Weather: Sunny, clear, mid-high 70s

Mileage: 18.9 miles round trip to Cuba Check out our route…

After yesterday’s City Council meeting, we were told to to get in touch with Josh Tillery at the Price & Tillery Furniture Store, so that we might be able to speak at the next Rotary Club meeting. As we rode there (only a few blocks) we waved to everyone in their cars, on the street, on their front porches. Folks smile because they just don’t know what we are. We feel like a two-person parade.

Josh Tillery gave us great advice on which roads to were good to ride on and which ones to avoid. Josh used to be a tri-athlete and rode his bike all over the county. He told us some good routes to follow; state highways and the smaller roads are equally dangerous. The highways have shoulders but cars and logging trucks go real fast; the smaller roads are in questionable condition and have no shoulders. Still, there are lots of interesting little towns to visit that are all within 20-30 miles of York.

We decided to head out to Lake Louise, a recreation area a few miles outside of town off of Route 11. We tried to ride on some of the back roads as much as possible; but when we had to ride on the highway, cars and trucks gave us a wide berth. The road encircling the lake was gorgeous; verdant growth perfumed with honeysuckle. We saw one guy getting ready to fish; otherwise the expanse was empty of people. The road alternated from pavement to orange dirt without warning.

We had looped back around to Route 11 and saw that it was only 5 miles to Cuba, a town close to the Mississippi border, and headed that way. We passed through lumber farms, vast clear-cut acreage, new pine forest arranged in dense too-perfect rows, and truck yards with hungry truck beds waiting to be filled.
We rode off of the state route onto Sheepskin Road; saw horse farms, small homes with new gardens drawn into the clay soil, and many territorial dogs.

The Ward House: Antebellum plantation (built 1830s)

Cuba is about half the size of York; its humble streets, populated with old white houses, hugged the railroad tracks. We found downtown: vacant save for one store, Lulu’s, which sold antiques and hand-made crafts. It was closed. Nearby there was a blue-awninged post office in a 1970s building; next door to that was a large storefront of the same vintage, empty.

We stopped at a small market connected to a gas station on Highway 11 to fuel up on water. We spent some time talking to some folks hanging out there. They had many stories to share!

Weather: Sunny and mild, high 60s-low 70s

Mileage: 4.7 mile ride around York Check out our route…

Slogan #1:

York, AL

YOUR SLOGAN HERE

Our starter slogan, to let people know what we are doing.

Slogan #2:

WE COME TO YORK

Our York neighbor told us that for years one of the signs leading into York was missing an important ‘l’ and this was the result, which we all agreed was pretty inviting.

We rode throughout the town of York, exploring various neighborhoods:

At 5:30 we attended the City Council meeting and introduced our project to the Mayor, city council people and other locals. Mayor Gosa said she knew what slogan we would come up with…we told her she better let us know since we have no idea! It was good to talk with residents “in the know”. They told us that we need to talk to the people who are not on the streets: the older folks in town. We should talk to: the Rotary Club President at Price & Tillery furniture store; the Lion’s Club President at Ellis Flower Shop; men at the BP drinking coffee between 6-8am daily; churches, churches, churches; Inez’s Kut & Kurl.

Mayor Gosa giving an award to a York resident for his civic achievements

Weather: Blustery, high clouds, low to mid-50s

Mileage: 2 Mile Hike Check out our route here.

Remnant of the old railroad
We watched and waited for the wind to die down so we could take our rig out. It never did. We had not planned for this kind of weather! The clouds rolled on through, and by the late afternoon, the sun poked out and the temperature peaked.

We decided to walk the buried track right-of-way from the old Sumter & Choctaw Railway, which runs east from along Avenue A. On our USGS map, you can see the route extends three miles east to Curl Station and then another three to Lilita, where the line seems to end.

At the end of Avenue A, and the end of the open green space, is a brick ranch house and truck junkyard. We saw a gate and a tied up and energetically barking dog at the continuation of the right of way. Some people were gathered at the front of the house, so we asked them if we could walk the railroad. At first they looked at us like we were crazy; we explained that we are interested in the old railroad and just wanted to check out what’s there. They said awhile back some people came in and tore out all of the tracks, taking all of the metal. They didn’t know what all else was back there, but figured we could walk a ways.

We found a fairly clear, very level pathway, ideal for a recreation trail. (In 2005, a group from the Urban Studio, part of the architecture program at Auburn University, came to York to develop a small town initiative. One of their proposals for York was the development of a rails-to-trails system.

