VALDOSTA — The presence of history was alive Saturday at Tom’s Corner Park during a Tom Town gathering.

Past residents and descendants of Tom Town residents convened in the park to observe the history of the area and have a good old-fashioned reunion.

Stretching across Troup Street, from Gordon to Ann Street, Tom Town is a piece of land originally owned by former slave Tom Simmons in 1882, said Janice Primrose Moore, a Simmons descendant.

Moore said her great-grandmother was related to Simmons and it feels great to know the Tom Town tradition still continues.

“Even with the creation of Tom’s Park that just goes to show that it hasn’t stopped; things are still carrying on,” she said. “I don’t know how long the park’s been here, but Tom Town is still active.”

Those who lived in the area and are at least 70 years old were recognized as honorees at a banquet held Saturday evening at the Kennedy Center.

Katrina Scott Fluellen, 89, lived in Tom Town off of North Troup Street before moving to Miami.

She traveled from Florida to attend the reunion and was one of the honorees. She recalled Tom Town as being nice and beautiful.

“I’m a little bit discouraged about how it looks now; but when I lived here 68, 69 years ago, Tom Town was flourishing,” she said. “It was a beautiful community, and everybody knew everybody.”

Annie Lois Primrose Allen, Fluellen’s niece, said raising children was a community effort during the time her aunt lived in Tom Town.

“Living here and growing up in Tom Town, a lot of people my age were saying how we didn’t realize how people took care of us … and we just didn’t realize how good we had it,” she said. “When you were walking down the street, everybody had your back and saw you.”

She said this is the difference between now and then, and she hopes community involvement will return. 

Amanda Usher is a reporter at The Valdosta Daily Times. She can be contacted at 229-244-3400 ext.1274.