Posts Tagged ‘Eastern Colorado Ghost Towns’

Ghost Town Photo Blog- Boyero, Colorado

Posted: September 22, 2020 in Colorado History, Colorado Road Trips, Ghost Towns, old west, Road Trips
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Finally had a chance to get back out on the road and do some ghost towning. This time around I headed to Boyero, a small ghost town in Lincoln County about two hours east of Denver on the eastern plains.

Boyero started life as ranching and supply stop along the Kansas-Pacific Railroad in the latter half of the 1800s, as well as a stop along the Texas- Montana cattle trail. Situated along a wooded bend of Sand Creek, Boyero must have been a welcome sight for cowboys who had just crossed the scorching, featureless frying pan to the east. 

A once impressive two-story home at Boyero, the old tracks of the Kansas-Pacific Railroad can be seen in the foreground

Boyero was granted a Post Office in 1902,which served locals until the early-1970s when the office, and mail was transferred to nearby Wild Horse, which itself is nearly a ghost town today.

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What appears to be the remains of an old garage or service station at Boyero

Boyero still appears on maps today, but the old town site sits on private property, straddling both sides of County Road 39 about twenty minutes southeast of Hugo, just off of Highway 287. 

Buildings at Boyero

All of buildings at Boyero are private property, but can be seen from County Road 39. There are occupied dwellings and modern structures mixed in among the old remnants of the town, and it is comon to see the family who owns the property out working. Please respect their privacy and their property and stay on the main road. 

A friendly local passing by in a pickup stopped to make sure I wasn’t broke down when I visited last.  I assured him I was fine, and just taking photos of the old town. With a nod and smile he wished me a good day and drove on down the desolate road in a cloud of dust.

It is almost surreal to stand in the silence of Boyero, where the only sound is the wind or a random bird, with the knowledge that the frenzied chaos, angst, and in-your-face noise of the Denver metro area is only two hours away- Boyero is proof that there really is two separate, and entirely unique Colorados.

An added bonus awaits just down the road if you know where to look- This awesome old farm house right off of Highway 287 and County Road 2G.

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Ghost Buildings of Haswell, Colorado Photo Blog

Posted: February 13, 2020 in Colorado History, Colorado Road Trips, Ghost Towns, old west, Road Trips
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Haswell, Colorado was founded in the early 1900s, some accounts say 1905, others say 1908. Haswell sprang up along the line of Missouri Pacific railroad and once had a population of around 200 in its peak days.

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Buildings along the main street in Haswell.

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A vacant home along Highway 96 in the center of Haswell

Today Haswell, like most of the other small towns in Kiowa County struggles to hang on. Today only around 60 residents remain in and around Haswell. The highlights of Haswell are the old Texaco gas station which you can’t miss along Highway 96, and the tiny jail, which the residents boast is the smallest in the United States. Unfortunately when I visited town, the view of the jail was obscured by vehicles so I couldn’t get a photo.

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The Old Texaco gas station- A new tin roof will ensure it is around for a few more years.

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One of the many empty houses in the residential section of Haswell

Haswell is a combination of abandoned or empty storefronts, grain elevators, service stations and residential dwellings. When I passed through around half of the buildings in town were vacant.  Someone was barbequing and the smell drifted through the tiny town. At a small part on the western edge of the community two boys played baseball and stopped to wave as I passed by.

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This old building with its aerial tower out back had the looks of an old radio station.

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A row of forlorn shops on the west end of Haswell.

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Another vacant house in town

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Photo Blog- Arlington, Colorado a High Plains Ghost Town of Kiowa County

Posted: February 4, 2020 in Colorado History, Colorado Road Trips, Ghost Towns, old west, Road Trips
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Last weekend I headed headed east onto the great high plains for my first visit to Arlington, and obscure Colorado ghost town which dates to 1887 when it sprang up along the Missouri Pacific Railroad line in sparsely populated Kiowa County roughly 120 miles southeast of Colorado Springs.

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One of the old shacks that remains at Kiowa County’s Arlington

En route to Arlington my mind became lost in the endless flat expanse, covered in a short stubble of the previous year’s blonde prairie grasses. Here and there a patch snow occupied a shadowy depression in the flats. People out here, in this forgotten corner of the Colorado landscape, are few and far between. It had been thirty minutes or so since I saw another motorist, and I was daydreaming when I sped past the Kiowa County Sherriff who quickly flipped a U-turn, lights flashing, and pulled me over. Ten minutes, 4-driver’s license points, and a $188 fine later I was back on my way to find Arlington.

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Another Arlington shack

Taking Highway 96 southwest out of the tiny town of Eads, I rumbled down the blacktop for another 35 miles without seeing another motorist, then I reached Arlington. Arlington is defined by a few occupied farm houses and out buildings that straddle Highway 96, then the old town site just off the pavement on a dirt road to the west.

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A hack and the schoolhouse which mark the west end of the Arlington town plat

Three blocks appear to have been platted and developed at one point in Arlington, but that was long ago. Today only the dirt streets remain, along with a couple of abandoned shacks, and the stunning two-story Arlington schoolhouse which can be seen from a distance as you approach the ghost town. One small home remains occupied on the northeast end of the old town footprint, but nobody was home when I passed through.  I spent a few minutes snapping photos and wondering what Arlington once looked like. It must have been something in its prime since it had a two-story schoolhouse, an oddity out here on the plains.  Not much to see these days in Arlington, but the old schoolhouse is worth the trip!

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Arlington schoolhouse- Worth the trip!

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North end of the schoolhouse

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You can see the schoolhouse at Arlington from several miles away as you approach Arlington

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East side of the schoolhouse

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The old school appears to be the place where all of Kiowa County’s bald tires go to die

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