The edge of Earth
My cousins lived in Earth, so you can only imagine that they heard every single ridiculous joke about their town’s name. At our house, when it was time to go up there for a visit, my dad would say we were “going to Earth.” It never got old. (Although it probably should have, at some point!)
These days there’s not much left in Earth. My cousins all moved away, and I can assume that most of their classmates did, too. There’s just not much going on around Earth these days. The Dairy Queen is closed, and so is this service station, out on the edge of Earth, along the highway to Springlake.
It’s not a new story.
Earth, Texas
photographed 5.24.2013
Posted on October 8, 2013, in architecture, Photography and tagged 365 photo project, abandoned buildings, architecture, black and white photography, earth texas, melinda green harvey, one day one image, photo a day, photography, texas. Bookmark the permalink. 14 Comments.
One Day | One Image 
Brings new meaning to the term “Peace on Earth”.
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Yes, I guess it does!
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I like the angle of this shot and the depth. And it’s quiet all the way through it. Nice weeds, too.
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Thanks, Donna. I never really thought about it being “quiet all the way through” until you pointed it out. I like that phrase!
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I like he contrast between black and white in this one.
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Thanks, Vera!
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One wonders how the town came to be named Earth. Nice photo.
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Normally, I’d let my Research Department (http://burntembers.com/) take care of this, but I’ll go ahead and give you the possibilities behind the town’s name. According to the Texas Historical Society, there are three versions:
1. It was originally Fairlawn or Fairleen, but it was renamed Earth, supposedly for a sandstorm blowing when storekeeper and first postmaster C. H. Reeves had to come up with a name acceptable to postal authorities in Washington.
2. Another story is that Reeves described the storm in a letter to Washington and received the reply: “The earth seems to move in your country. You will call the post office Earth.”
3. Still another story is that the founder of the town was impressed with the region’s fertile soil and wanted the name Good Earth, which the post office shortened.
You can pick the one you like the best. Or make up your own story, if you want.
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If I were the local mayor (if there still is one), I would rename the town to “Middle Earth”, and watch the gullible, I mean, tourists flock in. 🙂
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Economic development! A tourism-based economy! (There are surely more buzzwords, but it’s been a long day and I can’t think of any more right now….)
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Haha!
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Yeah – see what I did there?
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A place called Earth. The mind kinda boggles. Was there somewhere up the road called Sky by any chance. Now why would you call a town Earth? This scene reminds me of the phrase: earth to earth, dust to dust, ashes to ashes. It looks like it’s happening here sadly
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It’s sort of a goofy name for a town, isn’t it? There are various tales of how the town came to be named; the one that sounds most authentic references dust storms that occur often and says it was so named because the “earth seemed to move.”
And, like a lot of the small towns around here, Earth is returning to earth.
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