Drunk Squirrel wrote:
Ever driven through Elmira? I’m not sure it’s still standing but the town seemed to consist of a run down church and a half burnt down church and a cluster of homes that have seen better days.
Driving back from the Deep South this spring my wife wanted to go see fort Cairo as my middle son has been on a General Grant Kick and we had stopped at Vicksburg and a few other sights during our chase if warner weather (it failed, I’m going to the damn equator next time). Anyhow, nothing left of the fort in Cairo but that town.. Well, has seen better days.
Had an old timer that told me of how Kewanee was going to have a Purina plant back in 70s or early 80’s. The city was basically run by the steel foundries who made boilers and pipes and they colluded to keep wages down. Purina said they were going to pay 10-15% more and all of the sudden there were zoning problems and permits and all that. Purina pulled out, foundries are closed. Old dude tells me it killed the town. I’m not sure the town is dead or would have survived the steel plants closing but might of weathered it better.
It’s the towns that are taking the brunt. Neighbor told me he could stand on his front porch and count 12 homesteads that no longer existed within his eye sight. These people went to schools, showed st stores and so on. when people tell me mineral Illinois had an ice cream place, two diners and two gas stations before the interstate system I find it hard to believe.
I don’t think I would have cared much before moving here. I was unaware, maybe it was because I didn’t know the people I know now, maybe it was because I was a jackass suburban kid who needed to work on himself a bit. The more you know people, the more you understand them and generally, the more you care for them.
That being said.. there are some things I’ll ever understand. Like the truck brand loyalty fights.
Cairo is fucking devastated. That was a good-sized town, too. Really depressing. I don't even think anything is open in Mineral. I love going through there and taking photos, but there's nothing. It's a two-minute excursion.
I guess things change. And it's not like they were perfect before. Still, it's unsettling, because everything gets chewed up and discarded.