The precursor to the modern “strip mall” and the Delta is filled with them. Empty storefronts along Main Streets everywhere signal better times in the past.
As always, I am curious as to what the original purpose of the buildings were, pre-pawn shop billboard. Perhaps living quarters above a store? The corner building reminds me of the service stations that were in the small west Texas towns where I grew up. In Newcastle, after the pumps were removed and it was no longer used as a service station (or what was commonly known as a “filling station” then), it became home to a beauty shop.
Faintly visible under the coats of peeling paint is a key pattern in the brick work at the top of the building. Key patterns were ornamental border designs consisting of laying the brick where the lines met at right angles. It was sometimes called a fret pattern or Greek key pattern. What I particularly like about this shot is the large utility pole right in the middle of it.
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