Category: place

  • The Water Boy

    The Water Boy

    I’m always amazed with discoveries during my urban explorations around Oklahoma City and the surrounding metro. Nearby to my favorite coffee shop, I encountered such a moment and, after a week, I’m still in awe of this sight.

    I’m going to leave names and locations out of this post until I’m able to find some more information to fill in the gaps. Honestly, I’m not sure exactly what I need to know since sometimes a hopeful heart can fandom a nicer fiction than reality.

    The location of the “The Water Boy” was brought to my attention recently by a friend in downtown Oklahoma City near 7th street. I’ve walked past this area hundreds of times without knowing what lurks just on the other side of the fence line. There is no telling how long he has been here or where he hails from. But he certainly doesn’t belong here.

    After visiting for a while and observing the left-behind impact of a probable nomadic homeless shelter, we could agree that someone stole the boy from a nearby water feature. But from where? And for what purpose? Did the statue provide some solace and hope from that person’s current situation? I can’t imagine it would have been taken to pawn for food or drink cash. This has to be an act of a higher calling. To what end?

    For the moment, The Water Boy is safe, hidden from public view and possible vandals but we must decide on his future soon before the modernization of the area quickly envelopes the hideaway.

    The images below were shot with a retro Carenar 35mm f2.8 mounted on a Fujifilm X-Pro3 and Pixco Focal Reducer.

    What are your thoughts? Please comment below.

  • Antioch, Illinois

    Antioch, Illinois

    On a recent trip to Wisconsin, I used some time off to travel around the area in search of interesting places and people. One of the first suggestion on a Google search was Antioch, Illinois, just across the border.

    In this part of the country, the towns are called “villages”, so that does require a change of mindset. The main differences between cities and villages are the government setup. Cities have majors and common counsel, where the villages have a president and board of trustees. The trustees are elected at large were the city major and the council elections are by district.

    Around the late 1880s, Antioch quickly became a popular vacation destination for folks 60 miles away in Chicago. The tourism economy grew after a rail line was laid to Chicago in 1886. Like Chicago, Antioch’s downtown has been changed due to may fires that destroyed most of the buildings in the area during 1891, 1903 and 1904.

    Antioch serves as a bedroom community within the two closest metropolitan areas of Chicago and Milwaukee.

    Here are some of the images I captured during my visit with vintage lenses mounted on the Fujifilm X-Pro3. Lenses used in these captures were the Carl Zeiss Jena Flektogon 20mm f4 and the Carl Zeiss Jena Flektogon 35mm f2.8.

  • Okarche, OK

    Okarche, OK

    Okarche is a combination of three words – OKlahoma, ARapaho, and CHEyene.  The post office was established in 1890 and the town was incorporated two years before statehood, in 1905.  In the 1890s, German immigrants were the largest population segment so German was widely used in the community until the US entered World War I in 1917.  Afterwards, bilingual education and workshop continued for another two decades.

    In November 1926, the federal highway numbering system was implemented and the Meridian Highway through Okarche was assigned US-81 and fully paved in the area by 1931.  The Northwest Highway OK-3 was a gravel road in 1939 and fully paved by 1947, providing a direct route to Oklahoma City.

    The town is best known for Eischen’s Bar, claiming to be “the oldest bar” in Oklahoma and world famous for it’s secret recipe fried chicken.  In 2009, Food Network’s program, Guy Fieri’s Diner, Drive-Ins and Dives, visited Eischen’s and the bar was featured in the TV show.

    Here are some of my favorite areas in town, all taken with vintage lenses mounted on a Fujifilm X-Pro3.  Check out the Forgotten Main Street Flickr Group for more images.  We would love you to join us and show the world YOUR favorite Main Street.