For centuries, the heart and soul of America has been the small town. The economy was based on agrarian commerce, which required large tracts of land interspersed with centers for selling crops and purchasing merchandise.
Most American small towns featured a general store, a barber shop, a post office and a railroad depot. The railroad was essential to carry the farmer's harvest to markets far beyond the boundaries of the local county!
The small town also was a gathering place, to assemble with others of a similar bent, and to shares news and views with others and to discuss the current state of affairs in the world!
But alas, for some years, the small town has been succumbing to the glitz and glamour of the shopping mall and the chain store. Communities that used to have a unique character and flavor are now mashed into a monotonous glob of uniformity.
The old buildings that remain have been relegated to serving as antique shops and warehouses, rarely visited and often neglected. In many places, the rails have been pulled up for scrap, and the depots turned into silent monuments to the past.
So for now, it's up to the photo journalist to document what remains. And there is no time to lose, for tomorrow, it may be too late!
Photo: Olde Towne Sharpsburg Georgia with a dusting of snow!
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Richard,
You are so right, the small town is slowly disappearing. And you do a very good job of keeping it alive.
I live in a small town in Loudoun County, Virginia. Lovettsville has about 1500 residents at most. There were plans to grow with commercial shops in the "new town", but the real estate crash killed off those plans.
So, no new town center shops, far fewer new homes than planned and anticipated.
Not a problem. We have our new park area in the center of town, folks gather at the local auto repair shop or outside the 7-11. We have a number of churches, a local library, pizza place and a couple of restaurants.
We also have a wonderful community center, pool, tennis, playground, etc. for folks.
Small town living is wonderful.
Richard, what is snow? It is something I am not used to seeing anymore :(
Don...
Ever since I started taking photos, I have attempted to document the past. Once, I took a single photo of an old mill and a week later it collapsed. That was a lesson in urgency for me that has stuck to this day!!
Lenn...
It is bucolic and yet we have the propensity to replace it with the latest and greatest anywhere USA sopping mall, It's sad, isn't it?
Jer...
This is from a light dusting we had LAST year. I'm having trouble posting to groups, has anyone else tried this morning?
Sort of a shame. As I get older the more I occasionally long for a chance to live the small town life!
I get reminded of this every time a "snowbird" comes back to Saint Pete and the small barrier islands and point out how much it has changed since last winter.
Yes it is tough for small town shops to survive and compete with the mega retailers.
My town is small but we are close to 'city life'. It is nice to have both.
Gary...
Problem is, most of the remaining small towns are within 30 minutes of a mega-mall, so who knows how long they'll last?
Russ...
Those days are pretty much gone!
Mel...
I think that's the case in most small towns. BTW the email is working but the groups are not!
Awesome post, Richard - you're dead on. I was listening to the radio on Friday and they were talking about a similar topic. They were discussing why Republicans have such a hard time lately is that the majority of the vote is coming from urban and suburban voters. The rural vote is disappearing.
Anne...
It is always different in the eyes of the occasional visitor! Excellent point, thanks!
Kris...
The urbanization of America continues on a daily basis ... soon the small town will be gone forever! THX
The small town is fading away because of the glitz and Glamor. Business is spread around a 2-3 block area nad people thing ist is terrible that they have to walk a blk to get to the store they want, but...they will walk 2 blk across a crowded Mall parking lot just to get to the door and then another blk or so to get to the stor they may want.
I grew up for a while is a small town in Vermont. It's kind of nice when everyone knows each other in town. Where I live now, you rarely see any one you might know.
Richard,
The small towns existed for the people who lived there. When the people moved away or died the town remained, but no one was there to care for it. :)
Steve
Bill...
I guess it's about square footage, price and selection, but I just don't like it!
Michael...
I long for the small town life ...a and to get out of suburbia!
Steve...
You are exactly correct, but it doesn't mean I have to like it!
Small town America is disappearing to fast. However, they can be preserved in photos as you have done so often. Thanks for sharing.
So true...I grew up in north Jersey and the little town circle is still the same...the few shops around it have changed though! nice photos!
Richard: New construction has squeezed out just about anything we had left resembling a small town. Old town Bristow is nothing but a grouping of decaying buildings, boarded up and left to rott, by the railroad tracks. Only one of them holds a business...and just as you state in your blog, it is an antique store.
Looks a lot like main street in my home town. It was a very small agricultural town with a Mill where almost everyone worked.
Richard,
We're slowly becoming a "big box store" America, and it's sad. The small towns may not disappear, but the shopkeepers will. I miss being able to go into a local hardware store and buy just the amount of nails I need, instead of the plastic wrapped packages.
Jim...
I'm doing my best to preserve them! Thanks.
Laura G...
Just where are you exactly? We used to go to Surf City and Beach Haven!
Chris Ann...
Well I'm not surprised at all! I hate to see it, but it's the way of the world!
Richard, small town America is being replaced by small community America. The social medium is bringing people together in granular ways that way back in the day (100 plus years ago) used to. The fact that energy prices, modes of transport and economics coupled with the desire for local economic support, has added elements to our lanscape and psyche that we are starting to remember the importance of keeping close. Things are changing no doubt, but for the better!
