In many parts of America, waterparks are going
the way of the Drive-In Movie. Here is a brief photoessay of one in Texas
that, despite marauding developers, land-grab experts and bad weather, has
managed to stay in business.
In 2005 I took my daughter to a place we both
love, the Pacific Northwest. We carried with is a camera, a GPS, and a Fluke
infrared pyrometer. We took a lot of photos and videos, and discovered the
water temperature at Cannon Beach in August is only 43.5 degrees F.
One Saturday night in the summer of 1950, the citizens of a small
town in northeast Missouri--population about 2000--walked up and down Main
street until eleven PM. Many stores were open until that time, and there was
even a person on the sidewalk selling popcorn. It wasn't unusual. In many small
towns in America during the early 1950s stores closed late and groups of people
strolled the sidewalks until nearly midnight. Those days are gone, of course,
and in many cases, the small towns are gone as well.
Yet, all have a history. The photos and panoramas seen in this photoessay
will eventually be a part of a project to document small town life in America
during the mid-twentieth century.
The first site chosen for the Neighborhood History photoessay is my hometown,
Paris, MIssouri. Jane Bertels contributed to the photos and is one of the
principal designers of the upcoming neighborhoodhistory.net site. We hope
you like it.