Jessie Clayton, or as the locals refer to her as Mama Jessie, has lived on Route 5 since the 1970’s, back when her land was only cornrows. She lives in the newest house built on Cardinal Lane in the last 40 years.
“All this was a battleground. My kids used to go back there, they dug for bullets and horseshoes.”
Mama Jessie refers to her land as irrelevant in term of historic value and feels she does not have a voice in the reconstruction of Route 5, even though her house was built on Civil War battlegrounds and historic lands. Even though she is not a veteran in the neighborhood, she still disagrees with Henrico’s Route 5 expansion draft to alter the sweet two-laner into a more ideally traveled four-laner.
“We are the newest house on this lane,” Mama Jessie said. “We own the property all the way from Osbourn to Moore’s Field. I have been around long enough to know that if that is what the country wants to do, they are going to do it.”
Dell Erwin, 84, holds a signs during a victory celebration for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris near the Freedom of Speech Wall on the Downtown Mall. "This is the most important election in my lifetime. I have two words for Trump: You're fired. I'm glad I have lived long enough to see it happen," Erwin said.