Cept, I don’t think it’s grain anymore. I didn’t trespass, so I wouldn’t know, but I saw no sign of grain other than the sign about grain.
Fortville is a small town, largely rural, northeast of Indianapolis. There are not a lot of towns like Fortville anymore. As we walked down the streets, I was reminded of the small town life I knew for several years in my childhood. If you didn’t get to spend part of your childhood in a small town, I’m sorry, but yeah, you missed out.
Didja walk railroad tracks as a kid?
I sure did.
Anyone else think what was the Fortville Grain Co. is now a stone company? Cause I do.
#ThursdayDoors is part of an inspired post series run by Norm Frampton. To see other doors of interest, or to share your own, click the link and find the frog.
joeyfullystated 
Absolutely a stone company. And they don’t want you stealing that boulder!
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Right? I’ll put that boulder in my handbag, Lois, no one will suspect a thing! 😛
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Not only have I never lived in a small town, I’ve never spent much time in one. I know them through stories people write.
I’m a suburbanite – was one in LA when I was small, Mexico City growing up, and most of my adult life here in Hamilton Square. I don’t think it has the same identity as a small town, except that there are things like Scouts and the high school has a football team.
New Jersey has vast sections that just keep going, places like Clifton and Paterson which grew together at the edges, so one side of a street will be in one and the other side in the other. It’s weird, but I’m used to it. No real town center, or strong identity. Part of it was that, because I was ill, I homeschooled the kids, so they didn’t go to the local schools except for a year or two here and there. Our cohort was other homeschoolers close enough to drive to.
I have an idea of what things look like, but not how they’re lived in a small town (except from movies and TV, and we all know how accurate those are).
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Small towns are wonderful when you’re a child. I’m not sure they’re as great once you hit puberty. I could be wrong, I dunno.
Indianapolis is always expanding too, as cities do. They remove the corn and build the cookie cutter houses. Bah.
Lots of places here where one side of the street is Indy and the other is Carmel, Speedway, Cumberland, Southport, etc.
I am not a suburbanite. Was for a while. Can’t.
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I HATE the cookie-cutter houses in cornfields. No one has enough money for landscaping when they move in, and they don’t have the foresight to buy short inexpensive trees and plant them right away, and twenty years later the houses still look like oversized mushroom in cornfields.
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Exactly. We once did that, and 18 years later, they do look as barren as they did when we moved in. Of course, gone are all the cornfields around the neighborhood as well. Just more of the same empty shells, different “curb appeal” — whatever was hot at the mo.
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The first thing I did when we moved in was to plant trees. 10-37 years later they, and the volunteer seedlings that planted themselves in the pachysandra (another of my additions – so we wouldn’t have to mow the slope), are really big trees. Love it.
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Wonderful!
Ours was a cul-de-sac community, HOA, no room to plant trees — backyard TINY — each cul-de-sac had one sad lil maple. Now they’re maybe 50 ft tall, but not all of them made it.
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Cul-de-sac is what sells this house.
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I know it, cause I am all about livin outta the way 🙂 So nice for kids, too. My version is now a dead end street!
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I grew up in Middlesex County. Rahway, Iselin, Colonia….all ran together. Not anything like that here in Florida. I so miss that about NJ!
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It’s kind of weird, though, if you think about it: no town center, no real boundaries, harder to do football rivalries (Friday Nights).
Not my thing, as I am very negative about organized sports, and my kids, thankfully, didn’t have much interest, either. No, I didn’t tell them how much I hate things like baseball. But of course neither their dad nor I did the sports parent thing.
I guess it’s good exercise, but I think we owe student athletes an education first. The statistics on the kids who dream of national teams is very bad – a few years later and a bum knee, all the money is gone.
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Yeah, if they are making grain out of those rocks, I bet it’s crunchy. I walked RR tracks, high trestles over wide rivers, and hopped on the slow moving trains for rides — played hobo sometimes. It was dangerous, but what wasn’t? I still like trains and can easily romanticize about back then. Loved your pics of the tracks. Made me wanna go down there and see.
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Yeah, it was dangerous, but looking back, it was also good times 🙂
I feel the same way when I cross a long expanse of track. Thanks so much.
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We have to work on your trespassing skills 🙂
I do think it’s a stone place, and I love finding places like this with a connection to the past and a purpose that will keep the building maintained for at least a few more years.
I did walk train tracks as a kid. I’ve been known to step out there and get some pictures as an adult. There’s something special about those parallel steel lines. You captured some wonderful ones!
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Thanks!
I really do love to cross them on foot like that, it’s like time travel.Time travel is way better than trespassing! 🙂
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I did indeed walk along railroad tracks as a kid. Luckily, all ended well. 😁
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😀
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I spent a little time in a small town where my grandfather lived. (Oakland City). That is where I walked the railroad tracks. Small town living had to wait until I was an adult. Moriarty New Mexico. Clara was raised in Shoals and we used to visit there. We even thought about retiring there. Small towns do have a certain charm to them.
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Oh I’m sure it’s still pretty in Shoals!
Oakland City’s way down there where The Mister’s parents grew up! Ooh, that’s farrr! lol
Small towns can be charming as all get out 🙂
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It sure is far. When I was little it took 6 hours or more to travel it.
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GASP!
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Yup they are definitely dealing in stone, concrete, gravel, paving stone, or all of the above.
It’s awesome that they can do it while preserving an important piece of history.
Though I am a city boy through and through, I was lucky enough to get some exposure to small town farm life thanks to my grandparents when I was little. Tire swinging into a pond, catching frogs at same pond, and walking on railway tracks with friends, and making darn sure not to tell the grown-ups about it (!) – check 😉
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Right? Nice they use the landmark’s sign.
Look at us, all discouraged from walking the tracks, but we all did it anyway!
I am certain summers spent in the country, or a small town, are the most idyllic.
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Love these pics! That mural is a super-extra-point-type winner, I’m thinkin’. See you termorrer? Wheeeeeeeee!
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I know! That mural! I had to include it, it’s so well done!
I will see you termorrer, I’ll text ya when I’m knowin times 🙂 Wheeeeee!
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I like how they kept the grain sign, even though it’s now a different business. Love the railroad tracks! I walked a few back then. Later on, my girls probably did, too. The trains came by on the other side of our back yard, in the little south TX town we lived in. They’d wave to the engineer and the guy in the caboose as they went by. Sometimes hobos would hop off and come to the back door asking for a handout. I’d give them PB&J sandwiches, and they’d be on their way.
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Me too, glad they kept the sign.
That’s groovy! 🙂 I like that you shared that experience with your kids. Don’t think any of mine have walked the tracks.
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We live in a small-ish town but not so small as that. Love the mural. Definitely some kind of stone work being done there. Trains – I live right across the street from our train station so we used to have to cross the tracks to get to the other side but a few years ago they elevated it so now the train runs above us. Happy Thursday
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Oh cool! Why have you not shared this across the street train station? Do you have any idea how many of us love the trains?!? 🙂
The mural is incredible, isn’t it? I was impressed!
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I guess I haven’t shared on here but at Christmas time CalTrain has a special Holiday train that passes by and I’ve gotten video of it. When the kids were little and the train station was on ground level it used to stop and they would sing Christmas carols and Santa and the elves would give candy to the kids. It was a pretty cool, free holiday event. I’ll have to keep train people in mind and do a little post about our train station 🙂 Thanks for the tip.
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😀 OKAY! My pleasure!
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That must be how they make gluten free grain! Ah, small towns. They are dying all over the country. Everywhere we travel we check them out and cry about it. Glad to see it looks like there is still a biz there. We walked the tracks in Kalamazoo.
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LMAO @ gluten free grain! You’re a hoot!
Glad you were a track walker, too 🙂
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There was a little thrill involved with walking on the tracks, especially since my parents were a little “protective.” And then there were the times I wanted to just keep walking, if you know what I mean.
