Albany, Indiana: Shoe Tree

There are now four trees covered with shoes. It is across the street from the wire fence and driveway to a building. A fire pit is there; I got the impression that local kids hang out at night and party.

Made me feel like a kid again. We didn't have our own shoes, but plenty of pairs fell out of the tree and we were more than glad to replace them. The wood plank bridge is ever so cute; I wish I would have gotten a picture of that.

This was the first shoe tree I ever saw, when I was four years old and fell in love with the small town community sentiment behind it. The first shoe tree was unfortunately cut down by the power line company, but our second generation shoe tree lives on, though it's rather puny compared to most -- a baby shoe tree, if you will.

So if you're ever out in Albany, IN you should come give more life to the sacred shoe tree.

South of Albany, Indiana. Past Strong Cemetery and over a wood planked bridge rises the Albany Shoe Tree. Its a small town so this isn't the busiest shoe tree but I bet we have more shoes per capita than most.