Harriman is no longer dry. There are a couple of "candy" stores in town now.

"settled" by people from a over the country seeking respite from a drunken nation.

and it was.

alcohol consumption has yet to reach pre-prohibition per capita levels, or so i read.

Harriman never was functionally dry. When we moved here back in '88, one of the first things folks told us was that anytime you needed a case of beer, all you had to do was call a taxi.

There's several books worth of stories about the local "trade". Entrepreneurs will always find a way to do business.

In many ways, it was easier to get alchohol anytime day or night back in the old days. The quality of wine available is vastly improved, however. It is simply that today, one must plan ahead.

was founded by the Women's Christian Temperance Union, but somehow my good for very little grandfather always had beer and whiskey.

Pam Strickland

"We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be." ~Kurt Vonnegut

I visited the old part of Harriman for the first time last month and was blown away by the potential. Here you've got these amazing old houses and they blend right into downtown, you don't have to cross a river or 4-lane highway. Plus the mountains are Right There! No need to wait for a clear day to catch a glimpse. I see Harriman as a glass half full. Sure the strip is ugly as sin but ugly strips exist outside even the most delightful towns.

Next I revisted Oakdale. We'd taken our canoes out there back in '70 and I remember a bustling and delightful little micropolis. You've got a river, a RR track, even rhododendrons, what's not to love? Well a few years ago the state rebuilt the bridge, it towers over the town, destroyed any businesses that were left. The two sides of town don't even relate to each other any more and I found it downright depressing. I'd count Oakdale as a glass 3/4 empty.

I was wondering if I had remembered the wrong town. Then I looked up Oakdale on the web and realized it had a glorious past. Love that YMCA / Hotel building.

(link...)

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Less is the new More - Karrie Jacobs

I haven't been to Oakdale in who knows how long. Thanks.

However, I was just in Harriman last week. Really sad to see downtown continue to fall apart. Edwards Shoe Store, where I got every pair of shoes I wore until I was probably 21, is gone. It hadn't been wonderful for years, but then it closed.
But what they have done in some areas is wonderful. I don't know the answer because I'm not there but i have enough family and friends there to want good.

Pam Strickland

"We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be." ~Kurt Vonnegut

People are noticing the affordable housing stock in Harriman. My parent's neighbors have all moved to H from out-of-state.

I think eventually there will be a revitalization of downtown.