We had a family potluck in Ricketts, Iowa today. It’s a tiny town, in the midst of corn fields and farms. Seriously, I saw two streets in town that ended right in a corn field, with no dead end signs even.
When I was a kid, my grandparents had a farm not far from there. I spent a good amount of time in town, at my cousin’s house. There used to be a tiny bowling alley we went to. These days, the bowling alley is long gone.
A walk around town this afternoon led me to some pretty cool opportunities for photographs. Thought I’d share some of Ricketts with you.
Thanks for reading.
Jessica
©️ COPYRIGHT 2022 UNMEASURED JOURNEYS-ALL PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN BY ME- ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Unmeasured Journeys 
Lovely shots of what appears to be a sleepy town. I had to smile at the sign that showed Ricketts’ Centennial in 1999 – guess nobody thought to take it down after the event. Love the old gas station!
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I wondered about that 1999, too. The gas station was really cool. It still has the pumps, unhooked, but sitting in their spots. The building is really long. I wonder if it was a restaurant at some point or if someone lived there. Once upon a time I bet it was a busy place.
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I bet it was a busy place, and I bet the owner lived in the back. Googling Ricketts, Iowa now – LOL!
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We make a good pair, ha. I was going to look Ricketts up!
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I found a short history on Google. Pretty interesting. Now I know something I didn’t know a few hours ago! Thank you for sharing Ricketts, Iowa!
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That’s really cool! I just read something that talked about all the businesses in 1899! An opera house even!! Sure wouldn’t know it now. I’m going to ask my cousin if she knows or remembers anything about the buildings.
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Isn’t it fun to research a random place? That’s one of my favorite things to do when planning trips. Still haven’t been to Iowa though. Maybe I’lll put Ricketts on an itinerary someday.
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Ooooo!! If you do, let me know. I bet you would love Iowa. There’s a lot of cool places. Maybe put Pella Iowa on your list, too. The windmills are awesome, there’s a bank that’s a windmill, there are 2 Dutch bakeries, and every May there’s a huge Tulip Festival. And, it’s not far from Winterset, Iowa and the Bridges of Madison County. ❤️
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I’m in! We definitely need to head that way.
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You would love it. Like your Route 66 post. Lots of history and unique stops. (I’ve been commenting on your posts, but I’m not sure what happens to them.)
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PS I commented on your Christmas post- but I don’t see it.
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Good ole WP.
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Yeah, I don’t know what’s up. I’ve commented on several people’s posts and my comments do not show up on them. I don’t get it. I have noticed that some people who comment on my posts- theirs have been going in Trash…
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Oh, that’s weird. Someone else said they were having trouble commenting on our posts too.
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Hmmm. I’ll try again. See if it goes.
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I tried it- it’s been there for two minutes… hopefully it stays. Last time I saw it there after I wrote it, then it was gone.
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I commented on a few of your posts, one was up for 4 minutes. Now none show… I did a screenshot when they posted, so I know they posted for at least a few minutes… I don’t get it.
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Hi. I contacted wp and they’re looking into it. It happened to me on another blog, too.
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That’s so crazy!
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I might try commenting from my art blog and see if it goes.
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Excellent photos. The one of the water tower could almost be taken out my back door.
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Hi. Thanks so much. Oh wow!! That’s cool. How big is your town? Didn’t you move to town?
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Looks like a really tiny town, but you’re right – there’s just so many photo opportunities in towns like these! I like the bell in front of the fire station and the church on the hill.
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Hi. The walk to the church was interesting. Old tractors and an old hay baler were sitting in the parking spots next to the church. Long past being operational, it looked like the machinery just made their home there. I liked that bell, too. It said ‘alarm’ on it. Can you imagine all those years ago, the sound of that bell alerting everyone to a fire? Pretty cool history there.
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Some of my husband’s Knoke relatives comes from Knoke Iowa. Looks similar! Hubby’s from Iowa City.
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Wow, that’s cool. Was the town named after them? I looked Knoke up- says it was founded in 1901. I’m going to have to go there on one of my Iowa trips. Just to see it. Looks like it’s near Sac City. We like to go to Sac City and look at the World’s Largest Popcorn Ball. Ha.
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Yes it is named after his family who founded the bustling berg! Smiling. The World’s Largest Popcorn sounds like a must do!!!
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That’s really cool. Iowa City looks pretty big. I think I saw like 75,000.
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Nice photos. Glimpses of days gone by.
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Hi Betty. Thank you. Definitely. The only buildings with something in them are the post office, bank, fire station, and city hall (which is hooked to the fire station.) Otherwise, there are zero businesses. Tomorrow I’m going to share a really cool building I saw. It’s pretty cool.
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Thank you for sharing!! I’m back home in Iowa myself! I arrived on 11/9, due to my grandmas passing on 11/6. I’ve spent the entire time on her and my grandpas farm this whole time. I love this place so much! The nearest neighbor is down the gravel road some where. It’s quite and peaceful and small. North English doesn’t have many streets either. Thank you for sharing your small town time with us!! God bless!
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Oh honey, I’m so sorry to hear your grandma passed. I know you love them so much. Big hugs! Thanks for your kind words. So great to see your name. Thank you- I enjoyed walking around and taking pictures. It’s so different from when I was a kid. Looks so small now.
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