Route 33 to Athens

Well, Athens is the only bastion of democracy for many miles around.  I was displeased when my nephew said it was "in the middle of nowhere".  For many people Athens, and Ohio University are synonymous.

It may be 37 years since i was on the stretch between Columbus and Athens on route 33. It has changed. It is high speed four lane all the way. Lancaster, Logan, Nelsonville are invisible.

It is not easy to find free parking, this cardinal was resting on a very computerised meter. NASA had less technology to send men to the moon.

The paw print was the University's logo for years. It is not permitted since the attack cat was commissioned, and phased in from 1996 to 2002. People preferred the paw, but the university payed outsiders for something new. All approved clothing, all university athletic promotion can only have the attack cat. Paw print is prohibited, a private building has a few prints painted anyway.

The dogwoods here are still with their white bracts, and the green leaves have not yet come. In Athens the bracts (and wee flowers) are gone on nearly every tree, and they are fully green leafed. Before, some people followed the northward bloom of the dogwood. The interest began to pique when they bloomed in North Carolina, and then through the Virginias.They are still in bloom in Northern Ohio.

There still are steps on Jeff(erson) Hill. A lot of bricks have been replaced, or covered over. Jeff Hill, the last time i was in town, still had bricks, but bollards were on top and bottom. Athens had/has a lot of old brick with the name of the brickyards it came from. There is a lot of clay in the area. 

Students used to take trays from the cafeteria, to use as sleds in the very few days there was snow. When it was icy, it was humourous, to watch at a distance, cars try to go up. Some would fail, and lose control.

Chris Stain. “Without Labor, Nothing Prospers”. 2015. 

This mural, on Court Street (the main drag uptown), was dedicated for Workers' Memorial Day (April 28) 2018. United Mine Workers Local 1 was in nearby Nelsonville.

   Memorial Auditorium has several plaques from illustrious speakers that visited campus.

I am guessing that last summer, there was some political notice about town concerning the extra-judicial killing of black people. Here are the two sides of a sign planted in 2020.

Breonna Taylor was killed by Louisville Kentucky police March 13. 2020. This storefront window reminds us.

There is a Civil War Monument at the entrance to the College Green since 1893. One of several plaques reads, "Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori (Sweet and proper to die for the fatherland)". It was a good place to sit and eat, and smoke.

Guitar man singing on the town's establishment church. Though this area of Ohio was heavily Methodist, the first presidents at Ohio University were Presbyterian ministers.

There used to be Varsity Cinema directly across the Athena, years ago. Covid 19 has been bad for the picture show.

On old 33, Richland Avenue, with the Convocation Center under the clouds.The building was considered a white elephant.