Shelbina is not what you might call the most wildly exciting town in Northeast Missouri, but it still has a few examples of wonderful late 19th Century architecture. The building below is a great example of the solid architecture that graced every corner of the state, before the coming of mass produced convenience stores designed seemingly to promote banality. The stone row seen in the pictures appears to have been anchored by a bank in the center, and was flanked by stores on either side. You can actually read the word pharmacy written in stone above one of the storefronts.

It’s a shame that such attention to detail that this one row exhibits cannot be replicated.

Update: Devastatingly, this building was destroyed by fire in 2011. I visited the town again in March of 2016.