Ghost Towns in Texas
16 documented ghost towns
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Explore the ghost towns of Texas.
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Belcherville
Belcherville was a thriving farming community in North Texas. The town had two churches, a school, cotton gins, and general stores. When highways bypa...
Calvert
Calvert was once the largest inland cotton shipper west of the Mississippi. Victorian buildings lined Main Street, and 7,000 people called it home. Wh...
Fayette
Fayette was an important town during the Texas Republic. The county was named for it. But when the railroad went to La Grange, Fayette's reason to exi...
Glenrio
Glenrio straddled the Texas-New Mexico border on Route 66. The town had a unique setup - Texas was dry, so the bar was in New Mexico; New Mexico banne...
Grapetown
German settlers founded Grapetown to grow grapes and make wine. The town had a school, store, and dance hall. As Fredericksburg grew, Grapetown faded....
Indianola
Indianola was Texas's second-largest port, gateway for German immigrants. Two hurricanes destroyed it: 1875 killed 300, but they rebuilt; 1886 brought...
Lajitas
Lajitas ('little flat rocks' in Spanish) was a cavalry outpost and trading post on the Rio Grande, near Pancho Villa's 1916 raid territory. It became ...
Langtry
Langtry is famous as the courtroom of Judge Roy Bean, 'The Law West of the Pecos.' Bean held court in his saloon, 'The Jersey Lilly,' named for actres...
Lobo
Lobo is a tiny West Texas hamlet that keeps getting sold as a novelty. Named for the wolves that once roamed here, the railroad town is down to a hand...
Marfa
Marfa was dying until Donald Judd brought minimalist art. Now it's a hip art destination—but the Marfa Lights remain unexplained. Glowing orbs have ap...
Palo Pinto
Palo Pinto was the county seat of Palo Pinto County—until the railroad went to Mineral Wells instead. The county seat moved; the town didn't. About 40...
Shafter
Shafter produced over 30 million ounces of silver—Texas's largest silver operation. Named for Colonel William Shafter, who confirmed the ore's value. ...
Study Butte
Study Butte (pronounced 'Stew-dee Bute') was a mercury mining town near Terlingua. Named for Will Study, its founder. Part of the larger Terlingua min...
Terlingua
Terlingua was the third-largest mercury producer in the US. The Chisos Mining Company dominated until bankruptcy in 1942. The ghost town was revived b...
Thurber
Thurber was Texas's quintessential company town—Texas & Pacific Coal controlled everything. At peak, 10,000 people from 18 nationalities lived here. I...
Toyah
Toyah was a Texas & Pacific Railroad town and cattle shipping center. At peak, it was Reeves County seat and a rowdy cowboy town. Now just a handful o...