Dugdown Baptist Church
The Press Wednesday, August 5, 1987
In Polk's Dugdown community....
Glimpses of the past reveal former gloryPolk County's changing community structure is evident at Dugdown, located on a southern border near the Haralson County line.
Unlike Fish Creek, which is experiencing change through growth, Dugdown retains only glimpses of its former glory days. Tall pine, oak and maple trees now grow where once stood a store, post office and depot near the crossing of the Southern Railroad (formerly Central of Georgia) and Dugdown Mountain Road.
Mrs. Southa McKibben, who moved to Dugdown as a new bride, and Quillie Connell, who grew up there, have many memories of Dugdown's past. Both know its present and feel the area has a good future for persons seeking peace and quite.
Mrs. McKibben, a retired school teacher, married the late Horace McKibben. His parents, William Henry and Mollie, were owners and operators of a genera; store at the Dugdown crossing.
This silver-haired woman recalls passenger trains stopping at the depot to pick up patrons bound for Rome, Cedartown, Chattanooga and other cities. This was especially true during the war years (WWII). "The soldiers would come here to board the train and leave for their assignments in service."
Although Mrs. McKibben did not grow up in Dugdown Community, she recalls seing the remains of the stroe building and post office in the early 1940s. She also remembers many important events which added much to community life.
These included electricity, water and a better road. "When I moved here, there was no electricity, no water and almost no road. If you have never done without all these, it is hard to know the miracles of modern life. Just having a telephone in a rural area is wonderful but add to that electricity and water, plus a good, paved road and...it's a better world."
This former teacher lives in a rambling white house near the former center of Dugdown's community life. This in-between place of resedence has made traveling into either Polk or Haralson to teach a convenience for Mrs. McKibben. She also worked several years with the Polk County Adult Education program.
Below the Southern crossing near Mrs. McKibben's home is an unpaved road. Along this country route, past Dugdown Baptist Church, pastored by the Rev. Billy Vines, is the home of Carl and Flora Lee Connell. Their home is located on part of the 200 plus acres once owned by his father, J. T. Connell.
Quillie Connell and his wife, Edna, often visit their brother's home. Quillie, born August 3, 1910, has a vivid memory of the heyday of Dugdown. He recalls four passenger trains traveling the rails and visitors that boarded the train. "There were few cars in thoses days and the roads were often too bad to travel, especially in winter."
Connell recalls the family purchasing only staples from the McKibben store. However, he added, "we grew most everything we needed. Farmers, then as now, worked all the time. We not only grew crops with a plow and a team of oxen but made syrup and cut shingles at a mill on the stream running through our farm.'
The unique thing about oxen, according to Connell, was "they didn't mind the swamps. This is where we had to go to fell trees for shingles. No lines or whips were used on these animals. We guided them by voice. They had a big yoke across the shoulders and were slow, but releable."
A habit learned as a boy is still practiced by Quillie Connell. He laughed and remarked, "I like my bread with butter and drenched with syrup. We grew fruit which my mother made into jelly. This was a breakfast treat enjoyed by myself and the 16 other family members. But I always liked syrup on my......
This congenial man remembers such events as hog killing and taking wheat to Abernathy's Mill on the Tallapoosa River. He recalls a little grist mill at Felton but said his family enjoyed the water ground flour better.
Although Quillier didn't remain on the farm following marriage in 1933, he enjoys talking about past days on his visits back home. The Connell farm is now covered in pines grown, in part, by Georgia Kraft Company.
Dugdown citizens believe it is a good place to live. They declare it has the quite beauty of the hills, valleys and miles of woodland. They aren't bothered by the fact that the quite is broken only by the call of a songbird or the whistle of a train that no longer makes a stop at the crossing.