Kewanna - From Ghost Town to 1000 People

When I visited Kewanna about a month ago, it was rainy. There wasn't a soul to be seen. In fact, I think I passed one car. I took pictures of the old abandoned buildings. From what I saw that day, it really looked like there was not much life in Kewanna.

Saturday Sept 29, my fellow festival goer/small town walker, Angie and I visited Kewanna again after attending Culver's town wide yard sale.

WOW! What a difference. There were I'd say over 1000 people milling through the festival. It looked like all the residents of the town PLUS extra people were there. This was some festival for such a small town.

There were rides for adults and kids, games, lots of food, elephant rides, pony rides, a free reptile bus for viewing snakes and other critters. Their ball field and concession stand had things going on. The boy scouts were there raising money. I was really surprised at the big festival. If you live nearby it is worth the trip. It's not too crowded or too big. Just the right size for a nice family day.

This is the link to all of the pictures I have taken in Kewanna including the festival.
http://s94.photobucket.com/albums/l97/shellyplatz/Walking%20Small%20Town%20Indiana/Kewanna/

I hope that the extra people in town brought someone who may want to take on those old buildings and restore them!

While traveling down SR 17 we decided to visit DeLong, not knowing anything about it. I don't have any history on DeLong but here's a picture. It seems there is only a post office, store and church there.

I love these cute little post offices!

We took the long way home and went through Ora. I took a picture of the old post office and the old school.

I am not sure where or when my next adventure will be. Hoping to get out a bit next Saturday. Eventually, this blog will be a lot busier but because I run a daycare in my home full time and have lots I need to take care of, I only get out 1-2 times a month. Maybe next spring I will be out every weekend! I can dream!

Kewanna and Ober

The facts: Kewanna is a small town in Fulton County. It has a population of 614 (2010 census). It is located on State Road 17 south of Culver. Kewanna is 45 miles south of South Bend and 86 miles southeast of Chicago.

I was told that Kewanna was a neat little town in its day. When I visited Kewanna this past weekend, I found several empty, old buildings. It's a shame they are not being restored and used. I can imagine them being fixed and painted in colors from "the old days".

Kewanna has a nice town park with a ball field. It has a cafe, bar, bank, VFW and a funeral home. It has a really nice library, 3 churches and several interesting buildings.

If you would like to see pictures of the town of Kewanna click HERE.

On the way to Monterey and Kewanna I went through an even smaller town. I could not find any facts for this town. It is called Ober. It is located south of SR 8(east) on SR 23 in Starke County. Ober is east of Knox. There is an old school there.

It says OBER DISTRICT NO 7

 steps to school

Church that is in Ober

These were the 3 towns(along with Monterey) that I visited Labor Day weekend. I am not sure which town will be my next town or when. I have a family get together I am planning currently so until that is over I don't have any plans made. Hopefully, my next day out, there won't be a downpour and maybe some of the fall colors will start seeping in.

In the mean time....if you know of a small town I should visit please let me know in the comments!!

Monterey Days - Labor Day Weekend

The Facts:
Monterey is located in the country in Pulaski County. It is near Culver and Winimac. The population of Monterey was 218 in 2010. It is 37 miles south of South Bend and 77 miles southeast of Chicago.
Monterey is named after a city in Mexico.
A very strange fact - Monterey area is 174% higher on average than the rest of the US on tornado activity. (I find this to be a strange number but I just double checked it)
The First National Bank of Monterey was established August 1, 1910 and is still in operation.

Monterey is a charming small town. It has a few buildings in their downtown. They have a town park. There is a bicycle trail. I haven't found out how long the trail is or where it goes. Hopefully some of the readers may know the answer. (I haven't had a chance to go down the trail yet). What little I did find online, the trail is supposed to eventually meet up with the trail from North Judson. It is an old railroad path.

