This Old House part 1

[armenius]

Great pictures!I love riding the back roads and seeing the now "ghost towns" created by I-95 and changing times. Sad to see the little villages that used to be bustling centers of activity,especially on Saturdays during cotton harvest.Money was circulating again and cotton bales stacked at the now closed train stations. Those were simpler times.
I liked the simple statement on the counter girls shirt. I can imagine a lot of interesting conversation when you stopped in for a Moon Pie and a RC Cola.

 

[Cyrano]

I just posted this on the 'pictures' thread. A derelict high school in a ghost towm near Pecos Texas. You can see it quite plainly from I-10. Wonder if anyone is still alive who graduated from there.

 

[shouldazagged]

I'm fascinated by abandoned buildings of all kinds, and if I could still get around I'd love to explore and photograph them.

But I have a bad habit: I write their stories in my head. It's a reflex.

Some are bittersweet or just peaceful. Others are very sad. A few are grim and bleak. But nearly all the buildings have stories in my warped mind.

Yeah, I should be put away.

 

[fat tom]

Counter gals standing in the same place 14 years earlier (34 years ago).

I've been in way too many places like that! Pickled pigs feet,Red Hots, pickled eggs and chili dogs. Breakfast of champions! FWIW,I'm bettin' that gal on the right is "Nukie".
f.t.

 

[rwsmith]

Interesting to think......

That these buildings were people's houses, who ate, slept, entertained, lived, died and procreated.

 

[walkin jack]

I'm fascinated by abandoned buildings of all kinds, and if I could still get around I'd love to explore and photograph them.

But I have a bad habit: I write their stories in my head. It's a reflex.

Some are bittersweet or just peaceful. Others are very sad. A few are grim and bleak. But nearly all the buildings have stories in my warped mind.

Yeah, I should be put away.

You and me both! Not so much on the barns (I just can't generate a lot of interest in the day to day doin's of a cows life ) But as I was shooting the houses I spent some time wondering and trying to imagine or get some feel for the lingering remnants of all the drama, joy, love, hate, worry, celebration etc that the people that lived in them shared.

It was in there somewhere that it occurred to me that the natural state of all things in this world is decay. Some things may last for centuries and some may perish in moments but nothing can last forever. It all gets worn out or used up or broken or changes in some way that requires interference from human beings. It why we have to keep painting our houses and cars. Cutting our hair. shining our shoes. Mowing our lawns. filling the pot holes in the streets, and on and on ad-infinitem.

I tried to imagine pleasant scenarios in each case but people being the way they are realism interjected itself in every case and what I wound up with was a mix. From the looks of the remains none of these folks were affluent. I think that would tell us a big part of the story as poverty lends itself to misery in most cases.

Old Marvin Zindler had a saying: "It's hell to be poor". True dat.

 

[Watchdog]

The building seen at the left end of the mailboxes was the center of activity for the area. It was the first gas/convenience store near the site for thousands of workers to use.

Looks like a Toyota 4Runner parked out front? Who does it belong to? Looks almost just like mine...same color and all, except mine has the spare tire carrier on the back.

 

[Watchdog]

Speaking of old houses, this one looks abandoned. But notice that someone has installed shiny new locks on the front door.

I spent a while photographing it and walking around it...no one came to run me off, so who knows.

 

[walkin jack]

How could I have forgotten about these. All from the fly-out fishing trip to the wilds of norther Ontario in Y2K. The first is the remnants of an old trappers shack from a time out of mind. the second is from 1951 from a date carved into the wall in side. The last is our privy. What it lacked in elegance it more that made up for in rustic charm...

 

[billwill]

The old houses (in some cases shacks) and tobacco barns across eastern NC, SC and the South in general are going fast. In many places already gone.

Let's hope we don't forget what use to be here. Somebody needs to remember it. Wonder if people will remember us?

 

[bigwheelzip]

Looks like a Toyota 4Runner parked out front? Who does it belong to? Looks almost just like mine...same color and all, except mine has the spare tire carrier on the back.

Good eyes. Yup, that was ours. A 1990, the first year of the new unified design. It was the first one of that type to arrive at the dealership in Kennewick WA, when my husband spotted it on a car carrier truck being delivered. Dealer didn't know what it was at first, but it was my husband's by that afternoon.

He loved that truck. First day he off-roaded it to the top of the nearby Horse Heaven Hills and took this picture.



oops, apologies for the thread drift.

 

[Davwingman]

Old Wallis tractor

Old Wallis tractor with chain drive steering...

 

[rwsmith]

If it's near.....

The old houses (in some cases shacks) and tobacco barns across eastern NC, SC and the South in general are going fast. In many places already gone.

Let's hope we don't forget what use to be here. Somebody needs to remember it. Wonder if people will remember us?

If it's near a growing area, forget it. And this area is growing to beat the band. All of the old landmarks are replaced by office buildings, gated communities and strip malls. It's hard for me to get around because things change on a weekly basis. I don't know how many times we've driven down a road and said, "Where did THAT come from?" at some building that was foundation a few weeks before. And it's not going to stop for a while.

 

[kthom]

I just posted this on the 'pictures' thread. A derelict high school in a ghost towm near Pecos Texas. You can see it quite plainly from I-10. Wonder if anyone is still alive who graduated from there.

Have been by that one several times, Cyrano. It is indeed an interesting and remarkable sight. I always wonder about those who attended school there and when exactly that happened!

I love all these pictures in this thread and look forward to many more posted!!!! Thanks to all!

 

[OFT II]

From what I can find online the Toyah school was built in 1912 and was in use until the late 1940s. I bet it could tell some stories.