Butch’s Friend Asks, ‘Where Can a Old-timer Loaf?’

   A couple of weeks ago, a retired fellow who I have known for many years asked me if the library might consider remodeling part of the library building for use as a coffee shop. “There’s nowhere for us old guys to talk and have coffee in the mornings, like the oldtimers did back in the day. All of the businesses and ‘loafing spots,’…the restaurant, drug store, elevator, service stations, barbershops and pool room, are gone.” I pointed out that the Marathon station has a restaurant, but he replied, “Yes, but that is three-quarters of a mile away on State Road 47. We need a place downtown…on Main Street…where we can walk to.” 

   When I’m at the library and look to the north side of Main Street, what do I see? In the building that housed Brown’s cafe, Harmon’s drug store, JoAnn Evans’s beauty shop, and Haas’s dry goods store, these have been converted to HUD housing apartments. There are also two HUD apartments upstairs where the Darlington Hotel was located. The furniture store next to this building was sold and used as living quarters many years ago. The owner, who hoarded anything and everything, stored so much junk in there that the floor fell in, and that building had to be demolished by the town.

   The next two buildings to the west at one time housed the pool room and a farm machinery dealership. Those buildings, which were constructed in the late 1800s, are vacant and in severe disrepair. The Vermillion Dry Cleaners building has been converted to a residence. Metzger Lumber closed and was demolished. Farmers Feed and Grain elevator closed, and a local farmer owns the bins. The former Warren hardware store burned to the ground in the 1980s. A newer building occupies that lot now and houses the town offices. The former Pizza King is now a rented residence, and the grocery store building has been converted into four apartments. There were three gas stations on Main street at one time. All three went out of business and were demolished. Dr. Otten’s former medical office is now a residence, and the animal clinic shut down when the veterinarian retired. Aqua Water Company uses it as an office.

   The south side of Main street has fared somewhat better, with Fountain Trust bank, Halderman real estate, and Palmer Hardware in one block, and the library and post office west of those. The Sunshine theater closed in 1959. When the west wall collapsed, the building was demolished.  Endicott’s barbershop and Ryker’s Plumbing has been converted to storage space owned by out-of-towners. The former Burkhart funeral home is now a private residence.

   In the mid-1980’s, the public warned the school board what would happen to the small towns if the schools in the towns were closed and new grade schools were constructed several miles away. People knew that the Mom and Pop stores, which operated on slim profit margins to begin with, would lose business and likely not survive. The public was right. Within a few years, five Darlington businesses closed, with the majority of the others shutting their doors a short time after that.

   Yes, Darlington, and most of the other little towns in the county, are not what they once were. For the most part, they are bedroom communities inhabited by older residents and those who commute to work in the larger cities. Many residents do not socialize like they used to in days past. Some have never even met their next door neighbors. They work, come home, and stay put. No use strolling downtown in the evening or early morning…there is not much there. As a child, I learned quite a few things in those businesses and “loafing places” while listening to the “oldtimers.” Kids don’t have that opportunity now.

   My friend made a good point. He needs a place to be with his buddies, enjoy a cup of coffee, and tell a few stories. The kids need somewhere to hang out, too. We are fortunate to have a great library, bank, and hardware store, but the town needs more businesses downtown. Take a look at the other little towns in Montgomery county. Most of them suffered the same fate. I told my wife that if I ever win the lottery, I would buy all of the old dilapidated buildings on Main street, most of them over 120 years old…bulldoze them in, put up new buildings, and sign the deeds over to any person who wants to start a business…with one stipulation…They can NEVER convert their building to a residence or apartment. In hind sight, there should have been a town ordinance preventing that very thing.

   She said that I had better quit playing the Hoosier Lottery, and try Powerball and Mega-Millions instead…Wish me luck!

John “Butch” Dale is a retired teacher and County Sheriff. He has also been the librarian at Darlington the past 36 years, and is a well-known artist and author of local history.