Posting in Cafe Society, since this involves screenwriting and travel.
I am currently researching a screenplay in which a man from a large city moves to a small American town, population 2,000 or fewer. It’s the sort of town that may only exist in the movies, but I think it would help me a lot to visit some places that are somewhat similar to what I’m envisioning.
In my experience, most small towns in Northern California (where I live) are either tourist traps, or economically depressed. My movie’s town is financially robust, populated by people who are quaintly conservative (ie, not gun-toting rednecks) and have a strong sense of camaraderie and community pride. Sounds corny, but that’s sort of the point. It’s somewhere between Pleasantville and, if you’ll pardon the example, Mooseport.
So, is there anywhere I can travel, besides back in time, to meet townsfolk who’ve directly descended from a Norman Rockwell painting?
Not too many of those in New England – all our small towns were pretty much mill towns, dependent on the manufacturing industries and therefore fail your “financially robust” test. The ones that remain are economically depressed, bedroom communities, or depend on the tourist industry and local high tech. There might be a few healthy farming communities out in the Berkshires but I can’t think of any offhand.
Hmmm. Have you ever been to San Juan Bautista, about 30 miles south of San Jose? Folks there have historically resisted any “improving” of their town, so it’s a well-preserved, old-fashioned town center, surrounded by farmlands. However, it may look too much like a western cow town for your purposes.
Bonfield, IL, where I pretty much grew up. Something’s wrong with that indicated population, it must be the population of the entire zip code. There can’t be more than 500 within the city (ahem) limits.
Bonfield was founded in 1884 and has plenty of buildings from that time period. The first - and only - industry was the limestone quarry, which has been the town swimming hole since circa 1910. Bonfield had been econmically depressed for several years, most likely due to the decline of the family-owned farms. There’s been some new homes constructed within the past decade; I think they’re marketed at Chicago-area commuters looking for the bucolic life. Many businesses remain shuttered though, most notably the restaurant and the gas station.
More people than you had said, but it’s an extremely quaint little town, everyone knows everyone, big park in the center of town. They have a big Buster Keaton film festival every year.
I think Bonfield might be too depressed for your uses. There’s also the villiage of Herscher, which dates from the same time period. Its claim to fame is that the opening scenes of The Hunter were filmed there.
It’s fascinating, and all the gansters used to stay there. And the hotel looks just like the one from The Shining. It rocks.
Actually, a large portion of the Southern part of the state is worth checking out. You’ll have your rednecks, but you can definitely feel that small town vibe and the scenery is breathtaking.
I’m so used to staying in the city that I never think about how many birds we have in this state. Our trip home was fun for me because I just looked out the window and watched these beautiful hawks. They were amazing.
I’ve been to Lake Placid, New York a few times and I’m amazed at how small and unspoiled it is for a place that’s hosted the Winter Olympics twice. Just a small, resort town up in the mountains.
I don’t know if that’s too high-profile for what you have in mind, but I like it.
Here’s more, from another site – I really want you to think about Adel (and Iowans are famous for their friendliness, you know):
History is alive and well in Adel, Iowa. Located near Des Moines, Iowa’s capitol, the charming small community features numerous turn-of-the-century homes and buildings, brick streets and the popular Raccoon River Valley Trail, which serves more than 75,000 cyclists annually. The Dallas County Courthouse, a superb example of French chateau architecture, has majestically presided over Adel’s central business district since 1902 and is on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Adel Library and Community House buildings, both built as churches in the 1860s, also have been preserved and help create downtown Adel’s unique character. The rebirth of downtown has been a product of hard work, dedication and enthusiasm by residents and the local Main Street program, which was founded in 1993. Downtown Adel is known throughout central Iowa for its unique giftwares, and many other fine retailers and restaurants who provide friendly service and quality goods. Visit Adel!
Founded in 1847, and for two years called Penoach, Adel was named either in honor of a very pretty child or because the town was nestled among winding wooded dells. Railroad tracks that fueled the town’s growth have been converted into the Raccoon River Valley Trail, which follows original brick streets to Adel’s town square. At the center of the square stands the historic Dallas County Courthouse.
You might consider Sheridan, Oregon. It’s a farming/logging community, and it’s little nicer than its smaller neighbor Willamina, which is a lot more economically depressed and run down.
It’s a bit of a drive, but you might try Shiner, Texas (pop. 2,070), just don’t tell anyone about it…
Besides being a bedroom community to Houston, Austin and San Antonio, Shiner is a two factory town, with a wireworks and the Spoetzl Brewery just north of town. The factories and local farms mean that the town isn’t dependent on bed and breakfasts to bring in outside dollars, and I don’t think that the locals really want to attract a lot of tourists. There are a few empty buildings in downtown, but these represent a stable small economy, not a declining one.