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Very cool former grain factory. It’s nice to see it was repurposed as a stone company.
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I agree 🙂
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I hope that it isn’t a grain company any longer, because that grain looks like it could ship a tooth. I love midwest old towns. Was the only good part about KC aside from the food.
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They do have their charm 🙂
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I like the grain/stone doors – hefty. But, I love the mural. That’s a winner, and I applaud the talent of the artist. I spent my share of time in a small town, but I never walked the tracks. 🙂
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Oh, Judy, you’re such a good girl! LOL
That mural is wonderful, isn’t it? The artist did an amazing job.
Thanks!
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I grew up in a small town, too, Joey. Loved it, and I used to sneak down to the railway tracks with friends. Lovely photos.
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😀 Thanks!
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A childhood in a small town is the best. Yes, we had railway tracks but THE attraction for me was the lake in the middle of town.
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Mmmhm, that’s a good one to have, too!
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Yeah, it’s lookin’ like it’s changed memes, but, OMG, my camera and I want to be there so BAD!
It’s a fantastic venue!
My earliest memories are while living on the base in Twenty Nine Palms. Talk about small town!
I went on a walk-about when i was 2.5yrs old down some dusty dirt road. Several hours later the cops picked me up…naked, twirling my panties around my index finger without a care in the world. “I was just out exploring officer, I know my way home!” Is what I’m told I said. My Mother didn’t appreciate it. The cop said he followed my trail of cast off clothes, and just cracked up.
My mom says she knew I more was trouble than even she had suspected then, and I was born under a wanderin’ star, but the small town and wanting to see more has never left my soul. I’ve always wanted to come home to a small town to rejuvenate, and get ready for the next adventure.
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Awesome tale of childhood personality shinin through into adulthood! 😀 I love the way you wrapped that up!
You were a wild child! I had one of those kids — While I put towels away, she went out into the street, in her training panties, with her spoonful of peanut butter. The neighbor found her twirling like that. I know just how your mother felt!
I do think of Moo as intrepid, and I’m glad to know she has this in common with you.
The Mister has spent significant time in Twenty Nine Palms.
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Love Moo’s story! She’s a Kindred Spirit! ❤
I have many fond memories of our time in Twenty Nine Palms. My parents maybe not. 😀
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I don’t remember living in a small town, (military kid) just small cities. My husband lived in town in New England that was so small, they called it Hooterville – if you remember the OLD TV show Petticoat Junction. There must have been railroad tracks in that show. (I’ve tip toed across a few.) That’s a great shot of the RR tracks by the way. https://youtu.be/2Jx2jEPvh88
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Thanks! That’s neat 🙂 I don’t remember Petticoat Junction anymore. I know I’ve seen it, but I can say that about a lot of shows from when I was small! The songs, tho, they never leave our heads, do they?
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The song and scenes that go with it are just about all I remember but that song is clear as a train whistle. 🙂
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I also think it is a stone compnay – and wish I had time to read the comments here – but I am logging off – anyhow – the doors that stood out the post were in the last photo – the complete gray coverage reminded me of when cheap painters come in and do an entire house one color – no trim – no panels of another shade – all one color.
and that last photo has SO much to visually soak up – like what is that long rod for?
and of course the stones – but also the angle – the bit of sky – the four squares ont he door and then the two window squares left – this is a nice composition and the more I look the more I find
🙂
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Thanks!
That long rod is called an auger, it’s a tube for the grain to travel through.
I can see what you mean in your comparison to cheap flat rental paint, lol! Good call!
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well thank you very much, Joey.
🙂
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Reblogged this on Where Genres Collide.
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These small towns carry a mix of nostalgia and pride that alwasy gets to me as well, Joey. I love stopping through them whenever I drive cross country. They hold history and stories behind their doors.
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Yes, each one is interesting, and yet, iconic. Glad you liked it, too.
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Glad to see that they kept the building in use. I did not grow up near train tracks, but I’m wondering if the scene in “Stand by Me” would have swayed me against walking on them. Probably not…but maybe 😉
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