Ghostly Fort Dodge

[Ex-Ithacan]

I headed to Fort Dodge in north central Iowa for a quick tour. Unfortunately the weather didn't exactly cooperate. There was fog and rain, so some of the pics are kinda messed up. I couldn't always keep the lens dry. Ended up being a short tour.

The first two pics are apartment buildings(dorms?) at Iowa Central Community College. Most of the rest were built in the 1910s and 20s. I really wish I could have seen this place back in its heyday, or at least in better weather. The current population is about 25,000.

Let's start:

1.

Fort Dodge, IA 27 by exithacan, on Flickr

2.

Fort Dodge, IA 26 by exithacan, on Flickr

Now For Downtown

3. Sadly some of these rascals are empty or mostly so.

Fort Dodge, IA 01 by exithacan, on Flickr

4.

Fort Dodge, IA 02 by exithacan, on Flickr

5.

Fort Dodge, IA 19 by exithacan, on Flickr

6. Back to some occupied.

Fort Dodge, IA 03 by exithacan, on Flickr

7.

Fort Dodge, IA 05 by exithacan, on Flickr

8.

Fort Dodge, IA 06 by exithacan, on Flickr

9.

Fort Dodge, IA 07 by exithacan, on Flickr

10.

Fort Dodge, IA 08 by exithacan, on Flickr

11.

Fort Dodge, IA 09 by exithacan, on Flickr

12.

Fort Dodge, IA 10 by exithacan, on Flickr

13.

Fort Dodge, IA 12 by exithacan, on Flickr

14.

Fort Dodge, IA 13 by exithacan, on Flickr

15.

Fort Dodge, IA 14 by exithacan, on Flickr

16.

Fort Dodge, IA 15 by exithacan, on Flickr

17.

Fort Dodge, IA 22 by exithacan, on Flickr

18.

Fort Dodge, IA 23 by exithacan, on Flickr

19.

Fort Dodge, IA 24 by exithacan, on Flickr

20.

Fort Dodge, IA 25 by exithacan, on Flickr

21.

Fort Dodge, IA 18 by exithacan, on Flickr

22.

Fort Dodge, IA 17 by exithacan, on Flickr


Hope you enjoyed the abreviated tour.

[lio45]

Absolutely gorgeous, IMHO... even under a rainy sky...

I hope none of those vacant ~8-stories 1910s/1920s gems are threatened... sadly, some cities are actually stupid enough to think an empty lot is preferable to a still solid abandoned building. Hopefully Ford Dodge isn't among those.

[rockyi]

So much potential there. I never imagined that Fort Dodge had so many great structures.

[SignalHillHiker]

Wow... so cool! And great thread title!

[kcexpress69]

For a town of about 25,000 it seems to have a decent building stock!! Nice pictures despite the weather not cooperating!!

[fflint]

That's some really substantial development and quality architecture. I had no idea!

[Chef]

Fort Dodge has great bones. A lot of Midwestern towns this size do.

[LMich]

I hate that even the on the occupied ground floors it looks like so many of them have been "rolled up" if that makes any sense. I can understand "modernization" of streetfronts to a point, but there are ways to do it without making them unrecognizable and ugly.

But, there is much to work with, so there is that.

[photoLith]

Dang, that town needs some major lovin. I thought Fort Dodge was just a tiny little town, looks like it used to be pretty substantial.

[Ex-Ithacan]

Thanks for all the replies. I agree there's so much in the downtown area that should be saved and re-purposed. A couple of the taller, more substantial buildings have been converted to apartments. And I believe there may be some ideas for doing the same thing with a couple of others. I do have doubts though. The downtown doesn't seem to have enough activity to convince people to move there. The city has also lost 1/6 of the population since 1970.

[harryc]

Looks so very --- Iowa.

[Paulyt23]

I think the original leaders of Fort Dodge probably thought this town would grow to be much bigger than what actually transpired. Fort Dodge has been a victim of Midwestern de-industrialization and the changing agricultural economy in the state which is leading to fewer and fewer farms.

[ColDayMan]

Iowa has endless grand-scaled small cities. Thanks.

[DetroitSky]

Well I can say that I haven't heard of Fort Dodge until now. It looks like a very intriguing place.

[Rizzo]

Originally Posted by ColDayMan

Iowa has endless grand-scaled small cities. Thanks.

That's what has shocked me on recent visits to Iowa. Not just grand architecture, but alot of substance. I mean just look at the dense midrise block.

[Thundertubs]

Ft. Dodge has some surprisingly serious urban bones.

Your Iowa tour is stoking my Midwestern homesickness.

[Tony]

I'm always amazed at the size / height of downtown buildings in some of these smaller towns in the States. Compared with a similar sized town in Canada, we'd have way smaller buildings, but at least usually they're occupied. Which is another thing... it's sad to see these grand buildings sit empty and to know that there once upon a times used to be a complete street wall, a lot of which is now missing.

[LSyd]

thanks for the pics. i've never heard of fort dodge, and it's sad to see the decay and emptiness but that's some great building stock.

-

[KevinFromTexas]

You gotta love quality brick architecture in random places you've never heard of before.

[Ex-Ithacan]

Thanks for the responses. I should would like to move some of those buildings to Ithaca.