Hingham: Still hanging on

The old bank building in the declining town of Hingham burned in 2010 and stood as a shell until two weeks ago, when mighty prairie winds blew its charred remains to the ground. When Mayor Ray Lipp was asked if he had considered the building's collapse as a symbolic foreshadowing of Hingham's future, he remained pragmatic.

"Well, it needed to be torn down anyway. It was already a done deal," he said, shrugging matter-of-factly.

Lipp isn't just the cowboy boot-wearing, part-time mayor of the 118-person town of Hingham, Montana. Like many officials in rural towns across America, Hingham's mayor...