For 63 years, Tom Rose and his wife, Mary, built a life together on his family farm on Canaanville Road. Then last year Mary passed away, leaving Rose to face the future alone, surrounded by a lifetime of memories.

Athens is a mix of eclectic communities - people bound by shared values and place. From the college-aged youth living in a co-op house in town to the secluded culture of people living in the hollers - people create the divergent and funky soul of this place.

Miguel Evanosky, guitarist and songwriter for the band "Spooktober", grew up on a farm in Hinton, West Virginia, and began playing guitar in his early teens. Recently relocating to Athens for "excitement," Ebanosky lives in a backyard tent and shops for his clothing in "reuse dumpsters."

Shawnee, Ohio, is a shadow of its former self. In 1872, the town was carved out of a hill in mineral-rich Southeast Ohio. Twenty years later, Shawnee boasted a population of 3,266, which has since steadily emptied down to 608 residents who face a decaying Main Street.