Monday, February 01, 2010

From the Archives

Occasional Reader Dee contacted me in an offline this weekend, asking me for a pointer to a pic I put up in the way-back of Portales' Main Street taken in the dead of night... the wee smalls of the morning, actually...  when absolutely no one was out and about.  It really strokes the ol' ego when someone tells me they like my photos.  So, we thought we'd put them up again (but NOT with the intent of soliciting compliments, yanno?).  One pic was published back in 2006 and the other two have never been seen in public.

Main Street Portales, previously published.

The Roosevelt County courthouse.  Our courthouse is on the National Register of Historic Places and I tried to find some background on it, to no avail.  But it looks like a classic example of 1930's WPA Moderne architecture to me.

A lonely Green Hornet parked on the courthouse square.

Re-doing these photos... or taking similar shots... has been on my to-do list ever since I bought the SLR a couple o' years ago.  That ain't gonna happen until the weather warms up a bit.

15 comments:

  1. Even though you are not soliciting compliments, you are QUITE the photographer!! Very impressive...

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  2. See, not that's a town you can be proud of!

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  3. First off, yes, very nice pictures!!

    And it's so clean -- it looks like a movie set. It's wonderful!

    Now, to the questions. What the heck time of night was this that NO one else was anywhere to be seen? Is it always like this? Are there more pictures?
    Good morning, Buck. :)


    YES! Best ever word verification, foofu!!!

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  4. "cohype"? I think "foofu" tops mine. Nice pix. I kinda miss the towns in the SW. Brought back some good memories.

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  5. Dee: Thank ya, Ma"am!

    RLM: Yup, that's true!

    Kath: It's so clean coz I spent a half-hour policing the area before I took the pics, being the anal-retentive, obsessive-compulsive sort I am. (just kidding!) That said, P-Ville is the quintessential dusty lil western town. Emphasis on "dusty!"

    It's 0330 hrs., so even the drunks had staggered home and reasonable people were still in their beds.

    Andy: Thank ya, Sir. There's a lot to be said for small towns.

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  6. You definitely caught Portales with her streets rolled up.

    I'm way behind in my blog reading and cannot catch up today since I am borrowing internet, but I just wanted to drop by and let you know all is well at the Lazy B. We have not seen sunshine in a while - it is a bit depressing - not to mention cold.

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  7. Nice pics Buck. Being a similarly anal-retentive person when it comes to my photographs, I too "police the areas" as well. I've even been known to ask The Oracle to hold back a leaf or something to get just the right shot.

    It's just good technique! :-)

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  8. Unsolicited or no, these are really nice. A nice slice of Portales.

    I'm so gald you didn't get mugged in that deserted stretch of Main Street. Oh, wait. It's not New Orleans!

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  9. Good Photos Buck...night scenes are always among my favorites to shoot and view.

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  10. Lou: All y'all really got it, didn't ya? I'm glad all's well.

    Kris: Thanks for the kudos. I was kidding about policing up the area, though.

    Moogie: Thank ya, Ma'am. Funny you should mention muggings. But that's Clovis, not P-Ville.

    Pat: Thank ya!

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  11. I recognize the buildings, but not the names on the stores...except for Skinner's. And that statue wasn't there in my day. Who is it?

    In the first photo, the pole on which the East Hwy 70 sign is mounted is the pole around which they handcuffed all of the jail prisoners in a circle. This was during the Great Portales Fire of 1977, when they thought the courthouse and post office might burn.

    Incidentally, when you Google anything with Portales in it, your blog always comes up in the top 20 hits.

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  12. I have NO idea who the statue is of, Gordon. I read the plaque once upon a time in the way-back but I didn't commit it to memory. One of Roosevelt County's earliest residents and Big Successful Person, I think.

    Interesting bits of trivia about the fire!

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  13. I could hear The Boss singing in the background as I viewed those shots!

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  14. how cool! Beautiful pics! Seems like was just there today (oh, I was! Lol!).
    I do believe the courthouse was wpa. We bought our ranch in a foreclosure auction on the courthouse steps. There are murals inside that are labeled wpa I think. There is a book in the library about Roosevelt co., inlaws have it too. I may see if it has more info on it.

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  15. OK, Jenny. Now you've done it. I've never been inside the courthouse but now I GOTTA go... and take my camera. I need to see those murals!

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