Downtown Palmyra is typical of many small county seats: an abundance of Italianate storefronts of about two stories high that were built in clusters so they create a “street wall” along Main Street.

What is fun to see is how buildings, built at the same time or within the same decade, have taken on lives of their own over the last one hundred years or so.

Some are largely the same, with their original cast iron storefronts, while others have received upgrades in the 1950s or 60s.

Then we have larger “freestanding” buildings on the corner; was this storefront below a department store at one point? It was obviously a larger concern of some sort.

The external staircase to the second floor might point to its original use, as well as the ghost sign.

Across the street, I have a feeling this cast iron Corinthian Order column came from St. Louis.

The banks all saw themselves get new buildings in the early Twentieth Century, as can be seen below, in the new Beaux-Arts style.

For some reason I was fascinated with the backs of buildings back in 2008.

As is typical, the more wealthy and prominent members of the community lived closer to downtown in most American cities for most of the nation’s history, really only changing their residential habits after the invention of the automobile.

This Neo-Classical church with its Pantheon-inspired dome is a nice addition on the edge of the downtown area.