I live in Vicksburg, Mississippi, a river town with a colorful and violent history. For 47 days Vicksburg was under siege by the Federal Army, completely surrounded and cut off from the outside world. Many people lost their lives fighting for a cause they believed in.
Before the Civil War, Vicksburg was a prosperous town, full of merchants, farmers, businessmen and the super rich. Large homes dotted the hillsides, most of which inevitably succumbed to ruins at some point in the past hundred and fifty years. Some suffered massive destruction by cannon fire. Some to Mother Nature. Some to Father Time.
Quite often, the only thing that remains of many once prominent homes are the foundations and/or stairs, some with handrails still clinging to the ancient cement. I’ve noticed as I drive around town, lots of stairs embedded in hillsides that lead to nothing but overgrown weeds or modern parking lots. Or, nothing at all.
Writers, and other curious folks with vivid imaginations, love these finds. Who ascended these stairs? Where did they end up? What type of carriage or other conveyance awaited them at the bottom on the stairs and where did they go? Ladies with elaborate dresses and feathered bonnets? Men with dapper overcoats and tall top hats? Children in ruffles and lace?
Sometimes I paint great masterpieces in my mind of entire neighborhoods based solely on one lonely forgotten set of stairs.
Perhaps the stairs took you here:
Or maybe here:
Or even here:
How about you dear readers, do you ever envision what your neighborhood looked like a hundred or two hundred years ago? Do you have still-standing foundations or stairs begging for imagination to keep them alive?
Word of the Day: Adiabatic
Fun fact about me: I have an old set of stairs that leads right up to my really cool old house.
Original post by Jansen Schmidt, February 2018. Photos courtesy Google Images.
I love learning about a town’s particular history. The town I live in is too new to have abandoned stairways leading into nothing, but any time I see an old, deserted house tangled by vines and blackberry bushes, my imagination always takes off, usually to something paranormal, of course. I think those old stairways probably lead unwary people to other realms… 😉
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We have some vine covered buildings here as well. And, yes, I also imagine what they looked like in their glory days. Stairways to other realms usually does not cross my mind, but I can see where a paranormal twist could certainly add an extra layer or interesting.
Thanks for stopping by. Have a great week.
Patricia
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Your post was completely adiabatic. I didn’t get hot under the collar or seethe with cold rage like I do reading a lot of stuff in the media.
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I’m glad I was not the source of any anger for you today. Excellent use of the word of the day. Gold star for David!
Have a lovely week.
Patricia
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I do think about what my neighborhood and area were like in the past — kind of goes with the territory when you are a time travel writer.
No old stairs or foundations in my neighborhood. But my daughter found a pile of old bricks behind our yard once. We researched them online. Still don’t know what they were for, but we found the factory where they were made!
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Wow – that’s cool. Down here old bricks are especially interesting since most really old bricks were made by slave labor. Not so much a thing up there in Yankee territory, but down here it sort of adds a sadness to the find.
My house is post civil war so I don’t have that issue so much, but there are still buildings and brick lined streets with old bricks made by slave labor. People pay good money for really old bricks.
Thanks for stopping by today. Have a wonderful rest of the week.
Patricia
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These old stairs leading to nowhere are fascinating! We don’t have anything like that where I live, but I think my imagination would have a field day with all those stairs in your neck of the woods, Patricia! Very cool post!
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It’s hard to drive by and not wonder, especially if you’re sitting at a red light and there they are, right on the corner. My eyes just automatically go there and my inquiring mind follows.
Thanks for your support. Have a wonderful rest of the week.
Patricia
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