A humerous and provocative account of rural and urban attitude differences

Author Shiela Branson offers a glimpse into the busier-than-you'd-expect life of the small communities within North Dakota's Wells County. From a Harvest Bee to help friends and neighbors, to the poignant Last Homecoming the year before the local team is absorbed into that of a larger school, to accolades for winning readers, to ... well ... life in general for the area ... this collection of newspaper feature articles (with a few additions) introduces you to life in Small Town USA. Many of these families stem from homesteading pioneers from 'The Old Country', be it Germany, Norway, or Germans from Russia, as well as 'Back East'. Today's population reflects the values they grew up with: hard work, good food, steadfast loyalty, and a sense of humor. Reading this collection of stories, you will meet a group of the most incredible people in the world - although they don't view themselves that way ... they just do what they do. BUT - these farmers and ranchers and town people play a big part in feeding the world; in the process they take care of each other. 'That's just the way it is - it's just the way we are, the way our parents and grandparents did things.' The world changes and Wells County appreciates the value of electronics, of advances in all areas - but somehow the people in these pages have not lost the best of the old ways. Come, meet the friends and neighbors who live in Wells County, North Dakota. Dedicated to Charles Eldredge, long-time editor and publisher, this book presents a good look at Small Town USA, the small towns he spent his life helping via the local newspaper. A feature writer for this small newspaper, Shiela Branson found the stories of many of the people of this area both heart-rending and inspirational. Whether in tears or in laughter, these people tend to share their lives and help one another through. Generations pass, people move on, but tradition lives on, waiting for visits from those who have moved away - waiting as well for visits from those who might be interested in what Small Town USA is really all about. So if ever you're in the area, stop by ... have a cup of coffee, strike up a conversation ... I bet you'll like what you find.

Small Town USA engages readers immediately with the history of Buffalo, Kansas, a town created at the start of the Civil War within the Kansas Territory amid the Osage Indians, and covers the span of 100 years. Profiles of the founders provide insight about the pioneers and their families who settled in Buffalo valley among the buffalo. Told by two native descendants from Buffalo with memories, photographs, and stories, the reader experiences the culture of small town living, where the entire village raises the children and families are fiercely protective of one another. The culture of a small town is different; and each town is unique depending upon the characters that comprise that community. You will laugh out loud at the humor within these pages and you will cry tears over the bareness in which stories are told. Discover life lessons about living with, and accepting, others despite economic differences, physical and mental differences. There are no neighborhoods to self-isolate from others in a small town, rather the definition of "being normal" is broadened and accepted. The town will have difficulty economically thriving;the way families spend their home life and the importance of church at the center of the community will threaten their world as they know it. Beautifully illustrated by contrasting two families, the families of the women who wrote the book. Time passes through the 1950s and 1960s experiencing irrevocable change in technology and transportation. One woman stays in her small town and raises her family there; the other takes a road less traveled. Both journeys will cause you to ponder. The book would be a good format for other communities who wish to write about their history, the founders who formed the old guard, and a way to share from the collective memories of their town folk.

As an archetype for an entire class of places, Main Street has become one of America's most popular and idealized images. In Main Street Revisited, the first book to place the design of small downtowns in spatial and chronological context, Richard Francaviglia finds the sources of romanticized images of this archetype, including Walt Disney's Main Street USA, in towns as diverse as Marceline, Missouri, and Fort Collins, Colorado. Francaviglia interprets Main Street both as a real place and as an expression of collective assumptions, designs, and myths; his Main Streets are treasure troves of historic patterns. Using many historical and contemporary photographs and maps for his extensive fieldwork and research, he reveals a rich regional pattern of small-town development that serves as the basis for American community design. He underscores the significance of time in the development of Main Street's distinctive personality, focuses on the importance of space in the creation of place, and concentrates on popular images that have enshrined Main Street in the collective American consciousness.