Most of the families are descendants of German and Czech immigrants who arrived in Texas back before the Texas revolution. About half of the population attends one Catholic church. People come back to the town to get married. Being a small town in Texas, football is the big social activity in town, along with dances at the Legion hall. Kids are still kids (that is, a cross between American Graffitti and Robert Earl Keen, and everyone knows when one of them so much as gets a speeding ticket), the "traditional family values"never left and halftime at the homecoming game still includes a slaute to those in the crowd “who did their duty for our nation.” It’s “The Cleanest Little City in Texas”, though I don’t know if anyone is still awarding prizes for it any more.
It’s a perfect little western town at the foot of the Big Horn Mountains. Main Street’s got a post office, 3 old guys on a bench in front of it, an ice cream place, an old hotel and a park. For some historical local color, you’ve got Crazy Woman Creek and the Hole in the Wall where Butch Cassidy used to hang out. I think you have to cross some rancher’s land to get to it, though. It’s too far from anything else to be much of a tourist trap. It’s a genuine, old fashioned, taciturn, mind yer own bid’ness, John Deere riding, wind blown, fence mending, black dog in the pickup truck, sheep versus cattlemen, rolling tumbleweed town.
Although I haven’t been there in a while, Timmonsville, SC, the town of my Dad’s birth is on target for your population figures and always had a Mayberry feel about it.
Hanover, PA is well above the population you seek, but has the small town flavor to a T.
Try Rutherfordton, NC. It’s the seat of Rutherford County and sits halfway between Asheville and Charlotte. It’s small, out of the way, and as of 1998, still untouched by big-city-type concerns. It was where the textile mill managers lived, although the mills were built in nearby towns, leaving Rutherfordton alone. A very conservative teeny-weeny town.
Been there, enjoyed it! Nice caroselle (I know, spelled wrong) too! Did have an interesting time locating beer, however. I have a great picture of my wife standing under the “Crazy Woman” sign by the side of the road. If I had even the slightest computer-savvy-ness, I would link it, but I don’t, so I won’t.
I drove across the USA, avoiding the interstate highway system, on what would have been roughly old highway 50. Plenty of unspoiled little towns along the way. Stopped in one little town and had damn fine Chinese food. Kansas has the best fajitas (Topeka) and Burritos (Lawrence) that I have ever had.
I’m gonna have to disagree. I live about ten minutes from Lake Placid, and it is VERY touristy. That is the main source of income for the town, and…well…a lot of the people who live there are kind of snobby, in my opinion. They act like they are all high and mighty because the winter olympics were there, and blah blah blah. Not everyone there is like that, obviously, but enough of them to make me not like the place all that much.
As for a GOOD small town, that is not touristy, strip-malled/Wal-Marted to death, and doesn’t rely almost soley on manufactoring-esque industry, may I nominate Bristol, VT? Not a lot of info on the website, but here is a synopsis:
Population just under 4,000. A little more than you asked for, but a lot of that are peopel who liove in the town of bristol, which includes both the main village area, and the surronding rural area. The village area is probably clsoe to 2,000, and it’s what one would think of when one thinks of a small town.
An actual, factual Main Street with businesses. If I remember right, there is a pizza place, a flower shop, a couple video rental places, a diner, a chinese food place, a nice, more upscale restaurant, a video rental place (called moovies etc…, no less…complete with Holstein cow print sign,) several small “quaint” stores, selling everything from clothes, to candy, to candles, to arts and crafts.
Every Wednesday evening during the summer, the town band plays on the town green. The green, BTW, is right next to main street.
There is a HUGE 4th of July celebration, one of the largest in the state, actually. Big parade, music on the green, more activities than you can shake a stick at, and even an outhouse race in the morning. Yes, people race outhouses.
The local economy is thriving, especially in recent years. Many new businesses (mostly those quaint stores I talked about) have sprouted and are actually doing quite well. There are two lumber mills, but they are far from being the economic basis of the town. Would the town suffer if they went away? Yes, but not to any large extent. It certainy wouldn’t turn it into any sort of ghost town, or be depressing.
There is a river running on the outskirts of town, full of “swimmin’ holes,” including Bartlett Falls, with nice rocks to jump into the river from (don’t jump from Eagle’s Nest, though…a few people have died doing so, most were drunk at the time, but still…it’s a little too high for the depth of the river. And NEVER dive from the rocks, only feet first.)
There are NO fast food joints, no Wal-Marts, Targets, Best Buys, Home Depots (there is a perfect little local hardware store, though,) or any other box stores. There is one grocery store (a Shaws,) a drug store (Brooks,) two gas stations (Shell and Mobile,) and that’s it for national chain-stores.
The people are a nice mix of quaint conservative (yes, they hunt, but they certainly aren’t ‘gun-toting rednecks,’) non-commie-pinko liberals (anti-war to be sure, but still oove to hunt,) and “granola heads” as they are called (I don’t mean to offend anyone, I just don’t know any better way to describe the community of people who enjoy natural foods, are eco-friendly, anti-war, and sometimes don’t shower… ) Everyone gets along nicely (well, ok, not everyoen, but as best as can be expected.)
All in all, one of (if not the) best small towns in America.
