Mayes McLain Grapples George Widchecki On Monday Mat Program
Professional Wrestling Jim Crockett Charlotte, North Carolina
Article appears in the Charlotte Observer (North Carolina) on January 3, 1935. The reporters describes the types of wrestling matches that appeal to local fans.
Jim Crockett Presents The Biggest Stars of Rock 'N Roll
Jim Crockette Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte Coliseum
Advertisement appeared in Charlotte Observer (North Carolina) on March 27, 1957. Crockett's promotions were racially segregated.
Professional Wrestling Jim Crockett Jim Bernard Charlotte, North Carolina
Article appeared in Charlotte Observer (North Carolina) on September 21, 1967. Jim Crockett is being sued by a wrestling fan, Henry Allen of Pageland, South Carolina, for injuries suffered when hit by a pipe during a wrestling match.
Wagner Predicts Savoldi Will Unmask Black Secret
Article appeared in Charlotte Observer on February 7, 1941. Reporter describes an upcoming Jim Crockett wrestling match where a masked heal is expected to be revealed by a hero.
Swedish Angel Tough Nut For Tom O'Toole Monday
Professional Wrestling Jim Crockett Charlotte, North Carolina Tom O'Toole Swedish Angel
Article appeared in Charlotte Observer (North Carolina) on August 20, 1941. Describes upcoming Jim Crockett promotions wrestling match between Tommy O'Toole, "a sturdy young Irishman," and the Swedish Angel.
Jim Crockett--Mixes Music, Laughter, Tears
Article appeared in Charlotte Observer on August 22, 1955. Reporter featured Crockett's promotional business.
Professional Wrestling Professional Boxing Jim Crockett Charlotte, North Carolina Bill Lewis
Article appears in Charlotte Observer (North Carolina) on December 3, 1935. Reporter documents the rising popularity of professional wrestling and the decline in popularity locally of professional boxing bouts.
Professional Wrestling Jim Crockett Ray Villmer Charlotte Armory Auditorium Charlotte, North Carolina
Advertisement appeared in Charlotte News (North Carolina) on September 24, 1947. "Jim Crockett your sports promoter since 1933."
Wrestling Game Will Find Revival Here This Evening
Professional Wrestling Knoxville, Tennessee Bijou Theater
Professional Wrestling Knoxville, Tennessee
Professional Wrestling Knoxville, Tennessee Promoter
Professional Wrestling Charlotte, North Carolina Jim Crockett
Article discusses opposition to professional wrestling matches in North Carolina. Questions the legitimacy and violence of the exhibitions.
Auburn, AL; Lee County, AL; Civil War; Slavery; Antebellum South; Education; National Register of Historic Places; Auburn University; Alabama Polytechnic Institute; Luther Noble Duncan; Greek Revival Style
Wealthy planter Addison Frazer built the home in 1854 in a two-story Greek Revival style. Frazer owned over 100 slaves and grew cotton on 2,000 acres of land. He served on the board of the Auburn Masonic Female College and the East Alabama Male College. Located approximately 2.5 miles from the town center of Auburn, the property was a massive plantation that according to legend, became a makeshift hospital when Ms. Frazer took in sick and wounded soldiers. One later tale recounted that as Union soldiers reached the Addison Frazer home, Ms. Frazer gave them the Masonic sign which saved her home and her provisions from being looted. After the collapse of cotton prices in the 1920s the home changed hands numerous times until it was bought and restored in 1932 by J.V. Brown, superintendent of buildings and grounds at Alabama Polytechnic Institute (now Auburn University). He sold the property in 1941, to Dr. Luther Noble Duncan, president of the school, director of the Alabama Extension Service, and pioneer in the founding of the National 4-H Youth Program. The home was named in his honor by his daughter, Elizabeth Pearson. Additional structures that have been preserved are the original separate kitchen, carriage house, and smoke house. Some remains of slave quarters are found in four locations on the property.Located at 1433 Shelton Road in Auburn, Noble Hall was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972, the first site from Lee County to be added to the register. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noble_Hall
Keith S. Hebert, Evan Isaac, Joshua Shiver
Images: Home: Rivers A. Langley, Photographer Auburn University Library, http://www.lib.auburn.edu/archive/aghy/aces/aceshead/duncan.jpg Text: Lee County Heritage Book Committee, The Heritage of Lee County (Clanton, AL: Heritage Publishing Consultants: 2000), 23. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noble_Hall
Janice P. Hand: National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form Auburn Heritage Association: Noble Hall Marker
transportation, buses, public transportation, London
The Old Routemaster buses are definitely an icon of London transportation. They are the buses where you could jump on and off at the back. There was a ticket inspector to sell you a ticket onboard from a machine they had hung round their neck, and the driver was tucked away in a cab at the front. Unfortunately, they went out of general service at the end of 2005 as they were not accessible for wheelchairs and baby strollers. The buses are still used on the historic number 9 line.
