See Midget City: The biggest little city in the world
Orlando before Disney World was home to many original roadside attractions, including this gem. The electrified mini-town was built with excruciating attention to detail by Ohio native Lloyd Cronk.
There he sat behind the cash register, bored out of his mind. The days seemed to inch by, sometimes with virtually no sales to show for it. In the height of the Great Depression customers to Lloyd Truman Cronk’s hardware store near Sandusky, Ohio were few and far between.
As his mind wandered awaiting the next patron, he thought about the great boats upon nearby Lake Erie and the Huron River. His mind transported him upon a sailboat, which he dreamed to own (should the languid 1933 economy ever again recover). He purchased plans for a model boat, picked up a block of wood and started to carve the fantasy vessel.
Before he knew it his 26-inch creation was complete. It was impossible to tell from the impeccable workmanship that then 41-year-old was a rookie at such handiwork. Being well pleased with the new-found hobby he immediately started creating a miniature story-and-a-half house; then he turned his effort to a stone pebble covered church.
