shawnee, so far

in my photographic essay class i am spending the quarter documenting the town of shawnee, ohio.  shawnee was founded in 1872 as part of the coal boom in southeastern ohio. it played a large role in the history of labor unions in the united states. with a railroad going through it, shawnee once had a population of almost 3,000; according to the 2009 census shawnee now has a population of about 600. the main street on shawnee looks like a ghost town with most of the buildings crumbling but there are efforts to restore these buildings as well as to preserve and document the town's rich history.

in my journey i am learning the town's history but also documenting its present, learning about the people who live, work, pray, eat and play there. so far i have met some pretty great people. here are some of the images from the beginning of this project