Publisher's Synopsis
This history of the Meriden Township took Hiram Drache over 50 years to complete. Not due to lack of passion or subject matter, but rather because he did not want to use the typical format where people write about their families. He wanted a detailed history with substance and a meaningful message. Drache had no idea where the story would end, but changing agriculture dictated a new era for rural society. For example, by the 1960s, instead of having a farm service center every eight miles to accommodate horse and wagon, thirty-five minutes (not miles) was suggested to be the ideal distance. The enduring symbol of the Meriden Township is a country side of fertile fields, which resulted in the township consistently being a top producer in the county. With the help of government programs, a core of progressive farmers in the township, and in all townships, inadvertently caused the decline of small town U.S.A. Farming became a commercial enterprise. Small towns filled a niche when they were needed and today they live on in nostalgia, in poetry, in stories about the good old days, and in paintings about the rustic past.
