Downtown Columbia City Tuesday 12/20/2005

Mom and I walked around downtown CC before meeting up with my sister for dinner. We found 3 or 4 little shops open and poked around in them.

Each of Indiana’s county seats has a wonderful courthouse. This one really anchors the town of about 8,000 people. My sister’s house is just a few blocks away.The building on the right used to house Flox’s Department Store. I remember going in there to shop for school clothes and shoes. You walked down a sloped hallway to get to the area where the shoes were sold. Now it’s an office building.

I can’t help but find it sad that most real commerce has moved to the outskirts of town. I used to come here with Mom on Saturdays when I was a kid and we’d split up for an hour or two before meeting at the ice cream fountain at the back of the hardware store, or for Coney dogs at The Nook. The Nook and Murphey’s jewelry store are the only two businesses that are still there from when I was little, I think. I liked to hang out at Garden Gifts and pick out a magazine to buy.

I know things are meant to change. This little downtown has actually survived the arrival of Walmart as well as can be expected. I wish the downtown well. I hope that the influx of people ends up meaning that they will one day want to walk the courthouse and have a couple more restaurant choices, and it will revive a bit as a gathering place.

Don't get me wrong. They hold a lovely Christmas event on the courthouse lawn every year, with local people forming tableaux and narrators telling the Christmas story. And the annual Old Settler's Days fair is held downtown, with entertainment all around the courthouse and in the blocked off streets. There's still a lot going on here. Just not so much the daily commerce that small towns used to enjoy and are beginning to see again, here and there.