Tumble Weeds and Tumble Boards
Cuervo Ghost Town 25

To be continued,

Ken

Cuervo, New Mexico, March 2023, Part 3

Cuervo Ghost Town 13
Cuervo Ghost Town – Gravitational Distortion
Cuervo Ghost Town 14
Cuervo Ghost Town 15
Cuervo Ghost Town 16
Cuervo Ghost Town – Cholla Planter

Cholla cacti converts this abandoned washing machine into a planter.  This image was chosen by Flickr for its Explore page.

Cuervo Ghost Town 17
Cuervo Ghost Town – Even the Trees have Ghosts here
Cuervo Ghost Town 18

To be continued,

Ken

Cuervo, New Mexico, March 2023, Part 2

Cuervo Ghost Town Church

This is the old church that first drew my attention to Cuervo, New Mexico, as I drove by along I-40, some years ago.  This time I took time to stop and photograph portions of this mostly ghost town.

Cuervo Ghost Town Church
Cuervo Ghost Town 8
Cuervo Ghost Town 9
Cuervo Ghost Town 10
Cuervo Ghost Town 11
Cuervo Ghost Town Water Tank
Cuervo Ghost Town 12

To be continued,

Ken

Cuervo, New Mexico, March 2023, Part 1

Cuervo, New Mexico is a small community along interstate I-40 in New Mexico.  It is mostly a ghost town, having been established as a railroad stop in 1901, then drying up when the railroad chose another stop in Tucumcari, NM.

I’ve driven this stretch of I-40 past Cuervo numerous times, first making a mental note of this place, when I spotted an old, picturesque church as I drove by at 75mph, thinking that someday I might want to stop in to photograph that old church.

I had spent the night near Gallup, NM, waking up to a snow covered vehicle and campground with temperature in the low 20s.  I drove through intermittent snow and rain that heavily overcast morning.  I figured the overcast sky would create the perfect environment for photographing in Cuervo, so I determined to take time to stop here today.  Atlas, as I drove along not paying attention to where I was, I drove past the only east bound exit for Cuervo.  I had to drive 7 or 8 miles to the next exit, make a U-turn and backtrack to Cuervo.  By the time I got back to Cuervo, most of the overcast had cleared and it was mostly bright and sunny.  But I was here and decided to walk around the small town, photographing the abandoned homes, anyway.

Cuervo Ghost Town 1
Cuervo Ghost Town 2
Cuervo Ghost Town 3
Cuervo Ghost Town 4
Cuervo Ghost Town 5
Cuervo Ghost Town 6 – Cali-Rose
Cuervo Ghost Town 7
Cuervo Ghost Town 8 – The Church

The old church is still somewhat maintained, at least.  The roof appears to be relatively new.

To be continued,

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