Stepback held its annual fall festival last Saturday. The unique “town” built by Roger Pierce and his family portrays simpler times, more specifically the 1850s to early 1900s.
After securing the land for Stepback in 1997, Pierce built the reminiscent town with help from others throughout just a couple of years. It features 26 buildings and attractions designed to invoke feelings of nostalgia and curiosity.
Admission was free and refreshments were provided to visitors. Guests were encouraged to walk through all the different structures in a self-guided tour. Some of these included a general store with vintage items inside, a field schoolhouse, a working watermill, and a replica church with pews from a real, historic 1857 church in Jasper County.
Two Mennonite families from Dublin, the Martins, and the Ramos, helped the event come together with all the working demonstrations. At the blacksmith’s shop, guests could watch blacksmiths work with metal like they would have in the olden days. There also was a sugarcane syrup mill where visitors could watch it get processed and bottled.
Gospel music played in the church and could be heard as visitors walked through the fall landscape. Inside the field schoolhouse, the schoolmaster talked about how different schooling was in the early 1900s.
“We don’t try to impress anybody, we’re just glad to see people come and enjoy themselves,” Stepback Mayor Pierce said.
The event brought in 470 guests this year and the Pierce family looks forward to carrying on its Stepback tradition for years to come.