• Midwestern Words

    We're in the business of preserving and creating Midwest culture through bookselling, publishing, and content creation.

  • Locally Owned

    Impeded Stream is owned and operated by midwesterners trying to make a living and create useful, beautiful things.

  • Quality Focused

    Everything sold here is something we (the owners) would be proud to own personally. If we make or sell it, we stand by it.

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Introducing The Duncan Manor Review

The Duncan Manor Review is a 40-page print magazine featuring essays, poetry, interviews, photography, and more celebrating ten years of preservation and restoration at Duncan Manor in Towanda, Illinois. The magazine will be for sale at DuncanManorHouse.com starting the weeek of 9/23, and a limited pre-order is currently live! Pre-order your copy today at DuncanManorHouse.com.

Pre-Order 'The Duncan Manor Review'

Books For Sale

Used & rare books picked in the heart of the Midwest (mostly). Books will also be available at Impeded Stream markets and pop-ups, but these titles are exclusively available online.

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Midwestern Apparel

All apparel designed by midwestern artists and printed by midwestern printers. We've got something for everyone (except maybe Floridians)

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Here's What You Need To Know About Us

Welcome to the Midwest

What Is Impeded Stream?

We're a group of artists, printers, writers, and content creators from central Illinois (Lexington, Illinois - Population: 2,800). We want to create a hub for midwestern culture, style, and ideas. We just launched in December 2022 and will be building content, social media, and more products in 2023. Thanks for coming along so early.

When Can I Expect My Products Shipped?

All products will be shipped out within a week of purchase via USPS or UPS.

Can I Contact Impeded Stream?

You betcha! Email us at ImpededStream@Bolt-Cutter.com (Bolt Cutter is our other company. Fancy domains and email addresses coming soon!)

Illinois: A Poem

Don't forget the industrious Cahokian and their ancestors. Listen for the Great Spirit that instructed them to build Great mounds. That Spirit's voice still blows across the wide prairies and the raging highways. La Salle was guided to the Great Rock and Clark to the Great Lake. Listen for the Great Spirit that instructed them to build their fortresses. A gangly young lawyer named Abraham rode his horse across the circuit. It's said he was guided, too. He would become Great. The Great Spirit still speaks here and now. At least, the Great wind still howls.

Tote Bags

Tote Bags

Long Sleeves

Long Sleeves

Winter 2022/2023

Winter 2022/2023

The Midwestern Spirit

Make your own way out here on the wide, tilled prairies. The land is priceless, yet available. The possibilities are endless, yet practical. Stay a moment with the four raging seasons and find a windbreak. You can make your home here.

Read More at the Impeded Stream Substack