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.
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,
In mid-September, 2019 my wife and I visited Liberty, Kentucky for a number of reasons, but the timing was mostly because my wife wanted to attend the local apple festival.
This photographic genre is definitely well out of my comfort zone and I have to force myself to see and make these type images. I suppose this is a good exercise, nonetheless I feel much more at home in a wide open landscape with no one around and just the sounds of nature rather than raucous crowds.
Entertainment at the Casey County Apple Festival. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 52mm, 1/160s, f/11, ISO 200, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
A cropped version of the photo above is posted on Flickr. I cropped it to get a closer view of several of the performers, which I think is more appealing than this wide angle view that I made to take in the sign above the stage.
This festival had all the usual things that festivals have: entertainment and lots of booths with various goods, over priced food and beverages for sale to the attendees.
Liberty, Kentucky is a typical southern, rural, small town with down home country people, deeply religious and patriotic folk. Many of the families here have deep roots going back for many generations. The intermarriage of local families means that many of the residents or descendants of them are related in some manner.
Casey County Courthouse, Liberty, Kentucky. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 40mm, 1/400s, f/11, ISO 200, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
Having grown up in a small, rural, southern town, I can understand the culture here. Most of the residents are conservative and have a long history of hunting, fishing and gun use as sport and as a means of supplementing their food supply. Hence, one will see such displays as this:
Leather handgun holsters at a vendor’s booth at Casey County Kentucky Apple Festival. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 70mm, 1/160s, f/11, ISO 400, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
Many of the items displayed in the vendor booths are hand crafted, such as these beautiful wood vessels:
A craftsman’s display at the Casey County Apple Festival, Liberty, Kentucky Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 46mm, 1/200s, f/11, ISO 400, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
And, of course, many of the locals have ancestors that fought in the civil war, probably on both sides and that history is still prevalent in many vendor displays along with the hard scrabble life of rural farm history.
A vendor’s display at the Casey County Apple Festival, Liberty, Kentucky. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 70mm, 1/80s, f/11, ISO 200, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.Flag booth at the Casey County Apple Festival. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 58mm, 1/800s, f/11, ISO 200, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
Everyone knows how much southerners like sweet ice tea.
A Casey County Apple Festival beverage booth. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 48mm, 1/320s, f/11, ISO 200, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
This is also Trump country.
A vendor’s display at Casey County Apple Festival, Liberty, Kentucky. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 50mm, 1/200s, f/11, ISO 200, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.Trump hats at the Casey County Apple Festival. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 70mm, 1/320s, f/11, ISO 200, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.Trump items at the Casey County Apple Festival. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 62mm, 1/200s, f/11, ISO 200, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
One has to take time to pick the best hat:
Trump hats at the Casey County Apple Festival. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 70mm, 1/160s, f/11, ISO 200, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
I did not see any political displays for any of the current crop of Democratic Party presidential candidates. I’m guessing the progressive movement is not very popular here.
There were many items to enjoy seeing and have fun photographing at many of the vendor booths. Here are just a few.
Transparent spheres at the Casey County Apple Festival. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 70mm, 1/320s, f/11, ISO 200, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
Pink?
Vendor booth at the Casey County Apple Festival. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 70mm, 1/320s, f/11, ISO 200, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.Manaquins at Casey County Festival Vendor Booth. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 70mm, 1/250s, f/11, ISO 200, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.Dream Catchers at the Casey County Apple Festival. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 70mm (pre-crop), 1/320s, f/11, ISO 200, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.Toy display at the Casey County Apple Festival. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 70mm (pre-crop), 1/800s, f/11, ISO 200, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
Abandoned House and Sheds
