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Post by AngieandSnoopy on Apr 15, 2016 6:26:58 GMT
The first two to come to mind are Springtown, Texas and Weatherford, Texas.
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M in Carolina
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,128
Jun 29, 2014 12:11:41 GMT
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Post by M in Carolina on Apr 15, 2016 6:55:56 GMT
I can think of a few towns with a square right off the bat that I've ever been to or lived near-- The town square is still the 'heart' of town at least in a few of them. Prescott, AZ (northwest of Phoenix): the county courthouse is in the middle of the square, and it's still the main historic / tourist area of town, full of restaurants, gift shops, bars, and a few historic hotels. eta: Prescott is the county seatSedona, NM has a town square (I think), with a lot of restaurants, gift shops, etc. Woodstock, IL (the town NW of Chicago where they filmed the movie Groundhog Day) has a real town square. I lived not far from there after college and would shop there every once in a while- there were quite a few nice gift stores on the square. Monroe, WI (southwestern WI, very close to the IL state line). I grew up about 30 miles away from here, and we used to shop in Monroe all the time. I have fond memories of shopping on the square when I was a little kid; there was an old-fashioned department / dime store, a sporting goods store, etc. I'm not sure if it's still a shopping center of town, or not-- probably not. eta: I think Monroe is the county seat, and I believe the courthouse is on the square here, also.Crimson, I was going to say Woodstock, IL, too! We really loved eating at the Old Jail restaurant--it was in the basement of the courthouse and still had the bars on the windows, and they even kept the largest cell in tact as one of the rooms you could eat in. The food was really good, too. Great steaks. I loved GroundHog Day and the little town and gorgeous square. We went there a lot even though it was a bit of a drive--gorgeous drive. We also loved driving up to Geneva, WI. That's a great little town too, but it has more of a main waterfront area that everyone congregates too. In the winter they have an ice carving festival. The drive up there is on country roads, and there's this gorgeous tiny little wooden church at an intersection. The land was cut out into sections for homesteaders--40 acres or something, so everything is mostly grid shaped, and the little towns and small farms, etc. that are scattered about are so cool. (There used to be a round barn at one intersection of a country road and interstate--you could order the plans and materials from Sears Roebuck and then put it together. Sadly it got torn down.) The little town in NC where my grandparents grew up and lived all their lives has a really nice town square and downtown. Sadly the town website and tourist site doesn't have pictures that show the town square--well more of a lollipop--the courtyard is in the middle of a roundabout, and the shops are all lined up on either side of main street. There are a few other little roads with other businesses, but most everything is right there in the center. My dad lived in Scotland Neck, NC, which has an incredibly small downtown. There was a great restaurant downtown until it burned and the owners didn't rebuild because the wife was getting really sick with MS. They sold t shirts that said "Where the Heck is Scotland Neck, and why do they park in the middle of the street?" with a line drawing of the buildings and double line of parking spots in the middle of the road. Sadly the whole county is incredibly economically depressed, and the town has pretty much died. They have a few fast food restaurants and a BBQ place that's open on weekends--it's a family business. Oh, and there's a rest home--it's really nice. The workers are local and good people who treat their patients like family. My great aunt lived there so my uncle and brother could visit every week.
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Post by ktdoesntscrap on Apr 15, 2016 14:08:38 GMT
My Dad's small town in Kansas has one.
Asheville NC where i live has one but its a big town or small city, so its not really like what you see on TV.
BUt it does have a nice grassy area for festivals and concerts.
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Post by jassy on Apr 15, 2016 14:15:20 GMT
VERY common here in Ohio.
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stittsygirl
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,580
Location: In the leaves and rain.
Jun 25, 2014 19:57:33 GMT
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Post by stittsygirl on Apr 15, 2016 15:49:57 GMT
Arcata, CA has a true town square. So does either Napa or Sonoma (can't remember which one). My son goes to Sonoma State; everything in downtown Sonoma is centered around the "square." Super cute home/clothing stores, restaurants, tasting rooms and my favorite: ice cream shops. He just started school in August and I've already been three times (it's about a two hour drive). It's really, really cute. We have some family friends that live near the square...I'm jealous. I worked in Sonoma back when scrapbooking was just starting to get big, and there was a Mrs. Grossman's sticker store right off the square that I visited every week. At the time Mrs. Grossman's stickers were the height of scrapbooking cool . And yeah, Texas. So many pretty town squares centered around courthouses.
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Post by nitad on Apr 15, 2016 16:02:40 GMT
Darn! Hart of Dixie isn't on Canadian Netflix! You had me at Gilmore Girls!!!
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peabay
Prolific Pea
Posts: 9,618
Jun 25, 2014 19:50:41 GMT
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Post by peabay on Apr 15, 2016 16:10:46 GMT
I found them to be fairly common in New England too. My town in New England does. A park in the center of the town with a gazebo. A lovely Main Street with shops and restaurants and churches.
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Post by ilikepink on Apr 15, 2016 16:22:16 GMT
The town I grew up didn't have a square per se, but a nice downtown and a nearby park for summer concerts.
Savannah has 24 (or more?) squares. Not the traditional townsquares, but there are events all the time in them, and each has it's own story and personality. In addition to the downtown squares, many neighborhoods also have a park/square to center them.
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Dalai Mama
Drama Llama
La Pea Boheme
Posts: 6,985
Jun 26, 2014 0:31:31 GMT
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Post by Dalai Mama on Apr 15, 2016 16:36:31 GMT
I found them to be fairly common in New England too. My town in New England does. A park in the center of the town with a gazebo. A lovely Main Street with shops and restaurants and churches. Just out of curiosity, does your town call it a town square or a village green?
