West Texas (Day One and Two)

In early May of 09, I went out west with my good buddy Carlos to stay with his folks in Fort Stockton, TX and check out West Texas for a few days. I've been wanting to take this trip for years, and it was every bit as incredible as I expected; it really helped having a native to show me around.

The first day I drove from Keller to Austin, met up with Carlos, and then drove from Austin to Fort Stockton. All total - eight and a half hours car time, no problem at all. We went southwest on Highway 297 through the Hill Country, which is absolutely beautiful this time of year.

That night I got a taste of Fort Stockton life. We saw Carlos's sister play in the Fort Stockton Middle School and High School bands, ate at the local Ihop with them and their dad, met several locals, and bummed around town a bit. Fort Stockton is very spread out and in comparison is a pretty small town, but when you come upon it on I-10 it comes as a huge surprise. It has a population of something like 8,000 and is surrounded by nothing but desert.

The next day we put in some serious mileage. We drove southwest through Alpine, which is an extremely charming little college town of about the same size as Fort Stockton. Between Fort Stockton and Alpine we saw our first real mountains of the trip, only to be surrounded by them for the rest of my stay. We went straight south out of Alpine through nothing but desert and mountains until we hit the tiny town of Study Butte. After a brief stop to gas up and buy a ton of water, we proceeded onto Terlingua.

Terlingua is a ghost town extremely close to the Mexican border. The current town is somewhat active and is contained within the original townsite. It's basically a series of adobe structures scattered around about a two mile radius of barren earth high up in the mountains. The buildings have been remarkable well preserved by the desert air. Unfortunately a few are occupied and are private property. The town general store offered a nice pit stop, with air conditioning, cool beverages, and a huge porch with an incredible view and tons of locals to swap stories with.

Next we went on to Lajitas. I learned shortly after returning from this trip that Lajitas also has a ghost town site; unfortunately I didn't realize it at the time and missed it. We found plenty of abandoned buildings though - very recently abandoned. Turns out someone thought it would be a good venture to turn Lajitas into a resort town. With its sprawling view of the mountains and the Rio Grande, I can see where the idea originated, but it is surrounded by absolute desolation, not a soul for miles. The installed grass reminds one of Las Vegas, and most of the new store fronts and hotels have already closed. There was one resort hotel still open, though, and it was here that Carlos and I stopped for a free dip in their pool. It was about 110-115 degrees down there and the water was extremely warm and clean, about as refreshing as physically possible.

We left Lajitas and rode the highway due west along the Rio Grande. We stopped at some incredible view points, and we swam across the Rio and I stood on Mexican soil for the first time. We passed through a tiny town called Redford, and through the much larger border town of Presidio before we ran out of sunlight and had to head back to Fort Stockton for the night.

Here's the pictures from the first two days; watch for a day three post soon.


passing through Itasca, TX


passing through again, this time in Ozona, TX, a small town right at the border of Hill Country and the wide expanses of West Texas


storm outside Fort Stockton






abandoned house north of Study Butte










Study Butte, TX


Terlingua, TX
























abandoned stores in Lajitas, TX








this picture kind of sums up the day.




Redford, TX

witches' hastle

So having heard a variety of rumors of its existence and especially from reading about it in Weird Texas, Lisa and I decided to go to Cameron Park in Waco and look for Witches' Castle ourselves.

The lore is that in abandoned part of the 400+ acre park along the Brazos River in Waco lies hidden an area of stone forms and structures carved into the heavily wooded hillsides which played, and supposedly still plays, host to such nefarious behavior as witchcraft, satanism, and miscellaneous other misbehavior.

The idea is that the area is well hidden deep within a wooded part of the park way off the off-beaten path and that one finds the beginnings of stone steps quite unexpectedly, which then lead down into a complex of sorts, composed of various stair sets, pools, and something of an altar-like structure. The urban myth is that the place is well hidden and deeply evil - and that it stinks like death and is filled with evidence of the occult and other wrongdoing.

Having researched it, I've come to believe that Witches' Castle is just the contemporary term for a remote part of the park originally known as Proctor Springs. According to Waco newspapers, from the beginning of the 20th century through the 1970's the clear, cool water of Proctor Springs offered a public swimming and bathing grounds where families went to relax. Then during the 80's tax flow to the park stopped and the area was essentially abandoned.

We did find many intriguing stone structures, including steps and a small pool, as well as small, but still flowing, natural springs. However, after some six hours of exploring the park and other parts of the city, and following directions found online, we were unable to find anything that truly lived up to the sinister concept of Witches' Castle that drew us there in the first place.

None of this, however, is to say that our trip was unpleasant or fruitless. We explored parts of Waco neither of us had ever visited and found the remains of a massive early 1900's three story school burned almost entirely to the ground. In our exploring of Cameron Park, we found it to be absolutely beautiful; it was March and the new warmth of spring had made the area extremely lush with tropic vegetation.

TRAVIS'S PICTURES:





















LISA'S PICTURES:














Pictures 03/09

grandeur

"let the grandeur of the pioneer be discerned in the safety he has secured, in the good he has accomplished, in the civilization he has established."


this was probably the most rewarding trip i've ever taken. we started north in the morning, heading toward a town called belcherville, tx. near the turn of the century, belcherville was a new and exciting town, at least compared to its nearby neighbors. it boasted a post office, some thirty businesses, and multiple churches.

shortly after the first world war, however, the hopes of the town were literally burned down. two separate fires destroyed most of the town, and almost none of it was rebuilt. legend holds that, at night, the residents from one side of town set fire to the other side. the next night, out of vengeance, the victims burned down the remaining half.

today almost nothing is left to mark belcherville's existence as an actual town. it's home to around thirty residents and has no businesses or other establishments. the shell of one of the old churches still stands on a corner lot. though thoroughly decomposed, the size of the building attests to a weekly turnout far greater than the town's current population. there are also several abandoned homes in various states of disrepair; from still standing (and apparently used as a garbage dumb site by the locals) to completely collapsed.

from belcherville we headed northeast to spanish fort, tx. spanish fort has a long and winding history. prior to the 1700's, the modern town site served as a major village of Taovaya Indians. in 1759, the Spanish attempted to take the village but, in one of their only major defeats at Native American hands, were repelled and had to abandon two Spanish cannons.

in the mid-1800's, white settlers returned to Spanish Fort. the native population, vastly reduced in number and strength by smallpox, moved to Oklahoma and joined the Wichita Indians. the new white settlers mistakenly took the fortified village to be the remains of an old Spanish fort, probably mistaken by the cannons; hence the name of the town they founded.

the town became the last stop on the Chisolm trail before crossing over the red river. Spanish Fort soon rose up to meet the needs of travelers, opening several shops, including the original home of the new famous Justin Boots, saloons, and brothels. soon it became a rough and tumble frontier town plagued by countless shootouts.

after the railroad passed it by, Spanish Fort quickly shriveled up. the discovery of major oil fields just south of town temporarily boosted the town in the 1920's, and a large schoolhouse was built. it proceeded to fade in population again, however, and today the schoolhouse stands empty.

Spanish Fort is still home to around 100 residents. for every occupied home, however, there is a disheveled, abandoned one next door. the downtown also stands silent.




abandoned home in belcherville










an old church in belcherville




a burned down home south of spanish fort
















worst headstone ever






no comment






inside the spanish fort schoolhouse, where the decoration suggests it was last used in the early 70's




















this photo cred: lisa bird




creepiest house i've ever seen