three wooden crosses on the right side of the highway

 

US 385 in Lamb County, Texas

4.18.2015

circles

 



Sometimes, out in the country, you know what you are seeing but you just don't understand why.  And not only was there one old truck atop the concrete pipe, there were three!

Wide place in the road
Lamb County, Texas

cross and star
 

 Barn decoration dates back to the 18th century, originating from folk art passed from German and Swiss immigrant.   The Amish painted hex signs on barns to bring good luck or to protect the property and livestock.  Or perhaps the farmer needed cash and allowed a company like Red Man tobacco to put up advertising on the side of the barn.   A more contemporary form of barn design is the use of painted quilts; Brownfield touts a quilt trail. In this part of the country, barn decoration usually follows either a patriotic or religious theme.  American and Texas flags abound.  Other farmers, like this one outside Olton, display symbols of their faith.

 

FM 168

Lamb County, Texas

2.15.2014



dead drive-in

 

As one approaches Olton, a tall structure looms on the horizon.  It's not a water tower or grain elevator--what can it be? Turns out it is a drive-in movie screen.  What does a landowner do with a defunct drive-in, especially when the screen is built with concrete blocks?  This landowner with the house next door appears to ignore it.  The former box office is now a carport, the parking area dotted with trees, the concession stand is slowly deteriorating and a fence surrounds the whole thing.  I don't know when the Mustang Drive-in closed; a "drive-in theater" website lists it under "dead drive-ins" along with Lubbock's Circle, Corral, Golden Horseshoe and Red Raider.  At one time, Olton was a swinging town with TWO theaters -- the Mustang Drive-in and the Roxy downtown on Main Street.  More small town history lost.

 

Mustang Drive-in Theater

Farm Road 168

Lamb County, Texas

2.15.2014