The Spokesrider » 2008-Jun-01

Noble commodities

Spokesrider — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 03:51:18 +0000

One of the things that the rectangular survey system did was turn land into a commodity that could be easily identified, bought, and sold. Perhaps Adam Engle was someone who did a lot of trading in that commodity market.

Hawville

Spokesrider — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 04:41:09 +0000

I’ve already written about the surprise of my first-ever ride to Topeka in LaGrange County, Indiana. This was the road by which I rode on that day in 1997. The above sign about “Life in the Past Lane” wasn’t there back then. This is downtown Topeka, facing west (again). Just down the street and on [...]

Mistaken memory

Spokesrider — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 03:16:24 +0000

Last week, in telling about the previous Sunday’s ride, I explained how after taking a mile of gravel road, I came to a place where I decided to continue on gravel instead of taking the paved road. Here’s the intersection where I made that decision. Except I remembered it wrong. I didn’t take the gravel [...]

David Rogers, land speculator

Spokesrider — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 01:47:23 +0000

Douglas Hurt writes about land speculators in “The Ohio Frontier” (1996). Smaller property owners resented the land speculators, not because they owned more land than everyone else, but because they didn’t pay much in taxes. If they were required to pay taxes at the same rate as others, they would have to sell their parcels [...]

David Rogers Park

Spokesrider — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 07:10:06 +0000

The David Rogers Park is near the south end of HawPatch road, at the head of a branch of the Elkhart River. I nominate it for the world’s most tranquil, refreshing rural park. Maybe it’s different when a lot of people are here, but I’ve hardly ever found other people here. One time it was [...]

Nasby Dam

Spokesrider — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 03:02:36 +0000

This road, from the beginning of last Sunday’s ride, is now added to my list of favorites. It’s not quite in the same league as the Hawpatch Road, but it’s a pleasant 5-mile stretch where the motorized traffic has been very sparse every time I’ve ridden there. Map of the road This map shows the [...]

More Hawpatch Road

Spokesrider — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 04:15:18 +0000

Most of the buildings along Hawpatch Road are neat and Amish white. But there are a couple of derelict buildings. One is a church. The other is this old school. At least I presume it was a school. There is also a newer-looking Amish school down the road. This derelict looks like it never was [...]

Hawpatch Road

Spokesrider — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 05:04:31 +0000

Over at Amish America, Erik was commenting on how the part of the LaGrange-Elkhart settlement that lies east of Emma (in LaGrange county) is one of his favorites to visit. Well, there’s a road through it that rates high on my list of favorite roads to ride. It’s the Hawpatch Road — part of a [...]

Day of rest

Spokesrider — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 04:37:07 +0000

I had a nice overnight bike ride this weekend. Yesterday afternoon I rode 65 miles to Mongo, Indiana. Today I did a leisurely 39 miles to Ligonier. Yearly mileage to date: 837.7. I took several gravel roads today, which is one of the things that made it leisurely. I’m glad I took the one on [...]