utica

on saturday, kristin and i went to utica, IL. we had seen the billboard on I-80 that said "historic utica," so we figured we must be close. it was about 20 miles away from our campsite and it was a quick drive. we got there and turned left at a 4-way stop sign and headed into town. right away, we saw the tornado damage. trees with leaves stripped off. part of a building demolished with caution tape around it. we parked right across from a memorial sign and a row of white crosses. (read the details here and see pictures here. evidently the memorial was erected on the spot where the bar had been. it was really overwhelming and emotional. i had never seen real tornado damage before. wow.

after we read the crosses, we walked around the town. we stopped in some shops and walked down to the end of the street. there we found the la salle county historical museum. and hell, yeah, we went in. we were greeted by Jen, who gave us a little background about the museum and said that there was an old schoolhouse out back and if we're interested, we can come and get her when we were done with the museum and she'll let us in. we came across this binder of photos from the tornado. wow. we kept looking out the window at the town to compare the damage then to what it looks like now. they had a carriage that abraham lincoln actually rode in. they had a ton of civil war paraphenalia and tons of historical ephemora. it was awesome. when we were done, we found Jen and she took us out to the schoolhouse. wow. then she asked us if we wanted to see the blacksmithing barn. hell, yeah, we did. so we walked over there. i gingerly asked Jen if she had lived in the town when the tornado had hit. up until this time, i had been hesitant to ask anyone about it, considering it's a town of 1,000 people and 8 of them died in the tornado. but Jen had not been here, but her brother, who was a police officer with a drug-sniffing dog, helped with search and rescue. yikes. she pointed out some of the buildings that had been damaged and told us where the bar had been. when we got to the blacksmith shop, there was an old gentleman who was the caretaker of the shop. evidently, when the tornado came through, it tore down an adjacent building and took out a wall of the blacksmith shop. i asked him if they had lost any artifacts in the storm. he said that they lost very little, just a bunch of signs labeling the equipment. the wall had been rebuilt and used to have displays on it, but now it's blank and new. kristin said something to the effect of that it's nice to see a city rebuilding itself after such devastation. the gentleman said, "we're rebuilding, but we're not rebuilt." you could see in his eyes the damage that was caused, not just physically, but emotionally, too.

after the museum and a $4 donation, we walked back up the block. the town was getting ready for a car show that night. we passed some ladies putting up black and white balloons and checkered flags. as we walked past, they said, "good morning, ladies!" we said hello and kris said, "have a good time with the car show tonight!" they said, "oh, we will!" everyone there was so nice. laid-back. personable. old-towny. very nice.

we got in the car and pulled out (thanks to someone who actually let me out and didn't even want my spot!) and turned left past the memorial. we came across an old train station that had suffered damage, probably most of it before the tornado. we looked around at the damage still visible and were amazed at the tenacity of a tiny town. we then left. it was amazing.

before

after

if you love history and helping nice people out, make a donation. every little bit helps.

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