Historic Stepping Stones

Historic Stepping Stones. . , Stepping stones were large, flat river stones. They were placed far enough apart to allow wheeled traffic to easily pass over. The stones were located at various intersections around Lewisburg before the roads were paved., Historically, stepping stones were essential in towns like Lewisburg, located along the busy Midland Trail. traffic on the Trail included stagecoaches, wagons, and buggies, farmers herding their animals, and many pedestrians. The unpaved roads were dusty in dry weather and could easily turn muddy and inaccessible during bad weather. Animal traffic contributed to the general filthiness of the roads. Cattle, turkeys, hogs, horses, sheep, and dogs traveled the mucky streets of Lewisburg., In 1919 Lewisburg paved the streets with bricks eliminating the need for stepping stones., Fun Facts ,

. This set of stepping stones, pictured left was donated to the Greenbrier Historical Society by Earl Clay, president of Bolling High School. His father, Dr. Samuel Clay, had the stones on his property since their removal from town., . Johnston Reynolds wrote to his daughter in 1855 after an attempt to improve the roads in Lewisburg. The town laid down MacAdam, an early form of asphalt, on Main Street for $1,800.

, Racing Through The Streets , In a series of oral histories conducted in the 1990s, residents remember the stepping stones fondly. Mary Wilson recalled that her brothers, who went to the Greenbrier Military School, used to race around town with a team of horses. They would hitch their horses to their carriage and race around, carefully memorizing where the stepping stones were so they did not hit them.