Some Facts and Observations about Rossville, Georgia

Rossville is a city in Georgia's Walker County. It has a population of about 4,000. It was incorporated in 1905, though there has been a post office there since 1817 and its history goes back even further to 1785 when it was known as Poplar Springs. Like many communities in the south and northeast it was once a thriving city largely dependent on one major employer. In the northeast it was mostly paper mills that fueled the economy. Many of those mills are long gone and the towns are dead or dying.  In Rossville's case it was Peerless Woolen Mills. The mill closed in 1961. And the huge. sprawling complex, what remains of it sits there like a ghost. 

Whether Rossville is dead or not is a matter of opinion. There are no major or even modest employers that I know of. It's main street, Rossville Blvd is a collection of nondescript buildings, some occupied, some not, and most in various stages of decay. I believe I read that the city has a committee or commission that is charged with formulating a plan for renovating the town. I don't know how long it has been in existence. Some months ago there were public meetings I believe for the purpose of gathering citizen input. One citizen was very outspoken, saying something to the effect that the people of Chattanooga laughed at Rossville as one big junkyard. In my view that's not far off the mark. 

I don't know what it will take, or if it's even possible to revive Rossville. I understand that an individual or group of individuals has either bought or is proposing to buy the former woolen mill, and has plans to turn convert it into something, but I don't know what. I do know that many of those well intentioned proposals never get off the ground. Back to that 'junkyard' comment, when driving through Rossville I don't see anything, either in the so-called commercial district or residential neighborhoods that indicates any community or personal pride. The CDPs surrounding the town are just as bad.

The very first step in attempting any renovation is to clean up the town, building by building, house by house. There are homes not too far from ours where the front and back yards are so full of junk that I don't see how it's possible to walk in those yards. The houses are not in much better shape. Cleaning out all of that junk and pounding a few nails would make a world of difference. Some paint would complete the transformation. But the city has to do it's part. It needs to provide some basic funding for people who would like to improve their property (I have to believe they're out there), and enforce the few ordinances that are already in place. One of those ordinances, if I'm not mistaken prohibits more than one junk car in public view on private property. At one of those earlier meetings I mentioned, a proposal was made to prohibit all junk vehicles. And some people argued against it, saying they should have to right to have junk cars on their property, because they needed those cars for parts as they could not afford to buy a different car. 

Years ago the post office in Chiclayo, Peru had a sign on the wall saying, "Pobre no significa Sucio", which translates to Poor does not mean Dirty. 

When Maribel and I first looked at out house, we liked the neighborhood; there was no junk visible anywhere, we liked the house, and we liked the large lot. We did not like the condition of the lot. There were wood piles and piles of old bricks everywhere. A shed had half of its roof and part of a wall scattered in the yard. But we could see the potential. Now the yard is close to what we want it to be.

Gone are the wood and brick piles. Shrubs that had gone wild and were not salvageable have been removed. The shed has been pieced back together. Some trees have been cut down to make room for other more desirable trees. The angel below stands in the middle of a copse of young pecan and walnut trees. It is illuminated at night.

The smiling turtle below sits atop a pedestal that will be the centerpiece of a small oval flower garden in the spring. It too is illuminated at night. 

We have transformed this property from an ignored piece of land to an attractive landscape. We did all of the work ourselves. Total cost was about $50. 

I am not bragging. The whole point of this post is that anyone with a few hand tools and the willingness to do it can make their property attractive, and in doing so can increase the value of that property, and just maybe prompt your neighbor to do the same thing. And it could be that what was a seedy looking neighborhood becomes a source of community pride. And the more attractive the neighborhood, the more likely it is that home buyers and builders will become interested. And if that happens there will be more money in the community, and more money in the community may encourage small businesses and if that happens, who knows what Rossville would, could look like in the future.

But it's got to start with the city. Ugly streets with vacant buildings won't do it. The incentive for both individuals and businesses has got to be provided, either through inducements or regulations. That planning commission or whatever it is has got to get serious, starting with the enforcement of whatever ordinances are on the books.