On my blog headers I post pictures I have taken. Usually they are old buildings of some sort. On Wordpress I posted a picture of an old abandoned gas station in a ghost town. I went through there a few days ago. My gas station has collapsed. The posts that held the canopy rotted out and the roof fell over the little station.
The highway was rerouted in the 40’s, so I’m guessing this old station was built around 1910-20. There weren’t many cars traveling the prairie back then but they did need supplies and little stations like this popped up to meet needs back then.
After the highway was moved the town did not survive much longer, businesses failed and people moved. A few hung on working for a rancher or neighboring town.
When I saw the roof collapsed a twinge of sadness crawled over me. Here was an American icon fading into the pages of history, soon to be forgotten. The Golden Belt Route did not have the fame of Route 66 but it had the character of early Americana.
This little town originally was a stage stop in the 1860’s. It survived Indian attacks, the Dust Bowl and other ravages but it could not survive the government.
Well I shall jump in my Model A and get ready to go cruising for the weekend. May your weekend be blessed.
6 comments:
http://johnrailtime.wordpress.com/
Model A? Really? I love old places like this. I'd like to LIVE in an old area like this. Quiet solitude. I haven't survived the government very well, either. Perhaps that's where I belong!!
We none of us may survive the gov. any better than this little town.
I echo Carol's comment there...what tragedy could be greater?
Who were the beneficiaries of the highway reroute?
Somehow you manage to make decay look poignantly beautiful.
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