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Thursday, May 14, 2020

Driving Around Northern Iowa: A Visit to Britt





Britt started hosting the National

This year's dates:













is housed in The Chief Theater.

It's closed because of






The Smithsonian has an article on the Hobo Lifestyle and Britt's Hobo Heritage.







Across the street is the







Eric and I order Breakfast Sandwiches To Go and look around the nearly empty eatery.





Hobos are always
welcome here.







Hobos are itinerant workers, who hitched rides on America's railroads from the Post Civil War Era onward.  Hobos continue to travel from town to town, working the jobs they find, and travel by rail across the country.

Five-year-old Stanley (my future Dad) found his brother Andy in the barn on the farm in Schodack New York, with his rucksack (my Dad's word choice) making preparations to travel in 1920.  Andy told Stanley to keep his discovery and the travel plans secret.  Andy worked odd jobs, wrote postcards home to his mother (my grandmother), in pencil, as he rode the rails west to Pikes Peak in Colorado.  Then he started his journey home.





Hobo House has a collection
of photos, art & Hobo
artifacts.
 A Hobo stands next to the Boxcar.  A translucent Hobo Ghostwalks into the Caboose.
  



Owner,  Mary Jo Hughes, in 
the pink top is eking out a 
living on Take-Out Service
while she waits for Covid
19 Restrictions to loosen up.










After breakfast, Eric & I visit
the nearby park.







A Marine Memorial
The Flag Raising at
Iwo Jima





I inspect the architecture
in downtown Britt.







Britt Railroad Station was on the Chicago, Milwaukee, and Saint Paul Rail Line.  The community grew up around the railroad.  






The former Bank








I imagine what they looked like in Britt's heyday....





Eric points out this eclectic
building.

It's former facade is
completely transformed.



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