Greenfield Village, Michigan, USA

Defining Main Street: The Nostalgia. Let's end where we began, with Sinclair Lewis. Main Street was the most influential component of American urbanism for more that a century. Do you think it will ever be eclipsed by nostalgia for strip malls, retail strips, big-box stores, or shopping malls? [2008]

Ogden, Illinois, USA

Defining Main Street: The Post Office. You can buy local goods and services along Main Street, but one particular federal service has been part of the line-up since colonial times: the post office. A declining number still boldly display the name of the towns they serve. If your building has been stripped of its toponym, work to bring it back: Be like Ogden, Illinois. [2015]

Solana Beach, California, USA

Defining Main Street: The Pet Groomers. Would you say that pet groomers and their ilk are recent additions to Main Street or old standbys? Their ilk? Pet supplies, doggie day care, vets, pet insurance?[2007]

Plattsmouth, Nebraska, USA

Defining Main Street: The Hobby Shop. The hobby shop takes different personas in different places. Here it is a quilt shop, a place where customers can buy patterns and materials to make their own quilts. (plus classes and books). What big-box stores have taken the place of the hobby shop in modern suburbia? [2009]

Newport, Rhode Island, USA

Defining Main Street: The Clothing Store. September arrives. The school year begins, Where do you go the get back-to-school duds? Main Street of course. That is, until shopping centers offer a wider variety of styles and options, And, until the bonds of geography are cut by automobility. Here's a clothing store that has made the transition to a new market. [2008]

Sisseton, South Dakota, USA

Defining Main Street: The Insurance Office. Again, let's not ignore the more mundane: establishments like the insurance office. And, humor always helps to attract attention. What other elements of Main Street culture might also be over looked? Attorneys? Funeral homes? [2007]

Ramona, California, USA

Defining Main Street: The Real Estate Office. As we review of the elements of Main Street, let's not ignore the more mundane: establishments like the real estate office. There when you need it, invisible when you don't. [2013]

St. Clair, Pennsylvania, USA

Defining Main Street: The Church. There are usually no shortage of churches on Main Street, and the state's downtowns usually exhibit some of the richest combinations of denominations anywhere in the world. Why? Read a biography of William Penn. [2017]

Danville, Illinois, USA

Defining Main Street: The Fire Station. When we fall in love with a main street archtype and love services it performs, it is hard to cast it on the dumpheap of history. Fire houses, for instance, are often converted to other uses, turned into museums, or simply preserved for their exterior delights. [2015]

Bath Center, Ohio, USA

Defining Main Street: The Public School. What set the stage for public schools in the United States? The Old Deluder Satan Act of 1647. It mandated community schooling in Massachusetts so that everyone would grow up being able to read the Bible for themselves. A few Main Street schools like this survive, but most have suburbanized. [1995]

Eyota, Minnesota, USA

Defining Main Street: The City Hall. If a place is incorporated under the laws of the state, it must have a municipal building. In the case of cities, these administrative headquarters are probably called city halls. In the past, their architecture was almost always meant to command respect. What to you think of the Eyota city hall's public face? [2019]

Dillon, Montana, USA

Defining Main Street: The Bookstore. There was a time when only big cities had bookstores. Then, shopping malls multiplied their numbers. And then, big-box stores shot onto the scene, and some of them were devoted to books. Recently, Amazon deliveries and digital purchases have come to dominate. Meanwhile, the Main Street book store chugs along. [2020]

Ritzville, Washington, USA

Defining Main Street: The Public Library. Although the public library had been well established in American life by the 1880s, philanthropist Andrew Carnegie added jet fuel to the building trends. If a local community would support a public library, he would built it. Yes, architectural standards were in force. [2019]

Covina, California, USA

Defining Main Street: The Jewelry Store. Locally owned and operated jewelry stores seem to survive longer on Main Street than most other operations. Often they have a clock outside. If that box of chocolates didn't quite do the trick yesterday, maybe you should have tried the jewelry store. [2015]
 

Keene, New Hampshire, USA

Defining Main Street: The Candy Store. Happy Valentine's Day! Did you remember? If not, better head to your Main Street candy shop. Have you noticed how candy stores are re-appearing in those newly-built town centers that are modeled on streets like this? [2009]

Findlay, Ohio, USA

Defining Main Street: The Grocery Store. General stores gave way to more space-consuming grocery stores which came to be located farther and farther from the main intersections of towns. Remember, the generation of stores that developed right after World War II had to be within walking distance of its customers. Cars were not ubiquitous. [2008]

Burlington, Vermont, USA

Defining Main Street: The Tea Shop. Tea brings the world to Burlington. While tea shops are less common than coffee shops on America's Main Streets, they always add a touch of refinement. Still, they can't keep up with the new trifecta of beverage purveyors: breweries, distilleries, and cideries. [2009]

