Teepee Motel

There’s this place in Wharton, Texas called the Teepee Motel. It was built back in the early 1940s during the height of the golden age for American road trips. For most of my life the concrete structures have sat in ruins just off the highway on the outskirts of town. It had always been a landmark for us though, like some hidden secret known only to locals, we looked for it each time we made the two hour trip from Houston to Bay City to visit family.

By the early 2000s we began hearing rumors that the site was finally scheduled to be demolished. I was in college at the time and enrolled in a Photography I course that mostly focused on black and white pictures. It was the perfect photo op. Gwen and I drove out there one weekend and did what we’d always wanted to do — explore. Neither of us could fathom the idea of those teepees being destroyed, and apparently we weren’t alone.

A year or so later in 2005, the site was purchased by a local lottery winner who planned on bringing the concrete structures back to life. I don’t think there was a soul alive who protested the idea. Once the renovations were complete, Gwen and I stayed in one for the night. It’s your typical motel room but shaped like a teepee with Native American decor. Small but quaint, it is also an RV park that is well worth the visit.

Here is my attempt at a watercolor painting.