Stuck in the mud

Division. Since the pandemic, you seldom can have a friendly conversation without it becoming politically charged. Masks or no masks. Trump or Biden. Gas prices.

But this is really nothing new for Quincy. Let’s head back to the mid 1800’s.

Mud. The issue was mud. 

In the early years, the original settlers were excited about the bumper crops the farmland would harvest. Unfortunately, the area produced an equal amount of disease, including cholera. Everyone could agree that water treatment and the elimination of open sewers would solve that problem. That would require street development.

In the mid-19^th century, slavery was the primary issue around the growing United States. Lincoln and Douglas came to Quincy to debate that very issue. But even that despicable issue couldn’t surpass the heated debates over how to fix Quincy’s streets.

According to records obtained from the Quincy Historical Society, streets were not passable during and after heavy rains. Women would take off their expensive shoes in fear of ruining them. Horses would be knee deep in mud.

In 1840, a road tax was created. Every male resident was expected to provide three days of labor on the streets … with the exception of firemen and ministers.

At that time, Quincy had two newspapers, The Whig and The Quincy Herald. They eagerly jumped into the debate on how to solve Quincy’s mud problem. 

The city council in the 1850’s issued bonds to improve Broadway and install gutters from Front to Fifth Street. The council came to an agreement and the work was started by a contractor named George Padgett.

However, the Quincy Herald was politically opposed to the administration and immediately claimed fraud.  Their editors stated the mayor violated city ordinance by not advertising for bids and played favoritism while not giving the Quincy Herald’s choice a fair shot.

The Whig strongly defended the choice. But the damage was done. The council ordered the work to be stopped and Padgett be paid for work completed.

Not satisfied, the Quincy Herald then criticized the city council for breaking the contract. Not deterred, Padgett ignored the new order and finished the work.

Mud. Quincy’s founding fathers couldn’t agree on how to solve the issue with mud. Same song, different verse here in the 21^st century. We still can’t get along.

Ron Kinscherf graduated from Quincy (College) University with a BA in Communications in 1985. Kinscherf spent five years at WTAD before spending 30 years as an IT Sales Consultant.

Currently, Kinscherf is writing children’s books and handling sales for Muddy River News. Kinscherf is a member of the IBCA Hall of Fame for radio play by play.