Our Towns

The Prevalence of Vern

From Bill Bryson's "The Lost Continent," on driving through Iowa:

Every fourth or fifth community will be a country town, built around a square. A handsome brick courthouse with a Civil War cannon and a monument to the dead of at least two wars will stand on one side of the square and on the other sides will be businesses: a five-and-dime, a luncheonette, two banks, a hardware store, a Christian bookstore, a barber's, a couple of hairsdressers, a place selling men's clothing that only someone from a small town would wear. At least two of the businesses will be called Vern's.

Labels: Bill Bryson, Iowa, town square

posted by Matt @ 3:55 PM