Inspired by the “stuff that’s not there any longer” thread. Younger Dopers can also respond, but I’m particularly asking for things that have remained essentially unchanged for, say, 50 years or more.
Last year I went to a trail, the road to which went past my old Boy Scout camp. Driving past the camp, I saw the old .22 rifle range I liked so much back then, still just as it was.
Another example is my aunt’s house, which is essentially the same as it was when I was a kid in the 1960s. (She still lives there at age 90.)
The house I grew up in is still standing. It’s been remodeled a couple of times over the years, but the fact that it is still there after I moved out in 1966 tends to give me a little toehold in my past.
The house I grew up in, lived there for a total of 34 years till Hubby and I bought our first house, is still there, and still looks nice, as does the neighborhood. A lot of our old neighbors still live there.
We now own a very nice house in a town about 12 miles away. But in my heart of hearts, I wish we had never given up that old house. It will always be home to me in ways no other place ever can.
Three blocks away from that, my elementary school is still there, still a school.
The church I grew up going to is still there, still as beautiful as ever.
I very seldom go back to my old stomping grounds. The pull on my heart is so strong, it’s almost unbearable.
My aunt’s house. She is the only member of my family that has always lived in the same place (since well before I was born). Whenever we go there for family events, I am taken right back to my childhood.
Queen Ester’s Rock where we used to play Indians and the Wyoming Valley Massacre monument. Also Knoebels Amusement Park which is larger but not that totally different. I can still take a dog along as long as it behaves.
The Sonic in my hometown has been in the same spot and unchanged since the late 1960’s. It was my favorite lunch in high school and we went there often on date nights.
Several Churches in my hometown are unchanged. My old elementary school is still operating.
My very first memory was being pushed in an old wicker stroller, past a koi pond, into the greenhouse of a botanical garden. This was across the street from the apartment building where the family lived when I was born. I’ve been back there recently. The botanical garden (Cultural Gardens) is still there, as is the greenhouse. No more koi pond, no more apartment building.
But the place we moved to next was a sparsely-populated working-class 'burb, 100% white, now 100% black. Most of the lots were just fields, bordered by miles of woods with creeks and all kinds of wildlife. Even a couple of old farms. Now it’s all built up, the woods razed and replaced by a major medical complex. I barely recognize the place. But I was impressed by how well the residential areas were kept up . . . nice little picket-fence-lined streets with manicured lawns and lots of flowers.
The house where I grew up is still in great shape. I haven’t seen it in person since it was sold, but I pulled it up on Google Street View not too long ago.
I was just thinking how, when I was a little kid, whenever we went anywhere we drove home via a route that took us by my favorite building, the Capitol Records building (it was round).*
Whenever I go to LA I like to drive by it to make sure it’s still there, and so far it has been.
Also, as a young kid on my first visit to New York, I fell in love with the Flatirons building. Obviously I prefer something other than a rectangle in my buildings…but I always like to make sure that’s still there, too.
*As an adult I asked my mother where we lived that we always drove past that building, because it seems to me that we lived in several different places, none of which necessitated driving by that building. Apparently, I necessitated driving by that building and would throw a tantrum (who, me?) if we didn’t somehow pass it, going, or coming, or both.
There are subdivisions where we built treehouses and a highway where I used to keep my horses, so it’s nice to see that some things are still around.
How old is “older”? I’m 40; do I qualify?
The music of Mozart caught me in my pre-teens, and it hasn’t lost its fascination.
Also: Star Wars, ([The Lords of Midnight - Wikipedia](The Lords of Midnight), and 22:00 (or 10 PM for Americans). I always had to go to bed at 22:00, and even though I haven’t done so in the past 20 years, something still smacks me in the gut when I look at the time.
I have relatives that have lived in the same farm house since before I was born. Visited there last summer. Lots of memories.
But … my uncle has now been moved into a care home. Who knows how much longer my aunt will last. Not sure if any cousins will take over the place.
In the same area are several other family places that have been sold off. Just saw that someone tore down my grandfather’s barn! The house is still there (and pretty crappy), but the barn was lovely. The house stirs odd memories. It didn’t have indoor plumbing when I was little. Outhouse and baths in a steel tub. Then they added a real bathroom. So it doesn’t look the same anymore.
Other places are generally run down, so not the same and I don’t care to see them any more.
