“Preface” in “Old Petersburg and the Broad River Valley of Georgia: Their Rise and Decline”
Preface
IF THE TITLE of this book were given in the style often used in the olden times, it might well read: “Old Petersburg: The Story of the Rise and Fall of a Georgia River Town, Embracing an Account of Some of the Principal Families both in Petersburg and in the Hinterland, Also Giving Attention to the Broad River Country and its Principal Inhabitants, who Made Petersburg an Outlet for their River Trade; Including Efforts at Improving the Navigation of the Savannah and Broad Rivers; Together with Incidents, Such as Duels Which Were Fought in the Vicinity; and Offering Reasons why Petersburg and its Satellites Grew up, Flourished, and then Utterly Disappeared.”
But in modern times, a table of contents gives in brief form what was set forth in these old-style titles. Of course, it should be understood without having to be stated either in title or preface, that a title should be short and only indicative of what the book includes. So, indeed, this book is more than the life history of the Broad River Valley and of that “40 acres” called Petersburg, lying between the Savannah and Broad rivers where they ran together about forty miles above Augusta.
Petersburg did not exist in a vacuum. It was the result of economic and social forces in the upper Savannah River country and its tributaries; and to leave out of the picture this background would make the town stand out in space like a mirage. And even the larger picture in which this region was a detail must also be included when it had a part to play.
But this book is primarily about the Georgia segment of the upper Savannah River country, for that river was the dividing line between two states; and Petersburg being on the Georgia side was more a reflection of Georgia than of South Carolina. These two states had been rivals from Colonial days, and although economic and social forces were not as ready to respect prejudices as were political maneuverings, yet they were important. And largely because of all these rivalries, the South Carolinians set up their own town, Vienna, across from Petersburg, and here sought to reap whatever rewards were to come from upper South Carolina as well as all they could get from Georgia.
Petersburg was much more than a combination of storehouses, warehouses, dwelling houses, streets, and people; it was a symbol of the atmosphere of the times and of the forces that pulled and pushed people around and along-a symbol of land and commercial speculation spreading out as far as Philadelphia, New York, and Boston, of an era of transportation involving the navigation of rivers and of the creaking of wagons across the countryside and the cracking of whips of the drivers of four-horse teams; of the rise and decline of tobacco and the growth and spread westward of the cotton kingdom; of the coming of plantations and slavery; and of the westward movement of population. All of these developments and more helped to make and unmake Petersburg and the Broad River Valley.
E. M. C.
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