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Twisted metal and piles of bricks are all that remain of Ranger’s theater. Destroyed by a storm in 1998, the city has been unable to complete its demolition because it does not have the funds to do so.
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Gorman is home to many of the county’s peanut drying facilities and other agricultural plants. After the harvest, however, the town lies empty.
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Eastland is the largest town in the county, and home to Ol’ Rip, the famous horned toad who survived 31 years in the cornerstone of the county’s courthouse. The Connellee hotel, left, is a relic of the city’s more populous years.
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The Rising Star, newspaper of the town by the same name, was forced to close its local office when circulation dropped. While it still covers local news, the paper is now produced in Eastland.
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Pioneer was founded in the 1920s by disgruntled residents of Rising Star. Reaching a peak of near 5,000 residents during the oil boom, only about 40 remain.
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Bruce Smith plies his trade at a craft fair inside the Mobley hotel in Cisco. In business since 1973, Bruce travels the state selling his jewelry.
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Leaves of a vine grow through oil equipment once used on the McLesky #4 oil well, which now inhabits the Roaring Ranger oil museum. The biggest of the oil boom towns, Ranger was no stranger to violence during the early 1920s.
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Bud Linney, professional cattle rancher, feeds the dominant bull of his herd a snack. Agriculture is now the most popular and most successful industry in Eastland county.
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Of the 609,000 acres in Eastland county, 480,000 are on farms and ranches. The Eberhart ranch, above, is currently being managed in an attempt to bring back the native grasses that were destroyed by droughts and overgrazing.
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