Small Town Papers

Rye, Colorado is a model representation and example of small town seclusion and small town community. At surface level, Rye offers the basic characteristics and charm of an isolated farm-like neighborhood. Most of its buildings are quaint and offer a certain sense of antiquity to them. Unlike the city roads which seemingly cut through the landscape, their roads seem to intertwine and follow the shape of the land. The houses are small, one level and do not have much of a distance between them. There seems to be only one of each common institution or public place. One elementary school, one high school, one church, one café, all named after the town itself. The only thing that seems to be of excess were the amount of cows and horses, along with
I spent all my life living in the city and suburban areas and was curious about life in these small towns. It is obvious that the presence and existence of Bishops Castle immediately drew my interest to Rye, Colorado. This seemingly quiet and peaceful farm town held an impressive man-made castle in the middle of its surrounding forest area. Gaining entry into the castle and the town was easy. Against the government’s request of profit on Bishops Castle, Jim Bishop was adamant on keeping his attraction one-hundred perfect free of charge and open at all times. Besides, the obvious warning signs of caution when entering and climbing the castle, people were free to come and go as they please. This made it extremely easy for me to really explore and examine the culture of the castle and the town besides
Unlike Rye, whose presence is situated in front of the mountains, Bishops Castle is located inside the mountainous landscape. Before heading to the castle, I spent an about an hour driving around Rye, Colorado. There was not much activity present outside. Besides the sound of the wind, rustling leaves, and a couple of passing cars, the town was extremely quiet. In terms of a racial demographic, the majority of the people I did see were Caucasian or white. As for the age demographic, most of the people I saw were older in age. After driving around for an hour in Rye, I stopped at one of the local gas stations. The Loaf N’ Jug is located on the outskirts of Rye, Colorado and is the only building really present in all directions. It was a pretty busy gas station with four or five cars parked outside. Similarly to Rye, all of the people I saw there were white. The only big difference was there was a slight range of age groups. Most of the people were either middle-aged or older with the exception of a younger looking male in his twenties. Additionally, everybody at the gas station was male beside me and the cashier. One thing I noticed while in the gas station was that some of the people there greeted each other as if they knew each other; this is especially true when the Rye police officer showed up. This makes it obvious that there is a definite sense of community present among the locals. It is at this location that