Why are there so many ghost towns in Texas? (Frisco: hotel, home)

[High_Plains_Retired]

My great grandmother was appointed postmaster at Ivy, Angelina County, Texas in 1886. The town became Odell in 1900 and disappeared by 1930.

[TXNGL]

Originally Posted by High_Plains_Retired

My great grandmother was appointed postmaster at Ivy, Angelina County, Texas in 1886. The town became Odell in 1900 and disappeared by 1930.

I don't know in this case but we also can't forget the dustbowl. That decimated lots of small places.

[Mouldy Old Schmo]

At least two communities listed as Texas "Ghost Towns" on Wikipedia were swallowed up by neighboring cities - Gruene by New Braunfels and Fratt by San Antonio.

Some communities, such as New Birmingham in east Texas south of Rusk, were created by speculators during "bubbles", and died out when the bubbles burst.

[joqua]

I don't know what qualifies a "town" as being a ghost town, but there are numerous place names where buildings once existed where there is no longer any sign of anything ever having been there.

To me a ghost town implies there is still some physical presence but either none or very few residents living there. A good example is the "ghost town" of Mogollon in New Mexico that has just been ravaged by flash floods and the only road in/out destroyed. News accounts say 16 residents are affected and one elderly tourist is missing (he tried to drive out of town during the flooding). Mogollon is but one example of former western mining towns that have been largely abandoned since the 19th century, or early 20th.

I don't know why a place on the map that has no existing old structures would be called a ghost town.

[High_Plains_Retired]

Originally Posted by TXNGL

I don't know in this case but we also can't forget the dustbowl. That decimated lots of small places.

That no doubt happened more so in the Panhandle where the dust blew but remember Anglo settlements on the High Plains were extremely sparse prior to the battles at Adobe Wells in the 1870s. Prior to that, the Plains Indians pretty much controlled the High Plains.

[High_Plains_Retired]

Originally Posted by Mouldy Old Schmo

At least two communities listed as Texas "Ghost Towns" on Wikipedia were swallowed up by neighboring cities - Gruene by New Braunfels and Fratt by San Antonio.

Not so odd. As a child, I lived in a Texas town that was swallowed by another town. That was Velasco, Texas.

[High_Plains_Retired]

Originally Posted by joqua

I don't know why a place on the map that has no existing old structures would be called a ghost town.

Probably because "ghosts" are not derived from old buildings but from the people who once lived there.

If you've ever camped on the deserts of SE NM or west TX, you should be acquainted with the "ghosts" that haunt the cool night breezes that blow through the misshapen mesquites and sand hummocks?

[Mouldy Old Schmo]

Velasco:

http://goo.gl/maps/AAUuZ

[High_Plains_Retired]

Originally Posted by Mouldy Old Schmo

Velasco:

http://goo.gl/maps/AAUuZ

Thanks. I'm sure things down there are much different than it was when I lived there. I was about 7 or 8 years old because I remember my neighbor buying a brand new 1957 Chevy Belair (turquoise & white, 2-door hardtop). I remember the house we lived in but I can no longer pinpoint it on a map. I do recall an old Piggy Wiggly grocery store within walking distance of the house and I believe the High School was just up the street.

[High_Plains_Retired]

Originally Posted by Mouldy Old Schmo

Velasco:

http://goo.gl/maps/AAUuZ

I swung down to the street view on your Google map and the town appears to have not changed much. The old houses look about the same as they did in 1957 except the city streets are now paved (still without curbing). In 1957, the city streets were crushed oyster shells and tough on a kid's bare feet.