To the West: Stopping by in Pidgintown

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Entry posted by Mithrik · December 9, 2012

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SimCoug: Thanks, I like the style it has, it fits very nicely in old cities and industrial zones.

MilitantRadical: Thank you.

dubaidude303: Thank you too.

Utvaw: Thanks, that helipad is the biggest I have done independently from an airport.

16minuteman: Sorry, no airport, like I said, it's just a rumor, and we going elsewhere now.

ggamgus: Thank you.

Welcome back!

Last time we visited Missouri City, an old industrial city in the north of the Great Valley.

Today we leave said valley, and venture to the heart of the country, the most populated and modern area of the country. We are going to the Colton River Valley, where some of the most important cities in Alpena are located, along with the capital, Queenstown.

We leave Missouri City going west, along N-12, the Interstate highway that connects the two big valleys of the country. It's a small, but quite busy road, with constant traffic moving along it.

Because it's so crowded, it's not uncommon to see toll booths along it.

Many towns boomed along N-12 when it was opened in 1928, back then called Route 3, being the second paved highway in history. The most important of all these towns, is Pidgintown, located almost at half of the stretch between Missouri City and N-2, the main highway of the lower Colton River Valley.

Right now we are approaching Pidgintown, which is why there is an increase in the amount of farms along the road.

Looks like someone is just starting his own farm.

More fields along the highway

Some minutes later we arrive to the edge of the town.

Pidgintown was originally a community of farmers located in a valley of a minor river without name, founded at an unknown date. The valley was the only direct connection between the two big valleys of the country, as otherwise the two are separated by mountains. Because of this, it constantly had traffic from the immigrants going east to colonize the wilderness in the frontier. The valley was a constant hot spot during the Independence war, and when it ended, most of the settlements were abandoned or destroyed. The area slowly was re-populated during the 19th century, and so, the area grew to be known as the Phoenix Valley, naming the river the same way.

The modern Pidgintown was founded in 1832 over the remains of the original, and was the first settlement along the valley to be recognized as a municipality, that happening in 1899. Ever since it has been the only one.

A view of its small downtown. It's very small because there is no real trade business here, most of the locals buy their food directly from the farmers. It is quite a decentralized place.

An overview of one of the sides of the town. The Phoenix River cuts through it, and the bigger eastern side, is also the oldest.

This is the western side. Many of the structures were built in the past 20 years, being that the reason of it's more modern look when compared to the eastern side.

An apartment complex. This building style is found all over these complexes, built by the state for housing in the last decade or so.

Pidgintown is another of the big farming communities of Alpena, though it's a small one compared to others like La Saye. Still, it is often regarded as the best place in the whole country to cultivate peach, and the ones produced here are of top-quality, one of the producers even exports its peaches to some of the country's neighbors.

Other crops popular here are hops, barley and Grapes. The regional beer breweries like to buy their goods here, not quite surprising, given the good quality of the soil, the overall quality of most produce in Phoenix Valley is pretty good, selling very good in the markets outside the area.

Surprisingly, Pidgintown doesn't have a gas station yet, and there are no hotels, so we will have to keep going forward to the next town in the night.

But before leaving Pidgintown, here is a last overview of the town in the evening for you.