Tuesday, April 23, 2019

Population loss in rural Iowa: Taylor County


Source:  Wikipedia (Taylor County, Bedford)

Bedford is the county seat of Taylor County.




Reading reading:
Farms' Crisis Endangering Rural Towns.  (The New York Times, 10/14/1985)
In a little cafe that serves just such a town, New Market, which has a population of a little over 500, Mr. Jobe, the chairman of Taylor County's supervisors, spoke of what small towns were dealing with. It was early morning, and the cafe was serving a mostly elderly clientele, with most of the patrons were ordering nothing but coffee. 
''I don't see how they stay open,'' said Mr. Jobe. ''We already lost our lumber yard, and we almost lost our grocery store.'' 
The store, he explained, closed two months ago but was later reopened as a cooperative venture of farmers and townspeople. ' 
'I don't know what a lot of the old people here would have done if we had lost that,'' he said. ''The nearest other store is seven miles away.'' 
In nearby Bedford, the county seat, a fine old Georgian courthouse where few footfalls are heard looks onto streets where little traffic moves.

Related posts:
Fremont County/Sidney.  (4/23/2019)
Page County/Clarinda.  (4/23/2019)

No comments: