Intended as a postcard view, this photograph looks north from the southern bank of the Root River (south branch). Taken during the summer, the image illustrates a declining town that had converted almost entirely back to its agricultural roots. The only remaining business in town was the store that served as more of a news-gathering place than a retail operation. It is seen with a front porch and four columns, which were added sometime between 1899 and 1905. Note the one-story building protruding out toward the road beside the barn. This was the cabinet shop, which was built in the mid-1850s and torn down a century later.