I have to respectfully disagree....a little bit :)
Bo
Richard - that's why when my wife and I travel, we often take the back roads through small towns, to see what is there, maybe stop at some of the shops. I will admit, we haven't gotten a lot of pictures, buy many good memories. Unfortunately, there are many who are, even with good intentions, doing much to eliminate the small town. Rising prices for fuel, electricity, etc, make it harder for small towns to continue and to compete.
Keep the pictures coming Richard as it keeps my dream alive of moving to a small town someday. Hope there are a few left when Someday gets here.
I actually live in Snowflake which is 18 miles north or Show Low and I hated when we got our stoplights....2 of them! Our town is growing and I am very sad to see that.
I moved from Dallas to Jackson Hole in 1999...love the small town life!
JL...
I have sold of few of those textile mills ... ah, those were the days!
Rich...
They are now few and far between ... or the clerk that will help you for ten minutes for a single nut and bolt sale! That's old time service!
Bo...
I think I understand the dynamics, but that doesn't mean I have to like it, does it? Thanks my friend!
Richard, this brings back memories of hanging out around the woodstove at the little store down the road from my grandma & grandpa's farm as a child. Big Smiles.
Big Mike...
I just think that they have a pleasant aura, and I love documenting them for posterity!
Cameron...
You will get there one day! I just know it!
Mandi...
Wow, two stop lights! You might as well be in Phoenix! lol
LOL!! Now you're just being silly Richard! :)
Small towns are disappearing... the desire for bigger, newer, more modern conveniences causes folks to become blind to the beauty of history. It's a shame because one day, they'll look back with longing in their eyes and say... remember when? All that will be left will be the photographic records...
You hit the nail on the head the town I grew up in is just a shell of what it once was.
Small towns aren't disappearing, they are just changing. Everything changes unless it's dead. I live in a small town (about 16,000 pop.) and we have a Walmart Supercenter and some local stores have gone out of business. But it is still a friendly town where you run into people you know all over.
Richard, I've seen so many beautiful and historic sites torn down to make way for "progress." And they continue to do it. I do take many pictures of what's left...someday they may be gone as well.
Tim...
I haven't been to Jackson Hole yet but I would syre like to!
Maria...
There are still a few of those stores around, but they are disappearing fast! THX
Mandi...
As Mel would say, I am a silly goose!
Jesse...
We will become a nation of convenience stores and supercenters, and the old ways will be lost forever!
Terry...
Some would call it progress, I guess it is, but it's not the same, is it?
Richard, being a city girl, I've always dreamed of living in a small town where everyone cared for you and knew you. It's sad to think that they are going out of style.
Richard,
What a sad reminder of life... I love small towns. They give/gave our country character.
Seems sad for them to fade away for MALLS!!
Ann
Richard, I have to agree with you. I vividly remember many of the towns where I live were small towns up until a few short decades ago. Some towns died while others are now big cities...
**** Merry Christmas ****
I agree
Our town is suffering under the economic pressure as well. I see more shops closing, than opening. A sign of the economy. While malls are great they slowly bleed the small business owners out of business and in doing so change the charachter of what made small towns unique and special.
I hope these small towns survive, because that is what the kind of community I want to retire in. I don't want to live in the big city, but have to to make money.
I love small town living and really hate to witness so many of these little communities dry up.
I live and work in a small town, a Village really, and I agree the small town is on thin ice. Our community business people, activists and concerned citizens have gathered together and have promoted their community with "Shop Local Themes, Banners and Now they have US the Real Estate community in Active Rain promoting LOCALISM and it is working.
Richard
I went home for my 30th high school reunion in a small town in NE Missouri (population 2,933). It was the first time I had been there in years, and I couldn't believe the "Mayberry" effect. The Tastee Freeze was still at one end of town and the Bowling Center was still at the other, maybe 15 blocks away.
The people that settled the area were German immigrants in the early to mid 1800s and their names still survive today. These are honest, hard working people and I'm proud to state "I grew up in a small town".
John Cougar Mellencamp had it right.
Leslie...
There is a segment of society that has said that the Bentonville Behemoth has destroyed small towns forever. I will let history be the judge!
Carole...
All we can do is document what is still there! THX.
Susan...
I want to go back to the simple life!
Don't mourn the passage of the small town yet! There are many trying to keep downtowns alive and healthy across America, and some are winning the battle. The Main Street movement in Wisconsin is committed to helping small towns stay vibrant. (says she who is on one of her local Main Street commitees)
If you want to preserve the small town atmosphere for generations to come, stay out of the chain stores, visit the independent places. Be willing to pay a dollar extra for that book or make four stops instead of one to do your errands. It may cost you a little extra time or a little extra money, but the difference in quality of life in our small towns by keeping these businesses going is crucial.
Hello all, I live in a small town with old town values. We are a agriculture town our main crop is blueberries, second would be tomato's,corn, peppers, peaches, and a few other crops. We have a Halloween, Christmas, Forth of July and a Veterans Day parades. We also have a rail line that goes through our town which is the Atlantic City - Pennsylvania Rail Line. Hammonton, NJ is still the old world charm of a town.
Hello all, I live in a small town with old town values. We are a agriculture town our main crop is blueberries, second would be tomato's,corn, peppers, peaches, and a few other crops. We have a Halloween, Christmas, Forth of July and a Veterans Day parades. We also have a rail line that goes through our town which is the Atlantic City - Pennsylvania Rail Line. Hammonton, NJ is still the old world charm of a town.