Nelsonville, Ohio
Motorists rushing north to Columbus, or south to
Charleston, no longer had to slow to 35 miles an hour
through a blink-and-miss-it place called Nelsonville.
No longer did travelers have to pass the Dairy Queen,
General Wok, or the decades-old neon marquee, long
past glowing, that welcomed travelers to a downtown
from the late 19th century. The people of Nelsonville —
population 5349, more or less — knew what this meant.
The small sign planted beside the new highway barely
whispered their town’s name. And in the rural Ohio, the
eye can see far into the distance, yet miss so much.
They feared being missed. Bypassed.