Medicine Mounds, Texas

During the last full moon, I traveled over to Medicine Mound, Texas to photograph the cool rock buildings that still stand in the old Hardeman County ghost town. I'd been to Medicine Mound before and have even perused their cool little museum . Therefore, I put it on my list of places I had to photograph at night.

Medicine Mound has an interesting history. Here is an excerpt from the Handbook of Texas on-line:

"MEDICINE MOUND, TEXAS. Medicine Mound, on Farm Road 1167 twelve miles east of Quanah in east central Hardeman County, took its name from four local elevations, 200 to 250 feet high: these mounds were camps and ceremonial sites of the Comanches. The community moved 2½ miles north in 1908, when the Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railway was built. At one time Medicine Mound had a population of 500 and twenty-two businesses, including a newspaper (the Citizen). A fire in 1932 destroyed most of the business buildings, and few were rebuilt. In 1940 the town had six stores and 210 people. Its school was consolidated with that of Quanah in 1955, and the post office and gin shut down in the 1950s. The population was fifty in 1980 through 2000."

Be sure to check out the town's website at www.medicinemound.com