Nostalgia & History > Does anyone remember Archie Andrews?

Last month I discovered a very interesting small town in Kansas while chasing the old Rock Island main south of Herington. Tucked away in Sumner County between Wichita & Wellington I found tiny Riverdale, KS! I was immediately swept back to my grade school youth: to the wonderful world of Archie comic books. While I was never an avid comic book reader in the classic sense, in those days I was completely hooked on [eternal teenager] “Archie” and his high school friends Jughead, Reggie & Moose and more keenly his star-crossed love interests Betty & Veronica. The fictional town where Archie & his gang played out their adolescent drama was named Riverdale. From a Google search here is an excerpt describing Riverdale:

“Archie is set in the small town of Riverdale. While the state or even the general location of the town is unspecified, [creator] John L. Goldwater attended Horace Mann School in the Riverdale section of The Bronx, New York City... Drawings of Riverdale High School appeared to follow the general design of the original high school, now City Hall, in Haverhill, Massachusetts. ‘The Thinker’ statue still sits outside the front entrance, just like it did in the comic strip. The New York Times postulated that ‘the cartoonist Bob Montana inked the original likenesses of Archie and his pals and plopped them in an idyllic Midwestern community named Riverdale because Mr. Goldwater, a New Yorker, had fond memories of time spent in Hiawatha, Kansas. For the comics' 60th anniversary in 2002, several geographical and historical hints to the location of Riverdale were printed in every digest issue. At the end of the year, it was revealed that the hints point to Riverdale being located in the ‘Missouri area’, but that officially Riverdale has no location. It is essentially located wherever the reader wants it to be. Indeed, the geography of Riverdale is far too inconsistent for it to be any one specific location. ”

So when I entered Riverdale it was to look for traces of the Rock Island. I also kept a playful eye out for any pedestrian who could even fleetingly fit the description of the amorously frustrated Archie and his under-achieving pal Jughead, or even the big lug Moose. Not so much for Reggie, the snobbish socialite wannabe. Of course, from a certain male perspective I would have been much more interested to see pedestrians resembling Betty or Veronica! But it wasn’t to be… I saw absolutely nobody. All wasn’t lost, though. After shooting the station signboard I found this old Ford quietly rusting away in someone’s yard. Could this be one of the cars Archie drove down to Pop’s “Chocklit Shoppe” to hang out with the gang…

1. UP “Riverdale” (KS) station signboard.

2. & 3. Old Ford sitting in a yard in ‘greater downtown Riverdale’… ;^)
(3 photos taken June 20, 2015)

Thanks for reminiscing!
Lance Garrels
santafe199



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/12/22 21:51 by santafe199.

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 Looks like a "55 Ford.  ( Might be hard to start?)

While you are at it, you are might to look for the MoPac crossing. wag216 (I have already seen it)

"Yah...I'm gonna fix her up someday"...

wag216 Wrote: > While you are at it, you are might to look for the MoPac crossing. wag216 (I have already seen it)

I thought about looking for it, but after seeing the foliage here at the old elevator location I didn’t think there would be much to see. And after looking at the satellite view it looks like it would be a bit hard to drive to:

4. Ex-MP crossing Looking ESE from Sand Plum Rd in Riverdale, KS (6-20-15).



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/12/22 21:53 by santafe199.

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I remember reading those comics in the late '40s while living in Riverdale, CA, near Fresno!

Bill Deaver
Tehachapi, CA

Neat story!

Mmmmm...how about Veronica?

Posted from Android

Here are my takes...Ree Heights, SD

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Last photos.

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I posted a story last year about a Sunday Acrhie strip where the American Freedom Train passes through Riverdale, but I don't know how to connect the search link here w my phone.
If anyone cares to go to the trouble: TO search "Archie, Jughead, and Doyle".
Doyle sent me a copy of the strip- he has it framed in his office at home.
SR