Labor Day weekend they have Monterey Days. The Saturday of Labor Day they have their town wide yard sale. Unfortunately, it decided to pour the day(Saturday) we visited Monterey. It did not dampen the spirits of the people enjoying the festival! Here's a link to the run down of everything they do! Monterey Days calendar of events

There was lots of good food to choose from including the usual fair/festival food AND homecooked Ham and Beans! It's an annual event for the Lions Club to cook beans in a cast iron pot over a fire in the town park. This year they served an AUCE Ham and beans supper which included cornbread, a drink and a brownie or cookie. My friend Angie had it and said it was very good! The United Methodist Church had a potato bar.

 

If you want a small, fun, old time feel festival you need to visit Monterey Days next year. I think I may visit more than 1 day next time. You aren't going to find a lot of booths of things to buy but the activities are great for families.

Here are some pictures of downtown Monterey.

Library

DJ playing music at the Monterey Days in front of the Family & Women's Health Services.

View of the Tippecanoe River as you enter Monterey

Bridge into Monterey

Monterey has a bank, 2 Churches, a bar, hardware, library, town park, health services, bike trail, American Legion and probably a couple other things I have forgotten to mention! It is worth the trip. You can get to it from SR 17 south of Culver. (I have found this to be the easiest route).

I hope you enjoyed my view of Monterey. I don't claim to be an expert on the towns I am and will be writing about. I am telling things as I know them to be. If any of my readers found something that needs to be corrected please let us know in the comments section.

To view more pictures of Monterey visit  http://photobucket.com/Montereyind

Monterey, Indiana

My 1st official Walking Small Town Indiana town will be Monterey, Indiana. I go there just about every year the Saturday of Labor Day weekend for their town wide yard sale, Monterey Days and Ox Roast.

Monterey is a very small (population 231!), clean town. You can walk the whole town during the yard sales, you don't really have to drive until you hit the out of town sales.

Monterey is in the middle of nowhere but is near Culver and Winimac. I am good with directions but always have a hard time getting to Monterey!

Lets hope we get enough rain this week to lessen my allergies so I can stand to be outside this weekend. I have a 4 day weekend so who knows, maybe I will get 2 small towns in.

Allergies :(

I so want to get out there and take some pictures and visit some towns! My allergies have hit hard this week and generally I am stuck in the house until mid September. I am not sure if I will get out this weekend or not. Gas prices are also what holds me back from getting out there. I am hoping soon they will drop as well.

In some ways, I wish I had thought of this(Walking Small Town Indiana) sooner. A lot of really neat buildings are no longer there due to demolition in the surrounding communities. Like North Liberty...the old Harvey's 5 and dime store. It was a neat old building that had wood floors and they creaked when you walked. It ended up being Craft's drugstore for quite awhile. Then it was turned into a bar. Now it is gone. They are building a Subway Restaurant in its place.

I am beginning to understand now why my parents get that sad look when they talk about buildings, businesses and homes that used to be there! For instance, here in Walkerton, where the Casey's gas station sits now is where my Gramma's house used to be. My mom talks about that house a lot.

Anyway....I haven't picked out any specific towns to visit yet. Going to have to get the map out. I am going in September to The Village at Winona in Warsaw, a sort of "mini town" in a city. One of my oldest friends and I are going to check it out.

Besides walking around Indiana, I run a daycare and have to get busy for the day. Until next time...

Small Town Hoosier Girl

Prologue

While visiting Union Mills, Indiana for their Mill Pond Festival this past Saturday, I got the idea to combine 2 things I love: small towns and taking pictures. It just popped in my head - Walking Small Town Indiana.

All my life I have lived in small towns in northern Indiana. Small towns have good and bad points just like cities but there is just something about a small town.

I grew up in North Liberty. Safe, quiet little town with not too much going on. I lived there until I was about 26 and then we moved to Koontz Lake. 1 1/2 years later I bought my first home in Walkerton, the small town I now call home.

What I hope to do in the months to come, is visit small towns in Indiana, walk around them, capture their beauty & charm and visit the local establishments. Some of these towns will be the "blink and you miss it" kind of town, some a bit bigger.

With so many small towns in Indiana I could do this for years before I visited them all!