4-sale: the fence, or the bar?
Originally uploaded by Rural Rose
4-sale: the fence, or the bar? (Probably both…)
(Click on the pic if you’d like to see other photos of the region, and/or more of the Mapping Main Street project, on Flickr)
Main Street Cafe, Industry, IL
Originally uploaded by Rural Rose
Figurine in window, Main Street, Industry, IL
Originally uploaded by Rural Rose
Another entry for the Mapping Main Street project, www.mappingmainstreet.org.
Semi-creepy statue of elderly couple inside a storefront (that, despite its sign, appeared to be closed) on Main Street in Industry, IL.
Click on the photo if you’d like to see more of my Forgottonia-region pictures on Flickr.
Sign and blinds, Main Street, Industry, IL
Originally uploaded by Rural Rose
Am I a snob to point out that, for whoever is trying to rent out an apartment in this building, this window might not be the most…enticing representation?
Sadly, it looks like most of the businesses on Main Street in Industry, IL, a tiny town in McDonough County (where both my father and grandfather lived as boys), are empty, for sale, and/or abandoned-looking.
(The gas station across the street is reflected in the window.)
Click on the picture if you’d like to be taken to more of my Forgotonia-region pics on Flickr or to learn more about Mapping Main Street.)
For sale by owner: Village Pub, Industry, IL
Originally uploaded by Rural Rose
Taken for the Mapping Main Street project.
Sadly, it looks like most of the businesses on Main Street in Industry, IL, a tiny town in McDonough County (where both my father and grandfather lived as boys), are empty, for sale, and/or abandoned-looking.
melted (?) sign
Originally uploaded by Rural Rose
Sunday night walk around Macomb, continued.
This sign (for Purdum Electric, I think?) is near where the fire destroyed two buildings. I’m not sure if it’s got anything to do with the fire, or if it’s just old and neglected…
The Wyne Dry Goods Co., Macomb, IL
Originally uploaded by Rural Rose
This recently exposed facade is showing a faint trace of the building’s former life: the lettering for the Wyne Dry Goods Co.
This building on the east side of the Macomb square, dating back to the 1890s, was covered for many years by a mental front. Now home to the West Central Illinois Arts Center (in a refurbished space on the first floor), this building is just a few places down from the former Randolph House Hotel, a once-grand place where Abraham Lincoln spent the night.
You can visit the arts center’s web page to read more about the building and see a couple of historic views.
Closed for a funeral
Originally uploaded by Rural Rose
Sunday night’s walk around the square, part 2. I didn’t capture this the way I wanted to at all, but… here it is, anyway.
Fire-ravaged building, Macomb, IL
Originally uploaded by Rural Rose
A view from the spot in the square where a fire destroyed two buildings last spring. Chris and I also noticed that the Magic Dragon toy store is now also out of business.
Originally uploaded by Rural Rose
My grandparents had their first date here. According to my grandpa (who is 89 now), they had their first kiss in the parking lot.
I took this picture several years ago for a photography class, the kind where you develop film in the darkroom. The class was in Galesburg, Illinois, but drove down to Macomb to try to capture this spot (as well as the soda fountain in the Ford Hopkins drug store and the still-standing-but-not-functioning drive-in theater screen: a couple of random places around Macomb that, in my opinion, give it character and also a bit of the feeling that time hasn’t advanced much here.)
I ate at this Maid Rite a couple of times about 10 years ago; the steamburgers and greasy fries were tasty, but you also left there smelling like the place for the rest of the day.
It’s such an obvious little anachronism, this mom-and-pop place where my grandparents would have gone as kids, that it easily catches your eye when you drive by. And in fact, I have come to learn since my attempt at black-and-white photography here that it’s a frequent site of inspiration for photographers.
It’s closed and for sale now—has been for awhile—and I wonder what will become of it.
As an award-winning newspaper reporter and columnist, public radio commentator, blogger, and publications writer & editor, I have been writing about the people and places of western Illinois for more than 15 years. Send me your story ideas at alison.sixdegrees@gmail.com
I’ve always loved this old billboard. It would nice to see one of our do nothing tourist organizations take some initiative……
@Bill: so, has it looked this way a long time? (nothing to do w/ the fire on the square?
Nothing to do with the fire… slowly and steadily deteriorating for years. Just FYI, I tried to get the owner and one of our agencies to come together on this. The owner wanted $500.00 a month. Greed as dealbreaker.
@Dave, thanks for the comment. What would the $500 be for? Renting space for a new sign?
The plan was for the (at that time) Macomb Downtown Development Corp. to utilize the sign for the Downtown Square. Mr. Purdum initially seemed interested, then told the director $500 a month rent. Certainly he was entitled to ask but a more reasonable figure for something not being used might have been more reasonable.
So instead of upgrading at no cost to be useful, it sits and rusts.