Behold the Adair Cafe and the Adair Pool Hall/Barbershop. I wish I had the money (and a justifiable reason to) buy these little old buildings.
I took this picture on a Saturday last June when Chris and I were out scouting around for some scenic photography shots.
We were on 136 going East out of Macomb, and I actually had my sights set on going to Fulton County, IL, but this little spot in the road caught my eye and I had to stop.
These tiny, empty buildings in the almost-ghost-town of Adair, IL, stand out on the prairie–such concrete evidence of an earlier, forgotten time.
And now the former pool hall/barber shop (on the right) and a former mechanic’s garage next door (not shown in this pic) are for sale, according to an item that ran recently in the McDonough County “Choice” a.k.a. the shopper).
According to that piece, both buildings date to the 1860′s, and the architecture on the old garage is actually somewhat unique; it’s a “Mesker” building, which means it’s a specimen of a now-extinct pre-fab style that you can read more about here.
Also, according to the un-sourced item in the Choice, the old barber-shop-slash-snooker-hall looks like time stopped on the inside; it still houses snooker games-in-progress, the old barber shop chair, and even a can of Brill cream.
Who will buy these buildings?
I fear that they, like so many other little relics that dot the Illinois prairie–including countless one-room school houses, family-owned stores, and farm houses, for example–will either become someone’s junk-filled “out buildings,” or eventually get burned or torn down before they become a liability.
I hope I’m wrong.
(But if I suddenly do come in to some money. . . you think I could get people to come out to an art gallery and coffee shop in the middle’a nowhere? The Forgotonia Cafe? Anyone?)
Tags: buildings, local_history, McDonoughCounty, pics
@ anon, yes indeed! I took a few photos there over the weekend, as a matter of fact. I might post some later this week.