Entry No. 51 — the Dallas file — filed under: petrified-wood
Petrified Wood Speakeasy Ruins (Ed Young Station)
The skeletal walls of Ed Young's Station — a Prohibition-era gas station and speakeasy built entirely from petrified wood, white quartz, and fossilized stone — still stand roofless on a quiet county road outside Glen Rose, a living relic of the town's 1920s "Petrified City" building craze and its notorious moonshining heyday. The arched openings where gas pumps once stood are now framed by overgrown vegetation, making it one of Texas's most atmospheric abandoned roadside stops.
The story
In the 1920s, Somervell County was widely known as the 'Whiskey Woods Capital of Texas'—a backcountry haven of dense forest, hidden stills, and flowing river water where bootleggers catered to thirsty travelers during Prohibition [1.3.6]. When proprietor Ed Young lost his wooden filling station to a fire around the mid-1920s, he didn't just rebuild with standard brick. He leaned directly into Glen Rose's 'Petrified City' boom, harvesting 100-million-year-old fossilized timber, white quartz, and Cretaceous stone to construct what became known as Ed Young's Station or Sycamore Grove.
The stone station operated as a classic front: gas pumps out front, and a back-road speakeasy and moonshine distribution hub inside. To accommodate patrons who had a bit too much illicit liquor to drive back to Fort Worth or Dallas, a small tourist motor court was added behind the main building. When Prohibition ended, the speakeasy morphed into a legitimate gas station and small country grocery store before shutting its doors permanently around the 1950s.
What remains today is a skeletal, roofless monument sitting along Old Highway 67 (County Road 312). The roof caved in decades ago and one wall has split clean through the middle, yet the arched doorways framed by overgrown weeds, mortar-set quartz, and vertical petrified log spires continue to stand without any official protection or state funding.
What it's like
Arriving at County Road 312 feels like stumbling onto something forgotten by local road crews—you'll spot a petrified-wood star inlaid directly into the roadside grass before the roofless, arched stone shell appears through the overgrown brush. There are no ticket booths, fences, or tour guides; you simply pull off along the quiet rural shoulder and explore the ruin on foot. The structure is completely open to the sky, framed by crumbling mortar and petrified wood grain. Watch your step around the cracked stone interior and avoid climbing the walls, as one side is split through. Late afternoon golden hour makes the embedded quartz and stone textures pop for photos, and weekday visits guarantee you will have the atmospheric shell entirely to yourself.
The move: Pull over on County Road 312 to explore the atmospheric open-air ruins on foot — photograph the petrified wood walls up close, then continue into Glen Rose proper to tour other petrified wood buildings (the courthouse square has several) and grab a meal before catching the sunset over the Paluxy River.
📍 Before you go The ruins sit on the outskirts of Glen Rose, roughly 90 minutes southwest of Dallas-Fort Worth, on Old Highway 67 (County Road 312) — easy to blow past, so slow down near the petrified-wood star set in the grass and watch the roadside for the roofless stone shell. The walls are fragile: one side is split clean through and there is no roof, so tread carefully and skip climbing on anything. It is a quiet rural road, so keep things respectful. Spring brings wildflowers, the overgrowth photographs best in golden light, and the trip pairs naturally with Dinosaur Valley State Park or Fossil Rim Wildlife Center.
- 📍 Glen Rose
- 💸 Free
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Outdoors
Where: 1738 County Road 312, Glen Rose, TX 76043
Hours: Mined 2026-06-07 — confirm current hours before you go.
Pair it with
- Big Rocks Park — Located just a mile away, this free city park lets you scramble across giant Cretaceous limestone boulders sculpted by the Paluxy River right after touring the stone ruins.
- Creation Evidence Museum — Continue your tour of Glen Rose stone oddities at this earnest museum featuring controversial rock slabs displayed as human and dinosaur prints side-by-side.
- Dinosaur Valley State Park Star Party — Pair daytime exploration of Prohibition-era stone ruins with evening stargazing hosted alongside Fort Worth astronomers inside the nearby state park.
- Fossil Rim Wildlife Center — Six miles down the road, drive through 1,800 acres of open pastures where giraffes stick their heads into your vehicle window.
Good to know
Is Ed Young Station on private property or accessible to the public?
The ruins sit right alongside County Road 312 and can be easily viewed and explored from the public roadside, though visitors should treat the fragile, split structure with respect [1.1.2].
How do I find the ruins from the main highway?
Heading west on Highway 67 out of Glen Rose, turn onto Highway 333 (County Road 312), follow it to the Sycamore Grove fork, and watch the roadside for the petrified-wood star set in the grass near the stone shell.
How long does it take to visit?
Exploring the open-air shell takes roughly 15 to 20 minutes, making it an easy offbeat stop to pair with nearby Glen Rose sites.
Are there restrooms or visitor facilities on site?
No. The station is an unmaintained roadside ruin with no restrooms, running water, or staffing, so plan to use facilities in central Glen Rose before heading out.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: Atlas Obscura · Roadside America · roadtrippers.com · Reddit
last checked: 2026-06-07