Joined: Feb 2009 Gender: Male Posts: 34,539 Location: Paris, France
A totally forgotten town of America « Thread Started on Jan 18, 2010, 5:24pm »
When I first found myself outside of the United States, I was often confronted with extreme misconceptions of the country. To many people, the United States consists of the amazing visions of the cities -- obviously New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, with some of the quirks of places like Las Vegas and also the ever popular Seattle, which is used so often in movies and TV shows to show a genteel, attractive and highly civilized corner of the nation. To other people, the United States is seen as the hyper-violent underbellies of many of these same cities, poverty, drugs and lots of shady characters. And then a lot of people ignore these extremes and feel that the Steven Spielberg suburbs, the towns of Happy Days or any of the other traditional sitcoms, are the authentic American way of life, completely balanced and obviously the way that ordinary real Americans live. The cars are standard (but very big), the houses are standard (but very big), the refrigerators are gigantic and overloaded, there is nothing lacking in any room of the house.
If only that were true! Growing up in the Deep South, that wasn't really what I saw. I was fortunate to live in an area with a veneer of extreme wealth, so there was a certain infrastructure that went with that -- nice hotels, nice restaurants, nice shopping malls -- but most of us were living in ordinary to lowly houses a certain distance from the wealth. We could admire the nice things, but if you just went 5 miles inland, it was a completely different world.
So anyway, on my last full day in Georgia, I decided that I absolutely had to leave the main roads and do some time on the back roads where quite a few people still live and never see any of this other pretty stuff except by watching television. There are thousands of other places identical to this all over the United States (but with perhaps a preference for the Deep South anyway).
Somewhere between Savannah and Macon, Georgia, this is what I saw. First of all, where do people like this work? I came across this place, which enveloped the entire region with a strange chemical stench.
I was unable to determine what comes out of this factory, but I don't think it is anything that the Kyoto agreement or the Copenhagen conference would approve of.
Just a few miles farther along, I found the town that corresponded to my vision of 'abandoned America' -- a place where people still live, but which has been destroyed by the big box stores 30 minutes away, coupled with quite a few other factors.
I determined that I was in Hawkinsville, Georgia. I don't know where it is, other than the fact that it was on US341 that I was following. I was on the main street of the city, and I felt a compulsion to stop and take out my camera.
Where was I? What was nearby? The signs didn't really help.
Historic river town? I confess that I never saw the river, but I didn't go looking for it either. It was pouring rain, so I figured that I would just take a look at where I was.
I think that one of the most shocking things to me (maybe because I live in Paris?) was how it was possible to not have any sense of style of aesthetics of any sort. I'm not talking about what the people looked like -- I didn't see any -- I'm talking about what you see in a shop window. Aren't the displays in shop windows supposed to make you want to buy something or see more of what is inside?
I present you the shop windows of the main street of Hawkinsville.
I confess that I fell in love with a place called "Kim's Place" which held many promises for the future.
It was on a prime retail corner of the town, and I'm sure that the excitement is building.
Two barber shops were awaiting customers. Both were indeed open, perhaps because one also seemed to double as a box storage depot.
I suppose that you have to be a member of the community to understand this tasteful commemoration of someone.
Here are a few other views of the business district.
Hey, that's my rental car!
I believe that one should never exploit all of the delights of a city on the first visit, in order to make sure that there is something to see on a future visit. And this is absolutely what I want to see the next time I go there, assuming that it has not become an empty storefront.
I then continued on to more traditional interpretations of American life. I absolutely do not want anybody to think that I am making fun of towns like this. I simply think that there is too much denial of their existence on the part of numerous people. This is a major part of America to me, as embarrassing as it may be when you want to present an attractive side to life.
Lots of people live in these places and find it completely normal. And there are lots of other countries where this is true as well.
Joined: Feb 2009 Gender: Male Posts: 2,052 Location: South of the Dordogne
Re: A totally forgotten town of America « Reply #2 on Jan 18, 2010, 5:46pm »
It would be depressing in the extreme to live there. I doubt that even when it was prosperous I would have stayed there or even wanted to visit. Of course the rain doesn't help.
Re: A totally forgotten town of America « Reply #3 on Jan 18, 2010, 7:12pm »
I saw countless towns like the one you show on here while traveling across the US some years back. In all honesty the only place that I DID see those great mega houses and posh neighborhoods was in Los Angeles.
It didn't suprise me though, I wasn't expecting it to be like on T.V., but I agree a lot of people do have that idea about it.
Joined: Feb 2009 Gender: Female Posts: 25,328 Location: Mexico
Re: A totally forgotten town of America « Reply #4 on Jan 18, 2010, 8:24pm »
I am riveted by this thread, as it asks a question I've often asked driving the smaller roads of the US. One answer is that there is more to the town than the semi-abandoned central business district, but that doesn't address where people work, why they might like it there, or what do they do for recreation. I googled Hawkinsville in an attempt to find out what the factory is. In an amazing piece of serendipity, I found something that will warm the cockles of Kerouac's heart. He is, after all, the king of the "then and now" photo thread.