Boulder City, Nevada, USA

Defining Main Street: The Coffee Shop. In the 21st century, towns are judged according to whether they have a coffee shop or not. Cities are judged by how many coffee shops they have. Here's the inconvenient truth, though: Coffee shops were all but dead until Starbucks started to expand in the 1990s. [2019]

Sturgis, South Dakota, USA

Defining Main Street: The Pizza Shop. Even without a full-scale restaurant, most Main Streets will proudly proffer a pizza shop. This one must max out its potential during the Sturgis Bike Rally. But, do you think the breakfast buffet is all-you-can-eat pizza? [2019]

Howell, Michigan, USA

Defining Main Street: The Restaurant. It is hard for suburbs to duplicate the ambiance of Main Street restaurants. Still, in most small towns it will be hard to find more than one or two full-service eateries like this. Does "seafood" capture the essence of place in a setting surrounded by Great Lakes? [2018]

Marietta, Georgia, USA

Defining Main Street: The Movie Theater. First there was the opera house, then there was the movie theater, and then there was streaming. Home town cinemas have survived only when they have found a dedicated preservationist movement or a niche market to serve. [2013]

Lykens, Pennsylvania, USA

Defining Main Street: The Train Station. Rail lines were lifelines for most small towns, where train depots served passenger and freight interests. Proof of their iconic status: All those 20th-century Christmas tree yards that featured Lionel or Bachman choo-choos always had a snap-together rail depot to authenticate the townscape. [2022]

Durango, Colorado, USA

Defining Main Street: The Hotel. Lucky is the town with an historic hotel on Main Street. The rail lines, the regional economy (in this case mining), and local entrepreneurial ambition were usually the three factors that sustained such operations in the late 1800s. [2013]

Courtland, Kansas, USA

Defining Main Street: The Gas Station.  The "fillin' station" didn't hit Main Street until the 1920s. They were never in the heart of the business district but further down the road. Almost all are now gone, or in decay, victims of economies of scale. [2009]

Ennis, Montana, USA

Defining Main Street: The Bank. The frontier bank was immortalized by Louis L'Amour: "The bank was opposite the store, and the building next to the store was the express office. A man placed there could cover the door of the bank and the side door as well." All banks needed to be defended, the one in this quote appeared in his novel Son of a Wanted Man. [2003]

Ottawa, Kansas, USA

Defining Main Street: The Drug Store. Some of us just cannot get used to calling them pharmacies or (if you are in England) chemists. So few independent pharmacies are left on Main Street. The national chains seem to have taken over, and they are committed to the suburbs. [2021]

Spencer, Indiana, USA

Defining Main Street: The Barbershop. Every Main Street has (or had) a barbershop, but they don't all look alike. This one seems to have been custom-built in a vacant lot between brick buildings. Maybe you would like to stop for a haircut and meet one of the barbers who works here, in Spencer, Indiana. [2017]

Sauk Centre, Minnesota, USA

Defining Main Street: The History.  Sinclair Lewis did not sentimentalize Main Street in his novel by the same name. Today, we do. We glorify it. We have even shaped our country's newly-built "town centers" as Main Street mimics. Because of its importance, we will spend all month on Main Streets trying to appreciate both their diversity and their unity. [2012]

Farmland, Indiana, USA

Welcome to cognitive dissonance. Farmland is located in the North American Corn Belt. But, the grain elevator rising above Main Street just screams Wheat Belt, and the mural suggests there might just be a Tomato Belt somewhere nearby. [2018]

Waitsburg, Washington, USA

Grain mills usually receive grain. This one receives mail. It captures local color, exemplifies the Palouse's economic base, and transforms the roadside into a museum of shop projects. [2019]

Hendersonville, North Carolina, USA

It's just about two weeks to Valentine's Day. Better start shopping, for a card, at least, and a gift, at best. Of course, if your name were Valentine, everyday would be Valentine's Day. The name comes from Latin, meaning 'strong and healthy,' two words which apply strikingly well to the heart. [2012]

Cuba, Kansas, USA

What is the most produced staple crop in the world? Corn. Don't yawn! Only a few decades ago rice held that honor. Think: the mega-populations of China, Southeast Asia, and India. In fact, rice may still hold that honor if you consider that 45% of corn goes to the production of ethanol for powering internal combustion engines. [2009]

Bellows Falls, Vermont, USA

What services can a covered bridge provide? It can carry a couple of mailboxes for nearby residents. Alas, the original Hall covered bridge was destroyed by an overweight truck in 1980. Given Vermonters love of the bucolic, however, it was immediately rebuilt to exacting, authentic standards. Thank you Milton Graton.[2009]

