…is new again. That goes for walking as well.
In the 19th century, Hickory was the pride of pedestrians. It was thought fashionable to see and be seen promenading along Union Square. Any day of the week was good but Thursday afternoons into the evening were best. That was the day when folks who had something to show off showed up.
Men in their dandified best, women sporting dresses and parasols (so as to keep the sun off delicate faces), all came downtown, engaging in a mating ritual if they were single. Couples arrived to boast of their respective catch. There was a bandstand for musical performances and ice cream to snack upon. A good time was expected to be shared by all.
The more adventurous walkers might sashay over to Carolina Park (now Sally Fox Park) and use the iron dipper that was chained to a rock to taste the spring water that spewed from the earth. Today, we might not do that for sanitary reasons, but in those days no one worried too much. The activity was all part of Hickory’s development as a community, with Union Square at its center, a place for local society to mingle.
Photo: Heading to Union Square in their finest. The first wave of Hickory walkers. (Image courtesy HMA)
Then came the automobile. As the first decade of the 20th century turned into the second, cars began to replace horses as the preferred method of getting around. No longer did one need to live in town. Folks began to make their homes farther from the commercial district. Slowly, storefronts replaced houses and while the commercial district grew, autos erased distances. With the Roaring Twenties came the car culture that took over.
In the 1960s, shoppers didn’t even look downtown for their purchases. The brand new Catawba Mall on the bypass offered its own walking space, from store to store and could accommodate most needs. A decade later it was the same song, with a different verse. The new Valley Hills Mall, just down Highway 70 opened, much to the lonely chagrin of Union Square.
By the millennium, downtown Hickory had lost much of its attraction as a destination. Various efforts to try to save Union Square ended up without much follow-through. One idea to enclose the area never got off the drawing board. But then came the ten-foot sidewalk. Officials dubbed it City Walk, a plan to bring the citizenry back to downtown. With more people interested in walking more for their health and perhaps less for showing off, the route paralleled the railroad line that came through town, but it went further. From Lenoir-Rhyne to Lake Hickory and the Hickory Municipal Airport, walking has once again become fashionable.
These days, Union Square has been revitalized, thanks to a very old human need. See you on the sidewalk.
