When Once Destroyed
A town was erased. But its story refuses to disappear. In the mid-20th century, a small Indiana community named Somerset was wiped from the map—its homes abandoned, its land flooded, its people scattered. Progress demanded sacrifice. And Somerset paid the price.
When Once Destroyed is the true story of that loss—told not as distant history, but as a deeply personal letter from a grandfather to his grandson. Through memory, reflection, and careful research, Sid Shroyer reconstructs a vanished world: its people, its rhythms, and the quiet dignity of a place that once mattered.
But this is more than a story about one town. It is a meditation on what happens when communities are displaced in the name of progress… and what we lose when history is buried along with them.
Blending memoir, cultural history, and moral reflection, When Once Destroyed asks a question that still resonates today: What is the true cost of progress—and who gets to decide?
Perfect for readers who appreciate:
-Thoughtful American history
-Stories of small-town life and legacy
-Authors like Wendell Berry and Marilynne Robinson
If you care about the stories that shaped America—and the ones we've forgotten—this book belongs on your shelf.
Sid Shroyer is an NPR broadcaster, writer, and essayist. He was the local host of NPR affiliate WVPE's All Things Considered, cocreated the monthly entertainment program Wild Rose Moon Radio Hour, and contributes regular essays to the WVPE segment Michiana Chronicles.
Shroyer is a graduate of Indiana University South Bend and Indiana University Bloomington, where he met his wife, Judy, at the student radio station. He spent twenty-seven years as an English teacher at New Prairie High School, where he taught writing classes for college credit, created classes on the Holocaust and the Vietnam War, advised media classes, and briefly coached softball. He grew up in rural Indiana and currently lives in South Bend.
For more of Sid Shroyer's writing and to subscribe to his newsletter, visit sidshroyer.com.
"Having grown up in a small rural community, and having spent years as a sociologist studying small towns, I was impressed with the depth of detail and insight in these pages. Sid Shroyer has captured a profoundly moving piece of American history." — Robert Wuthnow, author of The Left Behind: Decline and Rage in Small-Town America, author of The Left Behind:Decline and Rage in SmallTown America
"Part advisory letter to a beloved grandson, part meticulously researched reportage, and all heart, When Once Destroyed captures the tragedy of one community's destruction at the hands of the powerful and shows how this can happen anywhere.In fast-moving chapters, Sid Shroyer has crafted a detective story with shocks and surprises around every corner. He skillfully pieces together newspaper stories, personal letters, government reports, archival papers, survey maps, secret plans, oral histories, outright lies, a murder, broken promises, small-town politics, and Congressional Acts in order to corroborate a complex story of American power and its victims.Shroyer captures in his distinctive and winning voice the fine grain of life in Somerset — the church clothes and farm meals, passed-along stories and silences, roars of a packed basketball gymnasium, and the soft voices of casual racism and resistance — so that we mourn what was lost when the Army Corps of Engineers dammed the Mississenewa River and destroyed a way of life forever. And yet this book recovers what has been lost and invites us to reflect on our own community's stories of location and dislocation, loss and growth, and the stories we, too, must preserve for the next generation." — April Lidinsky, Professor of women's and gender studies and director of the Master of Liberal Studies Program at Indiana University South Bend. She is the co-author of "From Inquiry to Academic Writing" (Bedford/St. Martin's Press), in its fifth edition.
"Sid Shroyer's family story, written as letters to his grandson, centers on the dramatic loss of his family's homestead. Their town of Somerset was submerged as the result of a 1960s flood control project, a project he sees as an example of the link between progress and profitability.Shroyer uses personal memories, research, and interviews to recover as much as he can of his family story. This includes moving testimonies of others who lost their homes. Even though Somerset was rebuilt on higher ground, as the title implies When Once Destroyed the past is lost." — Gabrielle Robinson, author, Better Homes of South Bend, An American Story of Courage and Api's Berlin Diaries, My Quest To Understand My Grandfather's Nazi Past among others. Emeritus Associate Professor, English, Director of International Programs, Indiana University South Bend
"This is hands-down one of my most compelling reads of the year. Even with all the historical facts, statements and details, this book never strays from feeling like the letter it is. The amount of research that went into this book is evident; and further proof of Sid's dedication to making sure this story was told through the voices of the community. As a journalist and a Hoosier, I'll be recommending this book to friends: it's a brilliant example of the craft of storytelling. It's also a painful reminder of all the stories that exist around us, that go untold, or become forgotten." — Barbara Anguino, Producer, NPR 1A podcast. Before joining 1A, Barb was the Statewide Health and Science Reporter for Indiana Public Broadcasting. Barb is a graduate of Indiana University's School of Journalism, and the Transom Story Workshop.
"Sid Shroyer's When Once Destroyed is a marvelous hybrid, a poignant investigation of the life of his largely silent but hugely influential father and a forensic account of the untold story of the destruction of a small town in Indiana by the forces of progress. Composed as a long letter to his infant grandson, Vern, Shroyer's book conveys the admirable rural rectitude of Shroyer's own father, also Vern. At the same time, Shroyer undertakes extensive research in libraries and archives to uncover the reasons for building the dam that flooded his small town and upended the lifeways of its inhabitants." — Stephen Fredman, Professor Emeritus of English, University of Notre Dame
