Visit Big Bend
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One of our group took a flash light to the base of the Rock for a look around. I took this while he was doing that for some perspective as to the size of the boulder
Terlingua is one of those ”must-see” areas of Texas that every Texan should put on their bucket list.
The abandoned ruins of the 1908 Howard Perry mansion. Perry created the Chisos Mining Company in 1903. His company owned and operated the Chisos Mine which extracted mercury from cinnabar. The mine played out in 1942 and the company declared bankruptcy.
I took a deep dive into the archives for this 2003 shot of stone ruins in the town of Terlingua, Texas. The discovery of cinnabar, from which the metal mercury is extracted, drew miners to the area in the mid-1880s, creating a city of 2,000 at its peak. But when the mines went bust, the miners walked away, and the ruins are what is left of their homes. Located in Southwest Texas adjacent to Big Bend National Park, Terlingua had a population of 58 as of the 2010 census.
HTT
"We host the Original Terlingua International Championship Chili Cookoff the first weekend in November every year. Frequently referred to as the Tolbert Cookoff, or Behind the Store, this is the original and Grand Daddy of all chili cook-offs - in the world!
The first cook-off in 1967, created and promoted by Frank X. Tolbert and friends, only had two cooks, New Yorker, H. Allen Smith, and Texas legend Wick Fowler. It was supposed to settle the dispute over who knew more about chili - Texans or New Yorkers. There were three judges, including Hallie Stillwell. The contest ended in a draw.
That two-man publicity stunt has more than 50 years of history now, and has grown into an event drawing thousands of attendees to Terlingua the first Saturday in November every year, and the days leading up to Saturday, to help celebrate and carry on the tradition. Each Chili Season Year, (October 1st thru September 30th), chili cooks participate in their local area sanctioned events, earning points toward qualification. Points needed vary by state, depending mostly on population. In Texas, the required number is 9."
Info from: abowlofred.com/about
This is the famous Terlingua Sinkhole, a natural sinkhole located near the old Colquitt-Tigner mercury mine. It's located on private property, but I was able to piggy-back on someone else's permission to visit and took this picture.