Small town U.S.A. is the heart of what America is all about — and something that arouses ardent feelings in those who have experienced that lifestyle. Some write odes to commemorate their small home towns, like John Cougar Mellencamp in his famous song “Small Town.” And others, like Solsberry resident Larry Shute, construct them to scale in a garage.
That’s right. The very typical small town of the 1970s — down to the minutest detail — comes back to life in the form of Solsberry, Indiana, in Shute’s garage, including the Illinois Central Railroad, which passed through this town.
“Small towns are on the way out, and I wanted to preserve mine in the way I remembered it,” Shute said. So he took on the project back in 1972 and has set the ultimate goal of finishing the city before he passes from this world, he said. So, the little town of Solsberry, population approximately 300, exists in duplicate — a little smaller, but in duplicate — just as it was and how it remains in Shute’s heart.
“It certainly is a labor of love,” he said.
“I measured the complete town back in 1972 — the size of buildings, how far apart they were. I photographed every building — measured how far back off the road they were. I wanted to preserve this community just as I remembered it in the 1970s,” Shute said.
The project was started, but Shute ran into some difficulties with space. Once that was rectified, he began building the town in earnest in 2006. He began to fully construct the town using model railroading and laying Solsberry proper in inches and feet on graph paper.
There were three focal points Shute concentrated on, he said: 1) the Yoho General Store; 2) the early IC Railroad depot which later became the Post Office and; 3) Solsberry High School building. Today in the real town, the Post Office and the school building are no longer in existence. (A new Post Office building was constructed in 1958, allowing the Post Office to move from the Depot to the new facility.)
Today Shute estimates that 90 percent of his town of Solsberry is complete. Even the famous Tulip Trestle viaduct, the only part that is not quite 100 percent to scale (but only because of its extensive length), has been included in Shute’s extravagant rendition of Solsberry.
“I had to learn how to lay rail and track and switches,” Shute said.
It has involved tedious labor but, “It’s all been a labor of love,” he said.
“People come in to see it the first time and immediately recognize specific areas or buildings,” Shute said. “They’ll say ‘Oh, there’s so and so’s place,’ so I know I’m on track,” he laughed.
And nothing is “dolled” up — if a building needed paint in the ’70s it still needs paint in Shute’s smaller version of Solsberry. Paint colors, roofs, siding are all meticulously matched to the real thing, Shute said.
Singing about it or building it — either way — it’s all about preserving that special memory of living in small town U.S.A.
‘Coolest small towns’
The top 10 “Coolest Small Towns in America” from 2011. To check them out in detail go to www.foxnews.com/trav
el/2011/08/29/10-coolest-small-
towns-in-america-2011.
1. Lewisburg, W.Va (population 3,830)
2. Astoria, Ore. (population 9,477)
3. Clayton, N.Y. (population 1,978)
4. Eureka Springs, Ark. (population 2,073)
5. La Pointe, Wis. (population 309)
6. Phoenicia, N.Y. (population 309)
7. Newtown Borough, Pa. (population 2,384)
8. Cedar Key, Fla. (population 896)
9. Ripon, Wis. (population 7,733)
10. Greensburg, Kan. (population 777)
— Fox News’ Budget Travel team
Features
Related Photos
-
Landmark: The Yo Ho grocery is a landmark in Solsberry. (Tribune-Star/Jim Avelis)
-
My town: Model railroader Larry Shute poses with his scale model town in the background. (Tribune-Star/Jim Avelis)
-
Customers: Passengers wait for a train at the Solsberry station. (Tribune-Star/Jim Avelis)
-
Repair shop: Larry Shute's railroad setup includes a roundhouse. (Tribune-Star/Jim Avelis)
-
Fixer upper: A John Deere store is open for business on main street in Larry Shute's model town. (Tribune-Star/Jim Avelis)
-
Open for business: The scale model gas station includes a mechanic working on a car in the garage. (Tribune-Star/Jim Avelis)
-
Coming through: A model locomotive crosses the Tulip Trestle in Larry Shute's Solsberry workshop. (Tribune-Star/Jim Avelis)
-
First on race day: The Ford dealership in Larry Shute's town has a wide range of years available. (Tribune-Star/Jim Avelis)
Discussion
Preserving The Small Town
- Features
-
-
3 virtues 4-H has taught these youths
Perseverance, integrity, honesty, responsibility and service are the hallmarks of any successful business.
-
YOUR GREEN VALLEY: A Wood’s student’s quest to save thousands of turtles
If you don’t like something, sometimes it’s a matter of taking it into your own hands to change it. For Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College student, Amber Slaughterbeck, that mentality couldn’t be any more true.
-
TRIED 'N' TRUE: Fix this Oven Fried Chicken ahead of time
When my brother Gary’s wife got breast cancer, he needed something he could fix ahead of time to throw into the oven when it was time to fix supper after Kathy’s treatments.
