Wonder if there's a Texas City in Colorado. Over four thousand souls; county sea of Mitchell County.

Note: not to be confused with Colorado, Texas.

Well:

There had to be something else. Or there wasn't. Either is a little depressing.

I don't they're all paid up on their Chamber of Commerce dues:

Can't imagine what it was, or why they needed the steps. No, that's clear; they needed the steps so you could get up to the raised part, which was raised because . . . well, it's not for loading. Too low for loading the back of a truck.

Why four steps on one end and two on the other?

What happened here?

The good thing about the lumber business: when you go under, you've stock on hand to board up the windows.

There was another famous Rockwell in the lumber business, and this site says they had a location in Colorado, TX. But as we've learned, that's not to be confused with Colorado City. It was the Rockwell Brothers, though, so it's probably the same outfit. Mr. Rockwell died in 1931, but let he left a charitable trust that survives to this day.

The company sold its last yard in 1979.

If you've been following this feature for a while, or just know your urban hints and clues, you know what this was.

No, it wasn't for lynching.

Something's going on here, and I'm not sure what. New roof?

Signs in the window suggest permits, so it's possible a coffee shop (free wifi!) has opened since this was taken. Also possible it opened, and closed.

Mitchell Lodge members welcome you:

It has seventy members. They meet on the second Tuesday of the month at 7:30, although the meal starts an hour earlier. Wives welcome! The top of the facade looks well-maintained, but that could be the lighting. Old wood over the windows. Empty store. Rotten walls. No one home. Ghosts.

That's an alley? Whatever was next door was small. Looks like the floor tile is still visible.

Ah! Now here's a solid citizen:

BPOE, I think. The scalloped awning looks original for the 20s. The paint on the windows appears original as well, alas.

An old person who lived their whole life in this town must find these things unutterably sad.

The awning and the glass blocks pose another mystery. They took out the big window but left the awning? The awning was kept to shield against the pitiless Texas sun? Once there was a metal screen with the name of the store. The bottom floor was modernized. Everyone was proud.

The screen may have been lost in a twister.