Wednesday, September 28, 2016

You say Na vaa da, I say Na vay dee. #T

We took a nice Sunday drive Tuesday afternoon since the medical equipment that provides treatment for the spouse was incapacitated.  We chose to tool along Indiana 19 heading north, just the opposite of our normal routine.  Checking out the cornfields, the bean fields, noting the high number that have already been harvested, and seeing some fields that were not yet ripe.

About two miles east of the highway sits the little unincorporated town of Nevada.  That is not what you are thinking unless you are a Hoosier.  "Na-vay'-dee" would be the correct pronunciation if your are in the area.

Nevada was first platted and settled in the mid-nineteenth century.  It boasted a U.S. Post Office until 1909.  Today the village consists of a church, a granary, and a dozen or so occupied houses.

I have lived in this area for more than a half-century and yet had never been in Nevada.  On this beautiful blue-sky afternoon we made the turn to the east.  The town is situated in Tipton County less than half-mile south of the Howard County line.  We have now been to Nevada.

I stood facing north to take this shot of the south face of the church.  Services are still held here regularly.
 
 Pivoting 120o to face the southwest we saw this.

 No street department to maintain the only street sign in town.  The others are county road signs.

 The M.E.s turned the facility over to God.  According to the cornerstone the building was erected in 1909 and became the home of Church of God in 1986.

 At the easternmost edge of town one can see nearly into the future.
 
 On the burg's east edge sits this building which bears all the hallmarks of a schoolhouse.  What it is used for today we have no idea.

The residential area north of the main drag.

8 comments:

Secondary Roads said...

That made for an interesting and informative day. Not being a Hoosier, I don't understand that pronunciation. I'll accept that it is true.

Grace said...

While I think the church is very pretty the rest of the town looks a bit sad...I can never get over how flat it is out your way...

vanilla said...

Chuck, we also say "Ja lap ee" for Jalapa, "Ver sales" for Versailles, and (you'll like this one) "Vy en' ee" for Vienna.

Grace, there was one large and very nice home seventy yards behind the church. It may be the manse, or maybe not. Tipton County: flat as a table top. And coincidentally some of the richest farmland in the nation.

Lin said...

I like the pronunciation....that cracked me up.

Vee said...

Small towns provide interesting diversions and the fields in Indiana are beautiful in all seasons. The skillful straight furrows during spring planting were always a wonder to me. Like, "How do they do that?"

Was it the radiation equipment that was on the Fritz?

vanilla said...

Vee, radiation eqpt, yes.8

Sharkbytes said...

And I think, even so, it is more viable than Peacock, MI

vanilla said...

Sharkey, I am not familiar with Peacock, but have cruised many a defunct or nigh-unto-demise villages all across the Midwest.