-
Fit for a King: Couple opens Clayshire Castle as bed and breakfast in rural Bowling Green
There aren’t too many castles around the Wabash Valley, but now there is one worth checking out. Sit back and relax, and let me tell you the story of the Clayshire Castle and Lord Douglas and Lady Josephine. It’s a modern day fairy tale complete with, yes, a castle.
-
Steps to the River: Watermark Landing project brings artistic recognition to Valley’s most prominent waterway
Petra Nyendick recalls that when she moved to Terre Haute in 2005 in hopes of opening an art gallery, one of her initial surprises was usage of the Wabash River by people in the city was so light.
-
Bond of Brothers: Performance to reveal complex kinship between Dreiser and ‘My Brother Paul’
Two famed writers linger in Tedi Dreiser Godard’s family tree.
-
Longtime weatherman Jesse Walker relates well to people of Wabash Valley
While in middle and high school, Jesse Walker developed a strong interest in the weather. He thought about a career at the National Weather Service or at a storm prediction center, but the idea of becoming a television meteorologist never entered his mind.
-
CULINARY COURSES: Clabber Girl Classroom Kitchen provides variety of cooking courses for the Valley
There are a few taste-bud-tantalizing-perks for having America’s leading baking powder producer in your backyard. For nearly 120 years, Clabber Girl has been a staple in Terre Haute. In 1899, Hulman and Company began offering up what was to become one of the oldest brands in the country, Clabber baking powder. In 1923, the company changed the baking powder brand name to Clabber Girl.
-
RIVER OF SOUND: Composer sees symphony bring his musical imagination to life
David Watkins smiled as he stood on the Tilson Auditorium stage. The audience stood, too, applauding.
Two of his compositions had just been performed by the Terre Haute Symphony Orchestra. Neither piece — “A Wabash Portrait” and “River Fanfare” — had been played publicly in decades. -
The Beauties of Spring: Stunning array of wildflowers bloom each spring in Collett Park
Groundskeepers put off the first mowing of Collett Park each spring.
Admirers of the place, Terre Haute’s oldest park, like it that way.
A stunning array of wildflowers covers the 21-acre lawn for a few short weeks. Those plants, known as “spring beauties,” emerge in March, bloom in April and go dormant by May, when the brilliant waves of white and pink flowers disappear. -
Day spent with daughter inspires Valley man to write children’s book for her
It started with a warm sunny blackberry picking outing, a bee buzzing, a little bird nest with eggs in it and a little girl begging her daddy for a night-time story. And from those ingredients the children’s book, “The Bee in the Blackberry Bush” came to fruition.
-
From kilts to haggis, Wabash Valley Scottish Society marks a decade of preserving heritage
As soon as Richard Cooper breaks into his Scottish accent, a smile automatically follows.
It happened last week as he recited a work of legendary Scotland poet Robert Burns. -
Witness to history: April movie chronicles Jackie Robinson’s trials as be breaks Major League Baseball’s color barrier — something Vigo County native Harry Taylor witnessed first hand
The upcoming movie “42” aims to show America what Jackie Robinson endured.
Harry Taylor witnessed it firsthand.
Robinson wore jersey No. 42 for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. Taylor wore 41. Both were 28-year-old rookies, considerably older than most. Taylor got delayed by military service in World War II. Professional baseball’s unwritten but ironclad code of racial discrimination had kept Robinson and other African-Americans out of the majors since the 1880s. -
Sisterly Habits: Fillenwarth sisters are linked together in more than one sense
The Fillenwarth sisters are sisters in more than one sense of the word.
Both were born two of the eight children of city cop Henry and his wife Catherine Fillenwarth. Both grew up among a large and giving Catholic extended family in inner-city Indianapolis in the 1940s. -
Geocaching Indiana: Clay County man develops idea to use geo-art to create outline of state in caches
Indiana, long-known as the Crossroads of America, has for years been a destination for people coming from around the world to witness such activities as the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race, Indianapolis Colts football games and Indiana University Hoosiers basketball games.
Since October 2012, Indiana’s attractions have come to include the surprising geo-art creation of a group of Wabash Valley geocachers — people who use Global Positioning Systems and similar location-sensitive devices to find hidden objects for fun. -
Voice of a Storyteller: Chance meeting of Twain, Paris youngster inspired narrative voice of Huck Finn
The block offers no hints of its place in American literary history.
Customers dodge raindrops, walking in and out of an auto parts store. -
Pearls of the Wabash: Efforts to reintroduce mussels
Broken bricks, shattered large clay tiles and thin strips of lumber nailed into a crimped piece of sheet metal, sit piled down a county road in Hillsdale.
-
Natural Habitat: Meet 17-year-old Ben Cvengros, who has a knack for capturing wildlife — in particular, birds — on his camera
I would like to introduce you to a 17-year-old Parke County teenager who has an incredible level of patience. Ben Cvengros was 12 years old when he found his passion for photography.
-
WORD PLAY: Scrabble Club broadens Greene County youngsters’ vocabularies and experiences in a fun way
Drew Helton nodded his head like a wise college professor dispensing scholarly advice.
