Bug Ranch

April 2017 - Conway TX

The VW Bug Ranch clearly doesn't have the fame or popularity of the nearby Cadillac Ranch, so parking isn't a problem.

It is very muddy due to the recent rains.

The first building to go up in what would become Conway was a Lone Star School, built in 1892 for the children of homesteaders and ranchers. It was followed by a post office (1903) and the Chicago, Rock Island and Gulf Railway (also 1903).

In 1905, J. D. Delzell and P. H. Fisher founded the town which they named Conway, after H. B. Conway, who had been a Carson County commissioner.

A church was built in 1912 and the community slowly grew, its economy rooted in cattle and farming.

When U.S. highway 66 was established in 1926, its alignment passed through Conway and the town's population grew from 25 in 1925 to 125 in 1939 (despite the Depression and the Dust Bowl years).

Population grew until the late 1960s, and then began to fall. The post office closed in 1976 and the railway terminated its operations in 1980. I-40 bypassed the town and business moved out. Current population is estimated at around 20.

You'll find the Bug Ranch under this sign.

The history of this site, located in the old Route 66 town of Conway, is unclear; however, its premise is exactly the same as the Caddy original: the cars are partially buried at approximately 45-degree angles, their noses facing downward into the dirt, left to disintegrate over time, with visitor participation encouraged (or at least not actively discouraged) in the form of spray painting.