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Scenic, officially
Sort of makes you wonder, doesn’t it, if the person in charge of sign placement really intended for this abandoned gas station to be the backdrop for a sign proclaiming the town as Officially Scenic.
Or, maybe “scenic” refers to the marker itself, rather than the town…
Santa Rosa, New Mexico
photographed 5.4.2013
The ladies’
My favorite thing is the lettering on the door; I especially like the lilting curve of the word “ladies” and the intertwined Os in “room.” It’s a little hard to imagine that the owner of this place (a service station when it was new), ordered up something fancy for the door, but maybe that is what happened. After all, it is right around the corner from the town’s museum district.
For the record, St. Paul is the first town on the road trip where we heard loudspeakers broadcasting local radio stations. We thought it was for some kind of special event (was there going to be a parade?) but then we heard the same thing in several other towns.
St. Paul, Nebraska
photographed 8.30.2014
At least there’s a place to sit
This place was a treasure of randomness. That tree growing in what used to be (before the roof fell apart) indoors. The upended sofa. The tires. The phone on the wall (which maybe has to direct connection with the phone booth, which is just across the street?). And that chair, providing both a place to sit and a measure of security with its placement in front of the door.
And, the best part? There’s even more that I couldn’t get into the shot! Perhaps a subsequent post will take care of that. You just never know…
Danbury, Nebraska
photographed 8.31.2014
The things left behind
Yes, I do look in windows of abandoned buildings. How else will I know what’s inside? Like this place. Unless I’d looked inside (and made a photo while I was at it), how else could I have possibly known that there had apparently been some sort of an insect infestation there toward the end, when everything important was being packed up?
That’s important to know.
Loup City, Nebraska
photographed 8.30.2014
The after-hours club
Usually when I am out shooting, passersby don’t engage me in conversation.
On this particular day, though, an older man driving a pickup pulled over as I was shooting the old drive in from the other day. Our conversation:
Him: Do you remember what used to be here?
Me: No, sir. I’m from out of town, so I don’t know anything about it.
Him: Well, it used to be one of them after hours clubs. You know the kind I mean – the ones that didn’t even open until all of them other ones had closed. There was a lot going on here.
Me: How long ago did it close down?
Him: How long? Oh, it’s been closed forever.
Now, at this point I had seen three of the four sides of the place and was still under the impression that it was a drive in, so I wasn’t too sure he knew what he was talking about. But after he drove off, I looked in a broken window on the side I’d not yet explored…and then I believed him.
He came back around a few minutes later, pulling up close to where I was standing. This time he said, “Are you looking to buy anything?”
I was afraid to delve any further into that. It can’t have been good, right?!
Midland, Texas
photographed 8.23.2014
One Day | One Image 