Back to Faxon, Oklahoma

Well. At last. Here is the part that this famous building in Faxon, Oklahoma played in the movies. David Carradine who died this year, starred in "Fast Charlie, The Moonbeam Rider" a movie that had little going for it but a chance to see a bunch of antique motorcycles in action. Pirate copies are available but expensive. You’ll have to look sharp. It is only on the screen a few seconds. Aren't you glad you waited?

I am adding the four photographs here from Flickr member shiloee who also commented: "This building actually belonged to my family. The windows in it now are not original. It was a skating rink upstairs and gas station down stairs. It is weird that I came across this picture because I just learned of my relationship with them this week. My cousin and I are searching for the name of the movie too and that’s how I came across this picture. There are pictures in the post office right next door of the original look. The gentleman that owns it now started working on it, but has never finished. If anyone comes across the name of the movie I would greatly love to know it, as I had family members in it too. Genealogy is sooo cool. When ever I get all the pictures put on the computer I will post the original building for all to see."
	Flickr member MelbaGene also contributed some family history: This building belonged to Bob Batey 1879 -1967, son of John Jack Wisdom Batey and Blanche Nash. It was a filling station, grocery store and skating rink. The upstairs part of the building was living quarters for the Batey Family . After Bob's death, was told by one of the town's historians that the place was used as backdrop in a movie, served its time as a tavern. Now it is abandoned. I toured the building last year, the current owner picked it up for back taxes and began a slow remodel. The wagon wheel windows are a new edition to this building. Bob Batey's father & my G G Grandmother were siblings.

The Profile(more than you really wanted to know)is here.

Lost Gallery The rescue mission for battered and abused orphan photographs.

For more about Double Exposures see this page in Lost Gallery.

Fast Charlie, the Moonbeam Rider

Well. At last. Here is the part that this famous building in Faxon, Oklahoma played in the movies. David Carradine who died this year, starred in "Fast Charlie, The Moonbeam Rider" a movie that had little going for it but a chance to see a bunch of antique motorcycles in action. Pirate copies are available but expensive. You’ll have to look sharp. It is only on the screen a few seconds. (Sorry, movie clip no longer available) Aren't you glad you waited?

The Profile (more than you really wanted to know) is here.

The Story Behind the Photograph - Empty, except for...

Things ain't what they used to be. (In fact, they never was.) The Profile (more than you really wanted to know) is here.

“If you’re ever out my way, stop by,” he said, knowing it was an empty invitation. “I’ll sure do that,” she said, not meaning it at all. But he waited. The days and nights closed in on him until his last breath slipped out between the moon and the howl of a coyote. “Life is too short,” he thought, as transparency overtook him. “Life is too…” She remembered him between the ticks of the tall clock in the hall. And then she forgot.

These are the most popular pages: Alison Young Art Pepper Barney Kessel Bettie Page Curl-up-and-dye Edgar Degas and the lost Ginger Nude Ginger Panda Gnat Trap Little Annie Fannie Marilyn Resident Alien Sunday Funnies

Closed.

Closed.

The date above the door is 1910. There are remains of several painted signs, fading away on the brick. It's maybe the mainstreet of Faxon, Oklahoma. It's a town I have never heard of. We stumbled upon it quite by accident. We were lost on the back roads in the southwest of the state. You can't go looking for these things, you have to let them find you.

Lucky Clov says:
Eerie- ghosts of the past!

anyjazz65 says:
Thanks. I liked how the double screen doors don't match each other and they aren't the same size as the doors behind them.

ed ed says:
this is full of interesting bits and pieces. yes, those doors are odd, and i like the glimpses of old stuff you get through the windows, the xeroc.....something you can see in the original size...the u.s. seems to have so much of this fascinating backroad ruin...

anyjazz65 says:
Thanks. I agree. There is too much. The deteriorating farm family, the gravity of the cities, the loss of rails as the primary mode of transportation, the superhighways, economics...well, I went on farther than I thought I could. There is too much.

