Evergreen Cemetery

Usually about once a year I get a craving for El Paso’s favorite local rolled taco dive:

It's all in the sauce!
It’s all in the sauce!

I called my friend Vince and we headed over to Chico’s and had double orders with fries (no extra cheese, I’m getting to old).  We went to the Alameda location and across the street sits Evergreen Cemetery.  After stuffing ourselves with rolled tacos, we finished up and decided to walk them off by checking the cemetery out.


View Evergreen Cemetery in a larger map

Concordia Cemetery may be the “big thing” in town, due to the John Wesley Hardin tie in but Evergreen has its own uniqueness that makes it worth visiting.  It was established in 1894, about 38 years after Concordia and there’s quite a bit of different between the two.  Most of Concordia is dirt and loosely organized; Evergreen has a lot of grassy areas, trees and tightly laid out plots.

The twin shrubs

The cemetery is still active so there are whole generations of El Pasoians here including many prominent names that you will find on businesses and streets.  It’s a lot larger than it looks and it took us about 45 minutes to cover the main path, skimming the plots as we went.

Headless Jesus
Headless Jesus

Like most cemeteries, vandals have left their mark hacking off the heads and hands of many of the statues.  For the most part though it seems to have survived better than Concordia.  There were some neat features I haven’t noticed before at any of the other cemeteries I’ve visited, namely these old limey portraits affixed the graves:

Happy to see you
Happy to see you

Oxidation was really present on many of the markers and I’m not sure if that was just unique to the stone that were used there or if it was from watering over the years to keep the weeds grass green.

Down
Looking Down

Many of the headstones were really ornate, more than I’ve noticed elsewhere in town.  There’s lots of statue use as well. We also found some cool gothic lettering on one:

Gothic Ramos 1930
Gothic Ramos 1930

There was even this odd juxtaposition of names that was quite amusing:

Miles Davis
Miles Davis

We even found this fellow who was waiting for his hole to be dug:

Waiting in Line
Waiting in Line

We had covered the main path and circled back to the entrance so it was time to pack it in and head back to our days jobs.  You can visit my full flickr set here:

Evergreen Cemetery

I Heart You!

 

Abandoned Farmhouses 3

Empty Farmhouse and Packing Plant

I think I have saved the best for last.  This was the last stop on a quick tour of three, easily accessible, derelict farmhouses in and around the Upper Valley in El Paso.  This last property is not far from the Gato Road House.  It’s along Highway 28, on the way to La Union New Mexico.


View Empty House and Packing Plant in a larger map

I hesitate to call this property abandoned.  There is a house on the plot that while it’s empty at the moment, has been maintained and even has a security system visible from the front porch window.  All of its doors and windows are intact with no signs of vandalism or forced entry.

White House
White House

To the left of the house is a storage shed. It contains a lot of old supplies and stuff you would expect to see on a farm. There was a pile of old Glidden paint cans and a cool old oil lantern that was missing its glass.

Lights out
Lights out

The next building on the property is the largest.  It looks like it was some sort warehouse or packing facility. Old refrigerators, stacks of flat cardboard boxes and other assorted junk are scattered all around.  The roof looks to have been removed save for a few pieces of corrugated metal left in a few spots.

Warehouse
Warehouse

This building could have started life as some sort of feeding place for livestock.  On each side of the building a concrete trough ran the length of the building.  There was one neat find in here, some old hubcaps.

Nice!
Nice!

Outside on a large concrete slab a old tracker trailer sits.  It won’t be going anywhere fast, all of the tires are rotted to the hub.

Not Truckin'
Not Truckin’

The last building on the property is the oldest.  Its an adobe structure that has lost it roof and all the wall plaster.  Slowly its returning back to the earth.

long gone
Long gone

This collection of buildings was the most interesting and really shows the range of how long it had been in use. It could have easily spanned two or three generations and been an important player in the areas farming past.  I took a bunch of pictures that I could not include in this post so if you want to browse the full set on Flickr click below:

Abandoned in the Upper Valley

The previous two abandoned properties I vistited are here:
Abandoned Farmhouses (pt. 2)
Abandoned Farmhouses (pt. 1)

Abandoned Farmhouses 2

The Gato House

After moving on from the shell of a house, I traveled down Westside drive turning left on Gato road to the next structure.  This one is a bit more traditional, It even looks like somebody at some point was trying to revive it but for some reason their plans had been cut short.


View House on Gato in a larger map

The adobe construction looks to have stood the test of time and it may have been a comfortable home in its heyday.  Its a single story dwelling with a storage shed in the back.

Gato House
The Gato House

Inside the house is gutted and what remains leaves little to be desired.  The original construction looks pretty rough and the fix up attempts don’t get past the basic stage.

Outside in
Outside in

I’m not real sure how salvageable the structure is.  The condition of the house may have been what derailed the reconstruction. Not much is left save for a few doors and some old cabinetry. The fireplace is a real wood-burning one complete with an old school chimney.

Brick Hearth
Brick Hearth

Out back in a gated area is a storage shed.  Whats interesting is how this area is fenced in with the house on the outside. There is a clothes line and in the shed is either a hot water heater or well storage tank.

Storage Shed
Storage Shed

Not much else is on the property so I packed it in and headed on down the road to the final abandoned property.  If you missed part 1 you can find it here:
Abandoned Farmhouses (pt. 1)

 

Abandoned Farmhouses 1

The forever advancing suburban sprawl has snaked its way through the upper valley, turning farmland into shiny new homes.  Most of the time when a field gets bought, it’s quickly subdivided with ease. Occasionally a relic to the areas agricultural past gets left behind.  Many of the older established farms had very big houses that were well maintained and will continue to live on well past their previous life.  Often the less successful ones wind up forgotten and left to the elements.  There are 3 good examples of this not far from where I live.  I went and and captured them because at some point their land will be bought and they will most likely get razed.

Topless in the Valley

The closest one to me is in the worst shape.  It is not far from the intersection at Borderland and Westside drive, a short drive down a dirt road gets you there.


View Topless in the Valley in a larger map

The first building on the property is the farmhouse.  It has no roof and has been exposed to nature for some time.

The Farmhouse
The Farmhouse

Given it’s close proximity to the new neighborhoods, It has it share of graffiti from local kids. The graffiti isn’t that remarkable most likely because its easy to be seen with all the windows and roof opened up.  A couple of the interior rooms have some more detailed pieces but again its just a grade above regular tagging.

Graffiti ???
ZOAG ???

The structure also houses a large assortment of shipping pallets. Most were wood, but there were a few plastic ones.  The other odd thing is there is no sign of any part of the roof in the structure or on the grounds nearby. It may have been a simple flat roof that has long been scavenged for something else.  Nearby is a small pump house, storage shed and large metal awning.

rest of the property
The rest of the property

The storage shed had been opened but nothing interesting remained.  The pump house has been left alone with no obvious attempts at forced entry.

The Pump House
The Pump House

The size of the property and collection of buildings is pretty interesting. It would appear that it did OK at some point in the past, maybe some sort of onion or cotton processing. However in its current state it won’t be returning to its farming roots anytime soon.  Next I stopped at a more traditional structure not far away. Stay tuned.