Some new photos from Fort Wayne

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The Jolly Green Giant used to stand in the front window of this tattoo shop at the corner of Spy Run Avenue and Fourth Street in Fort Wayne. He was moved to the back of the shop in the spring of 2010, so he's still around.

The statue, made of styrofoam, was probably a grocery store advertising display. The Jolly Green Giant is the mascot for Green Giant brand canned vegetables.
 
The buildings are really in very nice condition for their age. I've never been inside, but the company has been in business for a while and unlike most factories in Fort Wayne, they're still operating here, not moved to China or Mexico. They must be doing something right.
 
On my photo "safari" around town yesterday, I was stopped by an older gentleman. He and I talked about the town we live in (about 5,000) and its history. He mentioned that a few years ago a friend of his invited him to a small town in Indiana named Roanoke. He said it was near Fort Wayne, which made me think of this thread.

His friend had some part in refurbishing downtown Roanoke and we discussed similar options for our town. While he spoke I kept thinking, "I've seen that area of Indiana thanks to the forum". (courtesy, of course, Chris Crawford's fine work".
 
jwc57 said:
On my photo "safari" around town yesterday, I was stopped by an older gentleman. He and I talked about the town we live in (about 5,000) and its history. He mentioned that a few years ago a friend of his invited him to a small town in Indiana named Roanoke. He said it was near Fort Wayne, which made me think of this thread.

His friend had some part in refurbishing downtown Roanoke and we discussed similar options for our town. While he spoke I kept thinking, "I've seen that area of Indiana thanks to the forum". (courtesy, of course, Chris Crawford's fine work".
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Roanoke is very close to Fort Wayne, about a ten minute drive down US-24 from the city's southwest side. My grandpa used to go to a barber in Roanoke:

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Its a very small town whose main street had died out after all the small shops closed. An insurance company bought almost all the buildings and renovated them for its offices, and they paid to fix up the rest of the street to make the town look nice when people visited their offices.

One of my uncles lived in Roanoke for several years, but he lives in Huntington now. Huntington is former Vice President Dan Quayle's hometown, another ten minutes or so down the highway from Roanoke.
 
I've always been drawn to your images of Ft. Wayne because of the photos I've done over the years of my town.

The earliest shots go back to about 1981 when I was on a return visit from the SF Bay Area where I lived at the time. I made them because I was into model railroads and had planned to use the photos as references. Now, I look at them and wish I'd spent more time really seeing the town. Like one shot of the buildings on 2nd St....include a car with collard plants on the windshield and bottles of BBQ sauce on the roof for sale. Instead of focusing on the best subject in the frame, I was focused on the buildings.

A few years ago, I went back through those old negatives and realized I needed to walk through town and document how it looks now. It's been an on going project for some time now.
 
The barber shop photos are wonderful. I swear the same barbershop is still operating in my town. The only difference is the checkerboard. I'm bald, so I never use a barber---meaning I don't know the guy. I'm to get the courage to pop in and ask to take photos while he works. We have an old fashioned hardware store in town and I've shot a few photos in there awhile ago. The store owner says I'm welcome to come back and take more any time. He still sells seeds and nails the old fashioned way....by small bags he weighs out.
 
jwc57 said:
The barber shop photos are wonderful. I swear the same barbershop is still operating in my town. The only difference is the checkerboard. I'm bald, so I never use a barber---meaning I don't know the guy. I'm to get the courage to pop in and ask to take photos while he works. We have an old fashioned hardware store in town and I've shot a few photos in there awhile ago. The store owner says I'm welcome to come back and take more any time. He still sells seeds and nails the old fashioned way....by small bags he weighs out.
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I don't go to the barber either, I have hair down to my waist!
 
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I found this banner, flanked by a pair of small American flags, advertising "Traditional Worship" and "A Warm Welcome" in front of Pilgrim Holiness Church on Ardmore Avenue in Fort Wayne, Indiana. I photographed it yesterday afternoon.
 
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After grandpa died, his kids cleaned out the kitchen cabinets, taking everything they wanted. I went back to the house almost two years later to make some photographs in the empty house, and found this drawing taped inside the door one of the cabinets over the kitchen counter. One of my young cousins made it in school, when they were being taught about making an escape plan in case of fire. June, 2010.
 
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After grandpa died, his kids got rid of all of the furniture and other stuff in the house. I went back to the house almost two years after grandpa died, and found this old rocking chair, sitting alone in one of the bedrooms. It was the only piece of furniture left in the house.
 
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These trees were on the edge of a frozen cornfield along US-24, east of Woodburn in northeast Allen County, Indiana. This is the same field where I photographed the Round Tree that I posted last week.
 
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For decades, the National Cigar Store on Main Street in downtown Fort Wayne was a hangout for old men, who gathered there in the mornings for breakfast. The gold lettering on the front window, which has partially worn off, used to say "Steak N Eggs." The store has been closed for several years.
 
I must say...even reading the Wikipedia entry on Fort Wayne gives the impression of an entirely uninteresting backwater and makes you want to turn the page, fast. Why are you staying there?
 
Peter Wijninga said:
I must say...even reading the Wikipedia entry on Fort Wayne makes you want to turn the page, fast. Why are you staying there?
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I lived in Santa Fe, New Mexico until 4 years ago, when I returned to Fort Wayne for my son. He lived here with his mother, who has psychiatric problems. I had tried over the years to get custody of him several times, but in Indiana men are almost never allowed custody of their children, no matter how bad or unfit the mother is, unless she goes to jail or is locked up in a mental hospital by the state. Four years ago, her craziness was getting worse, so i came back here to be closer to my son. A few months after I got back here, his mother was committed to the state psychiatric hospital for a year by the state of Indiana, and I was given custody of him.

We cannot leave Indiana until my son turns 18, the law prohibits custodial parents from leaving the state with the child without the other parent's permission, which my ex will not give. She had a new baby last year and lost all interest in my son, who she never sees anymore (her choice), but she still won't give us permission to leave. My son is 15 now, and will graduate from high school a few months after he turns 18, so we're going to stay until he is done with school. Where we go next depends on where he decides to go for university, but we won't be staying in Fort Wayne. He is the ONLY reason I am here.

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This small grocery store and butcher shop is the biggest business in the tiny town of Corunna, Indiana. I spent a day photographing in the town at the beginning of 2009. I finally scanned the photos I made there last night, so several more from Corunna are on the way!
 
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