Poorest town in Texas - Below freezing weather in Abilene,Texas

Managing below freezing weather in our RV. Exploring one of poorest towns here in Texas.
Lueders is a small town located in Jones County, Texas, United States. The town was established in 1909 when the Wichita Falls and Northwestern Railway built a line through the area. The town was named after William Lueders, an early settler in the area.
In the early days, Lueders was a thriving community with a number of businesses, including a bank, a hotel, a school, and several mercantile stores. The town was also known for its large cotton industry, and many of the local residents worked in the fields during the harvest season.
During World War II, Lueders played an important role in the war effort. The local airfield, which had previously been used for crop dusting, was converted into a military training base. The airfield was used to train pilots for the Army Air Corps, and many young men from the area went on to serve in the war.
After the war, Lueders began to decline as the cotton industry waned and many of the businesses closed. Today, the town is home to just over 300 residents and is primarily a farming community. However, Lueders still retains its small-town charm and is a popular destination for visitors who are interested in the town's history and rural way of life.

[@Fatman_Danny]

The thing you said used to be a gas station was good ol twins deli

[@tomcase2837]

Cool old towns! I wonder what kind of scoop the person at the post office could give you about the history of the area?

[@VanngoTravelers]

Yeah I should’ve went in and ask some questions. It was interesting seeing the old buildings.

[@Fatman_Danny]

LA means Lueders Avoca we basically combined towns our middle and elementary school are in Lueders while the high school is in avoca

[@VanngoTravelers]

Oh gotcha!

[@pattywack923]

Glad you made it safely

[@VanngoTravelers]

Yeah i can’t imagine putting all the work into the van only to wreck it. Lol That would be my worse nightmare.

[@stephenvinson6474]

At the turn of the century, this little burg was up and coming. A branch railroad line, Texas Central, had made its way to town, after a state of the art (then) bridge was constructed over the Clear Fork of the Brazos River, This was a major achievement and opened up the territory to "settlers." My ancestors were some of those who ventured here for various reasons. For 20 something years the town grew, prospered and served a purpose for many farmers and some ranchers then. Transportation wasn't what it is today. Folks needed a place to buy supplies, farmers needed their implements repaired etc. Lueders provided many of those needs. Frankly it never was a "silk purse" ..It remained a borderline sow's ear kinda place. When the Depression hit, of course it suffered economically. WW2 brought an economic upturn. By that time Lueders had an oil refinery that produced fuel for the war effort. The limestone industry has always been a part of Lueders and was up and running. After the War was over the town realized an increase in population. The late 1940's and very early 1950's were the heydays. Business was good. THEN came the 1950's drought and that was the catalyst that began a decline that has brought us to now. My dad had a Dry-goods Store which did ok until this drought and then it nose dived to failure. Another factor that contributed to economic decline was the improvement of automobiles...and the building of reliable roads to the larger town, Abilene. Abilene provided better stores, lower prices and employment. My dad got a job at the new Radio/TV station there as an accountant. We moved to Abilene in 1965. From the early 1960's a graph would show a steady decline....and you see the result. I think you missed some of the better maintained houses (there are a few) and the School which is the best preserved building in town. However the town, former businesses ..are completely gone....Needs to be demolished but there are factors...both environmental and ownership factors that have prevented that. I appreciate your interest in Lueders. Most people speed up and pass it by as fast as they can. I still have emotional ties to this place, having grown up here.

[@VanngoTravelers]

Wow that’s awesome information. Things can be great for a time and then the boom ends. Always sad to see. Maybe one day someone will come in and invest in that area. Things always circle around. It might take some time or maybe it never will. I feel sorry for the person working at the post office. That’s gotta be a long day. Better bring your lunch! Lol Appreciate the info. Very interesting.

[@Fatman_Danny]

Did you enjoy your visit?

[@VanngoTravelers]

I did. Always something to see on a small town.

[@shatnersufolanded7785]

That town would be a great set for a movie or maybe it was.

[@VanngoTravelers]

Yeah it would be. Very cool. I wonder what it’s like at night time.

[@stephenvinson6474]

there was a small independent movie co. that did use part of the town in a movie...do not know what the name was

[@VanngoTravelers]

I can see that. Great setting.

[@stephenvinson6474]

Re: nightlife ....these days its mainly racoons taking their chances in these old "DANGEROUS buildings. I heard about rattlesnakes in some of the buildings..doesn't surprise me. I grew up in this town ...left for 30 years...returned 20 years ago after living in Austin Tx and later in New Mexico @@VanngoTravelers

[@lilxgraveyardxshawty420]

This place is actually two towns that kinda combined into one, thats why people usually refer to it as Lueders-avoca and thats what the LA stands for, i graduated from avoca back in 2020 and yes it most definitely is poor and run down but the people there are typically friendly and pretty chill

[@VanngoTravelers]

That is good to know. People in small towns usually are friendly than city people. That’s from my experience. Always nice to talk to. How was your experience growing up there and as a teenager what did you for fun out there?

