The magazine of the photo-essay
November 2016 issue
by Leslie Hall Brown
“A free, really high quality photo-essay magazine. Fabulous!”
Stephen Fry. British actor, writer and film & documentary maker
Ash Grove, Missouri, USA.
Two blocks of history dating back to the 1800s, two blocks of buildings abandoned after the Depression, two blocks of
decay. Main Street, small town America, is basically a thing of the past. It is our loss, something our children will never
experience. Small towns, especially the rural ones, are drying up, like family farming, a way of life that is no longer
profitable. Our little town was once a hopping, nearly electric place where quarry workers and their families came on
Saturday nights. We had a train that brought people in from far and wide, who stayed in the multiple hotels. We had
an opera house and later two movie theaters. The quarry closed, the train left and now we are a ghost town, a
skeleton of our former self. We are Main Street America.
Ash Grove, Missouri has a population of 1421 and 20.3% live below the poverty level. The Median Household Income
is $34,167. This series is about the loss of Main Street in small town America. I hope this series will give viewers an
understanding of my yearning to save our towns’ Main Streets and my attachment to the place I call home.
Dancing on Main Street.
Facing North.
The Pool Hall.
The Farmall.
Trains, Planes and Automobiles.
Local Color.
Picture Time.
Leader of the Band.
Sharron’s Hair Fashions.
Sky Dog.
Small Dramas.
Main Street.
Fresh Air.
Morning Ride.
Wee Hours.
Dog Catch.
The Birds.
