Blog Archives
if the heavens ever did speak
The National Ranching Heritage Center is only about 15 minutes from my house, but I almost never think about going there.
I went the other day because Belgian photographer Harry van Voorden was visiting Texas Tech and led a community photo walk; I often lament the lack of such events, so of course I joined up for the afternoon. Although the collection of ranch buildings is very interesting, I decided to specifically look at smaller details. I did a similar scale of looking/photographing in December at White Sands National Park, and it helps my brain calm itself the hell down if I am looking for the smaller details of things. (That’s a good realization, and it’s taken me a very long time to figure it out.)
Anyway, here’s a detail I found inside the Trinity Mission, a frontier church that was originally located in Spur, Texas, where it served as an Episcopal church.
National Ranching Heritage Center
Lubbock, Texas
photographed 3.8.2026
Picket Fence
I seem to be on a bit of fence binge lately. There was the crowded one, the wire one, and the solitary one, and now these pickets.
What do you suppose is going on here? (Dreaming of fences can symbolize a need for privacy, or a desire to shut off the rest of the world. I’m not dreaming about fences, but am posting photos of them, so I don’t think that’s it. Let’s just go with “I like the way they look!”, shall we?)
National Ranching Heritage Center
Lubbock, Texas
photographed 8.5.2014
Dining Room
Bouncing back to the National Ranching Heritage Center, here’s a shot of the Box and Strip House. It gets its name from the construction technique, also known as board and batten, an economical construction method that was popular in areas with very few native trees.
The use of wood enabled early West Texas ranchers to abandon dugouts and live above ground.
The Box and Strip House has four rooms; this is the dining room.
National Ranching Heritager Center
Lubbock, Texas
photographed 12.5.2014
Coffee Reflections
This was my favorite building at the National Ranching Heritage Center; it’s the Pitchfork Cookhouse, relocated to the museum from the Pitchfork Ranch, an operation that has over 180,000 acres in Texas and Oklahoma an has been in continuous operation since 1883. That may not sound like a long time if you’re from a country that’s been around a while, but out here, that makes it an old-time operation.
Lubbock, Texas
photographed 12.5.2014
Dress form
A dress form stands guard at a second story window.
Last week, some of my photography pals were in town for a show and we took advantage of a nice day and spent the morning at the National Ranching Heritage Center. We were almost the only visitors, but there were lots of workers around getting ready for a big event there this weekend. The workers were kind enough to let us go inside two of the houses, which are normally not open to the public.
And that’s how I got to make this photo.
the Barton House
National Ranching Heritage Center
Lubbock, Texas
photographed 12.5.2014
One Day | One Image 