US 40 Today Revisited
The following are a collection of photos published in the 1983 "U.S. 40 Today" by Thomas and Geraldine Vale, and new versions taken by me. The book is a collection of photographic updates from a 1953 book by George Stewart titled "U.S. 40" and features various photos of landscapes, bridges, cities, houses and people along US 40 between its two endpoints, in Atlantic City, New Jersey and San Francisco, California. I got the book partially for research purposes, in order to get an idea of the style used by others who have already done the sort of ambitious roadtrip detail that I plan to do, but I realized that 2013 was a perfect time to update their updates, as it fell on the 30-year anniversary of the 30-year original update.The photos below represent US 40 between Indianapolis and Salina, Kansas. In all cases, I tried to match the framing and location of the shot, based on the visual appearance and the description of the locations from the authors. I'm not a professional photographer by any means, and not only was my framing usually off, partially due to the camera I used and its different ratio, but I also go the shot location wrong several times. There are four photos missing that I was not able to duplicate at all.
- Just west of Indianapolis, there is a photo in the book of a farmhouse in Bellevue which, by 1983, had been demolished and replaced by a mobile home. As this area is on the far western edge of the ever-expanding Indianapolis suburbs, it's possible that the mobile home is now gone, replaced yet another dwelling type. However, because there are no distinguishing features other than the structures and some trees, it was not possible to determine this photo's location
- In the town of Vandalia, Illinois, which is at the western end of the historic National Road, there is a photo taken from the second floor in a building on the town's courthouse square. As this would require prior permission to access this point, I've chosen to hold off on taking this, as it will require more time to arrange and, on this particular trip, the times I went through Vandalia did not work out with when anyone would be available to let me on to the second floor.
- The next photo in the books is of the St. Louis skyline from across the Mississippi River. I was able to determine the location of where this photo was taken but, in looking at a number of things online, it became clear that the site is on private land, either owned by the railroads or Monsanto, both of which would require advanced permission. And the famously paranoid Monsanto corporation would likely not be empathetic to my mission.
- The fourth is just west of the last photo, and is of a roadside park. This facility is no longer there. I was not able to find it while driving and it was only later that day, when I was 50 miles or so down the road, that I realized where it was, though it was vastly different from what was pictured, going from a pleasant roadside park with lots of shade and paved access, to a dirt pull-out with a historical marker sign, pushed against the railroad with no facilities.
McKinley House, Brazil, IN
If you look at my photo, you'll notice a Century 21 sign on the far right, in front of the property. This house served as a B&B called the McKinley House up until roughly last year, and it is now for sale. You can view the listing, including many pictures of the inside of this beautiful house, here.What's funny about the title is that the house is actually not Victorian, but Italianate in design, common to this region in the time period when this house was built.
 |
| Front of the house, from US 40 |
Town Square, Marshall, Illinois
Marshall is not only off of the new main route, I-70, but US 40 also now bypasses it to the north. As a result, there is very little traffic in Marshall, and I was surprised how active and seemingly healthy the town is. What's strangely not pictured is the beautiful old courthouse, just to the left of the photos. As the original author, George Stewart, was not a fan of the more traditionally photogenic structures, it's likely he deliberately chose to ignore it. This is one photo where I completely forgot to take the time of day into account. The original photos were obviously earlier in the day, where mine is near sunset, causing shadows to cast over the store facades.
Thespian Hall, Boonville, Missouri
This was another town on US 40 that I had never visited, as it lies north of I-70, on a crooked stretch of the old highway, and out of the way enough that I would need something to press me to visit it. The old hall is still in use as a theater, just as it was in both 1953 and 1983, although it now seems to be less frequently used. The building next, noted by the authors for being renovated, is now gone, replaced by a storage facility. Across the street from where this picture was taken is a busy ice cream stand, in front of which was a young farmer, sitting under a canopy, selling fruit. Behind where I stood was a Curves gym location. It was just after lunchtime when I was here, and the traffic was relatively heavy on the street.
Liberty Tower, Kansas City, Missouri
Liberty Tower sits on top of the World War I Museum. To gain access to the tower, you must purchase a ticket for the museum, even though the tower entrance is outside. In the end, I'm extremely glad I visited the museum, as it was wonderfully done, and brought to light the often under-appreciated (at least amongst Americans) war and its effect on the world. I wish I had had more time to look at the exhibits. On the plus side though, if you ever go, admission is good for two days.
To gain access to the tower requires an elevator attendant to go both up and down with you. When you're ready to descend from the top, you push a button and he comes up. Strangely, the elevator attendant was the same man who took my ticket when I entered the museum. Once at the top, you're required to ascend 45 curling stairs, then are protected from the height by a 4-foot high concrete wall. When I was at the top, a group of high school kids from Nebraska came up, one of them too scared to look over the barrier. Another told me I looked like a college kid. I thanked him for the compliment (I think he was actually judging my clothing and appearance) and explained my purpose on the tower, to which he replied "Yeah, and now the pictures will be in color!" I guess it's only the natural progression of aging that makes you sad for younger generations.
Railroad crossing, Belevue, Kansas
This is one that seemed so uninteresting but, when I got up there, I realized how hard the shot was actually going to be to reproduce because of the vastly different vegetation. If I had had more time and was able to better set up the shot, it probably would have turned out better. But the fading daylight and a slow progression of traffic flying by me at 65 mph kept me from staying too long.
