The Stamford Inn - a photo on Flickriver

The Stamford Inn

Lotta detail in the large-on-black view!

The Stamford Inn is located in a small Texas town called Stamford, about 45 minutes north of Abilene. Like so many other places as old as this, it's had its fair share of interesting historical events.

The original Stamford Inn building was constructed in 1900, and served until late Christmas Eve in 1924, when a fire broke out that claimed the lives of five individuals, including a man named "Ernest" who was allegedly trying to help save the others who perished in the blaze. The floor supposedly collapsed beneath Ernest, and he fell into the basement, onto the water heater, where his body was found.

The Inn was destroyed by the fire, but the building in this picture was constructed shortly thereafter, and continued to serve for many years as the Stamford Inn. After the Inn closed down, the facility was re-purposed as a nursing home, and later still as a private club. The building has now sat abandoned since the early 80's.

The structure today, while clearly decayed both inside and out, is for the most part still quite stable; the floors are all very solid, save for the very west end of the dining / rec room on the first floor. There's a wall missing from a second floor room on the backside of the building, but on the whole, the building seems to me to be salvageable. The only problem with that premise is that the building stands in the middle of a tiny little Texas town of a few thousand people...much like the Baker Hotel in Mineral Wells, nobody would be willing to invest the amount of money it would take to get this building back up to code.

This place has the reputation for being quite haunted too, much like the Baker. I spent about 3 hours poking around the entire building, and once again...no signs of any ghosts. You know, I'm beginning to suspect there might be "no such thing as ghosts"!

If you'd like to read about a "ghost hunter" type investigation of the Stamford Inn, click here. The apparition action was coming fast and furious on their visit!

By the way, notice the pigeons hanging out in the rafters of the portico. When I arrived late in the day to recon the building in daylight, the pigeons all bolted when they saw me approaching, and later after they had returned, they bolted again when I walked out the front door to leave. Strangely though, they didn't seem bothered by me in the least when I returned to shoot after dark...they even held still for the light-painting!

Much more to come from this interesting location...

Night, full moon, ambient sodium vapor and mercury light, natural LED flashlight.

Taken in: United States / Texas / Stamford (show map)

Taken on: September 16, 2008

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Sets appears in: • Night Work • Stamford Inn more » • Texas Nights « less

Groups appears in: • Night Images • FlickrCentral more » • Nikon Digital • RUSTY and CRUSTY • nighthawks • urban explorers • Abandoned • Eerie Creepy Encounters • Haunted Houses, Buildings & Other Creepy Places • After Dark - Night Photography • DFW Metro • Abandoned Places and Things • Abandoned, Neglected, Weathered, or Rusty • Old And Beautiful (buildings ,barns, shacks, and abandoned homes • Decayed yet Hauntingly Beautiful « less

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