ghost sign in a ghost "populated place"

 



Crume Gin is identified as a "populated place" in Floyd County but that may be misleading.  Crume Gin is about a mile north of Providence at the junction of Farm Roads 2301 and 788 but there's not much population in Providence either since the school closed decades ago and consolidated with Floydada.  The Crume Gin metroplex also had a café and grocery-- probably closed in the 1980s, although the faded gingham curtains still hang.  The only patrons of the business I saw were birds (and probably other unseen critters!).  If you need a snack on your journey, your best bet is to stop at an Allsups in Petersbrug or Lockney or Plainview.

Crume Gin
Floyd County, Texas

fallen on hard times

 

The farmers settled in Floyd County in the early 1900s chose the name Harmony to reflect their close-knit community.  Now there's not much but stretches of road between old school, now called a community center, and the church down the way.  Neither showed much sign of activity although the Carr's Chapel has a sign of services at 9:00.  No one attended today; there were no tire tracks in the mud.  This home was probably one of the largest and finest in the community; now it is fast finding harmony with nature.

 

Farm Road 37

Floyd County, Texas

sorghum hill

 

The color of the mature head of grain sorghum, or milo, depends on the variety of seed planted.  Ben Franklin is credited with introducing the crop in the 1700s.  Sorghum uses include food grain for humans, livestock feed and fuel ethanol production.  This yield on the South Plains is good this year.    There were at least six towns in Texas named Providence.  The one in Floyd County is now referred to as a "populated place."  The school is gone -- just a marker with the date 1923 remains.  The Providence Elevator is still in business but don't expect a meal at the Crume Gin & Café down the road -- it's closed.

 

Providence, Texas

Floyd County

Farm Roads 2301 and 788

10.26.2014

three-quarter Quonset

 

To reach the commercial district of Lone Star, take FM 378 then turn east on Spur 378 not quite a mile.  There you'll find this three-quarter Quonset hut.  If you look beyond the Gillette tire sign, you'll see the faded lettering for the Lone Star Chemical Company.  Other than this building and the defunct Baptist church, there's not much left in Lone Star.  According to history, the community began in 1892, boasted of a two-story brick school,a community store, a gas station a gin, an elevator and even a beauty shop.  Very little evidence of Lone Star remains except the star atop the church steeple.

 

Lone Star, Texas

Floyd County

FM Spur 378

10.26.2013

hope abandoned

 

I imagine that those parishioners who erected the Sandhill Church of Christ in 1924 had great hopes for their community.  The Depression took away much of that hope.  As the once-hopeful farmers moved away, the house of God became a house of tenants--until they also abandoned the place.

 

 

 

Sandhill, Texas

Floyd County

FM 378 and 784

 

open door to education

 

The first school in Sandhill was built in 1892 and schooling continued in the community until consolidation with Floydada in the 1950s. Today the school's portal and back wall are all that are left standing.  The post office closed in 1943; the store closed in 1984, but it appears the grain elevator business is still in operation.  The elevator, one occupied house with three dogs and an abandoned church are all that is left in Sandhill.

 

 



 

Sandhill, Texas

Floyd County

FM 378 and 874