My last day in Greenville

Today is my last day in Greenville.

There is something in the air. It is slightly overcast today, not quite hot, but with a fairly strong wind. They say that a big heat wave is moving in for the weekend, with an expected heat index of 107 tomorrow.

I went to the Greenville library. It was built in 1905 with funds from Andrew Carnegie, hence it is known as a “Carnegie Library”. More than 2500 libraries were built with Mr. Carnegie’s money, often the library was the most imposing structure in town. The one in Greenville is quite impressive.

The clock in the round “Ladies Room” was built in 1800 in Bardstown KY and brought to Greenville by one of the early settlers who migrated from Bardstown to Greenville. So most likely I have some kinfolk here. Most of the early white settlers came from Kentucky, Virginia, or North Carolina. Accustomed to wooded lands, they were actually afraid of the open land of the prairie. I read that some of the older ladies were afraid that it would “swallow them up”!


The young man at the front desk was most helpful pointing things out to me, especially the Bible, which was the library’s first book. He said that not too many libraries could boast that claim.

I asked about newspapers. They had the St. Louis newspaper, the Greenville newspaper. The New York Times? No, but they had the Wall Street Journal. Bummer.

I also got some more photos of the art that is on some of the buildings around town. Someone told me that this was all done by the high school students. The doctor is on a Medical Building, the woman carrying the chair is a at an antique store, etc.







This is the old firehouse turned into an artists’ coop.

Just as I was bemoaning the insularity of small Midwestern farming communities, a woman with a Harvard t-shirt came right up to me and we started talking about small towns and Florida and radio stations! She wasn't the least bit suspicious of me!