Pennsylvania
Related: About this forumA mini-America, frozen in time, is 'comfort food for the soul'
The village of Fairfield teems with life. Yet the ballplayers, canoeists and construction workers have been frozen in place for more than half a century.
America in miniature, the sprawling nano-village was the lifelong oeuvre of Laurence Gieringer, who began building models as a boy in Reading. He added on and on, until the village was big enough to fill nearly 8,000 square feet in a building in Shartlesville, Berks County. It opened in 1953 as Roadside America, The Worlds Largest Miniature Village!
And today, although fewer cars may fill the parking lot, the town of Fairfield stands open to visitors just as Gieringer left it when he died in 1963.
I dont change, said Dolores Heinsohn, the 69-year-old granddaughter of Gieringer who keeps Roadside America running today. Thats the key to me.
And Roadside Americas consistency is a draw for visitors. They know when they come back theyre not going to be disappointed and they know its not going to change, she said. I say its comfort food for the soul.
From cast-metal carriage wheels to zippy trains to architecturally true bridges, the miniature village is a wonder of artistry: every person, car and building intentionally positioned and no detail left untended. A blue sign hangs across the front door: Who enters here will be taken by surprises be prepared to see more than you expect!
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/pennsylvania/a-mini-america-frozen-in-time-is-comfort-food-for-the-soul-20170703.html?photo_16
There's is a lot of back story that is not in the article (basically the whole thing was put together by one person). If you're on that stretch of I-78 between Harrisburg and Allentown try and make a quick stop, it's worth it. Hopefully they can keep this thing open for a bit longer. An added bonus is hearing Kate Smith singing God Bless America at the "Night Pageant" (has much meaning for Flyers fans).
matt819
(10,749 posts)I'm guessing here, but I'll bet there are no African-Americans in this village. No homeless. No Hispanic or Asian. No single mothers. No homeless veterans. All the LGBT are closeted. Gas is 10 cents a gallon.
Two other observations among many others that could be made.
The population of the US was 153 million, roughly half of what it is now.
And the highest marginal income tax rate was 92%.
Nay
(12,051 posts)Nay
(12,051 posts)the tracks"? Anybody know?
flotsam
(3,268 posts)The man was amazing. As we can clearly see in picture #7 he foresaw Plymouth's designs from a decade after his death!
Freddie
(9,265 posts)And never stopped. Will have to take our granddaughter this summer. That whole region is frozen in time (and very red). Lots of good PA Dutch diners though.