The Town that Stood Still by Neal Johnson

Issue 73

Spread along the tall grassy banks of the muddy Ohio River in the shadow of the vibrant cross-roads city of Louisville, Kentucky lays the Southern Indiana town of Jeffersonville. Once alive with river-traffic, the town is now divided between towering concrete flood walls, meant to protect the inhabitants, and the blight of vast, empty and overgrown lots. The historic downtown, once a bustling settlement dating back as early as 1786, is now simultaneously graced with beautiful Antebellum structures and pockmarked with hollow storefronts, vacant businesses, and foreclosed homes. The lack of an economic engine in the heart of town, combined with the residential sprawl to the east, seems to have created an unfortunate catalyst in the slow decline of Jeffersonville’s epicenter. 

In examining this issue, I wanted not only to document the vacancy and stillness of what remains of the towns’ breath, but I also wanted find the beauty hidden within the lost and forgotten landscape. I wanted to find hope for the future.

Neal Johnson lives and works in Louisville, Kentucky.
To view more of Neal's work, please visit his website.