If you love exploring forgotten history, there’s no shortage of abandoned, eerie, and downright weird spots in Texas.
Scattered across the state, you’ll find old ghost towns, empty grand hotels that once buzzed with life, and decaying roadside signs marking places that no longer exist.
Some locations are hidden deep in forests or deserts, while others are sitting in plain sight, slowly falling apart as people drive by without a second glance.
From creepy ruins to strange relics of the past, these abandoned places each have their own story—if you know where to look.
1. Old Zoo Nature Trails, Cisco
Old Zoo Nature Trails in Cisco is what’s left of a 1920s zoo that once housed flamingos, bears, and other exotic animals before shutting down in the 1930s.
Today, you can walk through the overgrown trails and see crumbling animal enclosures, including old stone cages and concrete pits.
Nature is slowly taking over this place, making it perfect to explore if you love abandoned places with a bit of history.
2. Futuro House, Royse City
If you’re into strange, otherworldly places, the Futuro House in Royse City is a must-see.
This abandoned UFO-shaped house was part of a 1960s project to create futuristic, portable homes.
Now, it just sits in a Texas field covered in graffiti, looking like something straight out of a sci-fi movie.
You can’t go inside, but you can walk right up to it and wonder how this weird little spaceship ended up in the middle of nowhere.
3. Majors Stadium, Greenville
For a glimpse of forgotten baseball history, head to Majors Stadium in Greenville, where echoes of the past still linger in the crumbling entrance arch.
Opened as a baseball field in the 1940s, this old ballpark once hosted minor league games before it was eventually abandoned.
The overgrown field makes it feel like the game ended, and everyone just walked away, leaving behind a ghostly reminder of America’s favorite pastime.
4. Aldridge Sawmill, Angelina National Forest
Deep in Angelina National Forest, the ruins of Aldridge Sawmill stand as a haunting reminder of East Texas’s booming timber industry in the early 1900s.
Once a busy sawmill town, all that’s left now are massive concrete structures with vines creeping over walls and trees growing where machinery used to roar.
Getting there is a bit of a hike, but if you’re up for it, you’ll see how time and nature have changed what the industry left behind.
5. Palace of the Golden Orbs, Houston
If you’ve ever driven down Overture Drive in Houston and spotted a massive, unfinished building with a giant golden dome, you’ve seen the Palace of the Golden Orbs.
This abandoned palace was meant to be a grand religious center, but after construction stalled in the early 2000s, it was left to sit half-finished.
It’s fenced off now, so you can’t explore inside, but even from the street, it’s one of the strangest and most unexpected abandoned sights in Texas.
6. Rig Theatre, Premont
In the tiny town of Premont, the Rig Theatre preserves the charm of an era when small-town cinemas were the heart of weekend entertainment.
This movie theater was built in the 1950s and once stood out with its bright neon sign and marquee.
Today, it sits unused, with a worn-out exterior that reflects its long history.
You can’t catch a film here anymore, but if you love abandoned places, it’s worth a stop just to see this forgotten piece of history.
7. Bender Hotel, Laredo
In downtown Laredo, the Bender Hotel looms over the street, a huge reminder of its former glory as one of the city’s most luxurious places to stay.
Opened in the 1910s, this once-elegant hotel hosted travelers and businessmen for decades, but after closing its doors, it was left to decay with peeling paint.
Some say it’s haunted, and whether you believe in ghosts or not, there’s no denying that this abandoned landmark has a haunting presence of its own.
8. Miraflores, San Antonio
Hidden just off Broadway Street in San Antonio, Miraflores is a sculpture garden that looks like something out of a forgotten fairy tale.
Created in the early 1900s by a wealthy doctor who loved Mexican art, the garden was once filled with colorful tilework, elaborate statues, and fountains.
Because many of its pieces are crumbling and covered in vines, restoration efforts are currently underway to preserve what remains and bring new life to the historic site.
A locked gate keeps people out, but you can still take a peek at its beauty from the street.
9. Ruins of St Dominic Catholic Church, Hondo
Just outside Hondo, the ruins of St. Dominic Catholic Church stand in the middle of an empty field, a lonely shell of what was once a place of worship.
Built in the late 1800s, the church served a small rural community until it was abandoned after a devastating fire.
It left behind crumbling stone walls, an open-air altar, and a few scattered gravestones from long-forgotten parishioners.
There’s no roof, no doors, just the wind passing through the ruins, making it feel like time simply stopped in this quiet, haunting spot.
10. Mariscal Mine, Big Bend National Park
Deep in Big Bend National Park, the ruins of Mariscal Mine sit in the middle of the desert, a forgotten piece of Texas’s mercury mining history.
From the early 1900s to the 1940s, workers endured brutal heat and dangerous conditions to extract mercury from the rugged Mariscal Mountains.
However, only crumbling stone furnaces, rusted metal towers, and abandoned mine shafts remain today.
It’s a tough hike to get there, but if you make the trek, you’ll find an isolated spot where the harsh landscape and ruins tell the story of a long-lost industry.
11. Terlingua Ghost Town, Terlingua
If you keep heading west past Big Bend, you’ll stumble upon Terlingua Ghost Town, a once-thriving mercury mining town that now feels stuck between the past and present.
Abandoned adobe buildings, rusted-out cars, and the ruins of an old church sit alongside a saloon and a cemetery filled with weathered wooden crosses.
You can wander through the ruins, grab a drink at the Starlight Theatre, and watch the sun set over the desert.
12. Stardust Motel Sign, Marfa
A few miles outside Marfa, the Stardust Motel is long gone, but its old neon sign still stands, a lonely reminder of the roadside motels that once dotted West Texas highways.
The motel disappeared years ago, but the rusting sign—faded blue with a giant star on top—remains planted in the dirt, like a postcard from the past.
It doesn’t light up anymore, but something about it still draws people in, standing there against the wide-open desert background.
13. Cottle Hotel, Paducah
In the small town of Paducah, the abandoned Cottle Hotel still stands, a reminder of when travelers filled its rooms, and the lobby buzzed with life.
Built in the 1920s, this once-elegant hotel was a hotspot for travelers passing through West Texas, but now its boarded-up windows and peeling brickwork make it clear that its glory days are long gone.
Standing in front of it will surely give you goosebumps, as if the building itself whispers tales of the past.
14. Lower Ghost Camp, San Angelo State Park
Lower Ghost Camp isn’t haunted (probably), but its name and abandoned feel make it one of San Angelo State Park’s most interesting hidden spots.
Once a place for campers to gather, it’s now eerily quiet, with nature slowly reclaiming the land.
If you love finding forgotten places that feel mysterious, then this place is a must-visit.
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