Usually
I talk about Leaksville, Spray and Draper and the Central Area
instead of Eden.
Over the past few years I've often teased
my wife, Carolyn, about
being a native of Leaksville--the
town that no longer exists except as part
of Eden. It's not that I'm a diehard native
of Leaksville (or one of those other parts of Eden) who was opposed to
consolidation 20 years ago and
always will be. I was born and
raised in Graham, and moved to
Rockingham County a little more
than 10 years ago.
I guess it's just a
novelty to me--living near a city that is a collection
of three smalI towns, two sanitary districts, and
one unincorporated
district that
voted to become Eden on September 12, twenty years ago.
Sometimes
Carolyn and I, along with our daughter Gina, a
third-grader at Wentworth School, will be driving through Eden. We enter the
Traffic Circle in Spray and drive south on Boone Road heading toward downtown
Leaksville.
As we pass the building where District Court is held in Eden
-- the one that used to be the police
station -- we soon pass the point I
imagine was the dividing line between Spray and
Leaksville. There probably used to be a sign on the right facing our
direction of travel. It said "Leaksville City Limit."
Another sign on the other side of the road, facing the opposite direction, said
"Spray City Limit." The signs
are no longer present, but I often tease Carolyn, saying, "We just entered
Leaksville." It's just too much for me to resist.
I mean, I should know better.
Anyone who is a native of Graham shouldn't kid natives of towns brave enough to
consolidate hoping for a better political and economic climate. After all,
the boundary lines between Graham, Burlington, Haw River, Glen Raven, and Elon
College are not distinguishable except for the signs. Yet,
those towns have never been able to get together about consolidation..
In
fact, in recent years, Burlington and Elon College have argued about annexing the
same area, and Haw River incorporated as a city.
It surely wouldn't want to be taken over as part of Graham or Burlington!
I'm not even the kind of guy that likes to make a big deal
about boundary lines except maybe to say I'm proud to be a resident of
Rockingham County, proud of Reidsville, or I feel a sense of pride that I was
born in Graham and North Carolina.
My real feeling is that we should pay less attention to
boundary lines. Many of us live in or near one town and work in another,
or commute to work outside the county and return here when the workday is
over. So maybe, with modern transportation, local boundary lines are
becoming blurred.
Such a blurring of boundary
lines may help all of us work together for the common goals of Rockingham
County. I hope so.
I think that's why, while I
believe in the consolidation process that formed the city of Eden, I also like
to remember where its parts are.
Since consolidation occurred,
many of those who opposed it still
adamantly refer to being from Leaksville, Spray or Draper. But the average
citizen I've talked to over the years seems to be proud of Eden, even though he
or she remembers those roots.
Still, some feel a strong attachment to the town where they were raised.
The late Alan D. Ivie Jr. when he was district attorney, wrote me a
couple of letters a few years ago. He was one who opposed consolidation
and he always felt it was important to be from Leaksville.
Mr. Ivie always wrote his return address as Leaksville Township. The name of
his native town may have been changed to Eden, but he still lived in Leaksville
Township, so that's what he wrote for his address. No Eden for him.
Others who have been unable to forget the loss of the names they felt were
part of their heritage include the members of the band, the Wampus Cats.
I remember John Marshall Carter, a leader of the band who
is a professor at East Carolina University, returning to the campus at Elon
College (where we were both students) 20 years ago after the consolidation
vote. John was bemoaning the fact that he no longer lived in Leaksville,
but over night had become a resident of Eden.
Even though Eden has a historical connection--since William Byrd called the
area "The Wonderful Land of Eden" when he surveyed the boundary line
between North Carolina and Virginia--that wasn't enough for some to easily get
over loss of the name, Leaksville.
John Carter felt that with consolidation, history had been trampled
on. He didn't really worry too much about it. But over the years
he and his band have used the loss of the name Leaksville to poke some
good-natured fun at consolidation with an anti-Eden song Carter wrote.
After all, the history of Leaksville goes back to 1773 when John Leak
settled on Matrimony Creek. By 1795 he had founded the town and named it
Leaksville. With a history going back that far it was not a name that
could be forgotten.
Today, we may call the city Eden, but for many of us, Leaksville, Spray and
Draper will remain a state of mind.
This article was written in 1987.