Nov 16 2009
Adel, Iowa: Then and Now
Comfortable in my bed at the Hotel Pattee, I had planned to sleep late the first morning of the I_Blog Conference. Instead, I awoke at 6 a.m. as usual, showered and dressed, and thought about what to do until the conference began at 10:00.
I decided to do what I enjoy doing most: getting in the car and driving. At first my destination was Winterset, where I figured I’d have time to see three or four of the covered bridges of Madison County. I headed south out of Perry a little before sunrise.
As the sky lightened, I began to see that there would be no sun that morning, and I didn’t think covered bridges on a cloudy gray backdrop would be very photogenic.
Instead, I turned when a sign pointed to the town of Adel, not sure of my plan any more. I came into Adel from the west and, lacking any other signage, followed the truck route into town, not sure of what I’d find.
What I found was the beautiful Dallas County courthouse in a town square. Iowa seems to have several towns with these traditional town squares, and to me, they create a perfect small-town air.
Across the street from the courthouse I spotted “Cool Beans” with its neon OPEN sign lit. I stepped inside for a cup of something warm and caffeinated, and as I waited for my hot drink to be prepared, I noticed a black-and-white panoramic photo on the wall.
Such a unique photo, I eyed it to find the perspective, and then, looking more closely, I saw that it was from the Library of Congress photograph collection, taken in 1907.
I stopped at the car and traded my beverage for my camera, then headed out into the nearly-deserted downtown district. I saw that Adel, like Perry and many other small Iowa towns, still has a lot of its original brick downtown buildings. The storefronts and signs have changed, of course, but overall the streets look much the same as they did 100 years ago.
The streets in the old photo were dirt, but now the roads surrounding the courthouse square are of a beautiful red brick.
I did not manage to capture the same angles as the panoramic photo of the old days of Adel, but I hope you’ll enjoy seeing that Adel’s downtown area still looks much the same as it did in 1907.
Even on a cloudy, gray day, I found something interesting in Adel, Iowa.
Adel is a wonderful small town. I’m glad you found it!
Jody´s last blog ..Thoughts from I_Blog Conference
You stumbled into a great little town. (Adel was a Tourism Community of the Year in 2008.) You’ll have to venture back for their annual sweet corn feed in August or their Iowa book festival.
Yes, definitely come back for the annual Sweet Corn Festival. Small town summer fun at its finest.
And that Cool Beans you photographed? I stop there almost every Saturday morning. Had you kept going about another 6-7 miles south, you would have made it to my town — De Soto.
Glad you enjoyed your visit to the area. Let me know if you are ever around this way again!
Sincerely Jenni´s last blog ..I_Blog Conference: Deb of DebWorks
Your blog was written November 2009, however, your pictures of the Courthouse are at least 10 years old. That’s about when the Veteran’s Monument was added to the south lawn and it’s not in your pictures.
Perry, my photos were indeed taken in November of 2009, which was the first time I encountered Adel. (If you click on any of the photos, Flickr displays the exact date they were taken.)
The one of the courthouse straight-on was taken from the north side, and I wonder if the Veteran’s Monument is showing on the very right edge of the third-to-the-last photo. Apparently the angle for the photos just didn’t include that part of the courthouse square.
Linda
Cranky commenters mean you’ve arrived as a blogger!
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