Abandoned "Fake" Texas Town near Brenham (TX, US)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 19 ต.ค. 2019
- 7/5/2020 Update - I'm sorry to announce that most of Winkelmann has been torn down. It looks like the rest will be gone soon.
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Established and abandoned in the 1980s, Winkelmann, TX is the brainchild of Ray Winkelmann, Jr., an eccentric Brenham-based antiques dealer and entrepreneur.
2012 documentary by Caleb Garcia: vimeo.com/51039841
Sources / Further Reading:
tshaonline.org/handbook/onlin...
stuckincustoms.com/2009/01/05...
www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/2...
www.travelheals.com/winkelmann...
I was telling a friend about this little town last night because I worked there in 84/5. I was a waiter and bartender in the restaurant that I THINK was called the Gas Light...or something along those lines. I knew Ray and hung out at the Jezebel often as a patron, as well. The Gas Light was a very fancy restaurant...gold flatware, tableside preparation of everything from Caesar salad, to pepper steak, beef stroganoff to bananas foster. Ray would often have Hollywood friends over for dinner in the big dining room...those were crazy nights and very profitable as a college student (me!). It was a very cool experience, but sad that it ended the way that it did. Ray wasn't just gay, he was super gay...and his flamboyant personality just didn't sit well with the old school types in the area. But he was very kind and great to work for. I think that played a big part into why the project didn't go the way he wanted it to. Overall, a very cool thing for me and I learned a lot about cooking and making drinks. But I'll never forget one of the other waiters who would eat Miracle Whip like pudding...I still can't believe that a human being could do that! haha
Thanks for stroll down memory lane...I'm going to check out the video you mentioned.
Pinning this. I love the first hand accounts!!!
Thank you for making this video, it brought back memories. When I was going to Blinn College in Brenham in 1992-94 Ray Winkelmann came and gave a lecture to our Biology class. He told his entire story, which was fascinating to me. He had already made a fortune selling antiques. The idea for the town was a detestation restaurant to show off and sell antiques. It's downfall was not the economy, or the knowledge he was gay. He had contracted AIDS when it was just being discovered and not very understood. People stopped going for fear of catching AIDS (again, back then people did not know how it was contracted). The business went under shortly there after. His lecture to our Biology class was about living with the virus and the stages.
Thank you for the info. I'm glad he had a chance to share his story, I wish I had been there to hear it.
@@ScottDaileyTH-cam You are producing some amazing content. Keep it coming, so much fascinating history all around us.
Driven by there many times, I thought it was an old movie set or something like that....thanks for posting
Been driving by here since the early 90's. Before the squatters moved in I would take my oldest boy for a drive through "the ghost town"! Your description of The City of Winkleman's demise is exactly what I expected all along.
Keep these coming. They're always so good.
Love the feel of your videos, glad to see another one.
Been driving by this place my whole life and never knew what it was, but was always curious. Thanks!
Man, I hiked past this place on my houston to austin hike and wondered what was up. Thanks.
Have ben watching your videos and enjoying them. I have driven past this place many time but never knew about any history of it. I am a native Texan and love it's history.. Thanks
I really appreciate your videos that explore the often forgotten history that surrounds us. I used to live in Brenham as a child in the late 90s and remember car rides with family traveling back and forth to Houston. I've always wondered about this grouping of old buildings on the side of 290. Such an interesting backstory. Another Brenham establishment related question: would you know anything about what looks to be an old drive-in theater at the top of the hill when entering the city limit?
Been past there many times coming back to Houston!Love those old buildings!!
I recall eatting out there. I knew many people that had worked there. Some were strait some were gay. It was never a secret that Brenham had a population of gay people. I am sure th÷re were the closed minded that would not admit it nor like the idea. Winkleman, Texas was really was a neat little place while it was open. Ray Winkleman was a great person that left a legacy even though his dream of Winkleman, Texas was short lived. The Winklemans date back to sometime in the 1800's in Washington County Texas. Particularly Brenham, Texas. Archives from 1906-1991 of the Winkleman Photography Studio are stored at the University of Texas Library.
I am not what relation Ray Winkleman had to that part of the family. I live out close to Winkleman, TX
As of now it is all being torn down. I pass by anytime I go to Brenham.
I went to school with one of the Winklemann daughters in Brenham in the 90s. It's fun to hear some of the local history around the family. Check out the Lockhart Plantation just up the road in Chappell Hill near the Browning Plantation for some more local stories.
Thanks for sharing
Interesting! Thanks for sharing.
Cool video dude
Just found your channel and love this stuff. Especially since a lot of it is from my area. Have you ever looked into The Baker Hotel in Mineral Wells or The Settles Hotel in Big Spring. They are way out of this area but have interesting histories. The Baker is being prepared to reopen and the settles reopened several years ago.
Thank you! I've been following both of those for years (since before the Settles got redeveloped) and they are in my list of places to make videos of. Love the history of those places.
Scott Dailey I have stayed at the Settles twice and uploaded a tour from the first time. It really turned out amazing and I hope the Baker does too. I love seeing other people’s perspectives on them too. Keep up the videos. I will probably have every one of them watched soon. I can not turn them off.
Add The Luther Hotel in Palacios to your list. I have a feeling that it may not be open much longer.
I moved to Chappell Hill, Texas in 1981 when I was 11 and Ray was originally making this happen in that little historical community. My father opened a plumbing company in one of the buildings in its "downtown". Once the AIDS epidemic hit because he was openly gay he was treated very poorly and him being a true spitfire rolled 7 of those buildings out of downtown Chappell Hill onto the property he names Winklemann Texas. As an adult and with years of hindsight I can see that the ignorance of that pandemic and the finger-pointing that hurt the gay community tremendously he was a victim of it. I believe Ray ultimately passed from AIDS because there were no cocktails to survive off of back then. I hate to see the town is gone. The bar that was once in the Jezabel Saloon now stands proudly at BT Longhorn Saloon and Steakhouse in Brenham, Texas. It is a sight to see so if you are in Brenham one day you should stop by and have a seat.
Good info, thanks Paige. I'll have to check out the BT Longhorn, fascinating history.
I drove past this place earlie, there is now only one building still standing. 😕
Very nice!
UPDATE they tore down everything except the bar
Thank you for the update
Scott Dailey yeah, went today.... went into the bar. Cool place.... there is also a small building still left. I wonder why they chose to keep them and destroy the others.
I may have to swing by one last time🧐
I believe the land has been completely razed. I saw no sign of it a few months ago.
You are correct! I believe the Winkellman sign is the only piece left
It appears that only one building, and a sign is standing as of 2024.
Yes I think that's correct, I drove by there a few weeks ago and it was sad!
@@ScottDaileyTH-cam Yes I live in a town nearby.
Gone....all gone
Man... sad day. I'll have to get out that way.
But Brenham is nowhere near Central Texas.