Tales from the Road #2: South Texas

I don’t think I have a least favorite part of Texas, but if I did it would be South Texas when it’s hotter than 90 degrees. Being just ~40 miles from the coast, this was one of the most sweltering trips I’ve ever taken without question.

I drove down to South Texas to get photographs for the second volume of my book, Texas Textures. Since Texas’ terrain varies depending on region, it’s important to have images across the entire state that show how diverse Texas’ landscape is. Parts of South Texas are known as Brush Country — a difficult land made up of thorny mesquite bushes and cacti. No, Texas isn’t only made up of saguaro cactus and vast desert, making the portrayal of Texas in movies and cartoons rather inaccurate. Saguaro cactus don’t even grow here (unless you plant them yourself).

The first stop on the trip was to a tiny town called Bigfoot, Texas. Yes, I’m serious. Bigfoot is nestled off the highway about 25 miles from San Antonio. As much as I’d love to tell you it was named Bigfoot because sighting, I’d be fibbing. The town was named after a Texas Ranger nicknamed “Bigfoot” in 1865.

Not much happens in Bigfoot. There is almost nothing to see aside from a big-ass tree in the middle of the road, a school that now serves as a community center, a museum (for what, I don’t know), a dilapidated beer joint, and a few houses. I was blown away to learn that Bigfoot’s population is soaring just above 1,000 people.

Next up was a quick stop in Cotulla, located roughly 70 miles from Laredo and the Texas-Mexico border. I’ve visited Cotulla several times through the years, but my last visit was in 2020. I was surprised to see that somehow everything and nothing has changed. While parts of South Texas are booming due to oil, gas, and fracking, Cotulla has opted to shut down most oil field business understanding the impact oil and gas has on towns long after the oil boom busts.

Downtown still looked the same, though it’s missing Ben’s Western Wear — a staple in Cotulla that closed in 2020 after 71 years in business, and it’s famous sign painted over after a new tenant took over the space. A two story building that stood boarded up in 2020 has been renovated and appears to be awaiting its next resident. That alone seems like progress when most rural towns across the state are suffering.

I was glad to see that a few other places I’ve photographed through the years are still standing, such as the abandoned hotel right outside of downtown. The old gas station donning its beautiful ‘self serve gas’ is still there, along with another service station right outside of downtown.

On the way to my next stop, I passed through a blip on the map called Los Angeles. Absolutely nothing exists in Los Angeles except for oil derricks, brush, and a Winnebago sitting outside Ruby’s Lounge which has been closed since 2019. I loved it.

Halfway through the day, I made it to Fowlerton, Texas. I photographed this town once before in the winter of 2018. While my first trip to Fowlerton was blistering cold, my second trip was sweltering hot. This did not do me any favors when it came to photographing the abandoned school and church hidden in the throes of Brush Country. This time around, everything was so overgrown that I could barely see the church or school. Even though I knew where they were, I drove past them twice. You can see before and after photos below.

Once I finally found the school and church, I decided to cruise more dirt roads in town. There are several abandoned homes hiding on the backroads just waiting for their moment to shine in front of a camera. And when I got back on the highway, I found a perfectly-placed 18 wheeler right in front of the feed store.

Next on the agenda was a visit to Freer. It had been sitting as a pin on my map for a few years and I was excited to finally cross it off. To my surprise, the town was a goldmine of photo opportunities. The first thing that caught my eye was the abandoned movie theater. Then I realized nearly the entire downtown area is a ghost town, excluding a few government offices. Granted, I visited on a Saturday, but I was relatively surprised by how few cars and people I saw out and about for a town the size of Freer (population ~2,300).

While Main Avenue is strewn with buildings, all of them are vacant and in various states of decay. The movie theater operated until roughly 1950 according to CinemaTreasures.org. The air conditioning repair center is in complete disrepair with boarded up windows. Even the old fire department has been completely gutted and is now guarded by a chained up dog to prevent trespassers. The rest is a mystery.

After Freer, I made my way down Highway 339 to Premont. Like Freer, Premont had been sitting as a pin on my map for years. Premont is known for its iconic movie theater, The Rig. It was built in 1950 and closed by 1980. While it’s been sitting vacant for 40+ years, it’s still in relatively good condition. The sign is in tact on both sides, and as far as I could tell, the building still had all of its windows.

The same is not true for the elementary school down the street which has been destroyed beyond any hope of repair. According to a news article, the school caught on fire in 2020. The exterior of the building doesn’t look too bad if you can look past the fact that every single window has been busted out. Regardless, this hasn’t stopped folks from venturing inside to vandalize and further destroy what’s left.

