What is: Terlingua Ghost Town, Texas.  Abandoned and crumbling adobe and rock houses from the mining town of Terlingua, TX. Today official population 58, an artists community and Texas’ most visited ghost town. They say “Stop by, sip a cool drink, enjoy the shade of our front porch, and hang out. You’ll go home with some stories to tell.” Home of the national chili cookoff that draws thousands every year.

What was: In the mid 1800s cinnabar was discovered here. It is the key element from which metal mercury is extracted. For a period of time in the early 1900s it was the largest area producing mercury in the United States and the company installed a 20 ton Scott furnance to advance its industrialization and productivity . Prior to the use of vehicles in the early 1930s, mule-drawn wagon trains delivered the quicksilver to the railroad at Alpine, Texas. The Chisos Mining Company ran the “large general store, provided a company doctor, operated the post office, the Chisos Hotel, a commissary, erratic telephone service, dependable water service, and a school. Later, it would also operate a gasoline station, a theater, and a confectionary shop. Growing to a population of close to 2000 people. It was estimated that by 1934 the company had sold over $12 million in mercury and one employee claimed the company averaged daily profits of $2,000 during the early war years.” (source: legendsofamerica.comhttps://www.legendsofamerica.com/tx-terlingua/). It closed in 1945 after World War II.