Photography: Arcadia 1

Now that I have my own car, I’m hoping I can start taking one photography trip each week. Now, I probably could have ridden to Arcadia on my bike, but I’m not sure I’m ready for that distance yet. I most certainly would have seen more granular detail on the bike, and could have stopped more places because parking is not an issue even on those narrow back roads. Of course, today offered very high winds in our area, and last night’s storms did come back in little patches while I was out. To be honest, I figure a small dirt bike would be ideal, but I’m at least a couple of years from having the money for something like that.

Most of these images will be self-explanatory. I just stopped where I safely could around the area and shot whatever I could see. I used my tripod quite a bit to steady for telephoto shots. For example, that first one was cut from a panorama that required using the tripod for consistency’s sake. Just to the right here is Coffee Creek, a major tributary to the Deep Fork River.

If you tried to tour this area using Google Streetview, you would miss most of the stuff I found. I’m sure I missed plenty myself at driving speeds. Still, it’s an image-rich landscape and quite hilly. The ridges are steep with quite a few rocky outcroppings and the foliage can be quite thick. There are lots of old ranches. This area has been occupied since before it was actually parceled out. The original name for Arcadia was Deep Fork Township. The founder is who built the famous Round Barn back in the 1890s.

The Round Barn has its own website. This place is a historical landmark and you can just walk in and look around for free. The lower floor is a gift shop and museum. The top floor is an event hall. The poor lighting made for a dark image, but I think you can make out what’s there. You can see how the rafters come together; they were cut from oaks along the river bank. They were soaked in the river, and then bent on a form and dried.

The museum includes a lot of old farm implements out front, each with sufficient labeling so you know how it was used. The little town does feature a few interesting historic buildings. Some are abandoned and collapsing, like this old farmhouse. The original Methodist church is well preserved. Some of the structures are simply kept up by the occupants.

This old stone storefront is now all house, so far as I can tell (Edit: Tuton’s Drugstore). There’s a batch of original structures from back in the glory days of old Route 66. There are several businesses still open in this cluster of log and stone structures. This little town is a favorite with bikers, of course, so one of the shops offers leather goods, including a lot of Harley Davidson logo stuff.

As always, some of the shots didn’t turn out well. I think Arcadia has a few more visual treasures to offer, so I’m planning to make another trip up here sometime in the near future. Maybe I’ll combine it with a look at Luther, just down Highway 66 east a few miles.