an eccentric and his dream - nklr-ish
Posted: Thu Oct 15, 2015 5:23 pm
by eddiebmauri
This week I took a ride out here in West Texas to the Ghost Town of Toyah, TX, some 18 miles west of Pecos, just off I-20, and met a really interesting eccentric guy. Sometimes traveling I find some interesting places, sometimes, equally as often, some interesting people, in this case it was the latter. Toyah was a railroad town up until the 1940's, and had some twenty-thousand inhabitants. Today, there are only forty-five water meters in the town. From I-20, you can see a massive brick building which made me curious, so off to Toyah I rode. The front of the school says "19 High School 13" in the brick facade. The 102 year old school is derelict and falling apart, you can google pictures of it. I looked inside and what is left of the floor is covered in about two feet of pigeon poop, and the roof is about to cave in. Concerning the eccentric guy.............., I took some photos and as I was leaving, I rode around the back and noticed an elderly man coming out of a travel trailer parked out back. I stopped and asked him if he knew anything about the old school, he said, "Yes, I own it - in fact, I own the whole block." Turns that he too noticed the school when passing on I-20, stopped to check it out, fell in love with the building, and bought it to restore it to how it looked in the 50's. He never lived in Toyah until he bought the school, he just liked the building and wants to save it. BTW, Toyah no longer has a school, they ship the few kids that live there 18 miles to Pecos. And, I doubt that many would stop to visit a restored school. But, that is his dream. He reminded me of Klaus Kinski in the 1982 movie "Fritzcarraldo."
Eddie
an eccentric and his dream - nklr-ish
Posted: Fri Oct 16, 2015 4:07 am
by Jim Ralf
Very interesting story. I looked at the school on line and it seems like a huge project. That old guy better get busy.
On Friday, October 16, 2015 12:23 AM, "eddiebmauri@... [DSN_KLR650]" DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com> wrote:
This week I took a ride out here in West Texas to the Ghost Town of Toyah, TX, some 18 miles west of Pecos, just off I-20, and met a really interesting eccentric guy. Sometimes traveling I find some interesting places, sometimes, equally as often, some interesting people, in this case it was the latter. Toyah was a railroad town up until the 1940's, and had some twenty-thousand inhabitants. Today, there are only forty-five water meters in the town. From I-20, you can see a massive brick building which made me curious, so off to Toyah I rode. The front of the school says "19 High School 13" in the brick facade. The 102 year old school is derelict and falling apart, you can google pictures of it. I looked inside and what is left of the floor is covered in about two feet of pigeon poop, and the roof is about to cave in. Concerning the eccentric guy.............., I took some photos and as I was leaving, I rode around the back and noticed an elderly man coming out of a travel trailer parked out back. I stopped and asked him if he knew anything about the old school, he said, "Yes, I own it - in fact, I own the whole block." Turns that he too noticed the school when passing on I-20, stopped to check it out, fell in love with the building, and bought it to restore it to how it looked in the 50's. He never lived in Toyah until he bought the school, he just liked the building and wants to save it. BTW, Toyah no longer has a school, they ship the few kids that live there 18 miles to Pecos. And, I doubt that many would stop to visit a restored school. But, that is his dream. He reminded me of Klaus Kinski in the 1982 movie "Fritzcarraldo."
Eddie
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