In the late 1960s, just before the drug invasion had hit Southern Georgia and before the consolidation of the county high schools; Moultrie was in many ways a continuation of the 1950s.It was in many ways a Mayberry without the Darlings or Barney Fife, with some Credence Clearwater and Steppenwolf. Many veterans from World War ll were in Moultrie and their various veteran's groups helped form the cultural basis for the county.

One of the popular Moultrie hang outs was the A & W Drive-In. Back then orders were called in over a cheap intercom, then the waitresses would bring the food out, usually a milk shake, burgers and fries The drive-in area was not paved and got muddy easily during the rain, but there was enough shelter to cover the cars and the waitresses. The old Highway Grocery stood across from the A & W, and it often stayed open until 10:00 pm on the weekends. It was one of only two stores which stayed open that late at night. There was also another nearby drive-in Johnnies, frequented by adults who wanted a beverage a little stronger than root beer. It was about a half mile away on the old Quitman Highway, near the Boatwright Motel, an older version of Motel 6.

Back then we also had a drive-in theatre, the Sunset Drive-In. They often had racey double features, and were popular on Friday and Saturday nights, often despite the quality of the films. First run films were also shown, such as Bonnie and Clyde, but other b-films, with titles like 'Mondo Rondo' were often there as well. Not completely dressed young women were often on the markee, out front. Now a large housing development sites upon the ground where the screen once stood. I sometimes wish that the Sunset could be rebuilt. Movie critic, Joe Bob, has it right on this issue. **
The music of the late 1960s era did glorify youthful rebellion and drug usage, but alcohol was the biggest drug of abuse. It tended to define Friday and Saturday nights for the juniors and seniors, at least those I ran with. Occasional personal disputes arose among the boys, usually over the relative speeds of two different cars or sometimes over the relative value of some rising girl. These disputes were settled on Friday nights down some local dirt road or remote paved road if the question was over speed. There were many places, usually on the county-maintained roads that were 'safe' usually from the county-mounties or the state patrols for a drag race. Tallokas was one of those roads where differences over cars were sometimes settled.

War was raging in Viet Nam, but only a few Moultrians had been claimed. Later others would come home, some with real problems which never faded. By 1975, the 1960s drug plume had finally reached Southern Georgia and shortly the entire county high school population was pulled into a single 'consolidated' school, largely for federal money from the Education Department. It has not been the same since then.

Tallokas Quarter Mile

Tallokas's 'track' was unusual, in that the designated quarter mile actually started near the city limits. Other locations were usually further out in the county. When a race was on at night, often one or both of the drivers would come in from the country side, drive up to the city limits then turn around. That would give the drivers a good look as to whether the county-mounties were waiting in the dark. Then if the coast appeared clear, the two would line up on the starting white line painted across the road, wait a few seconds, then burn rubber for as far and fast as their cars would go. Most cars could hit at least 85 mph at the end of the quarter, also marked with a white line across the road. Cars with good motors could approach 90 mph and some times a little better.

If blue lights appeared in the rear view mirror, a car running better than 90 had a chance of finding a dirt road and dusting out the patrols or deputies. There were several such dirt roads off Tallokas. along with a few paved roads. Such driving did not require an especially fast car, so much as the willingness of a driver to take dirt road curves which he knew at high speed. This was an art which took boys a while to develop and it sometimes was an unforgiving process, if a driver went into a curve too fast and lost control. Several cars 'cleaned out' a ditch at high speed when I was in high school. Now most of the dirt roads are paved and have housing developments on them. Tallokas is no longer a good place to race. Perhaps this is for the best.

Tallokas Road and Southern History

But more than a good race track on Friday or Saturday night during the late 1960s Tallokas represents more. In the space of less than 25 miles, a driver can go from a relatively good restaurant to an area where 1863 is still in living memory. In many ways, Tallokas is a picture of the whole Southern dilemma over the relative merits of the Civil War, that is modernization and industrialization versus a rural, farm economy. At the northern end of Tallokas in Moultrie, there is a good restaurant Bentleys, and a good barbeque store Allegoods. Also, within a block is a famous French Provincial home, formerly of the Bob Wright family.

Twenty miles southward into Brooks County, sits Bethel Church, where a number of Confederate soldiers are buried. At Bethel, people used to gather for 'reenactment' battles on the weekends and have a picnic afterwards. There are some large wide fields, surrounded partially with trees at Bethel and it makes a good location for a battle. I attended a few in the early 1990s. In early June 2003, I found it impossible to get to Bethel from the Bethel Church Road off of Tallokas, just below Ga Highway 122. There a large oak tree was over the small dirt road and a sign which read 'Dead End'. I did not stay long enough to ask when the road might be opened.

From the Scottish Highlands to Bull Run

In other ways, the Civil War can be seen as an extension of the fight between modernizing England and the Scottish Highlands several hundred years ago. England eventually won that military battle and brought the Scots, Irish and the Welch into 'Great Britain'. Today, with the Scots seeming to drift towards a more decentralized relationship with London, the political effects of those battles is less certain. The 'devolution' of Scotland from direct rule from London is slowly moving forwards.

Just as Washington won the Civil War in 1865, the political effects of that victory have always been debated here in the South. The debate is often between the more modernized town-dwellers and the people of the country-side. I always felt that secession was a poor choice in 1861, but I'm not sure of what my Father thought. He had been raised with the living memory of great uncles who had fought in the Civil War. He is buried within about fifty feet of these men. There are thousands of such people in this county who have descended from such Confederate soldiers and it is not unusual to see Confederate flags on graves during the year, often with American flags as well.

Reenactments and 1863: The Past as the Future

Still, such Saturday afternoon reenactments are not entirely for play. For some Appomatox was actually just a truce, and the war is still on. For some, along the sides of Tallokas and closer to the southern end of the road, its still 1863 and Pickett's men are still at the ready, with bayonets fixed and powder dry. For some, it simply has not occurred that the start of war in 1861 by some South Carolinian hot heads, might not have been the best course for the South. For some the history of four years of hard fighting with over 300,000 casualties followed by ten years of unpleasant occupation; is not enough. A generation of veterans, many of which stood on one leg, all of this is not enough. My Great grandfather, William Henry Harrison Norman Sr., fought in the Civil war, along with his six brothers. W.H.H. came back with part of a leg missing. The bugles of 1863 still blare into the night for these believers in the Lost Cause, war is yet on the horizon, if not now, then later.

For fifty years after 1865, the South fought to recover from the devastation of the war, and truly did not start to become part of the national economy until President Franklin D. Roosevelt began pumping money into the South as part of the New Deal. Rural electrification might have taken another fifty years to happen, had Roosevelt not stepped in with federal plans during the 1930s. Only wartime federal spending for large numbers of military training bases and war material actually brought the majority of the South into levels of income comparable with the rest of the nation.

Tallokas Road runs the range of opinion, from those who want to have a good steak on Friday night at Bentleys, to some who still hear the bugles at Gettysburg. Tallokas is not the only road down here which carries these differences over such short distances, but it is surely representative of some serious attitude differences between the town-folk and the country-side.