All old railroad towns again. The first two were built along the Paris and Mt. Pleasant railroad that lasted fom 1909 to 1956. The last two were on Texas and Pacific railroad branches which were abandoned by the 1980s near as I can tell. It's an almost universal American story where highways were built along the railroad right of way and eventually the subsidized truck traffic siphoned off the rail traffic until the rail lines were no longer viable. Great video, enjoyed it much.
Growing up in Texas near San Angelo, I loved this video. Even though the towns are dying the people seem pretty cultured, not much trash etc on the street. Loved the court house in Clarksville. Quiet towns to retire in and peaceful.
Us retirees ciuld bring these places back to life. They should thinkabout "Luring us in". Make us a deal we cant refuse on some of these empty houses and land...
Curtis: you haven't been to Ranger Texas. Pitiful. Like a ghost town. A lot of druggie there (as there are in other tiny towns) who dropped out of high school, have little or no job skills, no motivation for even a blue collar job.. There is a lot of theft there - they need to support their drug habits. Tge smarter kids who graduate from high school usually move away.
I really appreciate your videos showing us how beautiful our country really is. and these towns have so much potential for anyone who appreciates a quiet easy-going life.
In 1845, my 3rd great grandfather was elected Justice of the Peace in Red River County, TX. His name was Henry Coleman Hocker. His son, Obediah R. Hocker, went on to be a Texas Ranger, and in the Texas Cavalry... after that point, they had moved to south of San Antonio, Texas. My branch went on to Austin, Texas and have been in the Houston area for 4 generations. Most of my family are oil refinery workers these days. This is my paternal line, and we arrived in Texas from Kentucky. Thank you for this video of the area, I had no idea what it looked like up there!! =)
My husband and I love watching your videos! As a retired librarian, I'd like to suggest that you point out a library if you ever see one in a town you visit. My husband would like to see you talk to folks you see walking around the town. We have enjoyed the chats you've done in some of your videos.
I used to live in Knox City, Texas. My wife and I were teachers/coaches for Knox City/O’Brien CSD. It, as well as some of the surrounding towns (Benjamin, O’Brien, Rule, Rochester), are in really bad shape. They are held together by a few [relatively] wealthy families but have incredibly high poverty levels. To the east and south of Knox City are huge cotton farms. To the west and north are massive ranches that are essentially beautiful untouched sections of the Great Plains that are so large and naturally pristine that the cattle are worked by cowboys on horseback; very much like they would have been 150 years ago. In the summers, I worked for a gentleman who would traverse the ranches in a chuck wagon providing campfire meals for the cattlemen. It was a once in a lifetime experience that a vast majority of the US population would never realize was still in practice. Unfortunately, living there I couldn’t help but notice the rigid dichotomy. Needless to say, we became very isolated and depressed and had to move back to the larger (albeit still small town) of Graham which rests on the western edge of the Southern Cross Timbers. I grew up in Graham, and it has a rich history of Native American populations seeking refuge from the Comanches in the post oak forests that stretch into the beautiful cedar hills that we call the Palo Pinto Mountains. I feel immensely blessed to be in touch with the reality that is North/Central/West Texas and would be thrilled if you ever found the time and interest to visit the area aforementioned. Sometimes, I find myself wanting to make content similar to what you produce on this channel simply because I, too, have a passion for learning about and understanding these communities that are all but lost to the public eye. God bless you and all that you do!
Very interesting post thanks . May I ask like in what year ( I worked for a gentleman who would traverse the ranches in a chuck wagon providing campfire meals for the cattlemen)
I worked the ambulance in a lot of those north east Texas towns. Grew up there all my life and I live in Tyler now. Then crime stats in those towns are higher, not due to poverty or being higher than larger cities, but due to crime being better reported. I know that goes against what some experts say but the reality is since they are small, people see something and they call immediately. Probably better than in a large city where people just simply ignore something happening.
I don’t know if you know this, but for your edification, Dollar General, and those similar stores have a business model to be in food deserts. They actually operate at a near loss (5.5% net profit) but provide valuable services to grossly economically depressed areas and food deserts (as well as profit zones OF COURSE). When you see them, you know that the economy is very poor in that community, if it is the ONLY grocery source.
Can't say that I agree with that based on the county I live in- Upson County (Thomaston, GA). Most people aren't well off, but there's plenty of money and jobs in this town/county. There's six Dollar Generals in the county of Upson.
Makes sense. I haul hazmat material to various copper mines in Arizona with populations in the very low numbers. One place they all usually have is a dollar general and or a family dollar.
