Artwork on a Back Door

I sometimes find it fun to walk down alleyways in towns just to see the backs of shops.  This one in Granbury, Texas, is my favorite to date.  The entire courthouse square of Grandbury, Texas, a small town of about 8,000 people 35 miles southwest of Ft. Worth, is filled with boutiques.   The downtown area of most of Texas' small towns usually contain a few antique shops and but little else in the way of retail, signifying the declining economy of smalltown America.  Grandbury, on the other hand is a shopping mecca and shoppers from the Ft. Worth/Dallas metroplex inundate every weekend and most weekdays to shop the wonderful unique shops of this otherwise quiet little burb.

Back Door

Italy, Texas

Back Doors No. 7 ~ Jefferson, Texas

I'm always amazed at what I DON'T see when I'm taking pictures but observe for the first time during the edit process.  These back doors, photographed while strolling through an alleyway in Jefferson, Texas, called to me because of the red peeling paint.  But upon closer inspection I wonder what is that object behind the window panes.  What do you think it is?  When I return to Jefferson, which I'm sure I will, I'll have to find these back doors again and see if it's still there and maybe then I can discover its identity.  Until then ....

Back Doors No. 6 ~ San Augustine Alleyway

I've done a lot of walking around both in front of and behind buildings in small towns of East Texas, but by far this is my favorite alleyway.  I first encountered it about a year ago during a visit.  I returned to live here last December and it didn't take long for me to return to San Augustine.  It is very old for Texas (the 1820s), has a historic marker about every 30 feet all through the town since it was one of the prime areas for the political fueling of the Texas revolution for independence from Mexico and then later for the establishment of the government of the Republic of Texas.  I love the orange color of the water-stained plaster and the contrast of the sooty fire damage from who knows when ~ maybe as early as the 1890 fire which destroyed much of the downtown area.  Isn't it interesting that I've never walked around front to see what kind of business this is today?  Like I say, back doors are often more interesting than front ones.

Back Doors ~ No. 5

Hemphill, Texas

Back Doors ~ No. 4

Seen and photographed at San Augustine, Texas

This series is dedicated to back doors, which are invariably more interesting than front doors.  

Here some small purple morning glories dominate peeling paint and other weeds.

Back Doors ~ No. 3

Hemphill, Texas

Back Doors ~ No. 2

Alleyway back door of a retail establishment in downtown Nacogdoches, Texas.

I love the brick and contrasting vines.

Mysterious Doorway

If anyone ever walked from the inside of this building through this doorway without paying attention to where their footsteps led them, they would tumble at least three feet to the sidewalk below.  I'm fascinated by this doorway on the side of a building in historic downtown Nacogdoches.  The wooden strip below tells me that at some point in time there must have been some steps here.  The blackened brick below tells me that at some point in time this building probably suffered a fire.  Maybe the fire burned the wooden steps.  Who knows?

Back Doors ~ No. 1

As I've wandered through small towns in Texas (and occasionally Louisiana) I have come to realize that often back doors are more interesting than front doors.  So here is the beginning of a series called Back Doors.

 Joaquin, Texas

Population 925

Located on the west bank of the Sabine River

at the Texas/Louisiana border

A Bucket Ready for Kicking

Alley Door, San Augustine, Texas ~ July 2010