The other Madison. Now why did I start here?

“Well, we hired a guy to do the ground floor, and another guy to do the top, but seems we forgot to hire a guy to design the middle.”

“But both those guys kept whistling’ that song about may the road rise to meet you.”

I don’t know why I clipped this, except to show that this town may have the dullest thing ever built.

And he was proud of it, too.

OUMB, although it’s not a bank now.

If it never was, it was designed by someone who did banks.

AWe note this to celebrate . . .

The Achievement of Aubrey Grady.

The 1940 census says he was born in 1905. Got an early start, it seems.

Blurry photo? Uh oh

Yep

OUMB, with that delightful patron-stomping / mincing apparatus.

Oh, so much better!

So much.

Once upon a time, Post Offices were sober things of stone:

The worst of the 70s / 80s architecture, imposed on so many towns.

An old lady in ribbons and bows:

OUMB in excelsis deo, but with a certain post-war gravitas:

Better from this angle. Approach accordingly.

Paula had a dream:

But the china market was not as robust as hoped. Great old storefront; hope it’s filled again some day.

Lurid lettering . . .

. . . but the sign is tight.

The Courthouse has a nice Perry-Mason-era crispness.

The plague of stone-overhaul can be found in any town.

There you have it: one of the more rote towns we’ve ever seen. But it’s worth a look! Saaaalllllute.