Abandoned and Left to Rot

Houses, buildings, boats, and the stories they could tell

We see a lot of abandoned houses and buildings everywhere we go. In every state, there are ghost towns, abandoned businesses, factories, houses, barns, and buildings. Rich and I will seek out ghost towns and drive through them slowly.

Don’t you ever wonder what caused that building or that house to be left to rot? Sometimes these abandoned houses and buildings are in better shape than houses I have seen occupied across the country.

Someone has to own the land that the abandoned building sits on. Wouldn’t you think that land could be better used than to sit full of weeds and brush? I understand due to weather disasters, like flooding, tornadoes, earthquakes, or hurricanes, people will flee and never return. But I don’t always understand the circumstances and wonder what the story is. What is the history? Why was it left behind?

Texas has hundreds of abandoned small towns scattered throughout the state. We drove through one the other evening, but I didn’t get any photos because it was dark. I try to snap photos of the ones we pass along the road as we drive by. I have gotten pretty good at snapping the camera while speeding by.

Every time I see one of these buildings, I wonder what the history is. Who worked there, who lived there, what did this building see and hear, why was it left to rot? No matter what the reason might have been, it is creepy to see them and wonder.

Many of them are claimed to be haunted. Someone has seen a light, or movement, or heard something coming from the empty space. Could they be inhabited by squatters? That would explain the lights and noises. Some of these buildings may have been the place of unspeakable horrors, possibly murders, and the spirits of the murdered have stayed behind. Do you believe in ghosts?

Not too far from where we are staying in Texas, in the town of Premont, is the abandoned Rig Movie Theatre that people say is haunted. We drove by it, but I did not get a photo of it or get out and explore. I may not mind driving to these places and seeing them and taking a picture, but I am not inclined to get out and go exploring too close just in case there really is a ghost.

When we were in Florida, we found some abandoned boats.

At the campgrounds we stayed at, this pontoon boat used to be used as a rental. We were told that renters were too rough and tore things up, so several years ago, the campground quit renting it out, and it has just sat there ever since. Which is better? Letting the boats be used and maybe once in a while, something goes wrong, or leaving them sit to rot?

Same thing with these canoes. They have not been used in over five years. We thought about asking if we could have that little one but decided against it.

And this sailboat near Tarpon Springs was tipped over in a hurricane storm and has been sitting like that ever since. Left to rot in the place it sank.

I am excited to move on in a few days to Big Bend National Park and explore the ghost town of Terlingua and the abandoned Mariscal Mine. Stay tuned because you know I will write about them.

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