Interesting! I always wondered why most of the people who shop at Dollar General come in and buy one or two items only, when the store sells alot of things. I always have a cartful, and there will always be a line of people in front of and behind me with ONE or TWO items in their hands. 🤷🏼
I live outside of Chicago and these towns look neat and clean to me. They could be charming if businesses would move back. It's hard to imagine being limited to stores like Dollar General. City people like me want to escape the crowds but such limited shopping would be a huge negative. And jobs. Still, it's nice to see.
I was thinking the same thing---quiet, clean, and surprisingly green, but where would you do any real shopping? I cannot imagine not having a super Walmart nearby! What about good libraries? Next to no shopping and no really good library, i.e. at least one like a decent small university would have, not to mention no real job market for people who still work, makes this sort of town a pass for most folks. Even retired folks like myself need decent shopping and enough businesses that if something wrong with your motor vehicle, etc., you have someplace to turn.
In my neck of the woods! I left DFW twelve years ago to retire in Upshur County. I have a brother that recently moved back to his hometown of Talco ,which is just about a ghost town itself.I love it here in N E Texas.Wishes for safe travels for you two .
That derelict Ford Falcon you filmed in Deport was the basis of the first Ford Falcon (XK) introduced into the Australian market in Sept. 1960. The XK was essentially a right-hand drive version of the North American model, although local country dealers here often included modifications such as heavy-duty rear suspension (five leaves) and larger 6.50 x 13 tyres to cope with the roads here. Front suspension came in for revision here as well with stronger front ball joints. In time it became a popular seller.
And we love that you go out and show us these towns! I watch every video. As someone who lives just outside of Toronto where everything is growing it’s interesting to see all these places 😊
My husband is from Clarksville, we also lived there for many years and have several family members who still reside there. I can remember all the businesses that occupied every inch around the square. So sad to see the state the town is in now. By the way Detroit is pronounce Dee-troit. Enjoyed your video Joe.
I watch all your videos and love them ❤, but I still find it odd that there's no people walking around these. Even though the population is low , where are the people 😮
Thanks for another outstanding video You put sooo much time and work in your videos for us We appreciate you and Nicole Some of these towns look like old movies very interesting
Love your videos..! Thank you so much for creating them. It is fascinating to see places that we would not otherwise ever get to visit and to get a flavor of being there. I have a suggestion for a town to drive through if you are going through southeastern Kansas in your travels- Virgil, Kansas. It has lost about 90% of its peak population. A number of our family members are from there or from the nearby communities. It has a nice cemetery and a few hearty residents, but otherwise even its school (which I remember well) is now gone. Thanks again.
Always good to get a notification of a new upload. Thank you for giving us a glimpse into what most of us might never get a chance to see. Very interesting.
When you and Nicole come up to Minnesota, visit New Ulm. It's a quaint German town on the Minnesota River with a 19th-century downtown, the MN Music Hall of Fame, the Hermann Monument, and Schell's Brewery and Gardens (the second-oldest brewery in the USA).
We really enjoy you videos & seeing the rural towns way off the beaten track, some of the county areas are similar to our country areas! Safe travels you two! ❤
Thanks for the tour. I've been through there about 30 years ago. Sure, it is sad that these little towns dissapearing. As always, stay safe and enjoy your travels. Fellow Tulsan Bill.
I live in Paris, TX, which is within 15-30 minutes of Deport, Bogata, Clarksville, and Detroit. I definitely don't think Deport and Detroit will ever reach "ghost town" status. Too many people live in those towns and commute the 15 minutes to Paris to work at places like Campbell's Soup, Kimberly Clark, etc. There are people who commute from Bogata & Clarksville although the ride is a little longer. Bogata has the intersection of 271 and 37 while Clarksville has the intersection of 37 and 82 so a good bit of traffic goes thru both of these towns (and Clarksville being a county seat). Clarksville was hurt when Walmart closed in 2007. They are supposed to rebuild a smaller hospital in Clarksville. Land is not cheap in Lamar and Red River counties, at least rural acreage.
Great sights Joe !..I too am addicted to your channel..loving seeing those blue Texas skies...that one thing I miss much about Tx...love seeing the old towns, everything is interesting, ..Safe travels Good Sir to you both! 🌼
Loved how you jumped when the bell tower rang out! My first year at Auburn I was on the 3rd floor of a dorm across from the bell tower. If One bong woke you up at night you laid there awake trying to figure out if it was 12:30, 1:00 or i:30! lol Really like see the old towns and their architecture!