Look at this: and then look at this picture from the OP:
How about that?!
I don't want to have all the fun. Here is the site where I found the "before" picture. If you click on any image in the site, you'll get a hugely magnified version. I wonder if anyone can find some more matches on main street.
Joined: Feb 2009 Gender: Female Posts: 4,271 Location: USA
Re: A totally forgotten town of America « Reply #9 on Jan 19, 2010, 2:11am »
When I see these photos of moribund downtowns, I think: cherchez la Walmart. I see that Hawkinsville, Georgia has two of them within 20 miles. If someone needs thread, or gloves, or lightbulbs they jump into the car and buzz over, and for the past at least 20 yrs probably, no one thinks of buying things on Main St.
Re: A totally forgotten town of America « Reply #10 on Jan 19, 2010, 4:02am »
The people in the Wal-Mart for the most part cannot even connect the cause to its inevitable effect. They worship the tycoons who exported their jobs to the People's Republic of China as American heroes.
one of the most shocking things to me (maybe because I live in Paris?) was how it was possible to not have any sense of style of aesthetics of any sort.
I sort of can't believe you said this. Of course the rest of us -- the benighted ones who don't live in Paris -- never even noticed that the shop windows were unattractive. Perhaps not, but our dim little minds did pick up on the fact that those are thrift shop windows. And not a fun, retro thrift shop, but a charity shop, as evidenced by the sign. The windows may have been dressed by some poor soul trying to get a toehold in mainstream society by having a job, any job, just as the store is at least giving a function to that building.
Driving through towns like these makes me want get the hell away before I suffer some sort of soul damage.
Well, of course we shouldn't even speculate about the lives of others, others who undoubtedly have no rich inner life because they live in a town that you find unattractive. And shopping in the nearest decent supermarket makes them venerate the capitalist overlords. (have already used over my quota of rolling-eye smileys)
If someone needs thread, or gloves, or lightbulbs they jump into the car and buzz over, and for the past at least 20 yrs probably, no one thinks of buying things on Main St.
This is breath of fresh air -- a balanced look at the now-entrenched causes of dying downtowns.
Joined: Feb 2009 Gender: Male Posts: 34,539 Location: Paris, France
Re: A totally forgotten town of America « Reply #12 on Jan 19, 2010, 7:02am »
Frankly, your kind Christian heart is a constant source of amazement to me, Bixa. I think that many towns like that are populated by inbred yokels who have become that way by turning their back on the world as they sit around their kitchen table cleaning their guns every night.
Joined: Feb 2009 Gender: Female Posts: 4,441 Location: England
Re: A totally forgotten town of America « Reply #13 on Jan 19, 2010, 10:41am »
The pictures of the factory belching out chemicals set the tone for me. My heart sank. This little town of Hawkinsville portrays most of what I dread. There seem to be few redeeming features, no colours, no life. God knows what the people do who live there or how they live their lives. I feel that not being used to anything different they must be content with what they've got. Not everyone can break away from their roots. There must be plenty of towns like this one in England, the one-horse towns where nothing much seems to change except possibly most people with a car would be able to reach any of the vast shopping centres that are now the norm.
Thanks, Kerouac, for taking the time and trouble to do this side-trip.....great pics ...always great pics and a lesson to me to remember to appreciate what I've got.
Joined: Feb 2009 Gender: Male Posts: 34,539 Location: Paris, France
Re: A totally forgotten town of America « Reply #14 on Jan 19, 2010, 11:26am »
Yes, there are plenty of "wastelands" throughout Europe where I could basically make the same photo thread. I just saw a Belgian movie that once again shows the horrors of rural Flanders. The title alone tells you where the movie is going: "The Shittiness of Things" ("La Merditude des Choses" in French). Naturally, that title cannot be used if the film is released in the United States, so the official U.S. title is "The Misfortunates."
I would say that an equivalent film would be the remarkable "Gummo" by Harmony Korine.
I do not make excuses for people who live in places like this. I have spent plenty of time in such towns, due to having rural roots both in the U.S. and France. Generally, they like the way they live and have total disdain and disinterest regarding urban life. That's why they vote differently, too, if they vote.
Re: A totally forgotten town of America « Reply #15 on Jan 19, 2010, 12:58pm »
I think some people who live in those kind of places choose to do so for different reasons. They may have their roots there, their families (sometimes very extended), may always have lived there. Their friends, connections, whole way of live is entrenched in the town they live in. And believe it or not, some are HAPPY with the way things are, and don't feel the need to change it.
Those of use who were brought up in similar towns, but wanted something else, went looking for it and some of us found it. But not everyone is brave enough or ambitious enough or has the inclination enough to want out.
Re: A totally forgotten town of America « Reply #17 on Feb 4, 2010, 3:32am »
I've experienced "small town brain" to some extent, and in my humble opinion, there are a couple different types of people who live in these small, dead towns...