-
Doing a lot with a little: Family’s resourcefulness leads it to reuse vegetable oil as fuel
Up a winding driveway, tucked off a main road in Clay County, sits an average-looking house in a hardwood forest. The homeowners, Chris and Lori Hart, are two resourceful people.
-
Crossroads Rep opens with ‘You Can’t Take It With You’
The 2013 summer season for Crossroads Repertory Theatre at Indiana State University bears the theme, Three Laughs and A Scream. It opens June 21 with a comedy that has remained popular since it was first staged in 1936: “You Can’t Take It With You.”
-
‘Pirates’ to invade Terre Haute Children’s Museum on Saturday
The Terre Haute Community Band will perform “A Pirate Adventure: The Treasure of Music!” at 2 p.m. on Saturday at Terre Haute Children’s Museum.
-
Learn about ‘The Wabash in Legend and Lore’ at Symphony fundraiser
Hear Vigo County historian Mike McCormick speak on “The Wabash in Legend and Lore” during the Terre Haute Symphony League’s fundraiser at noon Wednesday in the Country Club of Terre Haute. Reservations are due Friday.
-
GRAPE SENSE: Some think Chardonnay is next big thing in northwest wine
Does the wine world need another great Chardonnay region? California has the great big buttery, woodsy Chards while Chablis brings the mineral and acid. There is virtually every style in between from regions across the globe.
-
TRIED ’N’ TRUE: A Bar-B-Que recipe from my brother, Mark
My brother Mark lives in California. He does a lot of cooking. Both of my brothers are great cooks. (I’m the oldest of all my siblings.) Mark gave me the Bar-B-Que recipe.
-
Concert to honor Indiana composers, arrangers
The Terre Haute Community Band kicks off its summer season with Indiana’s official state song, “On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away,” written by Terre Haute’s own Paul Dresser.
-
Water show kicks off Vigo library program
The Vigo County Public Library will stage its kickoff event for the summer reading program “Dig into Reading” with a water show from 3 to 4 p.m. on Monday on Walnut Street in downtown Terre Haute.
-
BRUCE’S HISTORY LESSONS: This week in 1944: D-Day and the Airborne assault on Normandy
This week (June 5) in 1944, with the D-Day invasion of the Nazi-occupied Normandy coast set to begin, the man in charge of that invasion, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, paid a special visit to members of the U.S. 82nd and the 101st Airborne.
-
All Valley artists encouraged to submit art at Vigo County Fair
Artists from throughout the Wabash Valley are encouraged to submit works to the 84th Vigo County Fair, which will take place July 7-15 at the Wabash Valley Fairgrounds.
-
YOUR GREEN VALLEY: Recycling initiative in full swing at Vigo County Public Library
The Vigo County Public Library has recycled the weight of two compact cars (7,000 pounds) since April, this after an employees’ initiative to recycle library-wide.
- More Features Headlines
-
Tiger on Sergio: 'It's Time to Move On'
Robot Action Connected to Human Thought
Rain Damages Brazil Soccer Stadium
Obama: US Has Helped Syrian Rebels
California Cops Cruise on Stand-up Paddle Patrol
NYC 911 Call Lasts for 8 Hours
Falling Cable Hurts 10 NASCAR Fans
Raw: 100K Protesters Flood Brazilian Streets
Afghan Forces Take Afghanistan Security Lead
Transgender Candidate Running in NYC
Obama: NSA Secret Data Gathering 'Transparent'
Man Who Disrupted Flight Ranted About CIA
Raw: First Lady, Daughters Enjoy Irish Sights
RAW: NSA Director Says 50 Plots Foiled
Feds: 7-Eleven Stores Exploited Immigrants
Ex-NFL Star Chad Johnson Out of Jail
Today in History June 18
Oklahoma City Thunder Players Tour Moore
Iran's Rowhani Urges 'Path of Moderation'
Raw: Prince Philip Leaves Hospital After Surgery
Inside Kim Kardashian's Premature Labor
Raw: Huge Fire Near Yosemite National Park
Paige Butcher Scorches on Hawaii Beach
Video: worst way to load cargo onto a plane
Never-before-seen footage of '08 Times Square bomber
WATCH IT: Lil Wayne tramples American flag
Mariah Carey Looks Beautiful in a Tiny Cut-Out Swimsuit
Out of Control Boat Throws Passengers Overboard
See Lindsay Lohan in Rehab
Sofia Vergara Posts Perky Backside Pic in Thong
Gaga Ditches Her Crazy Couture
Caught on Tape: Teacher Accused of Beating Autistic Child
"Stay Classy" Campaign Aims to Curb Binge Drinking
Sesame Street Tackling Tough Topic Parents in Jail
Miss Utah Fumbles Interview Question
Deranged man claims Newark-bound flight was poisoned
Cameron Diaz and Kate Upton Show Off Their Amazing Bikini Bodies
NBA FINALS: Spurs Win Game 5, Lead Series
