Comments on: Eye on the Street

By: Another Rick

Another Rick — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 14:13:13 +0000

Chris: I move to the Emory-Decatur community in 1969, and I remember that old man, but not his mule. Thanks for jogging that memory!

By: PMcG

PMcG — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 20:56:01 +0000

Yep, walked down from Coventry to the bridge.

By: AMB

AMB — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 14:30:39 +0000

I do not recall the man’s name but he came with his mule and leveled our backyard at our new built house, plowed in bag after bag of manure, then sledged it smooth for grass. I can remember him standing on the plow to get it to dig into the new clay yard.This would have been almost 50 years ago now…

By: Chris Billingsley

Chris Billingsley — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 14:07:22 +0000

Next Stop…Decatur has a 1927 picture of the railroad bridge.
I remember the first time I walked across it, sometime in the 60s. This section of the railroad line, from the Ponce bridge to Emory, was a favorite path for the neighborhood boys I hung around with. There was a train yard near the North Decatur bridge where the railroad parked old boxcars and maybe a caboose. We spent a lot of time climbing on those cars, waiting for a passing freight train, and just hanging out. There was an old black man who lived nearby. He had a horse or mule that he would hitch to a wagon and drive through Decatur. Mules and wagons in Decatur- Hard to believe!
This was a great place for a group of neighborhood boys to explore. I would be surprised if Decatur parents today would allow their children to walk the tracks as we did. Perhaps the world we now live in is more dangerous than the one I grew up in, but I can’t help believing that parents are over protective. Kids today are missing out on most of the simple pleasures I experienced as a young boy growing up in Decatur. Instead of exploring things like train yards, bridges, or doing anything outdoors that requires using their imagination, they are spending endless hours with computer games…kind of sad.

By: karass

karass — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 06:04:45 +0000

Several years ago, third-graders did. We still have the Library! Well, it wasn’t truly a scale-model or the entire city but it was gorgeous. I agree that it would be fun to have, at least Downtown. Boy Scouts or DHS students needing a community service or senior project, anyone?