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.