I have never been to the hinterlands of the Northeast. I was born in Las Vegas, New Mexico, and as your excellent article about Northeastern New Mexico pointed out, there is something special about being one of the few. I grew up on a ranch in Montana where our closest neighbor was 12 miles away, and our parents would leave for a week, and at ten and seven my brother and I would milk the cow and do chores and twice a day. Oh, and be ready for the school bus at 7:30. There is just something about places like that. Kids thrive, and self reliance is just expected. You are blessing your child with living where you are. I look forward to looking you up, if I can. If you head to Montana and want some beta, I would love to head you in the right direction.
What a wonderful comment — thank you so much. My wife is from Montana, and it was a similar deal where she lived. Middle-of-nowhere (or as someone said once, “middle of somewhere”). It’s just a neat feeling to be out in some wilderness somewhere, living in some far-flung spot … “one of the few.”
And really, thank you for your kind words on the New Mexico piece. I’m always a little nervous to write about places I’m not especially familiar with, and a kind word from a native goes a long way. God bless you and absolutely, if you’re in Northern NY, swing by!
I will do so. Ask your wife if she has ever been on the ferry across the Missouri north of Winifred, in the Missouri breaks. I think it is fancy now, but it used to be where you honked your horn and the couple living in the single wide across the river would come out and start up the little tractor tied to the ferry and put it in gear. the bare rim of the back wheel would wrap around the wheel and put, put across the river and pick you up. The roads in and out of the canyon were gumbo, and so steep that my Landcruiser all chained up was staying there if it rained. Keep up the great writing.
My wife & I lived in northern Michigan for twenty-four years. The economy there was heavily tourism based, with a steadily growing number of retirees from the baby boomer generation, of which I am one. Upon retirement, we moved to a small town in Ohio to be near our son and his family. We love Ohio, but I will always love the North and the wild, wintry beauty of it.
Drove rt 3 to p-burg yesterday & noticed the northernmost mtn in adk’s. Then looked it up. Lyon Mtn. My type of region. One goes hiking in the adk they coming out bruised, bloodied & muddy. It’s a different animal. What do you think of Russel Banks? He had the pulse of the region didn’t he? Bone rules!
That's wild you were driving on Route 3. Stop by the house sometime, you were not far from us at all! Russell Banks? I haven't read him; I am only just lately getting into reading fiction, really for the first time in my life... I will add him to my list.
I do want to make a visit. I’m onboard with your sales pitch. I think there are some real possibilities up there. Ie cost, workable infrastructure, ground floor of renaissance. The decay in which u write can be turned into a positive somehow
Absolutely — cheap housing alone is huge. We’re living very well on a laughably low sum of money… gives us the free time that keeping a community going seems to require. Without my low expenses, I couldn’t write; I always wonder what it’d be like if a few other ‘hinterlander’ writers, artists, thinkers, oddballs, etc all wound up settling in the same town together…
While more extreme, this entire piece is an analogy to the broader United States in so many ways. we play the ashes of a once great civilization. Now it is old, decrepit, and fading away. But not all is lost—we can revive it some of us, if we do the kind of work you’re doing and pray.
Love your writing. Glad to see you are hiding the name of the village. No place is able adapt to being overrun, even if in a good, life saving way. Communities need to grow organically, or through some managed approach. In your case, having full timers buy those vacant houses for sale would be a huge impact. Just think what an impact these new residents could have if they wanted curbs and sidewalks, streetlights, etc. like a “real” town. Or, it could be in a positive way, where they want to open a business or contribute to maintaining/repairing what was once a neglected park.
Rural charm is a real thing, your writing reflects that. I became a paid subscriber today because of your impact. Thanks for being you. get lots of sleep now, when the baby comes, you will dream of sleep while awake.
Thank you so much, Brad — I’m glad to see a lot of Hinterlands readers understand why I aim to mention the names of towns as little as I can. I have seen all kinds of places in rural America, ranging from towns to bars to swimming holes and hiking trails, get ruined because of too much online exposure…
I’m grateful for your support and subscription; God bless you.
I live in a used to be small town in Southern California and travel out into the mountains and desert nearby. It irritates me when instagrammers post, without mentioning the location, but if you know, you know. Then, someone ruins the location my saying where it is, providing the lat/long, or some other way to find it. Then, you go out there as part of your travels, because you knew, and it is ruined. I follow the motto leave no trace. There are plenty of places that are so fragile 10 people can do a hell of a lot of damage.
