Sheptalk

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Hammond Indiana

Subject	Message	Replies
Earl Park Indiana Date: 05-26-2009 By: Tom J	My mom and dad were both born and raised in Kentucky, and throughout my entire childhood we would head down US 41 several times a year to visit relatives there. Back in the 1950s and even into the early 1960s, US 41 was just a two lane road that went through many little map dot towns. It was an arduous journey of about nine hours to go see our relatives in those days. It was common to get stuck behind slow moving traffic and have no opportunities to pass for miles at a time. One of the landmarks along our way was the grain elevator "in the middle of the road" at Earl Park, which is six miles south of Kentland and four miles north of the US Hwy 41/ US Hey 52 junction. Dad would always tell Mom and me whenever we were getting close to Earl Park, so that we could watch for the grain elevator. It was an optical illusion, of course, but it sure seemed like Hwy 41 was going to go right smack through that grain elevator! As we got closer and closer, it STILL looked like we were going to go through that thing. It was sad to see grass growing in the cracks of that once proud section of one of America's main arteries, US Hwy 41, but I took a little side trip off of the four lane and drove down the OLD Hwy 41 headed south toward Earl Park a couple years ago, so that I could once again see the grain elevator in the middle of the road. This series of pictures will show you what I am talking about. Yeah, the road improvements knocked a good bit of time off the trip, but what do we do with the time that we save? I guess we spend part of it thinking about how good things were when we enjoyed life's little pleasures like the grain elevator in the middle of the road. Tom A 1967 Graduate of Hammond High who cherishes his memories of growing up in the Hammond of the 1950's and 1960's. Bring back those days! [IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y145/tsjay/Tom%20and%20Georgeann/img014.jpg[/IMG]	8

Replies

Date	Member	Message
05-26-2009 ( Reply#: 3125 )	S C Jones	Tom, I have memories of the same stretch of highway when we would trek off to Kentucky from Hessville. The curve to the East that was Hwy 52 shooting off Hwy 41 is a memory I have of our trips because we were headed to Southeast Kentucky and took 52. And, I so remember the grain elevator you took pics of and posted. GREAT JOB. When I was 5 or 6 I lived in the Earl Park area with a half sister and her family. Thanks for the memories! (with apologies to Bob Hope and whomever wrote those lyrics!)
05-26-2009 ( Reply#: 3127 )	Tom J	quote: Originally posted by S C Jones Tom, I have memories of the same stretch of highway when we would trek off to Kentucky from Hessville. The curve to the East that was Hwy 52 shooting off Hwy 41 is a memory I have of our trips because we were headed to Southeast Kentucky and took 52. And, I so remember the grain elevator you took pics of and posted. GREAT JOB. When I was 5 or 6 I lived in the Earl Park area with a half sister and her family. Thanks for the memories! (with apologies to Bob Hope and whomever wrote those lyrics!) Oh S.C., that is SO COOL that you also have memories of that place! Tom A 1967 Graduate of Hammond High who cherishes his memories of growing up in the Hammond of the 1950's and 1960's. Bring back those days!
05-26-2009 ( Reply#: 3128 )	Tom J	When that stretch of road was still part of US 41, you never would have seen weeds growing so high so close to the road, and you would not have seen corn growing so close to the road. There's no telling how many years had passed between my last trip down that section of highway when it was still US 41 and the side trip that I took a couple years ago. I'm going to guess that it was around 40 years. I was very grateful to find the elevator still there. Tom A 1967 Graduate of Hammond High who cherishes his memories of growing up in the Hammond of the 1950's and 1960's. Bring back those days!
05-28-2009 ( Reply#: 3131 )	dilligaf717	When I was very young, we lived south of Kentland right smack on Highway 41. Our family went to peoples homes on Sunday evenings to pray the rosary and several of the people lived in Earl Park. My sister and I used to sit by the road in the summer and wave to the National Guard convoys traveling to Grayling, Michigan for summer camp. Our Dad was in the guard, so we empathized with the soldiers. Thanks for the memories. I took my wife there a few years ago. It has really changed from 1959 when we moved to Hammond. Jim Still runnin against the wind.
05-28-2009 ( Reply#: 3132 )	Tom J	quote: Originally posted by dilligaf717 When I was very young, we lived south of Kentland right smack on Highway 41. Our family went to peoples homes on Sunday evenings to pray the rosary and several of the people lived in Earl Park. My sister and I used to sit by the road in the summer and wave to the National Guard convoys traveling to Grayling, Michigan for summer camp. Our Dad was in the guard, so we empathized with the soldiers. Thanks for the memories. I took my wife there a few years ago. It has really changed from 1959 when we moved to Hammond. Jim Still runnin against the wind. Cool, Jim! When I posted this thread, I didn't expect that anyone in our small community here at Sheptalk would be able to relate to that place. I'm very glad that it turned out that the old "grain elevator in the middle of the road" is a memory that is shared with some of my friends at Sheptalk. Tom
06-08-2009 ( Reply#: 3180 )	S C Jones	Tom J. and Jim-- I googled Earl Park, Indiana and found a listing--History of Earl Park, Indiana---there are photos of the Richland Elevator--one of the original and a more recent one, not from the view that we remember, but, still, whoda thunk that Earl Park, Indiana would have a history posted on the internet--well, whoda thunk in our day that there would be an internet? Take a look, interesting.
06-09-2009 ( Reply#: 3181 )	Tom J	quote: Originally posted by S C Jones Tom J. and Jim-- I googled Earl Park, Indiana and found a listing--History of Earl Park, Indiana---there are photos of the Richland Elevator--one of the original and a more recent one, not from the view that we remember, but, still, whoda thunk that Earl Park, Indiana would have a history posted on the internet--well, whoda thunk in our day that there would be an internet? Take a look, interesting. Thanks, SC. I checked it out. I guess with Hwy 41 being re-routed, they don't make a big deal of how much it looks like the elevator is in the middle of the road. Maybe the locals never thought much about it anyway. Jim, did the folks in the area talk much about how the grain elevator appeared to be right in the middle of US 41 as one drove down from the north? Tom
06-12-2009 ( Reply#: 3186 )	dilligaf717	I sent the pics to my parents and they didn't even recognize them. Guess that they too have slept since 1959. I have another friend from that area I'll ask. I would bet that just like today, the road has been moved and the elevator stayed in the same place. Jim Still runnin against the wind.