Living the Slow Life in Marathon, Texas

"JAMES A. MANGUM and his wife, Sidney Spires, stopped into Marathon, Tex., last September while researching Mr. Mangum's third western-themed novel, "Stalking Azazel." That night, they met a group of Marathoners gathered around a resident's outdoor pizza oven, drinking beer and watching the sun set behind the Del Norte Mountains. Two weeks later, they bought a $60,000, 600-square-foot cottage next door.

Mr. Mangum and Ms. Spires, who now split their time between Marathon and a home in Shiner, Tex., about 460 miles away, joined the artists, writers, ranchers and outdoor enthusiasts who have settled in this town of 450, 600 or 800, depending on whom you ask. Once little more than a pit stop on the way to Big Bend National Park, 40 miles south, Marathon has lost its industry but found new life as a quiet but thriving second-home community.

"The first thing you notice when you get here, your heart rate drops about 50 percent," Mr. Mangum said."