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Ghost towns abound in Texas. In fact, a look back at state maps through the years turns up nearly 1,000 towns that were… and then were not. Texas Parks & Wildlife magazine brings you 6 of these abandoned towns that you can visit – if you dare.
 Terlingua
West Texas, close to Big Bend
Sun-drenched, dusty Terlingua feels like a scene from an old Western movie. Derelict adobe buildings match the desert landscape, and the remaining businesses are full of quirky West Texas character. After miners exhausted the supply of mercury-containing ore, the town dried up, leaving it a ghost town by the 1940s. In the years since, the town has become a sort of haven for outsiders, artists and those seeking the expansive solitude of the West Texas landscape.
If you visit: The famous Terlingua Chili Cookoff takes place on Nov. 3, but you can see the ruins of the old quicksilver mining town anytime you visit.
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 Indianola
On the coast near Powderhorn Lake
A few miles from the verdant, marshy wetlands of Powderhorn Lake on Texas’ Gulf Coast are the vestiges of Indianola, a once-thriving seaside town that was all but wiped out by hurricanes in the late 1800s. Fun fact: In 1857, a visitor arriving in the port might have stumbled across the camels that were shipped there to move military equipment across the southwestern U.S.
If you visit: A visit to the area won’t turn up much, but the remains of the town are visible in a few dilapidated houses and, at low tide, the remnants of an old courthouse foundation.
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 Aldridge
East Texas, about an hour southeast of Lufkin
Deep in East Texas’ towering forests lie the ruins of the Aldridge Sawmill, once the beating heart of a town of nearly 2,000 people. Now, all that remains are vine-smothered walls and graffitied stone structures, with sunlight filtering through the leafy canopy above. The tale of Aldridge’s abandonment is one of just plain bad luck. Town founder Hal Aldridge started a successful sawmill in the forest in 1903. Eight years later, the mill burned down. Aldridge rebuilt it. Three years later, it burned again. And then again. Finally, Aldridge gave up and the town was deserted.
If you visit: The main attraction here is the sawmill, which is a historic site owned by the U.S. Forest Service.
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