Some new photos from Fort Wayne

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I have seen these giant fiberglass chickens advertising Broaster Chicken in front of several gas stations in northeast Indiana.​

This one is in front of the Marathon station at the corner of Washington Center Road and Goshen Road (US-33) on the northwestern edge of the city of Fort Wayne.​
 
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This large old house is on Columbia Avenue, just east of Loree Street, in Fort Wayne, Indiana.​

A hundred years ago, this neighborhood just east of downtown was a wealthy area full of large, beautiful homes. Today, most have been subdivided into small apartments. Some, like this one, are in relatively nice condition while many others have been neglected.​
 
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A patriotic mural and an advertisement for an organization that helps people with autism are painted on the side of a building on Main Street in Mishawaka, Indiana. The small sign in the window on the left side is for Buzz's Used Furniture, which occupies the storefront.​

A lot of towns in Indiana have patriotic murals like this painted on the sides of Main Street commercial buildings.​
 
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The evening that I made this photograph, my son and I ate dinner at the Bob Evans restaurant at the Village at Coventry Shopping Center in Fort Wayne, Indiana. As we were leaving the restaurant, this Oldsmobile Alero, driven by a woman in her 50s, pulled into the parking space next to my car.​

Someone had drawn a penis and testicles in the dirt on the side of the car, along with the word "DICK." Of course, I simply HAD to photograph it!​

When I was a teenager, people would write "Wash Me!" in the dust on cars that needed a trip to the car wash. Times sure have changed!​
 
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Fulton Apartments is a small two-story brick apartment building on Fulton Street, north of Washington Boulevard, in downtown Fort Wayne, Indiana. The building is a plain, unadorned brick box, except for the entrance and the windows above the door.
 
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This building at the corner of Broadway and Stophlet Street in Fort Wayne is home to an antiques and used clothing store called "Little Shop of Laura's." I first photographed the bench in 2013, soon after Laura, the store's owner, painted it to look like the American flag.​

Laura later added the chalkboard above the bench. The strange message on the chalkboard the day I made this photograph caught my attention: "Calling All Weirdos, Welcome Home."​
 
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This tank stands in front of the barnyard fence at a farm on US-35/State Road 28, east of County Road 200W, in Delaware County, Indiana. Both ends of the tank had happy faces painted on them.​

There was a lone sheep, a ram, in the barnyard behind the tank. You can see him looking at me through the fence!​
 
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Here is another photo from the farm with the smiley face tank in my last post.

This barn, which is actually a small storage shed, had sheep living in it. There was a small fenced enclosure behind it that the sheep could go into through a door in the back.
 
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Love Supermarket is a small, locally-owned grocery store at the corner of Union Street and 10th Street in Mishawaka, Indiana.​

The front of the store is dominated by a huge American flag painted on the brick building. The windows are covered in signs advertising cigarettes and junk food!​

I photographed it yesterday morning.
 
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Wolf Lake Food Pantry is a food bank in the small town of Wolf Lake, Indiana. It is run by Living Water Lutheran Church, which is in an even smaller building next to the food bank.The Bible verse on the cross is John 3:16, which contains Christianity's foundational belief:​

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."​

Wolf Lake is a very small town in Noble County, Indiana. There are four churches, an elementary school, a bar, a take-out pizza place, and a post office.​

I've noticed that several small towns in northeast Indiana now have food banks, a sad sign of the poor economy of recent years.​

I made this photograph yesterday morning.
 
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Prospect United Methodist Church is a small brick church on County Road 900N, between County Road 100W and Meridian Road, in the northern part of Wells County, Indiana. The building was built a little over 100 years ago.​

Small churches like this one dot the sparsely populated rural farming areas of northeast Indiana in surprisingly large numbers. Many of them, including this one, are kept well-maintained by active congregations.​

Prospect United Methodist is just a few miles west of the town of Ossian, the main population center of northern Wells County.​
 
Chris, have you made long term plans for this body of work?
Are the City Fathers interested?
Local museum? State museum?

Undoubtedly this will be of historical interest in FW, in Indiana and, as the decades pass, even further afield.
 
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The flag on the front porch of this house caught my attention. It is an American flag with a black and white image of a Native American printed over it. This house is on Crescent Avenue, between Dodge Avenue and Clara Avenue, in Fort Wayne, Indiana. I photographed it last month.
​

I have seen this flag one other time. Back in 2012, I photographed one hanging in the window of an old house on Fort Wayne's working class northwest side.​
 
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This 1958 Chevrolet Apache school bus belongs to one of my neighbors, who are working on restoring it. The hot rod flames were painted on by the previous owner. I photographed it last week.
 
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Driving through Indianapolis, I was surprised to see what looked like a heavy vault door on the front of a brick commercial building on the northeast corner of College Avenue and 24th Street.​

My first thought was, "What the Hell are they storing in there that would need such a door?!?!" The south side of the building, facing 24th Street, has "24 On The Avenue" painted in gigantic letters covering much of the wall. There were no other signs, and the place appears to be vacant.​

According to an article in the Indianapolis Star, the building was being converted into a restaurant and bar called Reclamation. The door, which weighs an incredible 8000 lb, is an actual bank vault door, taken from a bank that was demolished. The place was going to be decorated with things taken from demolished buildings.​
 
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