Traditional News channels never talk about struggling of small towns ,in Texas, trying to avoid dying. All we hear is Texas growing Texas is better. Thanks for showing us reality of small towns.
Thanks for touring my old stomping grounds. I went to school and lived in a little town 8 miles east of Clarksville called Annona. Had cousins that lived in Clarksville so used to visit them on Halloween and go trick or treating, scored Milky Ways and gobs of other good candies. Still got cousins that live in Detroit. Lots and lots of good memories. Thanks again for all you do in visiting those little mostly forgotten towns. ❤
You are so good at showing unique things in your videos, I'm surprised that you drove through Paris, Texas and did not include the Eiffel Tower in your video! Good stuff Joe.
Geography and History have always been of great interest to me. This series of yours has been a real education. It was difficult to watch some of the footage because of the all the despair written on those towns. When you compare rural small towns to urban areas it's a wonder people even talk to each other across this financial divide we have here. For the past 6 years I've lived in an area 50 miles from a large city and thought it was a cultural wasteland but after watching a number of uploads of yours here, we at least have trash collection, a pizza hut and a few other creature comforts...also one of best library systems in the US. In those towns, villages, that are at rock bottom in population, how do they support their school system??
My mom was born in Clarksville, Texas on August 8th 1919. I visited when I was sixteen. My mom still have relatives there. My older brothers are in their middle 80's. They just say they were born in Red River County. They are about 20 years older than myself but they often speak of Clarksville. My Grandfather passed away in Plainview, Texas in the late 1950. He was interred in Clarksville
Hey Joe & Nicole, Nice rural town video, I have been to America many times but never been to south & south west. Once I started I found it interesting and I watched bit by bit in my schedule and took a day to complete the video. Kudos 👌👌👍👍
I find these ghost towns peaceful. Such a contrast between the City Hall in Deport and Bogata vs. Clarksville. Looking forward to OK! Have a great weekend!
OMG, I found you! I’ve missed your travels. I hate to drive, but ‘s’okay, I can’t anymore anyway. So, your videos fulfill my desire to travel by car. Thanks, as always, for taking us along. And thanks for your great background information about these beautiful and historic towns. Drive carefully, and keep on bringing these to us. 👍
Texas has over 1200 incorporated city's as opposed to California has just over 400. Looked that up when I visited Texas. Lots of small towns. I buy and sell old advertising signs. Picked up a porcelain zenith radio sign on my trip. Paid 1500 sold it day I got home for 22,000. Love little old Town. I'm watching looking for signs on buildings. Lol
Americans in general aren’t big on walking. Most people drive everywhere. And most of the residents of these towns are elderly and poor. They’ve got little money to spend and not much more than a Dollar store to spend at. And walking around these dying towns especially for residents who remember better days is probably pretty depressing
Must all be Inside Bored to Tears and suffering from Mental problems because of it Absolutely nothing to do or get excited about and can't sell up to move away
Looks like you missed the most interesting thing about Bogata - on the main drag is a business that sells (and restores) tons of old cars/trucks. They have a Back To the Future DeLorean, and a Ghostbusters hearse/ambulance, plus a lot of old wrecker trucks, buses, etc. Real nice guys, they have a youtube channel which I can't remember the name of off hand.
Yeah. I don't see any cars older than maybe 1953. Those are all late '40's and I see a 1952 (I used to have the station wagon style, same year.) ford parked nest to a 1947 or '48 ford sedan. Love you're show. I plan on being out there on the road before this winter. Keep 'em coming!
you know whats better in your videos! your accend of talk is easy to understand for me ,i saw many other youtubers who make such video ,they are good though but not so easy to understand their talk . but i dont miss them too . especially wise guy and through my lens .
After these "nearly ghost towns", are devoid of people, there will still be cats. Loving these tours! I'm a sucker for the vibe of decay....and urban decay.
In 1976 I traveled from Houston back to FW, TX. On the way we saw I state hwy 287 it told us it leads to FW too. We took it and ended on dirt road in the middle of nowhere, forest were all around us. We went on until we saw I. 45 again and were so glad to get out safely. Now 287 is all paved and wide.
Thanks for continuing to show the shopping areas in the small towns. I would be interested in seeing feed stores too . Animals gotta eat to. Dollar stores are and a few here in New Iberia are Dollar store Markets. Meat, vegetables, cheese and milk. Other stuff too. Hello to Nicole. best wishes from William and Beverly❤
Most of the small town feed stores went out of business when the small farms went under. Most cattle is produced by giant agribusiness now. And they buy in big bulk.
