Yesterday I had to get out of my head. So I got out of town for a drive to Spencer, Indiana, which is two counties east of Terre Haute. I chose Spencer because I wanted to try the crème brûlée latte at Main Street Coffee (well worth the drive).
Spencer’s downtown looks nearly identical to other small Midwest towns in that it’s a square, the courthouse sits in the middle and Main Street always runs along the square. And there’s a railroad track that runs through the square. … Yet it’s also modern, in that the little shops surrounding the square were unique, current, welcoming, there are several painted murals, and the railroad track was bordered with rocks and flowers.
Some folks criticize these small towns for their “un-originality” with respect to the identical squares. But think about when these towns were built, in the early 1800s, when these geographic landmarks and layouts were the only means in which people knew where they found themselves. Even today, if I were lost and without a GPS signal, I’d know exactly where I was when I found the Main Street and square.