If you roll through the map of Texas, depending on how many westerns you’ve seen or how many Louis Lamour novels you have read, the whole of Texas seems familiar. On the map, you read Odessa, Midland, Amarillo, Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, San Antonio, and Waco. And if you look carefully, you will see the names of Texas Ghost towns.
Texas Ghost Towns
Gruene Historic District Ghost Town -Gruene is a German town in Comal County in the U.S. state of Texas. Once a significant cotton-producing community along the Guadalupe River. The boll weevil hit Gruene hard in the 1920s. The store and depots had already closed even before the Great Depression rolled around. Fast becoming a ghost town, the last nail was driven in the town’s casket when the highway bypassed it after WWII. The town has now shifted its economy to one supported primarily by tourism. Gruene, a German surname, is now a district within the city limits of New Braunfels. The city is known for its German-Texan heritage and architecture. A former ghost town, Gruene offers a General Store and souvenir shops and The Gristmill and Gruene Hall.
The Grove – The Grove in Coryell County, Texas, located some 16 miles southeast of Gatesville, Texas, is an 1861 home that uniquely mirrors the history of the riverport city, and the ghost stories there go back over 100 years. The home’s history is fascinating. Along with the past, though, talk with the owners and find out just what it’s like to live in a haunted home. If you visit this fantastic home, the owner will weave a beautiful tale of the house’s history and occupants. Intertwined were stories of the ghosts that still walk the property. One such story involves a Miss Louise Young, who lived in the house from the early 1900s until her death in the 1980s, used to tell her friends about the “haints” that occupied the house with her. Somewhere along the way, though, the fun little ghost stories took a dark turn. In her later years, she was terrified of the spirits. She had a security light installed in the garden because she would see people outside walking around, who disappeared when she turned on the porch light.
Ghost Town Texas – Conveniently located in scenic downtown Terlingua, Texas — just a few exits past the world’s end — Ghost Town Texas is a special place. This spectacularly primitive Texas landscape and the ruins of the Chisos Mining Company are the settings for exploration, relaxation, and good times. Once a thriving cinnabar mining operation, everyone limped away except for the local critters. Then the town went bust, and the miners walked away, leaving their homes behind. Today you’ll find a ghost town made up of decaying buildings, mine shafts, tall tales, ruins, crotchety old-timers, a three-legged dog, too much cactus, and semi-friendly rattlesnakes Sightly revitalized with rustic Texas lodgings, world-famous chili fixin’s, an internationally acclaimed restaurant.
Next time we will visit more Texas Ghost towns where odors have suddenly appeared in rooms: the scent of a woman’s perfume or the smell of body odor as if someone hasn’t bathed for a long time. Heavy mirrors have fallen off the wall without explanation and have landed without breaking or crushing the objects beneath them. Wet footprints have appeared in the middle of the hallway, even though it wasn’t raining outside and there were no plumbing leaks. Lights go on and off in the house, and the chandeliers have reported swaying, even with the absence of moving air in the room
