Comments on: Those Places Thursday: Delphos, Iowa

By: Michael

Michael — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 18:07:46 +0000

I like the old pictures.. I was born in Mount Ayr. We lived in Blockton at the time.

As soon as the Railroads left little towns started falling in. That was way before Walmart.

By: Jen

Jen — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 05:18:41 +0000

I agree – I think a combination of the big box stores like Wal-mart squashing out the small local places and also the wide use of cars makes it easy to drive 20 miles down the road for what you need instead of going across the street.

Michelle – it seems to be quite the “epidemic” in Iowa. I saw quite a few towns like this on my drive across the state.

By: Greta Koehl

Greta Koehl — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 00:02:20 +0000

What sad pictures. At least they can be remembered in pictures now.

By: Sheryl Lazarus

Sheryl Lazarus — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 19:31:01 +0000

I just discovered your blog–and it’s absolutely wonderful. I really like how you tell the story of your ancestors with text and photos–while linking it to the present.

Sometimes I think that the automobile and better roads that enabled people to easily shop (and sell farm products)in more distant cities really hurt some of the small towns.

By: michelle

michelle — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 17:46:28 +0000

My husband is from Iowa. A very small town in Carroll County. When he was little it had a store, bar, bank, gas station, etc. Now, all that’s left is the bar, post office, and the church. No stop lights. The buildings are falling into ruin. I don’t even know if any of them could be saved. It makes me sad that they are in such bad shape.

By: Heather Roelker

Heather Roelker — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 15:12:51 +0000

I blame Wal-Mart, which is totally hypocritical, because I do shop there. But Wal-Mart rolled in to a lot of small towns, built on the outskirts of the town and drew people away from Main Street. Mom and Pop shops can not compete with Wal-Mart prices. Obviously, there are other factors but I truly think Wal-mart had a lot to do with the death of small towns.