Hype for the Future 79A: City of Unionville, Missouri

Introduction

The City of Unionville is a city of under two thousand located in Putnam County in close proximity to the northern state line with the State of Iowa. Today, the community serves as the seat of Putnam County; however, a number of surrounding counties also provide access to the amenities of Putnam County including county fair tickets—even on the Iowa side.

Amenities

Located within the City of Unionville, the Putnam County Historical Society is representative of a comprehensive overview on the generally agricultural history of the county and throughout the northernmost tier of counties in the State of Missouri. The Putnam County Fairgrounds host the annual Putnam County Fair, with tickets available in not just Unionville, but also in Milan (Sullivan County) to the south and Centerville (Appanoose County, Iowa) to the north. In the present day, the location of the Putnam County Fairgrounds is slightly north along 22nd Street, or State Route 5, in the community.

Surrounding Communities

To the south into Sullivan County is the City of Milan, Missouri, identified as a community of cultural significance both locally and regionally. The exposition center associated with the county is located on the south side of the city, which serves the role of the county seat for Sullivan.

To the north is the substantially larger, though still small, City of Centerville, Iowa. The community serves as the county seat of Appanoose County and is home to the Continental Hotel and the Appanoose History and Coal Mining Museum, especially with the significance of the “melting pot” including more recent generations associated with Southern Europe accessing the region.

Hype for the Future 68K: Art Colonies of the New England Region

Introduction

The New England states have been highly renowned for numerous artistic exhibitions, exhibits proper, and related features of the situation. Numerous art colonies have been developed across the entirety of the region, but especially within Southern Maine, Cape Cod, and Western Massachusetts, as well as a plethora of additional communities throughout.

Notice

The art colonies located within the State of Maine, plus Cape Cod and associated outlying islands of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, have already been covered in previous articles, so this post will focus on additional art colonies not yet covered.

Brattleboro, VT

The Town of Brattleboro is one of the major towns located within Southern Vermont, along Interstate 91, United States Route 5, and the Connecticut River. Though the town may not necessarily be iconic specifically for the traditional art galleries as with numerous communities located in the State of Maine, the community is particularly notable for fine arts by way of photography. Therefore, the community is officially home to the Vermont Center of Photography.

The art galleries of the Brattleboro Downtown Historic District include the Mitchell-Giddings Art Gallery, the Windham Art Gallery, and the Gallery of the Woods, just to name a few. Elsewhere within the area of the Brattleboro community are the Vermont Artisan Designs, the Harmony Collective Artist Gallery, Plaza Park, the Brattleboro Food Co-op, and the Brattleboro Museum and Art Center.

The James “Jubilee Jim” Fisk Jr. Memorial, the Estey Organ Museum, and the Retreat Tower are located further from the central village area of the Town of Brattleboro, however, each of these iconic attractions also contribute to varying extents. Immediately to the south of the Town of Brattleboro is the unincorporated village area of Algiers in the Town of Guilford, home to the Guilford Country Store associated with the artistic and local community values typical of the area in Southern Vermont.

The nearby Town of Marlboro, Vermont, also contributes to Windham County and the greater community of fine arts by way of the surprise concerts of the Marlboro Music Festival every summer as well as the Pool Nature Center of the Vermont Museum of Natural History. While local bakeries may not directly be attached to the art and music communities of the region, even bakery cultures in regions such as Jacksonville within the Town of Whitingham, home to the North River Bakery, also contribute to the artisan culture of the State, even if indirectly.

South-Central Vermont

Within the area along the general vicinity between Bennington and Windham Counties is the Vermont Blueberry Festival of the Town of Wilmington, home to historic Molly Stark, the Crafts Inn, and the overall area of the Village of Wilmington. The surrounding communities are also home to similar amenities into rural areas, including the Readsboro Inn in the Town of Readsboro.

Cornish, NH

Unlike the Town of Brattleboro, Vermont, the Town of Cornish, New Hampshire, contains a historically significant art colony that does not determine the lifestyles elsewhere in the State or even within the county in question. Along Route 12A is a New Hampshire historical marker of the Cornish Art Colony, with Saint Gaudens Road branching off to the east and containing access to Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park.

Directly opposite the Town of Cornish, New Hampshire, over the Connecticut River is the Town of Windsor, Vermont; however, the artistic identity and expression on the Vermont side of the line is significantly more typical of the State and does not stand out to nearly the same extent as elsewhere in the State. However, the most significant attractions associated with the Windsor village area are the American Precision Museum, Lafayette’s Tour Historical Marker, and the seasonal Old Constitution House.