Remnants of an old, stone tourist court behind the closed-for-business, 1929-vintage Salt Flat Cafe (and bus stop) along the road carrying U.S. Highways 62-180 near the New Mexico border in Hudspeth County, Texas. Salt Flat served as a stopping place for travelers using the new highway that connected El Paso, Texas, and Carlsbad, New Mexico, that opened the same year as the cafe. The small community had several gas stations, restaurants and a tourist court. The town takes its name from the natural salt flats that lie on the southwest side of the Guadalupe Mountains. The flat provided salt to inhabitants of the Rio Grande Valley for centuries and was hauled as far north as the Sacramento Mountains in central New Mexico. Salt production ceased during the late 1930s. Salt Flat today is mostly a ghost town of abandoned and deteriorating buildings. Photo by Carol Highsmith.