Noel Kerns
Belle Plain College
A more documentary image of the Belle Plain College Ruins, in the ghost town of Belle Plain, Callahan County, Texas.
The Belle Plain College was built in 1881, 5 years after the town of Belle Plain was established in 1876. When Callahan County was established in 1877, Belle Plain was elected as the County Seat, and the little community really began to thrive. The college was well known for it's music program, complete with fifteen pianos, a brass band and an orchestra.
The towns' primacy was short-lived however, because in 1883 The Texas & Pacific railroad built through the town of Baird to the north, which spelled the beginning of the end for Belle Plain.
By 1892 the college, which had been foreclosed on a couple years earlier, was forced to shutdown, and by 1897 only a handful of residents remained. The last nail in the coffin was the eventual closure of the post office in 1909. Belle Plain has now been a ghost town for right about 100 years, and this college has been abandoned for about 116.
The Belle Plain College Ruins are probably the most remote location I've ever shot, even more so than the Van Patten Mountain Camp in the mountains of New Mexico. It's only about 6 miles south of Interstate 20, but it's only then that your adventure really begins. You turn off on a series of poorly marked dirt roads, that wind up, down and around hill (mostly up), until your headlights catch something; it's the former deans' house, in the trees, on the right side of the road. Park the car, get out, and stare up at the sky. You'd be hard pressed to find any less light pollution than at this spot right here, as there hasn't been a light in sight in any direction since shortly after leaving the town of Baird, back on I-20. Hop the barbed wire fence, and walk a few hundred yards south, and in the middle of the field you'll find the remnants of this once proud, if fleeting, little piece of forgotten Texas history.
I've never felt more alone at any location I've ever shot; absolute silence, and absolutely in the middle of nowhere.
Night, full moon, but very low in the sky, with an ill-advised green strobe to try to light up the tree at the right edge of the frame. 5 1/2 minute exposure.
Belle Plain College
A more documentary image of the Belle Plain College Ruins, in the ghost town of Belle Plain, Callahan County, Texas.
The Belle Plain College was built in 1881, 5 years after the town of Belle Plain was established in 1876. When Callahan County was established in 1877, Belle Plain was elected as the County Seat, and the little community really began to thrive. The college was well known for it's music program, complete with fifteen pianos, a brass band and an orchestra.
The towns' primacy was short-lived however, because in 1883 The Texas & Pacific railroad built through the town of Baird to the north, which spelled the beginning of the end for Belle Plain.
By 1892 the college, which had been foreclosed on a couple years earlier, was forced to shutdown, and by 1897 only a handful of residents remained. The last nail in the coffin was the eventual closure of the post office in 1909. Belle Plain has now been a ghost town for right about 100 years, and this college has been abandoned for about 116.
The Belle Plain College Ruins are probably the most remote location I've ever shot, even more so than the Van Patten Mountain Camp in the mountains of New Mexico. It's only about 6 miles south of Interstate 20, but it's only then that your adventure really begins. You turn off on a series of poorly marked dirt roads, that wind up, down and around hill (mostly up), until your headlights catch something; it's the former deans' house, in the trees, on the right side of the road. Park the car, get out, and stare up at the sky. You'd be hard pressed to find any less light pollution than at this spot right here, as there hasn't been a light in sight in any direction since shortly after leaving the town of Baird, back on I-20. Hop the barbed wire fence, and walk a few hundred yards south, and in the middle of the field you'll find the remnants of this once proud, if fleeting, little piece of forgotten Texas history.
I've never felt more alone at any location I've ever shot; absolute silence, and absolutely in the middle of nowhere.
Night, full moon, but very low in the sky, with an ill-advised green strobe to try to light up the tree at the right edge of the frame. 5 1/2 minute exposure.