In the 1920's as automobiles became more common and the population and prosperity of the region increased, new roads became an imperative. The older boys remember riding the farm hack to Jackson to deliver milk, butter, and farm produce. From the homeplace they would go up the Mill Road to the Old Pinson Road and follow it to the Chester Levee Road and on into Jackson. At the Forked Deer River Crossing there was a bridge, but in good weather the buggies, hacks and wagons used a side road at the river so they could go down and ford the river, watering the horses as they crossed, and also watering the wooden wheels of their vehicle to help keep the spokes tight. The water was good for both beast and vehicle. The Chester Levee Road was built up high, as was the bridge, so the road could be used in moderate flooding conditions. Even so, in late winter or early Spring there were times when flood waters prevented any crossing into Jackson, except by railroad, which was built up higher.
United States Route 45 was designed as an interstate highway which would go from Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Mobile, Alabama. A similar road, U.S. Highway 51, would go from Chicago to Cairo, Illinois to Memphis, Jackson, Mississippi and on to New Orleans, La. These routes followed already established railroad routes uniting West Tennessee with Northern and Southern cities, and also opening up better transportation to rural areas along the route.
Highway 45 was planned to come near Bemis, Tenn. and opened a new access to Bolivar to the west, while continuing south to Henderson, passing through Pinson beside the Mobile and Ohio Railroad tracks. In this trajectory it would cross the Hammond-Watlington farm at an angle that would cut the L-shaped sixty-six acre farm into three parts. In most cases such a road would be of instant value to isolated farm land and the owners were glad to give land freely for the project.
In this case the highway would require the diversion of a stream, the isolation of three parcels of land and the angling route would use more land. Ulrich Watlington was effectively in control of farm management although O. W. Hammond was still living. He insisted on compensation for the highway crossing the farm with the resulting need for new fences, fields and drainage problems. The highway management was high-handed and used various pressures and threats to persuade Ulrich of the advantage of the road. But for a farmer the disadvantages were immediate and costly. With community support, especially Mr. Barham Caldwell of Malesus, Ulrich won the settlement. It was a small amount of cash, but it would help build the needed new fences. But Ulrich knew that the farm, small as it was, was permanently damaged for agricultural and dairying purposes.
The road brought temporary advantages in that the construction needed teams of horses and mules to do grading and road work so there was some work for a team and driver at seasons. Both Ulrich and Mack Watlington were able to hire out for some weeks of work with two teams of horses from the farm. It also offered a lot of excitement for the children, and a lot of dust and dirt around the house for Jennie and the girls. Our well became very important for drinking water, and the streams offered abundant water for concrete making and for the teams working on the road. They used some ``steam shovels'' to move dirt but most of the road way grading was done by the use of ``mule power.''
Soon after this the C. A. McGill family purchased the adjoining Witherspoon farm and Mr. McGill planned to build his new brick home facing the highway. They had an automobile and two older children who worked in Jackson but Mr. McGill was retired and wanted to live on a farm. We were delighted to have new neighbors. Mr. McGill planted an apple orchard that also blessed the community with fruit many years although it might have been considered a commercial failure.
In our eagerness to see this marvelous ``Steam Shovel'' Jimmy Harton, Sam and I went to see it one Sunday. As we came up out of the gullies on to a level spot, near Seavers Road, we could see the top of the excavator but it was not working; it's motor was idling. We continued on until dynamite started blowing up the ground too close, We got a few scratches as we fell through some blackberry vines in the gullies.