GEAR TALK - Lost Places

Most of the North Texas cities within a 100 mile radius of our house were founded in the 1880's. The surrounding areas were once farms and businesses related to the railroads. Today, some of these cities still have original buildings near their town squares, though now dubbed "Historic Downtown", which is code for coffee houses, restaurants and kitschy shops.

Searching out areas that still have some of their original 1880-1940s original vibe (so to speak) is harder each year. It may take 100's hours and 1000's of miles across multiple weekends to find a new spot. Each year I spend more time scouting and less time taking pictures, which makes me appreciate the memory of spots that have since given way to new development. So today's Gear Talk post is a "I remember when" type of thing. A tribute to spots now gone...

• Hebron Sunsets - It was around 2006 when I started taking local pictures instead of waiting for the next vacation. After dinner, if the sky looked promising, I would head out for a quick 30 minute sunset outing. One of the first areas was an open field about a mile from the house. Today this field is houses for miles and miles.
• Denton Warehouses - Having gone to college in Denton long, long ago, I remembered their being at area of old warehouses and some factories. The warehouses were brick and some old ghost murals and such, and they made for okay content. Today the warehouse are either demolished, or little shops or little restaurants and bars.
• Prosper Grain Silos - There was a quite large grain silo complex with a set of train tracks running down the middle. One side was old, rusty, unused silos. They were demolished around 2011. The active side has been shrinking little by little, year by year. A silo or two vanishes every couple years. What is left today is shadow of what it once was. Frankly, the spot is no longer worth the time.
• Old Barns in Gunter - As Prosper dried up, I starting driving further north to Gunter, Dorchester and Sherman. Gunter today is relatively unchanged, but along the way there were bunch of old weathered, partially fallen down barns. In this case it is Mother Nature who has slowly, but steadily leveled these barns with storms and high winds.
• Era Grain Silos - As I expanded my drive radius and drifted into areas northwest of our house, I often passed through Slidell, Era and Forestburg. These areas pretty sparse. There was a group of 5 grain silos in an interesting formation. After first finding them, several years later one fell down. Then another a couple years later another one had apparently toppled over. When I last drove by around 6 months, all gone.
• Slidell Windmills - Staying in this northwest quadrant of Slidell, Era and Forestburg was mecca for little windmills. These windmill typically pumped water into troughs for the grazing cattle. Over these years the windmills blades and vanes literally fell off. As time passed, little more than a leaning lattice tower remain.
• Bonham Drive-in Theater - I stumbled across an old 1940's or 1950's drive-in when Googling areas. I was to get a picture of the sign, but the drive-in theater itself was mostly gone. A couple years an auction company (selling tractors and such) bought the land. They kept the sign, but muck up the whole thing by adding their business sign into the mix. Pity...
• Pignet - This abandoned building, probably a slaughter house, in Gainesville looked like a prime film stage set for the Walking Dead or some other horror movie. While there was no access into the building, getting around the building was wide open access. Today, access to the inner areas has been wholly closed off, mostly fenced in, cargo containers placed in front of it, and food trucks scattered about. There is no longer a clean shot.
• Trenton - This little city is along the way when going to Bonham. It is a speck of a city, but there was alot originality initially. Around 2018 they started converting some buildings, but the redevelopment stalled with Covid. The remodeling has since resumed, but the town is so small, it seems there would not be enough people to support the eateries and such.
• Sherman Woodmen House - This was a spot of knew about for years in Sherman, but it was fenced off and trespassing seemed a bit sketchy for various reasons. But one day the fence was left open and I got some pictures. The light was all wrong, so I was waiting to go back during December light. While waiting, after 100+ years, the entire site was demolished.

These 10 locations are just quick examples of what I could think of in 5 minutes. Every month or two another spot gets scratched off my list of known spots due to demolition or some other reason, so the lesson has been "get it while you can".

Too often I see a shot, but have a preset agenda in mind and want to stick to the plan, so I think to myself, "next time back around for that shot". Life has taught me (time and time again) there might not be next time... This has profoundly impacted how I take pictures in North Texas, but more on that next time.