Esther Short Park - Vancouver, Washington
Square Furnishings

      
In over a century,
      the stately buildings (like the 1889 Cooper Block, above) that
      line Main Street in Independence have changed little, a welcome
      exception to the scores of small towns that allowed their historic
      business districts to be destroyed in the name of progress. By
      the 1950s, highway engineers had begun to modernize Main Street,
      complete with highway-style light fixtures and wide corner turn
      radii (above, left) in an already declining historic district.


      
It was the good
      fortune of Independence that Highway 51, itself, would be bypassed
      by larger routes north and west of the historic downtown. Today,
      the City's street reconstruction project (above, right) expands
      sidewalks, restores historic fixtures and shortens turn radii
      to calm traffic. The renewed district captures its vintage charm
      and is once again thriving in a new economic niche centered on
      tourism.

      
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 All images
      are ©Tom Kloster, 2002, and may only be used by permission