David Whitmer
Landscape Photography
501 W Murphy Ave
An old West Texas adobe home. At least I think it is ... the outline of a grocery sign on the east side makes me hesitate. Nevertheless, could be a home. 105 W Murphy Ave according to faded script on the front facade; 501 W Murphy Ave according to numbers on a lintel, and Google Maps.
In the spring of 2015 I snapped my first shot of the building. In December 2018, during another visit to Texas, the building again caught my eye, and I was inspired to take a whole slew of photographs. Upon review of these December images I thought to myself hey didn’t I take a picture of this same structure a few years ago?
Not much had changed. Time may be running out for 501 W Murphy Ave though. According to flyers stapledgunned to a door frame, the building has been declared dangerous to enter, in urgent need of either destruction or repair. West Texas adobe, however, has become all the rage. Even the New York Times has written about this. It would not surprise me if someone invested time and money to bring the building back to life. If not, I believe it is looking great in its final days.