Cooperative Living September 2019 - 31

in the town, administering three shifts
over seven days per week. He says
workers would be paid in cash on
Fridays at 11 a.m.
" There were so many people in front
of the beer garden, you couldn't even get
up and down the street, " Lambert says.
Folks would sometimes jump the train
to Lawrenceville, and on certain days they
could catch a passenger train to Buckroe
Beach on the Chesapeake Bay in Hampton.
There was always quite a bit of activity
from the naval base in Norfolk. " I
remember lots of sailors standing beside
the road in Brodnax hitchhiking, "
Lambert says.
Most of the roads were dirt, and off one
road was a small barn with hay and feed
where folks who traveled into town with
horses and wagons could hitch their
horses for the day.
There were at least four orchards, with
the specialty crop in Brodnax being peaches.
Lambert says there were several big
annual events in Brodnax, such as the
Labor Day picnic sponsored by Woodmen
of the World each year at Dugger's Pond.
They had a shed for folks to do the
cooking while a flat-back trailer served
as stage for the " hillbilly country " bands
that entertained the event. There was
also an " ugly man contest. "
" That was a big to-do on Labor Day, "
Lambert recalls.
Another big annual event was the donkey
ballgame sponsored by the fire department.
" You'd hit the ball and try to ride the
donkey to first base, but most of the time
you'd just end up pulling him along, "
Lambert says.
Of course, this was during the
segregation era, so there was mostly two
of everything in town.
Lambert recalls playing for a baseball
club called the Brodnax A's that would
play teams from neighboring communities.
But the crowds at his games were rarely
as loud as the fans across town cheering
for an African American baseball club
based in Brodnax and made up of teens
and young adults.
Lambert also remembers an African
American-owned store called Walker's
where the proprietors would make
sandwiches and drinks and sell them
out of a tray, ballpark style, at the mills.
" They made a living doing that, " he says.
There were segregated schools in
Brodnax that encompassed first through
co-opliving.com
seventh grades. Lambert says at the
school he attended the students served
as janitors and the building was heated by
coal stoves, with older students
shoveling in coal each evening for the
next morning. There was a running
water fountain but no toilets, only two
outhouses that " smelled so bad the
buzzards wouldn't even fly over them, "
Lambert says.
Once students finished at the Brodnax
schools, they had the choice of attending
high school in either Lawrenceville in
Brunswick County or La Crosse in
Mecklenburg County.
" Most of the town is in Brunswick
County, and a lot more went to
Lawrenceville High School than La
Crosse, " Lambert says.
With the town having a big reputation,
Lambert says some folks held it as a strike
against someone upon finding out they
were from Brodnax. But at the same time,
he describes growing up in a close-knit
community that made such an impression
on residents and visitors that they carried
a romantic view of Brodnax in its heyday
throughout the rest of their lives.
" Everybody knew everybody and did
everything together, " Lambert says.
" Growing up in Brodnax, you have lots
of fond memories of the community, school
and the extracurricular activities. We've
stayed close too, till death do us part. "
Still Lots to Do
While the town may have lost most of
the commercial entities from its heyday,
there's still quite a bit to do in and
around Brodnax.
A local rails-to-trails initiative, the
Tobacco Heritage Trail, runs right through
downtown Brodnax along the former
railroad corridor. Meandering through
Southside Virginia, this non-motorized
walking, jogging and riding trail extends
3.3 miles west from Brodnax toward
La Crosse and 14.2 miles east to
Lawrenceville, crossing a scenic section
of the Meherrin River in the process.
The trail runs adjacent to the
Mecklenburg-Brunswick Regional
Airport, which is located just outside of
Brodnax town limits. The airport is
across the street from the Cabbage
Farm, a popular local pick-your-own
strawberries patch that also sells a variety
of other produce fresh from the garden.
Upon passing into town limits, make
A paved section of the Tobacco Heritage Trail.
Moving Forward
Carey notes Brodnax celebrated its
centennial on June 6, 2015, with an allday
celebration that included a circus
and a parade. He was impressed that the
parade drew more than 100 entries.
Brodnax still has all the potential
and traffic it had during its heyday,
and with all the necessities in place for
development, there is room for growth.
" These are great people to work with
down here, " Carey says. " The town's got
potential. It just needs to be developed. "
For more information, call the Brodnax
Town Office at 434-729-3191. 
sure to stop by Ricky's Service Station for
one of its famous hot dogs. And if you're
around Brodnax during the holiday
season, spend a little time checking out
the lights - many town residents go all
out in decorating their yards.
The clock at
the corner of
Piney Pond Road
and Main Street in
downtown Brodnax
was dedicated
during the town's
centennial on
June 6, 2015.
September 2019 | Cooperative Living | 29
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Cooperative Living September 2019

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