Greensburg, Kansas - circa 1963

Greensburg, Kansas is my hometown. I was not born there, but most in my family were, back three generations. Greensburg is in the process of rebuilding from a tornado that destroyed most of the town on May 4, 2007. My sister and I were very affected by the thought of all that was familiar in our hometown has disappeared.

These photos were in a box that we sorted through at Thanksgiving:

This is the original First Christian Church. I was baptized there a year or two after this photo was taken. (1963 according to the date on the back of the photo)This building became an antique store and a new church was built a little South of town in the early 70's. It was also called the First Christian Church, although I always thought of it as the Second First Christian Church.

This is the Second First Christian Church being rebuilt (October, 08 progress)

It is the Third First Christian Church.

It has a piece of the original, though.

This is the water tower: pre 5/4/07.

The water tower was an ever present icon. We lived across the street and one house away from it. Sometimes it would over-flow. In the summer, that meant playing in the "rain" on a sunny day. In the winter, it meant a winter wonderland full of icicles on the way to Sunday school.

I don't recognize where the camera was when this photo was taken, but it gives me the feeling of a window to the past.