It’s an odd downtown for 100,000 people. You’d think there would be more. Something big.

If you’re wondering what Post Offices looked like before the Federal WPA style:

They were nice.

An old building - the cornice says so - given a new facade.

Poor window, squished in like that.

“I want the storefront to suggest the notebook doodles of an eighth grader who may go on to develop talent, but may not.”

Boy, that’s some fortuitous erosion, right there

Wonder how long it took the wind to do that

Now what do you think this might have been?

That’s right: Burger King! Hence the B and the K

Kidding, of course. They spelled out the function in the keystone.

With one spell, the wizard froze the great bird in place, and caused nit to shed its feathers

It was the Pix, opened in 1946. And brother, you can surely tell.

"Well, they came in a spaceship, set up right there in that little building that just sorta appeared after a flash of light, and we expected they’d come out and maybe want to talk, but it’s been years, and nothing”

Why yes there is a tavern in the town, overhang fully Buckaroo’d.

The usual antique-store-replacing-a-variety-store scenario. This one looks to have been rehabbed with stone, which wasn’t that common. Usually sheet-metal sufficed.

A later visit revealed that the occupancy is in flux.

“Who owns this?”

“See, Mister?”

“See what? I asked you who owned it.”

“All right, never mind, I’m not going to get a straight answer out of you on that one. But tell me, what sort of man owns this one?”

1909 was a year fire took down the block, so the Meister Haus probably hails from the same year. Or 1910.

And, I’m guessing, same year:

BLUEEYE, it says.

A story in the local paper says there was a Blue Eye Speakeasy here in 2006, but the music attracted a bad crowd, and the owner closed it “after drugs and violence infiltrated his club.”

When the path to your custom textures folder is corrupted

A rare style for a train depot. It’s a museum now.

Banks then . . .

. . . and banks now.

I love this one.

As I said, odd. No big hotel, no Commercial-style office building.

What happened? Or rather, what didn’t?