Man visits, documents small towns across U.S.: "Every town's got a story"

A Nebraska antheral is connected a ngo to archer each tiny town's story.

Seth Varner, a 25-year-old historian, roams the Midwest for his publishing company, Wandermore, which helium started successful 2020 aft conscionable graduating from precocious school. He documents landmarks, things to bash and places to eat. Then, Varner posts his findings connected Wandermore's Facebook pages and sells his self-published question guides.

"Doesn't substance if it's 10 people, a 100 people, a 1000 radical … each town's got a communicative to share," helium told "CBS Mornings."

Childhood thought sparked journey

Varner's travel evolved from an thought helium had successful simple school. He told his dada helium wanted to spell to each municipality successful Nebraska.

"And he's like, 'Oh haha,' like, 'Yeah, possibly someday, Seth,'" Varner recalled.

Years passed. Then, erstwhile Varner was location from assemblage during the COVID-19 pandemic, helium recovered his 3rd people scrapbook.

"I was flipping done it. I'm like, 'I tin fulfill that imagination I had arsenic a 10-year-old,'" helium said. "So I recruited 1 of my champion friends and I was like, 'We're gonna spell to each municipality successful the state. Are you in?'"

Over the past 5 years, hundreds of thousands of radical person followed Varner online arsenic he's highlighted the historic, quirky and unsocial parts of tiny towns.

"There's a municipality successful Nebraska that has 1 person, and it's this, like, 90-year-old lady. Her sanction is Elsie and she's the mayor. She's the bartender. She's the librarian. She's adjacent an honorary sheriff of the section county," Varner said.

He's been to each incorporated municipality successful Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, Kansas, North Dakota and Minnesota – which helium conscionable completed implicit the weekend.

Each authorities Varner has visited has its ain Wandermore publication – with each book's income backing his adjacent adventure.

He's present traveling with his wife, Eliese Varner, who said it took seeing her hubby successful enactment to person her helium was superior astir visiting each town.

"I was conscionable benignant of successful … awe, maybe, 'cuz it is truly genuinely similar a batch of work. I could not beryllium much arrogant of him arsenic his woman and the idiosyncratic who's benignant of with him each the time. People truly person nary idea," she said.

Varner said the Minnesota publication income volition beryllium enactment toward the adjacent goal: visiting each municipality successful Colorado.

Community impact

Varner's travels highlighting tiny towns has had an immeasurable interaction connected the radical who unrecorded successful the communities.

"A batch of america don't person a immense advertizing fund to get the connection out," said Sarah Ferguson, the Chamber of Commerce enforcement manager for the metropolis of Blue Earth, Minnesota. "So erstwhile Seth offered to item what we person here, I was thrilled."

Blue Earth is location to the Jolly Green Giant, a 55-foot-tall, 8,000 lb. tribute to Minnesota's homegrown canned rootlike company.

Just 15 minutes distant successful Frost, Minnesota, Varner recovered the municipality has added caller members with 2 births successful caller weeks – bumping its colonisation from 198 to 200 people.

"Just can't bushed the small-town living," said occurrence main Nick Olson. "Everybody, you know, tin halt and speech to anybody astatine immoderate random time. And if you request a favour oregon assistance with something, everybody volition measurement up."

Varner said helium feels similar he's "doing thing important."

"I tin instrumentality a tiny municipality and past I immortalize it successful a publication wherever radical a 100 years from present tin spell backmost and beryllium like, 'This is what my grandparents' municipality looked like,'" helium said.