We hadn’t walked but a few yards before we entered a magical and pristine forest, lush with electric spring growth. We walked under the branches of old, mature trees: tulip, pine, chestnuts and something that looked like mulberry. We passed by a lovely wide dry marsh area, populated by tall willows not yet in leaf. In the heart of the forest we heard three loud gunshots; was it hunting season? Something important to find out!

Tulip Tree flower

Chestnut Tree flower

Weather: Balmy thunderstorms with heavy rain, low 60s

Mileage: None due to weather

We had heard that the weather would take a turn, and it did. Today was a good day to put the bike together, touch up our sign, and do some writing. Ours is not an all weather vehicle!

Weather: Partly sunny, mid-60s

Mileage: Walking tour of York

The Coleman Center is our project sponsor

Our new home is the old Bank of York. We were told that the walls are so thick that we wouldn’t be able to hear the rumble of the trains roll by. Not so. About every four hours, a freight train howls, dings and barges through this humble crossroads. During our first night, was difficult to tell our location in relation to the tracks from the sound alone. When we woke the next day, we saw that they are spitting distance from our front door.

Avenue A: York Bank is the brick building with the curved windows

Our neighbor on Avenue A

Map of York drawn by the Urban Studio, Auburn University

We took a self-guided walking tour of downtown York to distribute our calling card to local businesses.

Broad Street (Highway 17) heading towards Fourth Avenue (Highway 11)

Local businesses in downtown York:

Cherokee Park:

An old caboose from the train line that took over the AT&N

We have been back in Oakland just a week; already our York adventure is blurred by memory and distance. We are processing all of the data we have collected and sorting through our myriad experiences.

Several friends excitedly told us, “Hey! We saw your banner hanging over the 580 freeway near University Avenue!” We received this information with blank and dumbstruck stares: “What banner?” “Well, it’s been there for about a week or two and it says “CAlabama in big black letters. Didn’t you put it up there?”

Had we heard this from only one person, we might have passed it off as some kind of hoax. But since the story multiplied, we had to go and check out the situation ourselves.

Sure enough, hanging on the pedestrian bridge is a large handmade banner that proclaims our project name—and also a special event. Apparently, CALabama (slightly different spelling) is the name of a music fest that took place at the Uptown Bar in downtown Oakland. We’re investigating the origins of their name…

Go CAlabama, go!

Riding in downtown York with the slogan, “Come Home to York, Alabama”

Hey everyone! Sorry we haven’t been updating our blog; we have been real busy riding around and talking to folks. So far, we have ridden on nearly all of the streets in York and we have covered over 200 miles in Sumter County! People from all walks of life have shared very interesting stories about past and present life in York. People have shared their stories about York’s history, the railroad, economy, environmental and political concerns, and of course, their hopes for the city’s future. Even though many are worried about York’s current downward turn, everyone expresses a deep love for the place they call home. In exchange for their stories, we have engaged in the following services and chores: washing dishes, distributing city plans about York’s future, picking up trash, building a bookshelf, fixing bikes, gardening, teaching pottery, and typing up poetry. We feel that these are small services in light of the wealth of information York residents have shared with us. From these stories, we have created and displayed the following slogans and more are on their way:

• We Come to York, AL
• The Place You Always Knew, York AL
• Come Home to York, Alabama
• The Once & Future York
• Switchin’ Tracks in York

We will write about all of our York experiences, and include plenty of pictures, maps, video and sound, after we return home to Oakland, CA in mid-May.

Collecting stories from community members around town:

The Peddlers at work doing some services and chores in York:

Local poet reading her poem about York:

CAlabama Peddlers are looking for your stories about daily life in York: local history, interesting current events, local heroes, personal landmarks, railroad lore and more! For one month, starting on April 13, Sue Mark and Bruce Douglas, a wife-husband team from Oakland, California, will be riding their tandem bike in York and surrounding towns in Sumter County. Sue and Bruce will be listening to your stories along the way. They want your help creating slogans that will promote York. They will travel through the region served by the old Alabama Tennessee & Northern Railroad displaying these slogans on a billboard towed by their tandem bike. In exchange for your stories, the Peddlers will gladly assist you with a chore: grocery pick-up, mail deliveries, or small odd jobs.

CAlabama Peddlers want to discover your community pride! If you would like to meet with the CAlabama Peddlers, please call 205-392-2005 to schedule a visit. This project is sponsored by the municipalWORKSHOP at the Coleman Center for Art and is funded by the Alabama Arts Council.

Alabama, Tennessee & Northern Railroad Route Map; the train ran from Mobile to Reform, with a station in York. Read a brief history of the now defunct AT &N Railroad, which was in operation from 1897-1971.

We hope to pedal to the AT&N depot which still stands at the end of the line in Reform, AL. It’s about 70 miles north of York.