How to Read a Western Town -- Part 1

Most of our travels since starting Museum Pros have been business - related. While "on the clock" I make a point to use every mile to explore roadside history and small museums in remote locations. This weekend, we traveled to visit family, but even so, I couldn't resist the urge to get off the highway and explore the (few) towns along the way.  

8 am - Denver Airport. It was cold! We headed north through Brighton looking for a breakfast spot. Several miles and several degrees colder later, we found a fun place in Hudson, CO. You know you're in the northwest when a bison or two watch over your green chile omelet!

10 am - A junction in the road took us off Highway 71 onto Old Highway 71, and the town of Fort Morgan. Western towns make it pretty easy to find the historic downtown when they name the main road, well Main. Such was Fort Morgan. Art deco architecture on the bank and Masonic Lodge hinted at the decade when money was made, and the huge grain elevator just across the railroad suggested how that money was made. 

Noon - Nebraska. It just got colder. Towns along the 71 were small and corn fields were big. The Plains Historical Museum in Kimball caught our eye (although it was closed) as did an abandoned church and schoolhouse. 

3 pm - South Dakota. Colder still. Incredibly cold for a desert dweller. We crossed into the high plains en route to Rapid City. 

More to come in Part 2 - Rapid City to Mount Rushmore.