7 Texas Ghost Towns That Families Still Visit On Weekends
When the weekend rolls around, my family loves exploring forgotten corners of Texas history. These ghost towns whisper stories of boom-and-bust mines, hurricanes, and rerouted highways that left once-thriving communities paused in dust.
We wander boardwalks where storefronts sag, peer into schoolhouses, and trace names on sun-baked cemetery stones. Mesquite crowds porches; wind rattles tin roofs; a pump creaks.
With maps, water, and curiosity, we follow county roads to interpretive plaques and tiny museums run by proud locals. The kids collect photos, not souvenirs, practicing leave no trace. By dusk, stars flood the prairie, and the past feels hauntingly close.
1. Terlingua: Where Desert Meets Mystery
Stumbling upon Terlingua feels like walking onto a movie set forgotten by time. My kids were mesmerized by the crumbling stone ruins baking under the Chihuahuan Desert sun, their imaginations racing with visions of miners who once sought fortune in cinnabar ore.
The cemetery with its simple white crosses tells silent stories of hardship and perseverance. We spent hours exploring abandoned mining shafts (from a safe distance!) and the quirky trading post that still serves as the heart of what remains.
Plan your visit during the famous chili cookoff in November, when this ghost town briefly roars back to life with thousands of visitors. The stargazing here rivals anywhere on earth—a cosmic light show my children still talk about years later.
2. Lobo: The Six-Person Ghost Town
Blink and you’ll miss Lobo, a tiny dot along Highway 90 with a population that dwindled to just six people before they collectively decided to sell the entire town in the 1990s. I’ll never forget my daughter’s wide eyes when I told her someone actually bought a whole town!
Cotton farming once made this place boom, but drought turned dreams to dust. Walking among the abandoned gas station, motel, and houses feels eerily peaceful now.
Private owners have started restoration projects, making Lobo a strange mix of decay and rebirth. The desert has reclaimed much of what humans built, with tumbleweeds rolling through empty doorways and mesquite trees pushing through concrete – nature’s slow-motion victory dance.
3. Glenrio: Straddling State Lines
Standing on the Texas-New Mexico border at Glenrio, I watched my son jump back and forth shouting, “Now I’m in Texas! Now I’m in New Mexico!” This peculiar ghost town straddling state lines once thrived as a Route 66 stopping point where travelers could find gas, food, and lodging.
The First/Last Motel in Texas still stands as a haunting reminder of clever roadside marketing. Deserted cafes and gas stations create perfect photo opportunities for history-loving families.
When Interstate 40 bypassed Glenrio in the 1970s, the town’s pulse faded fast. Now protected as part of Route 66 history, these empty buildings stand frozen in mid-century America – a fascinating glimpse into road trip culture before superhighways changed everything.
4. Indianola: Swallowed by the Sea
Hurricane warnings make my heart race after visiting Indianola. Once poised to become Texas’ largest port city, this ambitious coastal town met a watery fate when back-to-back hurricanes in 1875 and 1886 literally washed it off the map.
My family traced outlines of foundations now barely visible beneath coastal grasses. The haunting cemetery remains, with weathered tombstones telling stories of German immigrants and ambitious merchants whose dreams dissolved into Matagorda Bay.
Unlike other ghost towns destroyed by economic forces, Indianola represents nature’s awesome power. Collecting shells along the shoreline where busy streets once bustled, we pondered how quickly human achievements can vanish. The historical markers provide the only real evidence that 5,000 people once called this empty stretch of coastline home.
5. Sherwood: A Courthouse Without a Town
“Mom, why is this giant courthouse sitting all by itself?” My youngest asked the perfect question at Sherwood. The magnificent 1800s sandstone courthouse stands proudly—despite having no town left to serve.
Once the seat of Irion County, Sherwood lost everything when the railroad bypassed it in 1889. Almost overnight, buildings were loaded onto wagons and moved to nearby Mertzon. But the courthouse proved too sturdy to relocate, creating this surreal landmark.
We picnicked in the courthouse shadow, imagining the clatter of horses and bustle of frontier justice that once animated this silent place. The old jail nearby completes the scene. Watching my kids play hide-and-seek around a building that witnessed Texas’ wild frontier days created a strange time-bending family memory.
6. Thurber: From Boomtown to Brickyard
Coal dust practically billows through your imagination at Thurber. Standing before the towering smokestack—the last sentinel of what was once a thriving mining community of 10,000—I told my children about the town that disappeared almost overnight.
When oil replaced coal as Texas’ fuel of choice, the mining company simply closed shop in the 1930s. Workers left so quickly that coffee cups reportedly remained on tables. The fascinating Thurber museum displays everyday items excavated from this industrial ghost town.
We marveled at the brick streets still visible beneath grass and dirt. Ironically, Thurber’s brick plant outlasted its mines, producing the very bricks that paved the first miles of the Bankhead Highway. My son collected a small Thurber brick fragment—a tangible piece of vanished Texas industry.
7. Luckenbach: The Ghost Town That Sings
“Everybody’s somebody in Luckenbach!” The weathered sign greeting visitors captures the spirit of this musical ghost town that refused to die. Unlike other abandoned places, Luckenbach thrives today despite having almost no permanent residents.
My family’s weekend visit turned magical when an impromptu jam session broke out under ancient oak trees. The 1849 post office and dance hall remain the center of this tiny hamlet immortalized by Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson.
While technically a ghost town, Luckenbach pulses with more life than many proper towns. We danced to country music, fed the chickens wandering freely around the property, and sipped cold sodas on the porch of the general store. The kids still beg to return to the place where Texas music and fading history create perfect weekend harmony.