Sunday, January 22, 2023

Vega, Texas. Population 884

Main Street, Vega, Texas.

The only reason we stopped in Vega, a quiet burg in the Texas Panhandle, is that fourteen months ago I wrote a couple of posts about Landergin, a ghost town founded by the enterprising Landergin brothers in 1908. John Landergin followed that up by establishing the first bank in Vega eight miles east. So, I had to see it. I hoped to find the bank still standing and that Vega would be worth the detour. Uh, barely. But you could eat of the sidewalk. That place is clean. And  it could have been the location for filming The Last Picture Show in 1971. It was Sunday so the joint wasn’t exactly rocking. In these parts time enterprise stops on the sabbath.




Like it’s cousin Landergin, Vega’s skyline boasted an impressive grain operation. Grain elevators are the iconic guardians of the West Texas plains. Vega is the county seat of Oldham County and the home of 884 souls. Like Landergin it was built expressly as a stop on the Chicago, Rock Island and Gulf Railroad. The railroad stopped stopping in Landergin and the town folded. Vega survived.

1 comment:

Blacks Crossing said...

The starkness and blinding white of the grain elevators in Vega defines the personality of the area, particularly your third image. Wide. Open. And as you said, clean. Your third photograph and explanation of the origins of Vega are fascinating. Thanks for continuing your stories of places, and the people and buildings that inhabit them!