Sanderson,TX
The pilot episode of the twilight zone featured a story about a man who finds himself alone in a small town that shows no sign of life whatsoever.It turns out he is a astronaut in some kind of simulation to measure the effect of desolation on men they would send to the moon.For some reason,these and other twilight zones with similar plots always appealed to me,in the same way late night bike riding apeals to me:there's just no one around.It seems impossible to be only one existing.On the way to New Braunfels,TX our family stopped for lunch in possibly the most desolate town I have ever run across:Sanderson,TX.This was a small town,granted,but it wasn't that small.They had a courthouse and town square and a VFW hall and a small park nearby,all surrounded by suburbs.The thing was,we never saw one person,not one car,not one sign of life existing in that town during our hour long,if not more,lunch in their park.It was a nice day out too,by Texas standards;a perfect Sunday for lunch in the park.Next to the park was a public swimming pool that should have been teeming with screaming kids,but there were no kids to be found;the place was dead quiet.I took some pictures in Sanderson with a cheezy digital camera but other than that the town of Sanderson,TX seems to exist in the memories of the Dishon/Deckert family only.When I started listening to Jandek,the music reminded me of that picnic in Sanderson.It captured that feeling of desolation all too well,as if Jandek had recorded those songs standing out in the middle of Sanderson's main street or in a dark closet in one of the large whitewashed houses that populated the town.In my last cd order to Jandek's record company Corwood Industries I had enough guts to include this question with my order-"Have you ever been to Sandeson,TX?" his reply-"We are not familiar with Sanderson,TX"It's a miracle I got a resonse from him anyway if you know anything about Jandek.Someday I want to return to Sanderson and see if anyone actually lives there.I can almost guarantee I'll be the only one there.
in case you were curious...
SANDERSON, TEXAS. Sanderson, the county seat of Terrell County, is on U.S. Highway 90 in Sanderson Canyon in the southwest part of the county. It was founded by Charlie Wilson as Strawbridge. The site served as a division point for the Southern Pacific Railroad, and in 1882 when a roundhouse was built, the name was changed from Strawbridge to Sanderson, after Thomas P. Sanderson, the engineer in charge of construction. A post office was opened in 1883. In early days, Sanderson was an unruly frontier town: Roy Beanqv operated a saloon there for a short time; Charlie Wilson's Cottage Bar was a favorite spot for railroad workers, cowboys, and local ranchers. When Terrell County was demarked from Pecos County in 1905, Sanderson became the county seat as a result of a countywide election.
On June 11, 1965, Sanderson was devastated by a flash flood. A wall of water roared down Sanderson Canyon into Sanderson, destroying numerous homes and businesses. Twenty-four people died in the flood. Eleven flood-control dams were constructed to protect Sanderson against another such catastrophe. The region is devoted to the raising of livestock, including cattle, horses, polo ponies, burros, sheep, and Angora goats. In 1970 over one million pounds of wool and mohair were shipped out of Sanderson. The town had a population of 1,500 in 1980 and 1,128 in 1990.
...pretty big drop in pouplation,apparently they haven't checked the population recently.
in case you were curious...
SANDERSON, TEXAS. Sanderson, the county seat of Terrell County, is on U.S. Highway 90 in Sanderson Canyon in the southwest part of the county. It was founded by Charlie Wilson as Strawbridge. The site served as a division point for the Southern Pacific Railroad, and in 1882 when a roundhouse was built, the name was changed from Strawbridge to Sanderson, after Thomas P. Sanderson, the engineer in charge of construction. A post office was opened in 1883. In early days, Sanderson was an unruly frontier town: Roy Beanqv operated a saloon there for a short time; Charlie Wilson's Cottage Bar was a favorite spot for railroad workers, cowboys, and local ranchers. When Terrell County was demarked from Pecos County in 1905, Sanderson became the county seat as a result of a countywide election.
On June 11, 1965, Sanderson was devastated by a flash flood. A wall of water roared down Sanderson Canyon into Sanderson, destroying numerous homes and businesses. Twenty-four people died in the flood. Eleven flood-control dams were constructed to protect Sanderson against another such catastrophe. The region is devoted to the raising of livestock, including cattle, horses, polo ponies, burros, sheep, and Angora goats. In 1970 over one million pounds of wool and mohair were shipped out of Sanderson. The town had a population of 1,500 in 1980 and 1,128 in 1990.
...pretty big drop in pouplation,apparently they haven't checked the population recently.