TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Disbelief, that's what some say they felt watching the final piece of their childhood come down on Tuesday.
The City of Tallahassee cut down two historic oaks to continue with the FAMU Way Extension Project.
We talked to people who say they are upset that the city would prioritize the construction project over the history and memories that so many who grew up in Boynton Stills share.
"I'm not happy. I'm really not. Because y'all destroying history. Y'all better realize this," said community member Samuel McKinney.
Now a lock and a fence blocks McKinney from the community that he used to call home.
"I don't understand it. It's one of those things that baffles me," said another community member Jenny Grimsley.
The City of Tallahassee moved to cut down the beloved two oaks in order to build a retention pond and add a connector street from FAMU Way to Lake Bradford.
"We worked really hard to protect the neighborhood and the houses and of course that went down," said Grimsley.
Now all that's left are memories.
"Right where that chicken house used to sit, there was a store there. They sold kerosene right there," said McKinney.
Still, McKinney says he'll never let go of the community that made him the man that he is today.
"This is my birth ground. It's going to always touch me. It'll always bring me back here. Ain't no way I can back away from it. I have to run to it," said McKinney.
Countless people have driven by to snap the final pictures of the oaks.
The FAMU Way Extension Project is expected to keep the road behind it closed for the next year or so.