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Post by scrapsotime on Apr 15, 2016 17:11:35 GMT
This is the town I grew up in. To left, where the clock is, is the courthouse square. everything is situated around it. They do have events on the courthouse lawn and close off 2 streets.
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Post by finally~a~mama on Apr 15, 2016 17:40:04 GMT
I'm from the Midwest. There are lots of small towns around here with town squares. They are usually the county seat with a courthouse in the middle of the square. I can think of one small town that isn't a county seat that has a town square with a "green" in the middle of it. They do at least 2 events in it every year.
The suburb that I live in is trying to create a town center (won't be a square, but hoping for the same general idea/feel) because we don't have anything like that.
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Post by beanbuddymom on Apr 15, 2016 17:43:06 GMT
Yes I live in a small town in Maine and we have one, gazebo and all.
There are many surrounding towns and small cities that do as well here in New England as others have mentioned it's a common thing.
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pridemom
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,843
Jul 12, 2014 21:58:10 GMT
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Post by pridemom on Apr 15, 2016 17:45:02 GMT
I can think of a few towns with a square right off the bat that I've ever been to or lived near-- The town square is still the 'heart' of town at least in a few of them. Prescott, AZ (northwest of Phoenix): the county courthouse is in the middle of the square, and it's still the main historic / tourist area of town, full of restaurants, gift shops, bars, and a few historic hotels. eta: Prescott is the county seatSedona, NM has a town square (I think), with a lot of restaurants, gift shops, etc. Woodstock, IL (the town NW of Chicago where they filmed the movie Groundhog Day) has a real town square. I lived not far from there after college and would shop there every once in a while- there were quite a few nice gift stores on the square. Monroe, WI (southwestern WI, very close to the IL state line). I grew up about 30 miles away from here, and we used to shop in Monroe all the time. I have fond memories of shopping on the square when I was a little kid; there was an old-fashioned department / dime store, a sporting goods store, etc. I'm not sure if it's still a shopping center of town, or not-- probably not. eta: I think Monroe is the county seat, and I believe the courthouse is on the square here, also.Woodstock has a lovely square. We were there at Thanksgiving. My brother and sister in law used to live there and now live about 30 miles away. We live in Missouri and most towns have a square. Even Independence, MO, a larger city has one.
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Post by cmhs on Apr 15, 2016 17:47:51 GMT
Town Squares are fairly common in NJ, too. My town is the county seat so our square has the courthouse on one side and churches and homes on the other 3 sides.
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Country Ham
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,313
Jun 25, 2014 19:32:08 GMT
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Post by Country Ham on Apr 15, 2016 18:19:05 GMT
I moved to small town southern USA from a canadian city. Yes town squares are happening places. With traveling around to watch my son's baseball team this spring everyone has given me directions that start off with "When you get to the town square...."
2 years ago they tried to move a weekend fair thing away from the town square and have it on the fairgrounds. Everyone hated it. Last year it was back on the square.
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peabay
Prolific Pea
Posts: 9,618
Jun 25, 2014 19:50:41 GMT
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Post by peabay on Apr 15, 2016 19:18:04 GMT
My town in New England does. A park in the center of the town with a gazebo. A lovely Main Street with shops and restaurants and churches. Just out of curiosity, does your town call it a town square or a village green? Neither. We refer to it by the name of the park.
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Post by missmiss on Apr 15, 2016 19:24:32 GMT
Madison Wisconsin has a great town square. Every Saturday morning from 6am to 2pm from Spring to Fall is a huge farmers market. dcfm.org/You can get fresh fruit, homemade cheese, free range eggs, meat, veggies, popcorn, and the list goes on. There are also shops on every street that are open during this time. All of the vendors form a square around the state capital building.
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Post by kelbel827 on Apr 15, 2016 23:04:36 GMT
Not the answer to your question, but Gilmore Girls and Hart of Dixie were filmed on the same WB lot.
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Post by compeateropeator on Apr 15, 2016 23:43:26 GMT
My town in New England does. A park in the center of the town with a gazebo. A lovely Main Street with shops and restaurants and churches. Just out of curiosity, does your town call it a town square or a village green? I am in Vermont and many of our towns have a town square but we typically call them the village green. The town I grew up in has one. It has a gazebo and was used for many events such as summer concerts on the green, the Lyon's Club auction, the Halloween pumpkin carving contest, etc,etc.
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Post by melanell on Apr 16, 2016 0:05:22 GMT
We don't have an actual town square, although we do have a point in the middle of town where there is a small green area where a few key roads meet. It's more of a town triangle. I have been in towns with an actual town square, though. Some in the Mid-Atlantic area and many in New England. Our Main Street area does have churches, restaurants, bakeries, a bank, a post office, a community center, a bar, a cafe, little shops, etc.
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Post by vpohlman on Apr 16, 2016 0:05:39 GMT
Lol! I am always amazed while watching that show how such a small town can have so many big events. There's always something going on in that town square! I live near many small towns and they are nothing like Bluebell. I started watching Ranch and was floored at how a town of 512 people can not only have its own high school, but a football team to boot! Alright, we are a town (village) of 412 and we have our own school and football team! And basketball and volleyball and track, and we are adding wrestling and cross country next year! And, I am the band director of a 71 member band! Yep, we are awesome! There are several towns around here that have a town square. Ours doesn't, but we do have a large grassy area with a shelter with picnic tables where events are held. It's next to the community center. The picture posted earlier looks a lot like a town near here. Might just be!
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