Black Cat Found! I had a job offer in Austin and was gonna live in Kyle. But it did not work out. Nice towns you showed us thank you for the hard work. Hope you and Nicky are doing great. Thank you for the ride along.
I like that you went thru Paris, TX. It’s way bigger than all the other towns in this video. They’re restoring their downtown that’s why it’s pretty neat and have local businesses. I love it there.
Living in England where you're never more than a few miles from another town or city and where, in general, housing is pretty packed in it's hard to imagine the distances and just empty spaces you have over there. Great videos.
I love your videos and love to think how the towns would have looked like in better days, I travelled a lot through Texas, but mostly the Austin- San Antonio region. In Dallas, i visited a friend in Southlake Texas and it is very much the opposite of what you are showing here. I lreally like your Channel.
I live in England and find your vids are really interesting, You and Nic make me jealous (and hungry) when you go to eat somewhere. Some of these places would suit me to live with all the space that's available as here in UK people are virtually breathing down your neck. Love your commentary as it's as laid back as some of these towns.🤠👍
Nice to see some small towns in USA. I've been an expat most of my adult life. Got a little homesick for the US when I saw this video. If I ever decide to come back to the US, I wouldn't mind retiring in some small town.
Please please please do a series on Nigton,TX... i myself have traveled around the world and thru are great states... love history no matter how ugly it is... found your channel so wonderful...
Looks like the house for sale towards the end of the video is the John Nance Garner house, boyhood home of the 32nd vice president of the United States and a historic site. I am surprised that a historical site like that is up for sale, but I guess you could buy it if you wanted to! Anyways.. enjoying the videos and looking forward to rural Oklahoma!
I love these places in their the summer silence-beautiful greenery and the wide roads without markings. I loved that church in Detroit with the purple doors. Would that be the Monkees Clarkesville?…the lack of instructional street signs, steel poles and railings, yellow boxes etc. that clutter up big cities make it so beautiful.
Between my pension and social security, I could live rather comfortably in some of those small towns. It's funny how people like to see the grocery stores, gas stations, post offices, cats, etc. I like seeing Nicole.
hi joe n nick i been watching your yt ch and i love to watch it in my free time. This one really finds me well if you like a town or place with peaceful and less crowded or in other words laid back person this is gem. But on the other context , this is so ironic that this place is less inhabited imagine if the U.S government allow those people who wants to come to U.S desperately to depopulate this areas then this town will relive again. That's just my humble opinion.
My mother's father was born 1874 in Lamar county and married my mother's mother in 1911 in Red River County. Just love the geography class y'all give. Great videos
I really enjoy your travels. I found an interesting fact about Dollar General stores. There are 19,000 locations. Dollar Tree owns Family Dollar and has more than 16,000 locations. There are 6 times as many Dollar stores in the US as there are Walmarts and thousands more are on the way. I thought you might be interested in these stats, as you are always finding the above in so many of the littlest towns. I never miss an episode of you and Nicole. Keep on traveling.
Thanks for these stats.... That's what I like about Joe's videos..... Yeah DG is going expand their line of stores giving Wally World a run.... be well.
Dollar stores are a sign that a town or neighborhood has failed to provide for itself with retail business. The centralized dollar store corporation is always ready to take over.
The trashiest store to ever exist. Dollar stores make areas look ugly. If only people knew how easy it is to open up small food stores for your basics so we can stop giving dollar stores money.
I live in Sacul, Texas. Population 130. (Lucas spelled backwards. Right down the road is Reklaw (Walker spelled backwards). So far the towns you're covering are much bigger than my neck of the woods.
This is not far from Paris. My fathers family is from this general area. This was all cattle and farm communities which is why the population is dropping. Majority of the crops that was produced here is now grown mostly in Mexico. This is one example of the damage NAFTA has done to the United States. They used to have a number of cotton gins in the general area which is gone now.
I remember in the 60's living in Pompano Beach, which was affordable back then, and my Father took the family to where He grew up in Sicily Island LA, south of Shreveport, with dirt roads and houses with no power. Then we would go back to Pompano Beach. People are people, the place is irrelevant, there is goodness, and wickedness everywhere. I have lived all over the south, but I have found poor people, like me, living paycheck to paycheck As I have for 45 years, to be the kindest people overall. Not driven by GREED.
