Tag Archives: Small Towns

Water Tower Wednesday – Haskell Haymakers

One of my favorite bloggers Daryl Edelstein of “Out and About in New York City” posts photographs and commentary of various water towers she has found in New York City over the years. Every building over a certain, not very high, height has to have one and there are lots of tall buildings in NYC so she has lots of material.

So I’ve always been jealous of her rooftop water towers. We don’t have many of those in Oklahoma. In fact I don’t think that I have ever seen even one! But you know I have to go with what I have and what I have are a couple of towers in Haskell, Oklahoma that I found on a recent geocaching trip. Daryl is posting photographs of three water towers today. I found only two towers but I’m posting two photographs of each so I think that I’m ahead.

Haskell Water Tower 1

Haskell has population of about 2000 people. Does that mean that you need one water tower per thousand people? Would one of you check on that and get back to me? See, here you are reading my humble little blog and you already have a homework assignment. It’s due tomorrow! I’ll be checking.

Haskell Water Tower 1 - second shot

The Haymakers refers to the local football high school. I am not sure how good they are but their web presence needs a little help. All I saw was the 2011 football schedule and a link to a photograph of the 2013 team. I hope that their team is better than their webmaster.  You know how hot it is here in Oklahoma during practice at the beginning of school? It is darned hot is hot it is. They deserve a little more recognition.

Haskell Water Tower #2

 

Oh well, the school year has barely just started. Lets cut them some slack.

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This weekend I am going to my first High School Football Game since 1970, 43 years ago. I’m looking forward to it. Logan’s new school has a football team so this will be a first for us. Go Patriots!! And go Haymakers!!!

When was the last time you went to a High School Football game?

Of Grain Elevators, Courthouses, and Bars

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I was in the tiny little town of Flandreau, South Dakota. Flandreau, like lots of other small towns across the Midwest USA has grain elevators. They look simultaneously timeless and recently unused. They seem to be the tallest structures in town.

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The grounds are neat and tidy though. Everything in the upper midwest seems neat and tidy.

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Near the grain elevators is one of the largest quonset huts I’ve ever seen. It also didn’t look to be used but the grass is neatly mowed. The morning that I took all these pics the sky was as gray as the metal on the structures.

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This is the Moody County Courthouse. Moody County had its few days in the national news early in 2004 when a jury sitting in this courthouse sent South Dakota’s Governor Bill Janklow to jail for manslaughter for killing a motorcyclist while speeding and running a stoplight. They are still talking about it in town. You don’t want to mess around with the citizens of the rural midwest. If you do they’ll send you somewhere where you can reflect on your actions, for a good long while.

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Bars in South Dakota are serious business. You go there to drink. If you want to eat you go to you a restaurant. And no, your kids are definitely not welcome here. Here in Oklahoma if you want to have a bar you have to serve food also. The Bar-X Lounge in Flandreau is a bar’s bar. If you want to buy decent beer in Flandreau (no, Bud Light is NOT decent beer) you go the Bar-X Lounge and stand in a little alcove and get your beer. No unmasculine browsing or looking at a lists or anything, you stand up like a man and see if they got what you want. If you have a problem with that I think it best you don’t say anything about it. Not that I’m trying to tell you what to do or anything.

The best part of the Bar-X is that my Dad and his brother are friends with the owner (or one of the owners or a former owner, I’m not really sure.) Eddie is his name and he is a heck of a guy. I’ve been hearing stories about him all my life and finally got to meet him for a few minutes.

 

 

Hey, have you ever wandered around a small town early on a Sunday morning?

Check out the action in Flandreau here.