Nestled along US Highway 65 in Missouri is the city of Urbana. Of course, "city" means "more than two farmers" in this neck of the woods. Urbana's population as of 2016 is 411 people.

Oddly enough, there is a full-service Ford dealer in town. I have no idea how they remain in business, especially when I asked them about ordering a new Transit cargo van and they couldn't be bothered to do the work putting an order together. They'd rather sell one of the pickups in the small lot. I drove 40 miles to the next dealer.

There is a gas station (singular) in town. The franchise is Bullseye and they do have a convenience store and some hot fast food stuff like pizza. The car wash is the old "here's a hose, go to town" variety with no automated anything. There is a hose for air, and they don't charge for its use, so that's a plus.

The standard small town starter kit would not be complete without a Dollar General, and Urbana has one. The folks who run it are nice, and they do have some nice specials on occasion. Very convenient if you need milk, bread, coffee, or creamer. They have other stuff, but it's a crapshoot whether they have what you need in stock. In the summer a few enterprising farmers set up a vegetable stand in the parking lot and sell some amazing fresh veggies including giant mutant onions that still taste fantastic and tomatoes. They're pretty inexpensive, almost half of the cost in the big "real" grocery stores 20 miles in either direction on US65.

The school district combines several of the small "cities" together, and the school facilities are pretty good compared to many other areas. There is an auto mechanic in town if you need one and even a small ice cream shop outside of the city limits near the school.

The city has its own 2-car police force, and of course they set up speed traps at the edge of town every so often. When I'm in Urbana I never have any issues with them. They smile and wave because I think they're used to my weird creeper cargo van with Colorado plates driving past them to go to the Post Office every few days.

Speaking of that, there's a post office, one of the first in the area since 1856. The city is located in Dallas County and has less than a square mile of official city limits.

Urbana, Missouri: A Good Place to Drive Through.