[@lilxgraveyardxshawty420]

@@VanngoTravelers I actually grew up in the town over called Stamford, I just went to school in Avoca but as for what people did for fun while I was there it was pretty similar to any small country town, swimmin in the river in the summer, fishing, hunting, shootin guns, mudding, loitering in an abandoned building or goin to the occasional party thrown at this place in town they call the slab. As you could probably guess there weren't many options so if you were really bored youd probably end up loading up in a friend's truck and makin a trip to Abilene lol

[@VanngoTravelers]

That’s awesome!! That’s what I love about small towns. People who grow up there dream of leaving as a teenager but when they do most come back in their latter years.

[@jcraigshelton]

Just to kind of give you a clue, the money in these tiny west Texas towns almost never reside inside the city. Go outside the city though, point at any pasture and look up the owner and you will probably find a family worth more than Tom Brady’s estate.

[@VanngoTravelers]

That’s crazy!!

[@yesimarabbit]

Hahahahah my husband is from lueders so this was awesome to watch. Nice to see an outside perspective

[@VanngoTravelers]

Lol I make these video hoping that it will bring back some nostalgia to someone that once lived there. I love these places. It sad but nice to know that folks rooted there and had families. Everything changes in decades and some towns survive and some don’t. This one did not. 😔Nonetheless very interesting place.

[@yesimarabbit]

​@@VanngoTravelersBtw those are all limestone quarries. You passed our land too! A lot of those stores have been closed for well over 30 years. The handprint mural was done by my husband's class in about 2000. In 1998 there was an arcade too. A lot of the issues in town stem from drugs and the quarries buying out the houses to rent to their employees. Those employees don't care about the houses so they get ravaged. The building you called a church is a Baptist Encampment aka church summer camp lol

[@yesimarabbit]

​@@VanngoTravelersmy husband said if you come back in about 3 years, when he retires from the Navy, he'll show you all the cool things only locals know about, like the dam house lol

[@VanngoTravelers]

Wow that’s crazy. The mural is still there!! I got the feeling that drugs were an issue. Just kind of had that feel. Sad to hear when companies do that and the employees could care less. Brings down the value in a town like that. Nothing is left but the post office. Lol

[@VanngoTravelers]

I’ll take him up on that. It might just be longer than that tho. Lol Next part of our travels will be up the east coast towards Maine and Vermont. Thank him for his service for me. These are crazy times. Stay safe.

[@milesgentry850]

My God Lou,got to insulate your pipes,some how🤔sorry about that,weird weather man🥶

[@VanngoTravelers]

Yeah there’s a trick to it. I have to figure it out. We don’t plan on being where it’s constantly snowing. So far we’ve managed. It hasn’t been too bad. As long as the showers at the park are running we are good. Hope you guys are well up there. Be safe brother!

[@raven5ism]

been thru here many times for work. What happens when the interstates came to Texas.

[@VanngoTravelers]

Yeah just like the song “video killed the radio star”.

[@smackindabox]

We ran out of gas there back in 2001 at like 3 in the morning… we walked around the town for hours thinking what we could do… finally we ran in a random houses yard and stole their gas tank and used it to get back to Abilene 😂

[@VanngoTravelers]

🤣🤣😂🤣Not funny but funny! Lucky it was enough to get you home. lol

[@Fatman_Danny]

HEY ITS NOT ABANDONED EVEN THOUGH THE HOUSES ARE RUN DOWN AND FILLED WITH DRUGGIES ITS A NICE LITTLE TOWN I LOVE MY LUEDERS

[@Fatman_Danny]

It’s a joke but the last part I do mean

[@Fatman_Danny]

And yes holy cow we are poor

[@VanngoTravelers]

😂🤣😂🤣 money ruins lives so stay poor and happy!

[@stephenvinson6474]

@@VanngoTravelers I moved back 20 plus years ago...retired now....I do ok....challenge to deal with the deterioration...but if you look at it thru the lens of an anthropologist or ecologist...interesting to see how nature is very slowly taking back the buildings...

[@VanngoTravelers]

@stephenvinson6474 I can see what you mean. I find all of it interesting. I gotta ask… how do you entertain yourself there? I know as you get older you don’t need much excitement but still to get anywhere around there is a bit away.