The Town

The tiny town of Bucksville is tucked away in the shadows of dark, wooded hillsides.

From the air one might even miss the town because of the enormous trees that jut up around it, like grass surrounding a utility access plate in an overgrown yard.

When you enter Bucksville by car, a rustic wooden sign informs you that the population is 2034. Even though the sign hasn’t been updated in years, the population is virtually the same today.

For the most part, the town of Bucksville is surprisingly well kept. A small, sturdy, recently built bridge leads over a creek onto Main Street. The three blocks that are the downtown consist of three taverns, a barbershop, a hardware store, a toy store, a pet shop, a bicycle shop, a pizza parlor, a bank, a church, the police station and the town hall where Mayor Rob Gilbert presides. There is a gift shop for those who have wandered off course. Here, a tourist can purchase a rubber moose head that fits over a trailer hitch or a T-shirt that proclaims "LOGGERS DO IT IN THE WOODS." Tourists and the dollars they bring are never turned away, but the conspicuous lack of overnight lodging says, 'It's okay to visit, but don’t stay the night.'

Main Street via the bridge is the only public access road leading into and out of Bucksville. Of course the locals have other back roads they use to get here and there, to a favorite fishing spot deep in the woods or a remote hunting cabin.

Several families live on the outskirts of the town, where modest houses are surrounded by large, wooded yards. On the edge of town there is a gas station with a tiny selection of provisions inside. It’s not much more than a couple vending machines with only the most minimal convenience store fare, and don’t be surprised if the expiration date on a bag of chips is two months passed.

Also on the edge of town, is Neder’s Café and Service where the locals eat breakfast and lunch while Junior French rotates tires, changes oil, or provides an inexpensive lube job.