February 16, 2009

Bypassed by the main highways, town centers such as the one in Walnut Ridge (Lawrence County) have slowly slipped into decline. Once-active business districts now see little customer traffic, with many buildings having been abandoned. The tall white building on Walnut Ridge’s major street, shown to the left, once housed the area’s movie theater, which screened some of Hollywood’s most popular movies well into the 1970s.