Update: New photography added in July of 2023.

In a clockwise route, we explored various small towns in Buchanan County, starting in the northeast with Lamont, where we first spied this foundation above left behind but incorporated into a horse enclosure.

There was also a half-flounder downtown on the main street, though I don’t know how old it was. Another sight was a statue of a Union soldier, which was a frequent motif in several towns and their cemeteries in this region.

School enrollment is drastically shrinking in these parts, and this abandoned building, shrouded in tall trees attests to that.

Moving along, we arrived at the town Winthrop, whose historic proximity to U.S. Highway 20 has allowed more economic activity. We were intrigued by this municipal incinerator building below.

The local grain elevator was surprinsingly modest.

This house has managed to be stripped of almost all its paint, save the white protected by the porch roof to the left.

The school district has consolidated, and this large wing has blocked the original front elevation.

This impressive bank building on the main street in town represents an interesting transitional time from the end of the Beaux–Arts into a more severe style in the early Twentieth Century, probably around the 1920s or 30s.

There is some awkwardness to the front façade; there is a missing cornice in the original design right below the windows of the second floor.

We then headed west on the old U.S. 20 to Independence, where we looked at the old Wapsipinicon Mill, where there was a small farmer’s market set up on the west side.

On the west side of town, where the post-war car-centric development occurred, we spotted this cool motel sign.

Interestingly, and I didn’t catch a picture of it, there was still the original carriage house still standing on the back of the property for the mansion that was demolished for the construction of the motel.

The motel seems to be an extended stay establishment.

Finally, we headed north to Fairbank, where we spotted this interesting church with some more recent renovations…