Salt Gap, Texas
Home Up

 

Salt Gap is located about five miles south of Doole at the intersection of Farm Roads 503 and 504 in extreme western McCulloch County.  It is about six miles north of the intersection of 503 with US 87.  It is still inhabited, and there wasn't much in the way of old structures to see.

 

A photo of the abandoned Salt Gap post office taken by Baker in 1984.  Note the mailbox in the right foreground and the lean-to roof thing to the left of the building.

 

A photo of Salt Gap taken on October 30, 1999.  The post office building is gone.  That mailbox in the left center is probably the same one as in the photo above, and the lean-to structure is now clearly visible at right.  It's not the same vantage point as above because I didn't want to hang around too long trying to get just the right picture.  The town is inhabited, and this picture is taken from the street in front of an occupied house.  I didn't want the residents to wonder who I was and what I was doing there.  The sight of some stranger wandering around taking pictures might have made them nervous!

 

I didn't find any other abandoned buildings in Salt Gap.

Everything there seemed to be occupied.

 

 

 

On October 10, 2005, I received the following email regarding Salt Gap from a reader who has a connection to the town:

Hello, came across your web site. The people who owned the house by the old post office burned it to the ground. I guess they thought it was tacky. Would have probably fell down anyhow. West of the Post office was a rock school building. My mother actually went to school there for a very short time before they shut it down. It was torn down some years back. I think the walls would still be there today if they had not messed with it. South of the old school was a small building used for gatherings. They tore that down also, but they put a new one up in its place later. Now there is a house with a trailer house beside it and a large tin barn. My mother could tell all kinds of stuff about that place. Well at least the stop sign is still there, not that anyone uses it, but it might be a real good idea nowadays, them old cowboys are getting to where they can't see to far!
 
 
On November 4, 2005, I received the following email from the person who owned the old post office as a partial response to the above email:

I have lived here since November 1981. When we first moved here we had to clear trash and junk just to have enough room to build a fence for the dogs. They are actually shown in your first picture just to the right of the old post office. [Note:  the first picture above was not taken by me, but rather by Baker in his 1984 book.]  I know a lot of people hate to see old things go, but as you can see the post office had seen its better days. All of the postal boxes had been taken out way before we ever moved there. It was also filled with trash and the building was falling in around it. It was a lot easier to burn it than to tear it down and haul it away. It has taken us over 25 years to get the place looking half way decent. No its not new or fancy, but it is home.

I think what finally convinced me to get rid of the old post office was when my wife told me she started to get in the car to go to work, looked down, and saw a big snake. She said she left her shoes right there and went back in the house to get a gun. The snake lost!!!!!!!  The old post office was a good place for snakes, skunks, and all other kinds of critters to hang out.  When we started clearing the lot we came across old engine blocks, bricks, blocks, sheets of tin, and all other kinds of junk.  People seem to always remember things the way they were and not the way they are.  After my tour in the Marine Corp, I couldn't even stay in the town I was raised in and went to school in.  Like they say, you can never go home again.
 
 
On July 26, 2008, I received the following email from someone with a connection to the town:

My grandmother, Margie Bowman, was a resident of Salt Gap from the 30's until her death in the mid 70's.  My mother was born in Melvin when it had a hospital in the 40's and attended the Salt Gap school right before it closed and finished up in the Melvin school.  We still own the family farm a few miles west of "town".  Actually, my great-grandfather, John Polk, lived 7-8 miles west of town on his small ranch since the 1890's until his death in early 70's.  My relatives Opal and Auda Peel used to live in the house behind the post office and Auda was the last postmaster there when it was closed.  I was young and don't remember lots of details, but when Opal died Auda moved to the Dallas area. She was paralyzed and in a wheelchair needing constant help.  I seem to remember there being a ramp to access their house.  Just east of the post office was two buildings, one being a general store type and the other a blacksmith/mechanic shop which would explain the engine blocks and metal junk. I remember going to the gatherings at the small building across from the post office while growing up.