What’s crazy, too, is that when you don’t post the location and take steps to deliberately obscure it — some people online will go to crazy lengths to try to figure out where it is. They’ll post it, almost with a sense of self-righteous triumph, and I wind up having to a delete the post.
No idea what drives people to do this. To me, posting GPS coordinates of an awesome swimming hole, or the name of a seldom-seen town feels almost… perverted.
This made me realize the strange exigency of being sixty years old and yet needing to remain as active and youthful as possible going forward, not out of ego, but out of the need to remain the vibrancy of the older population. As first-wave Gen X, we will be increasing "younger" compared to sixty year olds of the past, based on where we are on the demographic hump. It's an odd mission to assign myself. We always knew this was our role---the save civilization but not until we were far older than when the Boomers set about on their generational mission.
That is a good point. At 60, I’m the last of the Boomers but do not seem to be in their same mindset. The Gen X group is closer to my mindset but not quite either. Then again, all that doesn’t matter if you are happy and doing what you want. What do they always say 60 is the new 30/40/50? Ha.
I wrote a very similar article about Northern Michigan. Living in the decay has its perks. As I put it, when everyone leaves, it´s easy to be king of the scrap heap.
Another great piece, thank you! However, I find it a strange companion to your previous piece about urbanism in a tiny town. If you hope to keep your tiny town alive, or improve it, you might want to start making plans to buy that general store when the owner moves on to Florida or (gulp) dies! Best wishes 🍻🇺🇸
We have buildings decaying from the 1930s. A lot of folks gave up then. I like to imagine the places when they were new and the townspeople proud and hopeful.
Hi.My wife and I will be visiting the Adirondacks in August and would love to take you up on the offer to connect. I have been following your writing since you first posted to the Free Press and really appreciate your observations of America.
I have never been to the hinterlands of the Northeast. I was born in Las Vegas, New Mexico, and as your excellent article about Northeastern New Mexico pointed out, there is something special about being one of the few. I grew up on a ranch in Montana where our closest neighbor was 12 miles away, and our parents would leave for a week, and at ten and seven my brother and I would milk the cow and do chores and twice a day. Oh, and be ready for the school bus at 7:30. There is just something about places like that. Kids thrive, and self reliance is just expected. You are blessing your child with living where you are. I look forward to looking you up, if I can. If you head to Montana and want some beta, I would love to head you in the right direction.
What a wonderful comment — thank you so much. My wife is from Montana, and it was a similar deal where she lived. Middle-of-nowhere (or as someone said once, “middle of somewhere”). It’s just a neat feeling to be out in some wilderness somewhere, living in some far-flung spot … “one of the few.”
And really, thank you for your kind words on the New Mexico piece. I’m always a little nervous to write about places I’m not especially familiar with, and a kind word from a native goes a long way. God bless you and absolutely, if you’re in Northern NY, swing by!
I will do so. Ask your wife if she has ever been on the ferry across the Missouri north of Winifred, in the Missouri breaks. I think it is fancy now, but it used to be where you honked your horn and the couple living in the single wide across the river would come out and start up the little tractor tied to the ferry and put it in gear. the bare rim of the back wheel would wrap around the wheel and put, put across the river and pick you up. The roads in and out of the canyon were gumbo, and so steep that my Landcruiser all chained up was staying there if it rained. Keep up the great writing.
Simply offering up and most sincere "Amen" to this. For a whole host of reasons.
My wife & I lived in northern Michigan for twenty-four years. The economy there was heavily tourism based, with a steadily growing number of retirees from the baby boomer generation, of which I am one. Upon retirement, we moved to a small town in Ohio to be near our son and his family. We love Ohio, but I will always love the North and the wild, wintry beauty of it.
Drove rt 3 to p-burg yesterday & noticed the northernmost mtn in adk’s. Then looked it up. Lyon Mtn. My type of region. One goes hiking in the adk they coming out bruised, bloodied & muddy. It’s a different animal. What do you think of Russel Banks? He had the pulse of the region didn’t he? Bone rules!
