Smalltown USA

        Today we toured a town that reminded me a whole lot of my hometown. While I grew up in a town about 3 or 4 times the size of Philo, a lot of similarities arise between all of the farming communities of Illinois. To begin with, we met the people who didn't ride the bus at Casey's General Store. Yes, we have on of those in Fairfield, and it happens to be located in the same relative location: on the main road into town, just past city limits. Professor Hinders explained that Casey's market is all the small farming communities across the mid-west as they act as a small town Wal-Mart.

         Then we took about a 10 minute drive around the community. Of course, it is located at the cross section of a highway and railroad track, offering multiple means to transport crops to market. The main drag consists of everything a town needs: Library, Bank, Post Office, Water Tower, and Tavern. As we went deeper into the community we were able to see very different types of homes, and even a subdivision in such a small town. I am still able to relate everything I have mentioned to my hometown, and I probably will be able to for the entirety of this post, but I won't bore you with that information. 

        We also discussed the presence of the different churches and how they are representative of the culture in Philo. There is a Catholic Church and Grade School in the center of Philo. Philo's population is said to be 50% Catholic, so it makes sense for both of these to be present. The explanation for the dense Catholic Population could stem from the German settlement in Philo. There are two other churches in Philo. It seems to be to be the trend for each small farming community to have 1 church for about every 500 residents. My hometown's populations is about 5,500, and I am sure we have 11 churches within the city limits.

        We ended the day at the Philo Tavern with some very tasty appetizers that were very generously paid for by Professor Hinders. All in all, we had a good day when we traveled to the Center of the Universe.