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Erik Whetstone
Ghost Town Photographer |
About two
miles east of Allamore,
right off I-10
Photo by Erik Whetstone |
Ghost Towns:
AcalaAdobe
WallsAnnaArt
BarnhartBaxterBautista
Belle
PlainBen
ArnoldBluffton
BranchvilleBriggs
Bunker
HillCastellCedar
Station 4-13-06Cee
VeeCenter
PointClairemontClarksonCleo
4-13-06 ClimaxCodmanCoke
Cottage
Hill CuylerDozier
Dryden
4-9-06Dundee
FairlandFly
GapHooverHovey
8-11-06 Glazier
IndiaJeanJuno
3-30-06 Katemcy
KerrickKeyLake
VictorLaketonLelia
LakeLesleyLondon
4-13-06 Lone
GroveLoyal
Valley LuedersMaysfieldMesquite
Middle
Water MiddlewellMorales
Ranch 5-16-11MosheimOakallaOasis
Gas StationPandale
3-30-06PericoPickensPontotoc
6-2-07 Providence
6-6-06 PutnamPyoteRichardRidgeSaline
4-13-06 SandovalSegovia
4-13-06 ShafterSouth
BendStreetman
6-6-06 SwearingenSwensonTelegraph
4-13-06 Tennessee
Colony 6-6-06ThrallTruscottTucker
6-6-06 VerbenaVigo
ParkWaterloo
Watson
WaysideYarrellton
Texas Bridges
Canadian
River Wagon BridgeClear
Fork of the Brazos River
Suspension Bridge
Courthouses
Briscoe
CountyDallam
CountyHutchinson
CountyLipscomb
County
More ImagesLlano
County JailGranger
Ghost Signs Wheeler
County Jail |
The Ghost Town Philosophy of Erik Whetstone
Growing
up in the Dallas area, I became interested in old houses and ghost towns when
my Dad and I used to drive down to visit my grandfather in Houston. On each trip
we'd note old towns along the way and explore those that we could. After becoming
familiar with one route, we would take another on the next trip and cover new
ground. Later, when I started exploring Texas on my own, I'd drive as far as I
could on a tank of gas.
I didn't start taking photographs until 1999
when I acquired a digital camera. I first shot buildings around town but soon
ran out of subjects. So, I took one of the old routes to Houston my dad and I
used to take, but I couldn't find any buildings that I remembered. Then it occurred
to me that it wasn't a poor memory; it was because the buildings were simply no
longer there. I realized that's pretty much the fate of all older buildings -
that sooner or later they'll all be gone.
I decided to make an effort
to visit every county in Texas, and see what I could record. I would try to cover
as much ground as I could before sunset. Sometimes an entire day wouldn't produce
a single picture, and other times I'd capture a few hundred images.
I
began to think about what to do with my growing collection. I considered creating
a website but it never materialized. I found a few websites devoted to ghost towns,
but none that I felt I'd want to contribute to. Then one day I was browsing the
ghost town section of Texas
Escapes and recognized some of the same places I had visited - even some of
the same subjects. It was nice to know that other people were recording these
towns and so I offered to share my collection with TE's readers so that they might
enjoy my images in the same way I enjoyed theirs.
Erik Whetstone
January 30,
2004
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