That's wild you were driving on Route 3. Stop by the house sometime, you were not far from us at all! Russell Banks? I haven't read him; I am only just lately getting into reading fiction, really for the first time in my life... I will add him to my list.
Btw, I recommend starting with Rule of the Bone by R Banks. You’ll connect. I guarantee it.
I do want to make a visit. I’m onboard with your sales pitch. I think there are some real possibilities up there. Ie cost, workable infrastructure, ground floor of renaissance. The decay in which u write can be turned into a positive somehow
Absolutely — cheap housing alone is huge. We’re living very well on a laughably low sum of money… gives us the free time that keeping a community going seems to require. Without my low expenses, I couldn’t write; I always wonder what it’d be like if a few other ‘hinterlander’ writers, artists, thinkers, oddballs, etc all wound up settling in the same town together…
While more extreme, this entire piece is an analogy to the broader United States in so many ways. we play the ashes of a once great civilization. Now it is old, decrepit, and fading away. But not all is lost—we can revive it some of us, if we do the kind of work you’re doing and pray.
Love your writing. Glad to see you are hiding the name of the village. No place is able adapt to being overrun, even if in a good, life saving way. Communities need to grow organically, or through some managed approach. In your case, having full timers buy those vacant houses for sale would be a huge impact. Just think what an impact these new residents could have if they wanted curbs and sidewalks, streetlights, etc. like a “real” town. Or, it could be in a positive way, where they want to open a business or contribute to maintaining/repairing what was once a neglected park.
Rural charm is a real thing, your writing reflects that. I became a paid subscriber today because of your impact. Thanks for being you. get lots of sleep now, when the baby comes, you will dream of sleep while awake.
Thank you so much, Brad — I’m glad to see a lot of Hinterlands readers understand why I aim to mention the names of towns as little as I can. I have seen all kinds of places in rural America, ranging from towns to bars to swimming holes and hiking trails, get ruined because of too much online exposure…
I’m grateful for your support and subscription; God bless you.
I live in a used to be small town in Southern California and travel out into the mountains and desert nearby. It irritates me when instagrammers post, without mentioning the location, but if you know, you know. Then, someone ruins the location my saying where it is, providing the lat/long, or some other way to find it. Then, you go out there as part of your travels, because you knew, and it is ruined. I follow the motto leave no trace. There are plenty of places that are so fragile 10 people can do a hell of a lot of damage.
What’s crazy, too, is that when you don’t post the location and take steps to deliberately obscure it — some people online will go to crazy lengths to try to figure out where it is. They’ll post it, almost with a sense of self-righteous triumph, and I wind up having to a delete the post.
No idea what drives people to do this. To me, posting GPS coordinates of an awesome swimming hole, or the name of a seldom-seen town feels almost… perverted.
This made me realize the strange exigency of being sixty years old and yet needing to remain as active and youthful as possible going forward, not out of ego, but out of the need to remain the vibrancy of the older population. As first-wave Gen X, we will be increasing "younger" compared to sixty year olds of the past, based on where we are on the demographic hump. It's an odd mission to assign myself. We always knew this was our role---the save civilization but not until we were far older than when the Boomers set about on their generational mission.
That is a good point. At 60, I’m the last of the Boomers but do not seem to be in their same mindset. The Gen X group is closer to my mindset but not quite either. Then again, all that doesn’t matter if you are happy and doing what you want. What do they always say 60 is the new 30/40/50? Ha.
Russell Banks, yes! And I'm thinking you read Jim Harrison while in Michigan? Similar spirits.
And thank you for this lovely essay.
I wrote a very similar article about Northern Michigan. Living in the decay has its perks. As I put it, when everyone leaves, it´s easy to be king of the scrap heap.
You are building it, and they will come.
Hi Mr Hickman
Another great piece, thank you! However, I find it a strange companion to your previous piece about urbanism in a tiny town. If you hope to keep your tiny town alive, or improve it, you might want to start making plans to buy that general store when the owner moves on to Florida or (gulp) dies! Best wishes 🍻🇺🇸
We have buildings decaying from the 1930s. A lot of folks gave up then. I like to imagine the places when they were new and the townspeople proud and hopeful.
Hi.My wife and I will be visiting the Adirondacks in August and would love to take you up on the offer to connect. I have been following your writing since you first posted to the Free Press and really appreciate your observations of America.