Philippi, West Virginia, USA

The Philippi covered bridge (pronounced with a -pee at the end) spans the Tygart River. It is a rare double-barreled, two-lane bridge, a three-lane bridge if you count the outside pedestrian walkway. If you visit, be sure to take in the local museum where you will find a collection of human mummies from the late 1800s. [2021]

Stevens, Pennsylvania, USA

Bucher's Mill covered bridge is still open to traffic, both human and canine. It spans a waterway with one of the most colorful names in American toponymy: the Cocalico Creek. Across the region, though, there are more watercourses with equally entertaining names: Chiques, Conestoga, Conowingo, Conewago, Codorus, Conodoguinet, Conococheague. [2023]

Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Escalators are not usually thought of as modes of mass transit, nor are they thought of as being outside. In Las Vegas, however, you don't always get what you expect. Along The Strip, escalators, elevators, and skywalks are used to keep people from crossing Las Vegas Boulevard at street level. [2019 and 2022]

Greenville, South Carolina

That wreath looks good as a necklace. For the season, at least, it puts the green in Greenville and accentuates the big dog and her riders. Thank you Dale Rogers. These days it is permissible to display Christmas decorations until the feast of Candlemas on February 2. Think the collar is still around her neck? It's been five weeks since Christmas. [2022]

Trieste, Italy

Some education will soon be going on here. There's a tot that is learning to ride a bike. See the training wheels? In Europe, it's a skill that lasts a lifetime. In the United States, it's a skill that is given up after a driver's license is issued and a car purchased. [2008]

Trieste, Italy

When you think of swimming in the Mediterranean, you probably don't conjure up landscapes like this. Instead, your mind goes to the Rivera and the Costa del Sol, with their long, sandy beaches. But, the Adriatic is different. [2008]

Trieste, Italy

A telamon is a male figure that uses his head and shoulders to hold something up. Telamons are usually associated with buildings but their individual job descriptions may be up-scaled or down-scaled. This one has been assigned the Fountain of the Titans. His cousin Atlas, however, has been assigned something bigger to bear: the whole earth! [2008]

Rabat, Morocco

River ferries can be just as important as sea ferries. These small boats await the opportunity to ferry people across the Bou Regreg River from Rabat to Salé. Of course, service may have been upgraded over the past three decades. [1989]

West End, Tortola, British Virgin Islands

Here is some guidance for predicting ferry connections in the Lesser Antilles. Islands close to one another will have daily connections. Islands far away will have no connection (fly!). Islands in between near and far will have limited connections, as in limited to several days a week. [2014]

Mellieha, Malta

Off to Gozo it goes. A ride on the Gozo Channel ferry allows you to see all three islands of the Maltese archipelago: Malta, Gozo, and Camino. Which two are visible here? In archipelagic states, ferry links are not a luxury; they are a necessity. [2009]

Muzaffarnagar, India

Looking rather traditional, these multi-generational men represent the Muslim population of Muzaffarnagar. Muslims are just slightly outnumbered by Hindus, which a decade ago meant there was reason for conflict. [2011]

Muzaffarnagar, India

Looking rather hip, and with enough disposable income for shopping (see the designer bag?) and cell phones, these young men represent the Hindu population of Muzaffarnagar. Questions: (1) Why would anyone wear a long-sleeve shirt in the humid subtropics during summer? (2) What is that huge mound in the background? [2011]

Muzaffarnagar, India

Muzaffarnagar is a name that does not settle well onto Anglophone ears, nor easily lodge in the Anglophone mind. Yet, it is one of the most important interstitial cities of the Gangetic Plain. It is located about half way between New Delhi and the famed and fabled city of Dehradun in the Himalayan foothills. On the way north is the pilgrimage city of Haridwar. [2011]

Boston, Massachusetts, USA

A victim of Friday the Thirteenth? Are you superstitious enough to avoid flying today? If you were in Stockholm, would you board Finnair Flight 666 to Hel today? Hel, of course, refers to Finland's capital. The flight is always full. [2021]

Huntington, West Virginia, USA

The giraffe seems to be another town's spirit animal, this one all decked out in pink and green. What characteristics do the town and the giraffe share? Maybe Huntington promotes non-conformity: This giraffe seems to be non-conforming in both how it dresses and where it is located. [2022]

Dana, Indiana, USA

The giraffe is obviously the town's spirit animal, and just as obviously provides a corporeal residence for the town's spirit of place. What lesson does the giraffe teach? Because they are so tall, giraffes can get a bird's-eye view of the big picture, even without being a bird. That's what we all need. It might just lift us all out of our petty little echo chambers. [2015]