Down The Old Dixie Highway

If you have only traveled to Florida on the interstate highways then you are too young to remember a time when most of America traveled a system of highways that by today’s standards most would consider back roads. While many only know of the Old Dixie Highway as something that exists in textbooks and a few old highway markers, for many who lived during the first half of the 20th century, it was a primary way to travel north south and even east west in the United States.

The Old Dixie Highway or the Dixie Highway System was actually a series of roads, designated as such in the early part of the last century to commemorate fifty years that the people of the United States had lived in harmony after the War of Northern Aggression, otherwise known as the Civil War. One of those highways through the state of Georgia was Highway 41. Now this highway ran straight through the town of Ringgold Georgia and practically split my grandfathers’ farm in half. So naturally, anytime we traveled anywhere we usually had to travel at least on some portion of Highway 41, otherwise known as the Old Dixie Highway.

My dad and uncles have shared numerous stories about growing up near this highway and the horrendous traffic tie-ups that would occur on that old two-lane stretch of blacktop. Was not only the road full of cars going and returning from places further south, it was also the primary route large trucks would haul produce northward from the farms in South Georgia, and the agricultural regions of Florida. Of course in the summertime one of the primary items rolling out of those areas were watermelons. One of the stories I heard was how some of the boys in the area would slip up behind those old trucks sitting in traffic and steal watermelons right off of the back of the truck.

As you can imagine a trip to Florida in those days was a long expedition, of course then you can add to the frustration the fact that very few automobiles had air conditioning. In my younger years I still remember the interstate highway construction and how a trip south included some interstate and some of the old roads to get to your destination. In fact, even up until my late pre-teen years you could not travel from Chattanooga to Atlanta and take the interstate all of the way.

What I remember most about traveling the old roads were the little mom and pop motor inns and businesses that were up and down these passages. Of course, in the northern parts of Georgia there was a predominance of little stores selling chenille products, recognizable by the beautiful blankets and quilts hanging up outside of them. Naturally, in South Georgia you had numerous fruit stands selling peaches and pecans, as well as other farm fresh produce. In addition, no trip to Florida would be complete without stopping at one of their fruit stands and picking up some fresh Florida oranges and grapefruits.

Even now as we take our annual trip to the Florida beaches, I reminisce about highways named Lee, Dixie, Atlantic, Jackson, and many others that once were primary routes, and where a trip was not just about seeing how fast you could get there. There was a time in America when we were not in a hurry to get to our destination, and would pull off at a spot on the side of the road and have a family picnic before traveling to the next small town along the way. Each little town was different and the greatest part of the trip was the scenery and the stories that our parents and grandparents would tell about when they had also traveled down these roads in the days of their youth.

Imagine just one more time getting to stop at a little small town drive-in and get a burger and milkshake that you would swear was the best you had ever eaten, only to say it again the next time you stopped. Maybe it would do us all good to just one more time slip off the next exit and spend a little time on a back road. As for me, I think I am going to take a little trip down Old Dixie.