Times Changed by auntietk
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Description
I was going to post a link to Roger Daltrey's Times Changed from his 1992 solo album entitled Rocks in the Head, but it doesn't seem to be on YouTube. Never mind.
This is Alexander, Kansas.
Established in 1869 as a trading post, Alexander is the oldest settlement in Rush county. This school was built in 1916, and an auditorium was added in 1930. I can't find good population figures for that time, but obviously the town was large enough to support a good-sized school.
Take a closer look ... you'll see it's been long abandoned.
At the 2000 census, Alexander had a population of 75 people. By 2010 that number had dropped to 65. The nearest city with a population over 50,000 is Wichita (with about 350,000), which is over 130 miles away.
Many of the houses in Alexander have been abandoned, much like this school.
Times changed.
Comments (29)
This is a lovely shot of this lovely old building. A great shame its not in use.
a superb old building
EXCELLENT photo and descriptive narrative above! .... (In the SONG title/words of JOHN MELLENCAMP: "GHOST TOWNS ALONG THE HIGHWAY").
Fantastic shot.
Looks so sad. Very interesting to read your words.
I love that kind of story! I find them fascinating and I'd love to know why people left this town! 65 people! Geez! Paradise on earth! :) That building is gorgeous and it's a shame to know it's abandonned when so many live in the streets. Thx for sharing this dear :)
Wonderful work,
Love to see.
A very cool capture of this old building.
All I can say Tara, is what a complete shame.. Its a great looking building and I imagine much of the town was the same.. Why? No work? If Wichita has that many people and is only that far away, why? And WHY? Why no Roger Daltry!!!!!???? Not Emo enough I expect! But had a far better voice than most I bet.. ;-) Good picture.. Rob
Interesting and beautiful old building. Excellent shot!
Excellent...and sets a mood describing an inevitable part of the history of some of remote, rural America. This land was truly Indian country at the time of its original settlement (only 140 years ago). A retired soldier established a trading post on the junction of a river and a military road connecting frontier outposts. The railroad opened the frontier to settlement. People poured in and homesteaded the land as farmers. The army moved on. Frontier posts were closed. Small towns grew and either prospered or didn't. Alexander prospered through a period of 75 years...until the end of WWII. People moved away...to other towns...where there were jobs. Small family farms have been consolidated into big corporate farms. Today the railroad whizzes by non-stop. Trucks and cars drive past on a modern state highway. But, except for a post office and a few families who treasure peace and quiet...the rest of Alexander is a semi-ghost town. It happens. Not sad...just a fact of life. And what a grand opportunity for a couple of photographers!!! P.S. There aren't a lot of these towns left anymore, but when the local economy changes and the old folks die off...and the young folks move-on. The town dies. There is a lot of this country that is still wide open and far from where the youth of America wants to live in 2011.
When viewing this from a crowded city it's hard to remember that most of America is open and uncrowded...wonderful capture, it looks like a beautiful building.
Very beautiful capture and a sad reminder of how things change
Awesome capture Hugs Susan~
A liitle sad but interesting architecture
Hmmm....maybe you should have posted a link to Wichita lineman instead :)
This reminds me of the school my mom went to in Ada Kansas. It housed all gradeds. My folks always went to the reunions up untill last year.. They knew everyone..
Interesting building! Excellent shot! :)
Excellent capture of this most interesting building. :)))) It is a shame that all of these beautiful buildings get forgotten about. :( Thank you for sharing a part of history my friend. :)))))) Carry A Smile In Your Heart :))))))
Built to last. I read a sci-fi story many years ago where all of the land mass had been paved over and one enormous city covered an entire planet. Alexander is just following a trend where all the small places, whether towns or stores, are disappearing and are being replaced by giant conglomerates. Meanwhile we humans grow further apart. A great image that tells a sad story.
Great capture of this awesome old Structure!!!
Wow, interesting looking building and while it is sad that the town is being abandoned what an opportunity to explore.
Interesting to read the changes in modern America - the must have been a bit of money there, once upon a fairytale! Clive
Sooo pity this beautiful building just stands there with no care. Supper shot.
And the really sad part is that this building will probably outlast most of the slapped-together glass-and-plastic structures we hurridly erect today. An excellent capture of this stately old building, Tara!
How sad! Nice shot though...
I love US-American architecture from that period and this is a perfect example of it. Too bad it's abandoned. So much of the USA seems abandoned or cast adrift today. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it ain't good, either! What I really like about this is the solid grace this building possesses, even now, in it's windowless state. The light is superb, and the details really pop out perfectly. Brilliant! Now, if only we built stuff like this today...something that isn't prefabricated and bland! This rocks.
Sigh .. such a beautiful old building with so many memories echoing through it's halls and rooms .. I remember the grammar school I went to, great big huge wide hallways, stairways so wide you could march rows of kids, 20 to a row, up them. It was a wonderful old brick school .. torn down now to make room for an ugly, flimsy new school. Sigh. Did you have the chance to get inside this one?