Walls That Speak

By Beth Yarbrough

If given a choice between experiencing an old structure or simply reading a historical marker about where it used to stand, would you choose the marker?

Would the fast food restaurant now occupying the slot add anything to the story? Would you be inspired to return, to learn more, to understand how the place now dedicated to selling fried potatoes once played a role in shaping history, made a difference, or even changed the world?

Past that, would you give any thought to the loss of the work itself? For instance, the building you see here came along more than 200 years ago. It was an early school for boys, back before public schools were even a twinkle in anyone’s eye.

In order to build it, local clay had to be turned into brick, and wood and glass fashioned into windows large enough to light rooms that would not see electricity for another 75 years.

This one has been saved, but had it not been, would a marker be able to convey that story? Would a brand new structure be a fair replacement for what was erased?

Too many of our most important pieces of history are sitting ducks these days, standing at the mercy of local governments and private owners who don’t understand or, worse, do understand but don’t care.

Technology these days has all of us running on a high speed rail through our daily routines - news and life itself held on a machine in the palm of our hands. The temptation through that lens is to view anything old as inherently useless.

The danger - a very real one - is that one day we may stop long enough to realize that what was left of “us” is no longer there. I hope never to see that day. You are welcome to join me.