Wadena:


It has the best downtown on the strip between St. Cloud and Detroit Lakes. Some towns seem well-preserved because nothing's happened in three decades; Wadena feels modern, but well-curated. The old bank building has been upgraded:

Now all it needs are tenants.

There's a perfect little movie theater, the Cozy:

Still open. The website is here. Another favorite sign:

I love that. Must be half-a-century old. Signage like this makes people know they live in a city, not a hamlet. Cities have neon.

Downtown has a pocket park decorated with giant puzzle pieces, decorated with pictures of famous Minnesotans:

Well, not exactly Minnesotans in the strict sense, but they did a lot for the state, and we consider them ours. We're generous that way. Wonder if Manhattan regards Gilbert as one of their own, just because he gave them a few measly skyscrapers.

I was pleased to see not everything had been restored to original pristine condition. One structure still wears a metal facade. Stores across the land were draped in metal in the 50s. Modernization, they called it. By now many downtowns have stripped the sheets and let the original brick see the sun again, but not every rehab has been, well, rehabbed. Good! No reason we have to pretend it never happened, or pretend that some buildings don't look better in a nice metal jacket. By now, the post-war attempts to modernize are themselves historic, and deserving of preservation.

One such structure had a grey-metal front, and everything about it said Fifties Department Store. In Wadena you don't have to guess: the full historical tenant list for any building is attached to each facade. This one said 1951: J. C. Penneys.

This was the embassy for the big outside world.

Imagine being a kid in the glory days of downtown, tagging along with mom up to the balcony. Your favorite spot: you could look down on everything. Wadena must have seemed like the whole world.

Back on the road; off to New York Mills. Continued this afternoon.