1. Have lived there all their lives and are too afraid/complacent/economically disadvantaged to leave 2. Have lived there all their lives and are doing well relatively speaking, so don't want to leave the 'big fish in the small pond' situation 3. Have moved there from somewhere else either to hide out and/or because they could not cope with urban life
Re: A totally forgotten town of America « Reply #18 on Jun 3, 2012, 5:34pm »
Hello everyone, newbie here. My town, which relies on tourism but still has manufacturing, isn't really dead, but it is on the small side. I'm not hiding out, I can "cope" with urban life, but after 30 years in Denver decided to go smaller (plus in Colorado, I always missed the beach) I live in Fernandina Beach, northeast Florida, about 45 minutes north of Jacksonville. Basically, Lower Georgia. On Friday, I watched an endangered female leatherback turtle laying eggs on the beach. Last night, I ate dinner out and my salade Niçoise was delicious, as was the accompanying rosé. I teach preschool and there are all sorts of children here, the "local yokel" types previously mentioned, and others from more transplant-type families. They all love school. We also have the occasional "chemical stench" here, and it might be the same that I suspect the one in Hawkinsville is: a paper mill. I once lived in another small town in northwest Florida, and they got rid of their paper mill, which also got rid of a lot of jobs. They might some day get rid of the ones here, I don't know. Do I live right next to the mill? No. But I use paper every day, and dislike the NIMBY attitude, especially having seen what's happened to places such as Santa Fe and Aspen, where the "little people" can't afford to live. We do have other small, seemingly dead towns nearby, and the good ol' boy stuff must occasionally be challenged, but the "run-downness" can be deceptive. As Deyana says, some of us are actually happy here (and even are able to think globally and act locally.)
Joined: Feb 2009 Gender: Male Posts: 34,539 Location: Paris, France
Re: A totally forgotten town of America « Reply #19 on Jun 3, 2012, 6:57pm »
I completely understand that, spanishmoss, because my own ancestral village in Lorraine is totally surrounded by old steel mills and iron mines -- all closed now -- which have left their permanent blight on the region, first by defacing the area, and then by closing down and leaving the towns and villages to deteriorate on their own.
Yet there are always things to appreciate and even beauty to be seen when you have the time to look around (which I absolutely did not have on this report, since I must have spent a grand total of 45 minutes there -- totally unfair but totally accurate in what a passing outsider would see in such a place).
(And since you are new, I hope it also gives proof that we can make photo reports of absolutely anything here, even if at first glance it seems that it is going to be totally boring.)
Joined: Jun 2012 Gender: Female Posts: 4,261 Location: Florida
Re: A totally forgotten town of America « Reply #20 on Jun 4, 2012, 3:25am »
Spanishmoss, I would also agree that the factory is probably a paper mill. As a native Floridian, I have seen, and smelled, many of the mills for as long as i can remember, particularly near the north east Florida and south Georgia coasts. We often camp on Cumberland Island, which is the southern most barrier island off the coast of Georgia. It is a beautiful and isolated island, but if you look south towards Fernandina Beach, Florida, you can see the numerous plants belching steam and smell into the air. Thankfully, there are no paper mills in my part of Florida.
Joined: Feb 2009 Gender: Female Posts: 5,368 Location: Montana & Florida, USA
Re: A totally forgotten town of America « Reply #21 on Jun 5, 2012, 12:43am »
There are plenty of places that make one wonder why anyone at all chooses to live there. Even if we can't answer that question, these places make us grateful for where we DO live!
Joined: Feb 2009 Gender: Female Posts: 25,328 Location: Mexico
Re: A totally forgotten town of America « Reply #22 on Jun 5, 2012, 1:51am »
Hello to SpanishMoss and to Htmb & thanks to you both for addressing some of the vexing questions (& vexing attitudes) raised by this thread. Your insights and examples help make real places we might only see through the car window.
I come from Louisiana, which has its share of paper mills. In some cases, those mills built or gave new life to towns. When they shut down or cut back, people can't always pack up and leave. 2008 taught everyone that "Oh, I'll just sell my house & leave" is not always an option.
As for other reasons why people might stay in "backwaters" ..... SpanishMoss covered that beautifully. I get a cynical chuckle out of the fact that Thoreau is a writer often venerated by the same people who characterize everyone who chooses not to live in a big city as a "yokel".
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and then look at this picture from the OP:
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I sort of can't believe you said this. Of course the rest of us -- the benighted ones who don't live in Paris -- never even noticed that the shop windows were unattractive. Perhaps not, but our dim little minds did pick up on the fact that those are thrift shop windows. And not a fun, retro thrift shop, but a charity shop, as evidenced by the sign. The windows may have been dressed by some poor soul trying to get a toehold in mainstream society by having a job, any job, just as the store is at least giving a function to that building.![[avatar]](http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww213/spindrift_09/goddessavatar.jpg "[avatar]"){kind=avatar}
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