Opelika on Memorial Day

» June 4th, 2008 | Categorized in Photography

Like a modern-day ghost town where the streets are vacant with the winds howling in the alleys, Opelika, Alabama, on Memorial Day was just that. Not to say that Opelika is a desolate town, there were just no people around on a federal holiday – unlike here in Douglasville, Georgia.

Beneath a glaring Southern sun, the township of Opelika is steep in history from its near total destruction from the Civil War to its rebirth during the heyday of railroad dominance. Here’s a go at a brief history lesson, but check Wikipedia for more details.

In July 1864 Union General William Sherman ordered General Lovell Rousseau and his cavalry to destroy miles of railroad track, equipment, depots and warehouses as they pressed east toward Atlanta from central-Alabama. Opelika became the last stop of General Lovell’s raid as his men were created with the destruction of the town’s transportation infrastructure and Confederate supply depots.

With the return of the railroad after the war and the industry of agricultural and textile booming, Opelika returned to a vibrancy that became a crossroads with rails going north-to-south, and west-to-east. Even today trains creep through the small town with horns blazing, whether hauling freight or passengers.

But Opelika on Memorial Day was a quiet place, shops all closed as a northeastern breeze skirted across the pavement. It was much like Douglasville in the way how the railroad took part in shaping future development thriving on textile mills and the movement of product.

However the essence of Opelika can be seen in the preservation of its history with contemporary architectural compliments, from stone paved crossings to antique streetlamps, and in keeping old mills and the train depot.

The same can not be said about Douglasville (or for the county for that matter), where historical preservation is only on the surface in a very discreet area. With the advent of the dilapidated Georgia Western Cotton Mill and other structures crumbling to pieces for real estate profit in the near future, Douglasville has lost much of its vibrancy and left little to remember its past.

Check out more pictures of downtown Opelika over at flickr!