Wichita Falls, Texas (grit and interesting architecture)

LSyd · #1 Posted: **Aug 10, 2007, 6:36 PM**

i went here for a weekend back in june to get out of fort sill/lawton oklahoma (what a shithole.) i had a great time, and was happy to be in a city with an architecturally pleasing downtown (although it seems pretty rundown, but it also seems to be trying to get some new life going.) plus i won over $300 at the casinos just over the oklahoma border!

there was also a lot of grit here...more vacant/abandoned motorlodge-motels and gas stations per capita than anywhere i've ever been.

anyway, the city population is around 100,000 with about a 150,000 metro. the city was devastated in 1979 by an f4 tornado:

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/oun/wxevents...10/burgess.php

Quote:

Total property damage in Wichita Falls was estimated at $400,000,000 (in 1979 dollars). Over 3,000 homes were destroyed and another 1,000 were damaged, and over 1,000 apartment units/ condominiums were destroyed and another 130 damaged. In addition, approximately 140 mobile homes were destroyed, two schools were demolished and 11 others sustained serious damage. Over 100 commercial businesses, some of them large manufacturing concerns, were destroyed. It is estimated that 5,000 families, containing 20,000 residents, were left homeless in Wichita Falls. Such a total would mean that between 10% and 20% of the population of the city was displaced by the tornado. To put the deaths and property damage in perspective, it should be noted that as many as 42 people have not been killed in the United States by a single tornado in the 20 years since the event, and the total property damage of $400,000,000 still stands as the most costly tornado in American history.

on with the pics.

my hotel, recently rennovated a little from its 60s glory

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the view from the corridor outside my room

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renovated into residential
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i wish i'd been in the area at the end of july to see "narnia - the musical" at the theatre
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grit
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Chelsea Spy · #2 Posted: **Aug 10, 2007, 6:47 PM**

wow... that looks like one bleak and haunting town... there is a really eerie and melancholic vibe to those empty streets and abandoned buildings...

DeBaliviere · #3 Posted: **Aug 10, 2007, 8:19 PM**

I love this building!!

Dralcoffin · #4 Posted: **Aug 10, 2007, 8:32 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by LSyd

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That has got to be the bluest building I've ever seen. Haunting photos of a town that appears to have seen better days.

Comrade Reynolds · #5 Posted: **Aug 10, 2007, 8:52 PM**

Bobby Hill actually wanted to live there?

Crazy.

Let me guess, the Cowboys don't hold their training camp there?

glowrock · #6 Posted: **Aug 10, 2007, 9:03 PM**

The Cowboys most definitely DO hold their training camp there!

Odd how Wichita Falls still has so many rundown and dilapidated buildings, seeing as it's a regional oil and gas headquarters city... There's plenty of money there due to that, plus the military influence there.

Interesting shots, LSyd!

Aaron (Glowrock)

James Bond Agent 007 · #7 Posted: **Aug 10, 2007, 9:19 PM**

Tanster · #8 Posted: **Aug 10, 2007, 9:24 PM**

Scary pics

Philtower · #9 Posted: **Aug 10, 2007, 9:43 PM**

Grit? Yes. Interesting architecture? Not really, but thanks for the pics anyway. (As an aside, the putdown of Lawton was not really necessary. I've been to both cities, and Lawton has something WF will never have---the beautiful Wichita Mountains as a backdrop.)

Buckeye Native 001 · #10 Posted: **Aug 10, 2007, 11:12 PM**

My only experience with Wichita Falls was that King of the Hill episode Comrade mentioned. Hank singing the Dallas Cowboys fight song over that Sooner fan singing the Oklahoma fight song never ceases to crack me up.

As for these pics, they are fantastic, yet eerily haunting, like everything's been frozen in time.

NBTX11 · #11 Posted: **Aug 10, 2007, 11:51 PM**

Thanks for the pics. Exactly as I remembered downtown. I lived in Wichita Falls for 4-5 years.

Folks, there are good and nice areas of Wichita Falls, believe me. It is a very nice small/medium sized city, imho. I thoroughly enjoyed living there, very nice town. Population of the city itself is around 110,000, and there are vibrant areas of the city outside of DT.

The Cowboys have not trained in Wichita Falls in about 5 years. They probably couldn't take the 105-110F heat. Wichita Falls is seriously hot in the summer, alot hotter than Dallas. They now train at the Alamodome here in San Antonio. Incidently, when I lived in Wichita Falls, the Cowboys trained there, now I live in San Antonio, and they train here now.

ColDayMan · #12 Posted: **Aug 10, 2007, 11:54 PM**

Wow.

pwright1 · #13 Posted: **Aug 11, 2007, 12:00 AM**

I use to live in WF as a kid. My father was stationed at Shepard AFB. What a fun interesting city considering we moved there from Newark NJ. Interesting pics indeed.

Comrade Reynolds · #14 Posted: **Aug 11, 2007, 12:55 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by glowrock

The Cowboys most definitely DO hold their training camp there!

Odd how Wichita Falls still has so many rundown and dilapidated buildings, seeing as it's a regional oil and gas headquarters city... There's plenty of money there due to that, plus the military influence there.

Interesting shots, LSyd!

Aaron (Glowrock)

No wonder the Cowboys suck.