As for me, this was the point in the day where I found myself becoming rather grumpy. I took one look inside the school and then glanced across the highway at the Dairy Queen and immediately knew where my heart was calling me. Nothing beats an ice cold Blizzard on a sultry Texas day (side note: I am being kind by calling it sultry. It was simply awful. Zero stars. Never visiting again in the summer time.)

As the day starting winding down and my grumpiness finally subsided, I ventured out to Hebbronville. Oddly enough, I had just been talking about Hebbronville with a fella who works at my local film shop. His family is from there and he is working on a project of his own about the area.

I found Hebbronville to be another goldmine of photography opportunities. Despite Hebbronville being a decently sized small town (pop: ~4,000), I never really found a centralized downtown area which I found rather unusual. If there was ever a downtown, it’s been bulldozed to make way for a long line of gas stations and fast food joints that line the main highway. Instead, I found several old buildings scattered across town.

The most notable one being Hotel Viggo. The hotel is a grand structure, especially for a small town like Hebbronville. It was built and opened in 1915 and it’s unclear when it closed. But it’s clear from the obvious deterioration that it’s been sitting vacant for decades. In 1983 it was designated a historical landmark. The building is privately owned after being purchased in 2015 after the previous owner defaulted on his taxes. Local residents have implored city council and the The Jim Hogg County Historical Commission to step in and help preserve the building, but nothing has come of it yet.

While I was snapping a few photos of Hotel Viggo, a fella in a pickup truck decided to stop on the highway right in front of me to give me a thumbs up. …And this was exactly the moment I felt my grumpiness rearing its ugly head once again. While I’m sure this guy was well meaning, it was incredibly annoying. And you’d be surprised how often these types of things happen. Look, all most of us want is a little space. It’s not too much to ask. In this case, it was already a brutally hot day and the sun was beating down on me. I just wanted to take my picture and get back in the car with the AC blasting me so I could mosey on to my next spot. Maybe under a different set of circumstances, I would have found it funny and returned the thumbs up. But not on this particular day. It took the last bit of my energy to not raise my middle finger at him and tell him to keep it moving. But that’s not how I operate as a visitor in these towns, and it surely ain’t couth.

After I finally cooled off a bit, I made my way over to Frank’s Cafe. It is perfectly old and still rocking its original Coca Cola sign. Frank’s is Hebbronville’s oldest operating business, serving the locals for over 100 years now. It’s such a treasure that Texas Monthly ran a story about it in 2022. While it was closed at the time of my visit, I hope to get a chance to eat there sometime (preferably when it’s wintertime outside).

My last stop of the day was another town I’ve photographed before called Normanna. I wanted to revisit it for personal reasons. Last year, a filmmaker named Tom Maroney reached out about using some of my photographs in a short documentary called Piñata’s of Earthly Delights, which focuses on a gay piñata maker from Normanna named Roberto Benavides. The piñata’s are not traditional in any sense and they are unlike anything I’ve ever seen — so intricate and beautifully designed.

Normanna is extremely small, boasting a population of 25 people. Most of the town is situated off Highway 181 about ten miles from Beeville. Hardly anything existed in Normanna to begin with, so town consists of an abandoned mercantile, a post office, and a spooky looking two story house (pictured below). I imagine it felt quite oppressive for someone like Roberto.

Finally, I want to touch on the border crisis that is being reported by the media. I understand this is a polarizing topic and no one asked for my opinions on such things. But as a 5th generation Texan who travels this beautiful state a lot, I have also seen a lot. Being just 30 miles from the border of Mexico, I was prepared to be inundated with ‘illegals’ and border patrol on every corner. That was not my experience, nor has it ever been.

Where I encounter the most border patrol is in the Big Bend region, which happens to be one of the most rugged and rural parts of the state. It’s also incredibly difficult to navigate being one of the hottest and mountainous regions of Texas. The fact that the governor of Texas and the media are perpetuating a narrative about South Texas being a hot spot for illegal border crossings while simultaneously having very few resources in the area to combat the supposed problem baffles me. It’s easy to get wrapped up in what we see on social media or the news, even though it may not always be completely accurate. South Texas is a wonderfully vibrant part of the state, albeit a hot one, and I encourage all of you to visit and come to your own conclusions.

Lastly, here is a list of the towns I visited on this trip. As always, if you plan to visit any of these towns I implore you to be respectful of the area and the locals. Take photos and leave it better than you found it.

• Bigfoot (yes, seriously!)

• Cotulla

• Los Angeles

• Fowlerton

• Freer

• Premont

• Hebbronville

• Normanna

Best,
Kat