and they're all named debra

 

I have been in a photographic slump lately - maybe burned out or just no enthusiasm.  And then this afternoon this scene in a vacant storefront sparked my interest.

 

Downtown Slaton

Slaton, Texas

4.23.2017

the store where you can do better

 

Abe Kessel had several stores in Slaton.  The building he constructed for Kessel Dry Goods in 1929 is now an events venue.  What's cool is that, in this adjacent vacant lot, is planned a neon sign park featuring old signs from the town.

open invitation

 

Shouldn't the sign read "walk in" rather than "drive thru"?  That door hardly seems appropriate for cars.  It doesn't really matter since the place is closed.

 

Division Street

Slaton, Texas

6.20.2015

slaton santa

 

Kris Kringle is often depicted with a walking stick.  The Santa at Slaton's Harvey House had a Santa stick as an accoutrement a la "Miracle on 34th Street."

 

Harvey House

Slaton, Texas

12.11.2014

waiting for the children

 

Tonight the former dining room of the Harvey House resembled a vintage living room, complete with Mr. and Mrs. Claus.  Slaton’s Harvey House was built in 1912. Fred Harvey began his chain of 84 off-railroad restaurants in 1875. A Harvey House was essentially a fast food joint - but with china and linens. Passengers ordered while on the train and then had only about 20 minutes during the stop to eat.  The Slaton Harvey House restaurant closed in 1942 but the building continued as a passenger depot and then a cargo depot.  The railroad association saved the building from ruin; today it operates as an event center and B&B.  This evening's open house welcomed Slaton citizens and bright-eyed children with wishes.  And yes, that locomotive fortuitously stopped by the window.

Slaton Harvey House
Fred Harvey Company
Slaton, Texas

watch that first step

 

This former hotel in Slaton is past its prime.  Paint traces are about all that remain of the exterior staircase.  Slaton started out as a railroad town when Santa Fe purchased the townsite in 1911 and designed its street pattern after the layout of Washington, D.C. Although dismissed by President Washington, Pierre L'Enfant is credited with the national city plan which consisted of a grand avenue and a grid of streets crossed by diagonal avenues.  The "grand avenue" of Slaton was a brick boulevard from the train station to the courthouse square.  The result is that downtown Slaton has irregularly shaped blocks radiating from the square.  That means that many of the buildings on the corners are triangular or the so-called "flat iron."  This hotel, like its counterparts, has a narrow front on the street.  This evening I spoke with a man who had purchased the triangular building across the street.  He wanted the two-story hotel but said it was pretty run down and required too much work.  He was busy installing a bathroom and kitchen as part of a studio apartment.  The real find?  Original tin ceiling when the drop ceiling was removed while opening up the 12-foot interior.

 



 

Slaton, Texas

grapevine wreath

 

There's a multitude of empty storefronts in Slaton.  I'm not sure why this one was adorned with a grapevine wreath.  It appeared to have a relatively new coat of paint -- applied over many other coats of paint as well as the door's hardware.

 

W. Panhandle Avenue

Slaton, Texas

11.22.2013

three crosses

 

Although it no longer has a sign and does not appear to be in use, I surmised that at one time this building was a church.  It must have been the three crosses.

 

East Dayton and New Mexico Streets

Slaton, Texas

11.28.2013

red steeple

 

The east side of Slaton must be a God-fearing neighborhood.  I counted six churches within about a seven-block radius. The Triumph Missionary Baptist Church was established in 1929 and rebuilt in 1951. Other churches included the Mt. Olive Baptist Church, the Ivory Street Church of Christ and the First Church of God in Christ.  I assumed that the building with three crosses and the one with the short steeple were also churches but there were no signs; however I really didn't need a yellow sign to identify them.

 

Triumph Missionary Baptist Church

905 S. Johnson

Slaton, Texas