Trousdale

Trousdale is a little larger than Fellsburg. It has a church, 6 or 7 dirt roads, and a park. The homes are mostly older, with some buildings falling apart. 

Besides the lit-up cross in my selfie, we also saw a fire station and an auto parts store with what looks like a meticulously maintained salvage yard. 

Our timing was pretty great... we ran out of towns in Edwards County right as we ran out of daylight. It was a good day of exploring.

Fellsburg

Fellsburg is a very small town with about four dirt roads. It also has an old school that someone is living in, along with some old buildings and aging homes. It's a very quiet little neighborhood, with some large, well-maintained farmhouses nearby. 

We loved the beautiful sunset! 

Offerle

In Offerle, we saw a bank, a gas station, well-kept yards, and some grain elevators. We also saw the Kinsley-Offerle Elementary School, home of the the Coyote Pups. Wind turbines were hulking just across the county line. 

The city park had a howitzer called "the spear chucker." 

Zed climbed onto the howitzer and called out: "Today, Offerle. Tomorrow, the world!" 

Magen approved of the park's public bathroom (high praise indeed).

Kinsley

Kinsley was another fair-sized town, just under 1,500 people. We stopped at the Kinsley Food Pride to pick up some dinner. Downtown, there are lots of little businesses, including a movie theater. We saw some water coming out of the back of the theater in a sort of fountain. It didn't look intentional, but was at least interesting.

The downtown area has brick streets. Like in Belpre, we saw another water tower infested by vultures. Here, they were all over the grain elevator as well. We saw the Brodbeck Carnival, the Edwards County recycling center, a 4-H extension office, and a few little antique shops. The junior / senior high school has a very distinctive dome shape. (Home of the Coyotes!) 

Along with all of these other things, we also saw a cute little Episcopal chapel, the county fairgrounds, a swimming pool, and an amphitheater. South of town, there are lots of small hills.

Lewis

In Lewis, we found more grain elevators (surprise, surprise). It also had a really nice welcome sign by the highway! Near the grain elevators, we saw the Cross Mfg Inc. trailer park.

The downtown was cute, with brick buildings, a post office, city hall, library, and a number of small businesses. With a population around 400, it's a bit of a bigger town. We were amused to see a cow shed (i.e., a shed painted like a dairy cow). Some of the roads were gravel, but were very nice and well-maintained. Some other things we saw: A school with football field, a little park by water tower, churches, and murals downtown.

Belpre

The bad news: My old iPhone finally gave up the ghost, taking along with it many of the photos from this trip. The good news: Here's a picture of three good-looking and goofy Hawkinson cousins (Myrick, Joel, and Olivia) from the same weekend.

In Belpre (not pictured), we found a grain elevator, a beautiful brick church (St. Bernard Church and school), and some dirt roads. It's a fair-sized little town. It also had a Mexican restaurant/liquor store, an old jail in someone’s front yard, a nice little park, a post office, and some unused downtown buildings. As in many towns this size, some old houses were falling apart, while others were well-maintained.  A committee of turkey vultures was congregated on the town water tower, and the recent rain had left puddles of standing water in many yards.

The town's name is apparently a contraction of the French Belle Prairie, which is fitting: The open grasslands around here are certainly beautiful, especially after a much-needed summer rain.

Ogallah

Ogallah is a tiny unincorporated community, marked by a number of old and abandoned buildings, some modest homes down gravel roads, and Ogallah Christian Church. Just down the road, you can visit the lovely historic Emanuel Lutheran Church.