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“It was never as photogenic as it is now.”
“It was never as photogenic as it is now.”
That’s what one of my regular commentors said about one of my blog posts recently. I took to that phrase right away: it seems to sum up a great deal of my work, and my own ideas about what is or isn’t photogenic. There are few things that I like to photograph more than old places like this, once grand, maybe, but now forgotten and giving in to gravity.
I don’t know for sure what this place used to be, but my guess is that it was once a hotel. (If my research department wants to look into this a little bit, I will offer this: it is on the corner of West 13th Street and North Nelson Street.)
Fort Stockton, Texas
photographed 3.19.12
Items of interest
Meanwhile, a few things at this abandoned gas station caught my attention.
* Those squarish shapes inside the scars of circles on the wall.
* The restrooms are off to the left, somewhere.
* God is love, according to the letters stuck on the plate glass window.
* Don’t those drapes seem a little formal for a gas station?
* That plant? There in the window on the left? It’s growing on the inside of the building, clinging to the drape. Sort of makes me worried about what the inside of the place looks like.
Valentine, Texas
photographed 8.16.2013
Reserved Parking
There’s just not that much going on in town. But if you’ve got a handicapped parking permit, you can at least count on being able to park right in front of this vacant building.
That’s pretty helpful, I guess.
(Don’t get me wrong: when I take my dad places, I have a handicapped parking permit. You’d be surprised, though, at the number of times that we can’t use it, because the designated handicapped spaces are already full. Also, the Americans with Disabilities Act requires tactile surfaces on ramps; these are usually truncated cones cast in the concrete. I understand why they help visually impaired persons know they are on a ramp. But for 90-year-old men with walkers, these tactile surfaces are virtually impassable, and are quite annoying. In case you were wondering my opinion on the matter.)
Liberty Hill, Texas
photographed 3.9.2013
Auditorium
This was one of the first times I’d been brave enough to walk into an abandoned building to take some pictures. But I am glad I did: this place is boarded up now.
This place has an interesting history that involves millionaires, Postum, and planned communities. Wikipedia has this to say:
The rare motorist that happens to pass through the remote small town of Close City today may be unaware that, at the turn of the century, the town site was chosen as the original location of Post City, a model community and grand social experiment conceived by C. W. Post, an American breakfast cereal and foods manufacturer. In the early 1890s, Post developed a popular caffeine-free coffee substitute called Postum and later made a fortune on breakfast cereals such as Grape Nuts and Post Toasties. As Post’s wealth grew, his interests began to expand into other areas. One project that had always intrigued him was the creation of a planned community of model homes and industry. His success in the prepared foods industry provided the financial resources to make this dream a reality.
The Close City schoolhouse is two stories high; this auditorium is on the second floor. The building was in use from 1919 to 1965, when the school closed and students went to nearby Post, Texas, for school.
Close City School
Garza County, Texas
photographed 5.31.2010
White on white, 13
No matter how quaint Indian Lodge, somewhere, there’s got to be the mechanical stuff that keeps the place running. While it may not be as lovely as the adobe walls from yesterday, I think there’s still a certain charm here.
Davis Mountains State Park, Texas
photographed 11.11.2010
One Day | One Image 