Complex sentence: In the years immediately prior to its evacuation, Times Beach had become a lower-middle class town--historically there had always been one small grocery store and one gas station on old Highway 66 to serve the residents.
Split into simpler sentences: In the years immediately prior to its evacuation, Times Beach had become a lower-middle class town. Historically there had always been a small grocery store and gas station on Highway 66 to serve the residents.