Some new photos from Fort Wayne

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

This beautiful old mansion with an American flag in the upstairs window is on the corner of Wayne Street (State Road 5) and 1st Street in the small town of Warren, Indiana. It used to be the Butler Funeral Home. You can see a large modern-looking extension on the back of the historic house that was added when it was a mortuary.

10-16-23

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

A 1959 AMC Rambler and a 1997 Oldsmobile Cutlass sit atop a shipping container behind the fence at Paul's Auto Yard on Brooklyn Avenue in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

I photographed this place the first time back in 2014, when it was 3 Rivers Metals Recycling. Back then, they had a 1956 Ford Fairlane sitting on a shipping container behind the same fence!

12-10-23

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

This house is on Sandpoint Road, between Arbor Avenue and Woodheath Avenue, in my neighborhood in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Every year since the current residents moved in, it has been elaborately decorated for Christmas, with the decorations completely redesigned each year!

I photographed the house the first time in 2021; and 2023 was the third year that I photographed it. I made this photograph on a rainy morning shortly after sunrise.

12-6-23

 

[froyd]

A 1959 AMC Rambler and a 1997 Oldsmobile Cutlass sit atop a shipping container behind the fence at Paul's Auto Yard on Brooklyn Avenue in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

I photographed this place the first time back in 2014, when it was 3 Rivers Metals Recycling. Back then, they had a 1956 Ford Fairlane sitting on a shipping container behind the same fence!

12-10-23

Is this from the Zombie side of the fence or the Human side? ;P


I love the somewhat rigid composition in horizontal thirds and vertical halves juxtapposed with the surreal content of cars in the sky and a tree without trunk!

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

A readerboard sign with a religious message on the corner of US-24 and County Road 1100N, near the small town of Roanoke, in rural Huntington County, Indiana.

The sign's message is periodically changed. When I made this photograph of it, it said: "My Sheep Know My Voice And I Know Them And They Follow Me."

12-24-23

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

This sign is posted on the sidewalk on Main Street (US-33) in the small town of Churubusco, Indiana. Shaped like the location pointers used by online mapping apps and adorned with a Love Emoji, it says: "The Greatest Place On Earth." Churubusco is a very nice little town, but calling it the greatest place in the whole world might be a bit hyperbolic!

It is actually an advertisement for 46 Graphics, a locally-owned sign shop. I'm surprised that the town's government allowed them to put it at the edge of the road like an official street sign.

2-22-24

 

[farlymac]

This sign is posted on the sidewalk on Main Street (US-33) in the small town of Churubusco, Indiana. Shaped like the location pointers used by online mapping apps and adorned with a Love Emoji, it says: "The Greatest Place On Earth." Churubusco is a very nice little town, but calling it the greatest place in the whole world might be a bit hyperbolic!

It is actually an advertisement for 46 Graphics, a locally-owned sign shop. I'm surprised that the town's government allowed them to put it at the edge of the road like an official street sign.

2-22-24

You can get away with a lot if you couch your project as something the city council is getting for free.

PF

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

A patch of dead corn plants stand on the edge of a harvested cornfield on a foggy September morning at Hardy's Farm Market on Knoll Road, between Ardmore Avenue and Smith Road, just outside Fort Wayne in rural Allen County, Indiana.

This farm grows sweet corn, pumpkins, and several other vegetables that they sell from a shop in a large building by one of their other fields.

9-30-23

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

This old brick garage with a giant American flag painted on the front is located on Commerce Street, between Main Street and Water Street, in the small town of Portland, Indiana. The sign on the small door said it is called Cigar City Garage.

3-2-24

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

A pair of large propane tanks painted to look like red ladybugs in front of a farmhouse on the corner of County Road 900N and US-27 in rural Jay County, Indiana.

Because gas utilities don't serve many areas outside of cities and towns, a lot of houses in rural Indiana have big propane tanks that provide fuel for cooking and heating. They contract with a propane company to refill them periodically.

3-2-24

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

The Stevens Building is an old brick commercial building on Main Street, between Meridian Street (US-27) and Commerce Street, in the small town of Portland, Indiana. The windows on all of the first floor storefronts of the building are painted like a giant American flag. The building is vacant.

3-2-24

 

[Yokosuka Mike]

The Stevens Building is an old brick commercial building on Main Street, between Meridian Street (US-27) and Commerce Street, in the small town of Portland, Indiana. The windows on all of the first floor storefronts of the building are painted like a giant American flag. The building is vacant.

3-2-24

Chris,

These two sentences, especially ending with the second one really brought the picture home for me. Well done!

"The windows on all of the first floor storefronts of the building are painted like a giant American flag. The building is vacant."

Mike

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Chris,

These two sentences, especially ending with the second one really brought the picture home for me. Well done!

"The windows on all of the first floor storefronts of the building are painted like a giant American flag. The building is vacant."

Mike

A lot of storefronts like that sit empty in our small towns. Portland is more prosperous than many, because its a fairly large town with about 6000 residents. Many smaller towns have a main street with a row of boarded up storefronts in crumbling buildings and no real businesses except a couple of bars.

 

[KoNickon]

I think Chris was not taking the bait here!

 

[Rick Waldroup]

Great stuff, as always, Chris. This is one of my favorite threads.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

This grain truck is parked in front of the silos at Montpelier AG, an animal feed company on Windsor Street in the small town of Montpelier, Indiana. The truck has an American flag painted on the sides of the tank, and the unloading boom is painted like the American flag.

3-2-24

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

The W.H. Hood Company Building is an old brick commercial building on Main Street, between Pleasant Street and Ship Street, in the small town of Portland, Indiana. The building is rather plain and uninteresting, except for the elaborate gable stone, featuring a ceramic relief of a woman in a bonnet surrounded by flowers! (see detail crop below)

The W.H. Hood Company was a grocery wholesaler founded in Portland in 1899. The company closed in 1951. Today, the building is home to the Graphic Printing Company and Portland's newspaper, The Commercial Review. The Graphic Printing Company owns the Commercial Review and several other small-town newspapers.

3-2-24

Detail drop from the fullsize image

 

[robert blu]

t's alwais nice, relaxing and interesting to look at the pictures in this thread Chris, thanks. Love the "terriffic" visual consistency and the explanations of your photo. It seems me you really love your places. And I like to travel with you!

 

[KoNickon]

The W.H. Hood Company Building is an old brick commercial building on Main Street, between Pleasant Street and Ship Street, in the small town of Portland, Indiana. The building is rather plain and uninteresting, except for the elaborate gable stone, featuring a ceramic relief of a woman in a bonnet surrounded by flowers! (see detail crop below)

The W.H. Hood Company was a grocery wholesaler founded in Portland in 1899. The company closed in 1951. Today, the building is home to the Graphic Printing Company and Portland's newspaper, The Commercial Review. The Graphic Printing Company owns the Commercial Review and several other small-town newspapers.

3-2-24

Detail drop from the fullsize image

If anything happens to this building, I would hope that signage and frieze gets saved. Really remarkable -- I wonder who she is? Looks like glazed terra cotta -- Indiana Della Robbia, if you will.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

If anything happens to this building, I would hope that signage and frieze gets saved. Really remarkable -- I wonder who she is? Looks like glazed terra cotta -- Indiana Della Robbia, if you will.

There are plans to renovate the upper floors of the building to turn it into apartments, and the sign and frieze are being kept. It is a four story building, and the printing company and newspaper is only using the first floor and the basement. The upper three floors have sat vacant for years, so now they'll be occupied and maintained.