The Gun Town

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

The Gun Town is a firearms dealer located out in the middle of nowhere on US-30 in Starke County, Indiana. I thought that the old-west style building was interesting, and somewhat out of place in rural Indiana farm country. The signs on the storefronts say, "Dry Goods", "Saloon", "US Marshal", and "Blacksmith." The arrow sign reads, "We sell guns."

I made this photograph in the evening of June 17, as my son and I were driving back home from Chicago, where we had spent a few days at the annual Brickworld convention, which is a large gathering of Lego enthusiasts. Mack loves Legos, and had been looking forward to the trip for months, and it was a good excuse for me to get out of Fort Wayne and explore some areas of rural Indiana that I had not seen before.

 

[Leigh Youdale]

That's a nice rendition, Chris. It certainly looks "wild west" to me but the building is so well maintained (it appears) that it could almost be from a film set or tourist attraction.
A bit more dilapidation and dust, maybe?

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Thanks Leigh. It does look like a tourist place...it is not very old. I last drove to Chicago a few yrs ago and did not see it back then. The sign out by the road (not pictured) had a website address for the store, which I checked out. The interior is disappointing, it is very modern looking. Would have been cool if they kept the old-west look inside too!

 

[jan normandale]

It's a spooky looking building. The steel roll down doorways make it look like a bunker for war. Did they mind you taking the photograph it being a "gun store" and all that or did they not notice?

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

It's a spooky looking building. The steel roll down doorways make it look like a bunker for war. Did they mind you taking the photograph it being a "gun store" and all that or did they not notice?

No one saw me, it was about 9pm when I shot it.

 

[pgeobc]

"...and somewhat out of place in rural Indiana farm country. "

Maybe he should sell buggy whips?

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

"...and somewhat out of place in rural Indiana farm country. "

Maybe he should sell buggy whips?

We have a large Amish community here in northern Indiana. Even in Fort Wayne, a city of 250,000 people, stores on the edge of the city near the rural areas where the Amish live have rails for the Amish to hitch their horses while they shop. Some even have little barns the Amish can park their buggies in to keep the horses out of the rain. Buggy whips sell well here and I know of several stores that sell new ones.

 

[Damaso]

Well composed.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Funny, that was my first thought too.

I applaud their creativeness in recreating the wild west look - but you'd think a proper sign would serve them better, business-wise... 🙄

Though I guess considering what they sell - those that need to know - would know. Nice shot, Chris.

Thanks DN. There is a small sign by the road, which has the store's name and website address. I couldn't have composed it well to show it and the building because of the distance between the sign and building, and I liked the lit-up arrow sign better anyway.