In response to The Daily Post’s weekly photo challenge: “Broken.”

There is a small town near our town in central Missouri that, once upon a time, but not so long ago, was bustling and thriving. It was home to a pool table factory which made quality tables for a large recreational equipment company. Some forty years ago, the company ran into financial trouble caused by poor management and over extension. Eventually all its subsidiaries were sold off, and its factories around the county were shut down, taking jobs out of small towns whose only major employer was the factory.

While the town survives, it is a very different place with seemingly little to look forward to in the future. I traveled there today with my husband, and here is what we found…

Not so long ago, this factory was the lifeblood of a small Missouri town.

Its railroad line was busy. Now it is broken and has recently been acquired by a group who plans to turn it, and many more miles of track, into a rails to trails destination. I must say, I am looking forward to that!

Many homes that were once the most impressive in town are now empty and run down. These broken places depict a city facing its past, living with shattered dreams, yet trying  hard to create a future.

I wish them well!