I Need a Favor: Help Me Save Our Small Towns
Small Towns and the Wrong Side of the Tracks
There’s a railroad crossing on the far side of New Castle, Indiana as you leave Henry County and head toward Richmond.
There isn’t much to these train tracks. They run diagonally across the state highway and they’re the last sign of population or industry one sees before driving into Hagerstown and Centerville. Like most tracks in that area, you won’t be inconvenienced by them; in the two decades I’ve been traveling that road, a train has stopped me only a time or two. Again, there’s not much to them.
But they are halfway home.
When I lived an hour away from my hometown, those tracks were the halfway point. When I’d drive over them, coming or going, I’d whisper to myself, halfway home. The crossing was the point at which I could sit a little more comfortably in my seat, turn the music up a little more, or make a phone call to whomever I was meeting for dinner that night. I could breathe a little easier once I crossed those tracks.
As life got in the way and I returned home less frequently, I found those steel beams began to darken my travels far more often than they would brighten them. Passing over them, I’d see dark skies push out a smiling sun, stepping in as the backdrop for a scene that was becoming all too familiar. My stomach would sink and my jaw tighten, knowing I was driving to a place that had been lost to the gray. A rich history now standing still and slipping inch-by-inch further away from a hopeful future.
It’s Happening Everywhere
One of the pains of being raised in a small town is they tend to age more the longer you stay away. Every time I’d drive back into Wayne County, I’d see another beautiful historic building struggling to keep a business tenant. There would be fewer cars parked in downtown lots and along Main Street storefronts. The schools would have new technology and bright football fields, but there would be fewer classrooms and more coverage about board turmoil in the paper than positive news about student outcomes and graduation rates.
I don’t want to pick on Wayne County or any one town. This is a problem nation-wide. Every state has this problem.
Every state in the country is losing its small towns.
“Every state in the country is losing its small towns.”
In the Rust Belt, it’s happening faster and with more destruction.
That’s why I started The American Townsman.
To protect our small towns from being taken advantage of by large corporations and outside players who want to squeeze us of our resources.
To preserve the rich, unique, and interconnected histories of our small towns so they can be experienced, understood, and shared for generations.
And to promote our small towns, what we offer, and why what we’re selling as small town folk is good enough to buy anywhere across the country—our history, our culture, our industry, our values. There are good, great, meaningful assets that small towns have and they should be shared with other small towns and even big cities. It’s time we unleash those into the world.
Time to Take Back Our Small Towns
It’s time for small towns to reclaim their space, to rip the moss from the city walls, to reopen for a new century of connection, community, and commerce, and to build a future for our children and their children we never dreamed possible.
There are few things I’m certain of—though that’s never stopped me from having an opinion—but one of them is this: small towns—yours and mine—are one of the greatest things America has to offer. It’s time we start acting like it. And it’s time we start building, investing, and living like it.
It’s time to celebrate the soul of the small town.
If you’d like to celebrate with me and help me bring this celebration to other folks, the easiest thing to do is join our mailing list. We don’t bombard you with ads or spam—we just send out articles like this, profiles on small towns, and ideas on how we can make our small towns better.
If you want to go beyond that, there are ways to support us as we make more content that highlights small towns across the Rust Belt, small businesses in these small towns, and communities that are taking on unique projects to sustain their small towns for the next century.
You can learn more about those options below:
Any level of support is going to help us reach our goal. Please, make sure to sign up for our free email list and tell at least two friends about us! We make it easy; all our stuff is on Facebook and Instagram.
With your support, I am confident we can create a new reality and a remarkable future for our small towns and the people who breathe life into them.
Thank you for reading and thank you for celebrating the soul of our small towns.
-AT
Adam Tidrow is a serial entrepreneur, expert in American business and economic history, and scholar whose work focuses primarily on local economic development in the American Rust Belt.
