the; ALABAMA OPPORTUNITY. 65 



crib, its stock filled stable yard is the basis upon which the 

 prosperity of this section has' been erected. He was the pred- 

 ecessor of the railroads and without knowing it or intending it, 

 he made the railroad possible. 



He it was who revived Geneva and gave it a healthy ex- 

 panding life. It was he who built Geneva's rival, Hartford, 

 in the midst of a pine forest and then transformed its country 

 into a .farming paradise. He and the lumbermen built the 

 town of Slocumb overnight, a town that jumped into being 

 almost in an instant with 700 people, and he created the new 

 and prosperous towns of Black and Samson as easily as he 

 took the one store of Coffee Springs and transformed it into 

 a commercial center with rich hopes of the future. 



It has been before noted that railroads do not scatter farms 

 through a wilderness. The farms must first be there before 

 the railroads can be persuaded to come. 



BUILDING OF TOWNS. 



But this one thing the railroads will do when the farmers 

 have prepared a way and given a reas'on for their coming. 

 The railroads scatter towns throughout their territory. They 

 furnish a center for the congestion of the commercial en- 

 deavors of the farming sections. They provide a place for the 

 transaction of business, for the selling of farm produce and the 

 buying of dry goods, sugar. 



Geneva County, for so many years without a railroad, is 

 now split by two. The Georgiana and Graceville branch of 

 the Louisville and Nashville enters Geneva County near its 

 northwestern corner and after passing through the county 

 goes into Florida. It crosses the line of the Central of Geor- 

 gia at the lively town of Samson. Samson is a lusty youngster 

 just two years old, but with a population of 400. Within eight 

 miles' of Geneva is the town of Black, one year old, and with 

 a population of one hundred. High Note is not far away. 

 It is only a year old, and it, too, has a population of 100. 



Through the northern portion of the county runs the Central 

 of Georgia, which is the extension of that company's line from 

 Columbia to Florida. The Central enters Geneva County 

 near its northeastern corner and after intersecting the north- 

 ern portion dips down and leaves the county near the south- 

 western corner. 