Bluepeony says:
Wow! It has seen better days! Nice find!

anyjazz65 says:
Thanks!

elhawk says:
More evocative Americana from days gone by. Good one. Keep 'em coming.

anyjazz65 says:
Thanks elhawk. These poor abandoned buildings line the main streets of many small towns in the southwest. They symbolize the changes, indeed the losses, in the endeavors of uncomplicated people who saw only clear horizons. Progress, our boon and curse took them places they could not foretell. The shifting of our primary mode of transportation changed our maps, our lives. Good, bad? The scale is still swaying. The one pleasant thought is that these old derelict buildings will get at least one more admiring look from me. I see the hopes of families, their livelihood, their lifework and then their losses and fears and finally their resignation and defeat. It is a life cycle captured in brick and mortar. And when I spend a few moments with them, walking up to these structures, touching the corners, the walls, maybe I am showing some respect and admiration for their part in the grand scheme of things. And through a photograph maybe others will see those same things and think about them. And maybe the maps will change again. Thanks again, elhawk. You gave me a productive morning.

Gate
Originally uploaded by anyjazz65.

Who knows?

In Hollister, Oklahoma, population 60, stands this wall. Brick and stone and concrete. Just this wall, the rest of the building is gone. In a small town made up mostly of mobile homes and a post office, there is this wall. At the end of a nearly deserted street, a reminder of something completely forgotten.

oh boy photos says:
Very nicely done, do you have any idea what it was?

anyjazz65 says:
Not a clue. My only guess is that it might have been a hotel for railroad workers in times past. The town does not seem to have ever been very large. There is a grain elevator and a single rail siding now. The town is too tiny for a library or a courthouse or a police station. The post office is a small bilding the size of a mobile home on the other side of the highway. I don't know. I plan a return trip earlier in the day so I can get a better shot. Maybe I can round up one of the 60 locals who might know what it was and where it went.

Lucky Clov says:
Interesting- erected in the manner of a Doric temple. My guess is for the post office, library or other civic bulding. Who knows- could have been a movie set!

anyjazz65 says:
Thanks. I MUST go back there. We Googled the town and found absolutely nothing that would tell us about this. The building is just too big for the town. There are currently only 60 residents but it could have been larger in the past I suppose. It would have to be 10 times or more larger to merit a brick building this big. As you can see, the streets are just rocked in lanes. There are as many empty buildings as are occupied. The only activity seems to be the minor highway that passes directly through it. There is a grain elevator, a rail siding, a water tower and a tiny post office. Very unusual.

oh boy photos says:
With the coming of the Katy Railroad, Loveland, Hollister, and Tipton sprouted on the prairie. About the only objections that the settlers in this rich new land had were that Oklahoma was still a territory, and it was at least a two-day trip to Lawton, the county seat, since this was a part of Comanche County then. These situations were remedied by 1907 statehood and the creation of Tillman County, with Frederick as the county seat. Seven bustling towns were thriving in the new county: Davidson, Frederick, and Manitou on the Frisco line, Grandfield, Loveland, Hollister, and Tipton on the Katy. Tillman County entered the twentieth century with great expectations!

anyjazz65 says:
@oh boy photos: Hey that's very informative! Somehow I figured you would know something about it. Your research clears up a lot of suspicions and indeed, questions that I have about the area. I plan a return trip soon because there was so much recent history just sitting around, waiting. And thanks for the reminder that Oklahoma is not even a hundred years old yet, barely two and a half generations of people endowed with the fearless spirit of adventure in a quest for happiness and freedom. My wife, who spent most of her life in England, stands a bit amazed at us. While we marvel at buildings a scant 100 years old that we abandoned, England has many structures 500 or more years old abandoned by the Normans and the Romans. Some of these are still in use.Thanks to you for your informative comment!

Lucky Clov says:
Great to read the info! Thanks!

I had to include the whole conversation. The thoughts and information is so meaningful.