Newton Trails

On the southwest corner of Dixie Rd and County Highway 213, in the heart of the historic  Starrsville community, sits a small rock few have probably noticed.  Standing at the edge of an overgrown pecan grove, alongside a busy highway, this small boulder bears a weathered bronze plaque commemorating the site of the Old Starrsville Store. Built in the early 1830s, that building stood until its demolition in 1992.  As the plaque placed in 1995 retells the story, the store passed through many operators, was home to a US Post Office, and hosted numerous historic gatherings.

When out bicycling through the pastures along Dixie Rd or Hwy 213, I often pause to rest upon that rock.  I reflect and imagine what this crossroads might have looked like in the early days of a bustling mercantile business.  I think about a time when Starrsville was a thriving community, and I consider how far it must have seemed from the rest of Newton County when travel was by foot or horse-drawn carriage.  Today, that busy highway is sadly littered with trash thrown carelessly from  windows of passing cars by people in a hurry to get somewhere or another.  On my last visit, an empty cigarette pack lay right beneath that marker, and beer cans dotted the grasses.  Sitting there, I often wonder who among those hurried passers-by has ever noticed this marker, much less paused to read its message from another time?

That's the beauty of getting around by foot or by bike...  You actually get to see, hear, smell, feel, and even taste the places through which you travel.  For me, a walking and biking trail is a meaningful way to preserve and protect the rich heritage of places like Starrsville, Hayston, High Point, Almon, Oakhill, and Brick Store.  I close my eyes, and I imagine a family from town, a boy scout troop, or visitors from another state or country rolling or hiking through that pristine landscape.  I see them pausing to read our markers and wonder.  I hear them experiencing our history and our heritage the way our forefathers did:  at a slower, less hurried, more reverent pace.

I know for some, a walking/biking trail seems like yet another intrusion of our modern world into this landscape steeped in history.  But, to me, it's much the opposite.  To experience this land and this heritage not imprisoned in an automobile at 55+ MPH is to experience it the way it was meant to be.  And, the way it always will be in the imaginations of those of us who take the time to travel slow and savor the experience.