It was the Depression year of 1932, and an unemployed Springfield Ohio man, H. G."Ben" Hartman, decided to create a do-it-yourself WPA project. The results of his labor still stand -- for the most part -- in a quiet neighborhood. Between the buildings (aside from the overgrowth) are little scenes -- a mix of history, religion, and Depression-era pop culture. Lawn statues of the Holy Family share space with garden gnomes. Small hand-written signs help visitors to distinguish one tableau from the next: Custer's Last Stand, Daniel in the Lion's Den, Noah's Ark, and "Foot path to Pece" (Peace). Ben stopped building in 1939.
