© 2019 Rachel L. Shumate | All rights reserved.
One of my favorite things to photograph is old dilapidated buildings. It’s a little odd, I know, but for some reason the structures just speak to me. They have so much character and history to them that I simply can’t help but to get snap-happy.
A couple of years ago, a friend of mine told me about the buildings in Pocahontas and I knew it was time for a road trip. When I arrived in the sleepy little town, they had already begun a revitalization endeavor in an attempt to preserve a whole section of historic buildings. In this section, only the storefronts were still standing – held up by cables – so that new backs could be built on to the existing fronts. …I am very sad to say that most of them are not still standing, as the 2012 derecho storm took many of them out. The town then tore the others down, with the exception of the old Company Store which I understand has been restored to its former glory.
At any rate, while I was there, I was like a kid in a candy store that day. I was surrounded by historical buildings everywhere I looked. As you view the images this road trip produced, you may not understand my fascination with the ramshackle gems I found in the rough, but perhaps you will see past the dust and dirt. History is a fascinating thing and if those buildings could speak, I’m sure they could have told quite a story or two.
