Truckin' on the Western Branch

Aerial of the Martin property. Image by Sheally

Floyd Buddy Martin. Image by Sheallyv

Her parents, Floyd Buddy Martin and Anita Forbes Martin, live on a point of land on the Western Branch where farmers once brought produce to ship to market. Deborah and Anita Martin both remember dolphins coming up the Western Branch, pelicans flying overhead, and now, bald eagles nesting. The family lived in Sweetbriar until they bought the point and, in 1983, built a big country-style house that looks like it has been there for generations. A small, frame house on the property dates back much further to when it had been the dock master’s house. At one time the little house had been right on the water but had been moved, and the family found remnants from the old house on the property.

Deborah Martin graduated from Western Branch High in 1984 and said “I loved school—we had parties and a sorority, and I had Gracie Lee for a teacher.”

Image by Sheally

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