I was rewatching the 1967 classic film Bonnie and Clyde the other day and something interesting caught my eye—the location of one of the titular couple’s bank robberies was, for the lack of a better term, super-familiar.
As it just so happens, I was in Pilot Point, Texas, recently for a tasty hamburger at one of our favorite burger places, Powerhouse Burger and thought I’d take a few photos around the town’s downtown area. One of the more-photogenic buildings in the town is the 1896 Farmers and Merchants Bank building, as seen in this detail shot I took:
While watching the film, this scene was very-familiar to me:
I love coming across filming locations organically like this (see my previous article here). I was aware that the movie was filmed around the Dallas-area, but wasn’t aware of the specifics…I had no idea that one of the filming locations was a mere 40 minute drive from our house adjacent to one of our favorite burger places.
This shot from Google Streetview shows the area today:
The building is a little overgrown with plants and a bit rundown and the road leading into the distance is somewhat more-paved, but otherwise not much has changed. It was still a real bank when the movie was filmed, but closed down in the 1970s. For a while, it was an art gallery, but is now abandoned.
Bonnie & Clyde never robbed the bank in real life, but if you’re into small town festivals, Pilot Point does have a Bonnie & Clyde Days festival (which is now on my calendar as a possible weekend diversion later this year).
Also, if you’re concerned about the fact that we drive 40 minutes for a burger, that’s par-for-the-course for us. We’ve driven all over North Texas and Southern Oklahoma in search of great burgers. Some of our favorites are:
The aforementioned Powerhouse Burger in Pilot Point, Texas.