The March image for the 2022 Photography 139 Calendar is a picture of a geranium dripping with water. This picture was taken in my yard.
Tomorrow I will share the April image.
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A few weeks back I prowled through several counties in southwest Iowa harvesting town signs. This is the first collection of auxiliary images I took on this trip. In all honesty, I might be getting some of the town locations for these pictures wrong. It has been a minute, as they say.
Prescott
Corning
I want to live in this store, just based on the name alone.
Carbon
Villisca
It looks like a town that had more than one ax murder.
Grant
I want to walk through that door so bad!
Elliot
Red Oak
I had some high hopes for this place…*
Stanton
Essex
Shenandoah
This sign must have been amazing in its heyday.
Imogene
There are plenty more pictures from southwest Iowa.
* BUT… my source on the ground (Elizabeth’s friend) say it isn’t very good. Sigh.**
** Correction, and this is a direct quote: “She didn’t say it wasn’t good. She said it wasn’t great, and it was ok
If you are going to report, you need to get the story straight.”
Cool to see the faded old signs and buildings. I am always amazed at the population of some of the towns. Wonder how they stay a town instead of unincorporated. Thank you.
These are also fascinating photos. It’s definitely an area dying, isn’t it?
It is a completely political decision. The town decides whether or not it is incorporated or not. Some small towns decide it is just easier to unincorporate so that way the county has to be responsible for their roads and water and sewer. It is easier for the people of the town, especially on taxes, but they lose a certain amount of autonomy.
Lots of rural parts of the country are dying. But depends on the town. Like the moderate sized towns like Red Oak are doing great! But some other towns really only have limited reason to exist. You can only be a bedroom town if there is another town with a ton of employment opportunities around. And of course, corporate farming is killing the family farms off slowly over time as well. Once the railroad left. Or eventually their school left. If they can’t find a new revenue stream, they don’t have much options.