Page 5 - barefoot-in-the-sand-remembering-the-waning-days-of-the-hopewell-community-(1998)-bruce-c-gragg

Barefoot In The Sand: Remembering the Waning Days of the Hopewell Community (1998) Bruce C. Gragg 1/123

SETTING THE SCENE

Upon entering Florida from Georgia while traveling south on what is
now US 441, on the right is a monument dedicating the highway to
former Governor Cone. On the left just before crossing into Florida
was the J.I. Carter farm, with its large unpainted frame house and
several farm buildings. A large barn was across the highway, and near
the house a wooden fire tower stood. Mrs. Carter, was Papa's sister,
Olive. Approximately a half mile on the right an old dirt road bears
to the right, this is the beginning of the Florida segment of what
was once known as Wilson Road. Following this sandy dirt road leads
into what was once the Hopewell Community. On the way you pass
Blounts Ferry and some former fields and pine woodlands and several
ponds and swampy areas, a little further on the left was the M.C
Rhoden farm. As you continue south for about a quarter mile, suddenly
on the right an area opens and you are in front of a most picturesque
farm setting. A row of slash pines were planted along the road in
front of the home, they tended to set it apart from the road like a
fencerow with all the post being trees. Visitors often commented on
what a beautiful setting this was.

This was the James and Mabel Burnette home. It had a large yard area
with lots of trees and several buildings surrounding the home. At one
time there was an unpainted frame house, a large hip roofed equipment
shelter, a large lofted barn and other typical farm outbuildings
including a "syrup shelter." Yes, we also had a couple of poles with
"Martin Gourds" in the edge of a field mounted on post of the
fencerow behind the house. The barnyard fence was a high wood fence
with big post and three big gates. The corn crib was originally a
separate building, Papa later built a crib in the main barn. All this
was surrounded by a field fence type of yard fencing. In the late
thirties work was begun to raze the old house and build a new house.
A two story plantation style structure, with a large front verandah
and a balcony and two dormer type windows on the second floor. There
were several beautiful trees near the house, including holly,
magnolia (The limbs of these two trees were never trimmed, thus they
extended from ground level to the tiptop.), cedar, pine, camphor,
sable palm and several very large pecan trees. Between the fence in
front of the house and the road was a large grassy area, almost half
an acre in size. All this was located in a corner of the cultivated
land. It was very well arranged for convenience buildings and fields
had easy access.

This was in the middle of an area abundant with various kinds of
wildlife and woodlands and wetlands. The factors contributing to the
unique setting was also a source of great problems during extreme
weather conditions. When it was dry the sandbed roads were

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