LOST, TEXAS
By Bronson Dorsey
Bronson Dorsey takes us on a tour of old, abandoned buildings in Texas that evoke the mystique of bygone days and shifting population patterns. With a skilled photographer’s eye, he captures the character of these buildings, mostly tucked away in the far corners of rural Texas—though, surprisingly, some of his finds are in the midst of thriving communities, even, in one case, the Dallas metroplex. Most of the buildings are abandoned and in a state of decay, though a handful have been repurposed as museums, residences, or other functional structures.
Encompassing all regions of the state, from the Piney Woods to the Panhandle, the images in LOST, TEXAS evoke distinctive memories of the past. They grant a sense of how those who preceded us lived and how the Texas of earlier days became the Texas of today.
Dorsey is a fourth-generation Texan, whose family settled in East Texas in the mid-1800s. He received a Bachelor of Architecture from UT Austin in 1974. After retiring from an international career in architecture and construction management in 2009, he embarked on a second career as an architectural photographer. A lifelong fascination with small towns and their history led Bronson to begin photographing abandoned buildings that remained as towns declined. After its beginning as a blog (www.lost-texas.com) LOST, TEXAS was published by Texas A&M Press in May, 2018.