Terlingua, Texas ghost town

terlinguaDescription   Taken with the TL-120 on a tripod.

 

About the Image   This image was taken through the window of the old school. In the distance is the Catholic Church that still has services once a month. It is called a ghost town but there are people living there and every year they host a famous chili cookoff. Historic Terlingua, in Texas’ Big Bend region is located between Big Bend National Park and Big Bend Ranch State Park. Once an abandoned mining village, the ghost town is now the center of a charming desert community. The discovery of cinnabar, from which the metal mercury is extracted, in the mid-1880s brought miners to the area, creating a city of 2,000 people. The only remnants of the mining days are a ghost town of the Howard Perry-owned Chisos Mining Company and several nearby capped and abandoned mines, most notably the California Hill, the Rainbow, the 248 and the Study Butte mines. The mineral terlinguaite was first found in the vicinity of California Hill. Hence the name of the city.