Another swing through the Ozarks

In 2016, a 1941 Dodge panel truck, regardless of condition, is an attention grabber. It got mine. It appears to be what it is – something to grab others attention. It’s on Arkansas Highway 23 south of Huntsville.

Click on the barn thumbnail to see the real thing and more Corndancer dot-com.

Though I have learned that the unexpected is expected when motoring through the Ozarks of north Arkansas, I must say that when I laid eyes on the rusty 1941 Dodge panel truck parked in front of a cabin on Arkansas Highway 23 south of Huntsville, I did a double-take.  The cabin is of modern construction using the “log house” technique. It appears to have been unoccupied for long enough to be nearly choked by aggressive weeds (as if they needed any encouragement).

The old truck appears to have been parked as an attention-grabbing piece of yard decor. If that is so, it worked on me. Turns out, the old car was a harbinger of things to come. There was a decaying old barn less than a quarter mile from the old truck. See it and more barns, cows other stuff on the Photo of the Week page at Corndancer dot-com (It’s the grayish looking one with part of the left sided missing).

This well-preserved old barn is off Arkansas Highway 74 southwest of Huntsville. I had limited time on the trip and got a good angle without leaving the truck so I have no further information. Maybe next trip.

I proceeded from there to Huntsville and grabbed a Sonic No. 1 cheeseburger with a large sugary drink and fries then backtracked to where Arkansas Highway 74 peels off of highway 23. The stretch from there to Kingston, Arkansas was a honey-hole of photo ops including barns, what appeared to be and old church (mind you some of the old school houses looked like some of the old churches).

Although this appears to be an old church, it could be an old school. No one was around on Saturday afternoon to confirm or deny in tiny Wharton, Arkansas. Though it has been recently preserved with siding, the native stone, aka rock, foundation gives it away. It is old. What ‘UPPER WHARTON’ means is beyond me. Just before I got to this old building at Wharton, I shot a great red barn, see it at Corndancer dot-com.

Next door to the old preserved building, I found this not preserved and crumbling residence. It’s hard to guess the age, I’m thinking ‘old,’ as my best guess. There is a driveway ending a few feet from the front steps of the house, if that is a clue. Your guess is as good as mine.

To photograph the collapsing house, I had to butt the tripod up to a gate barring entrance to the premises, the left post of which was topped with a large rock. I have no explanation, but it must be a common practice in Wharton because a half-mile or so away, the fence around a fine looking barn was equally equipped.

Not far away from the gatepost with a rocky-top was a fence post with a rocky-top.

A Saturday afternoon swing through the Ozarks is a good way to pass the time of day. At least this weekend it was. If it is in the dead of winter with a few inches of ice and snow, wide-eyed fear and trepidation will replace wide-eyed enjoyment. But that’s another story.

Thanks for looking,

Joe Dempsey,
Weekly Grist for the Eyes and Mind

http://www.joedempseycommunications.com/
http://www.joedempseyphoto.com/
http://www.corndancer.com/joephoto/photohome.html

 

 

 

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