Sunday, July 5, 2009

To Wisconsin and Home


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Tomorrow, Monday July 6th...I will be leaving for a road trip to South Beloit IL.
This is a town that sits on the Wisconsin/Illinois state line

Sout Beliot IL

I was doing a bit of research of South Beliot...and I've learned Beliot is a bastardization of a French word:Bellotte....meaning "pretty". Beliot and South Beliot are NOT pretty...but from the history I've read, when the valley was first looked upon by white men, it was covered in Elm and walnut, with a beautiful river running through the valley. It was a farming community for about 100 years...then...the industrial revolution hit Beliot and South Beliot...what a blight this caused in this area...

But once out of the city...once again the countryside recovers, becomes farming again...and loveliness stretches as far as the eye can see...as well as corn...lots and lots of corn.

I will be taking the "famous" US 51 Route...from the TN. state line up into Beloit....with lots of small towns and great photo ops to take advantage of. I will be posting what I find of small town Americana here...with you guys sharing the fun things, the mundane things...and even the sad thing...the death of small towns due to lack of traffic....ect)....with you guys...it will be a great pictorial, and I hope you will come and see what KY and IL. small towns are offering us in the way of cultural riches....