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/zedzap/7681874742/in/photolist-cGPBJf-5WFfJs-7daytd-f53kG-5eZMV1-4ZrJqe-82qWWk-6bLJic-dbVzr1-eqQr6P-5eVqQk-KN18W-7dm8fT-fuLzy-4FbBPD-aacC8T-6CJ5rf-dcC5Xy-8L333E-8ThxJd-9Z2kHr-7gYehN-47aoK4-4z9nFM-9EhZ67-2y1nEP-btAeyn-85Zj33-dA1xNe-3mMW2d-9CqYkM-dcC3Kp-4TMBWP-dbVzoe-mf51jj-5zxFCT-6MMX2d-597qg4-3j8key-6DATyU-nGCZXN-q1uaCS-5ncSSu-dpKTSu-47aoBv-9GmEK5-9zjP7d-5ZzTdF-aFnXju-7qJnSr">https://www.flickr.com/photos/zedzap/7681874742/in/photolist-cGPBJf-5WFfJs-7daytd-f53kG-5eZMV1-4ZrJqe-82qWWk-6bLJic-dbVzr1-eqQr6P-5eVqQk-KN18W-7dm8fT-fuLzy-4FbBPD-aacC8T-6CJ5rf-dcC5Xy-8L333E-8ThxJd-9Z2kHr-7gYehN-47aoK4-4z9nFM-9EhZ67-2y1nEP-btAeyn-85Zj33-dA1xNe-3mMW2d-9CqYkM-dcC3Kp-4TMBWP-dbVzoe-mf51jj-5zxFCT-6MMX2d-597qg4-3j8key-6DATyU-nGCZXN-q1uaCS-5ncSSu-dpKTSu-47aoBv-9GmEK5-9zjP7d-5ZzTdF-aFnXju-7qJnSr
United Kingdom -- England -- London -- Trafalgar Square
The Birmingham News previews the Iron Bowl, focusing primary on the coaching matchup between Saban and Tuberville
Architectural Drawings; Watercolors; Houses; Dwellings; Brickwork; Doors & Doorways; Windows; Shutters; Porches; Columns; Balconies; Hand Railings; Ironwork; Roofs; Chimneys; Moldings; Women; Trees; Landscapes (Representations); Tuskegee, AL; Macon County, AL
This image is a watercolor painting of the Cobb House in Tuskegee, Alabama done by Tom Brown Kirkland sometime between 1917 and 1942. The year the house was built in is unknown. The painting shows the front exterior of the house with its doors, windows, shutters, two story columned porch, steps, balcony, iron hand railing, brick walls, sloped roof, and two chimneys surrounded by trees and landscaping. There is a woman in period dress at the foot of the steps. The house is placed within framing art showing its architectural features including the molding under the roof and around the doors, the columns, the bricks, the iron railing from the balcony, various scales, and a floor plan of the porch. In the lower right corner, there is an Alabama Polytechnic Institute School of Architecture stamp. Above the stamp there is a stamped red star with a handwritten inscription "2nd Medal." At the top of the painting is the phrase: "Measured and drawn by Tom Brown Kirkland." The painting is in good condition, with four small spots of discoloration in the lower left corner, and is encapsulated.
Kirkland, Tom Brown (rendering) ; Daniels, James (house)
Auburn University Libraries. Special Collections and Archives Dept. Architecture, School of -- Architectural Renderings Student Projects
This image is the property of the Auburn University Libraries and is intended for non-commercial use. Users of the image are asked to acknowledge the Auburn University Libraries. For information about obtaining high-resolution copies of this and other images in this collection, please contact the Auburn University Libraries Special Collections & Archives Department at archive@auburn.edu or (334) 844-1732.
Library of Congress (Historic American Buildings Survey): http://www.loc.gov/item/al0329/
Tuskegee -- Macon County -- Alabama ; 504 East Main Street, Tuskegee, Macon County, AL (Southwest corner of Main and Yancy Streets)
Architectural drawings; Watercolors; Courthouses; Wooden buildings; Doors & doorways; Windows; Porches; Columns; Balconies; Hand railings; Ironwork; Roofs; Chimneys; Moldings; Women; Trees; Landscapes (Representations)
This image is a watercolor painting of the Old Mobile Court House in Mobile, Alabama done by Albion W. Knight sometime between 1917 and 1942. The courthouse was built in 1824. The painting shows the front exterior of the courthouse with its doors, windows, columned porch, columned balcony with iron railing, sloped roof, and chimneys surrounded by trees and landscaping. There is a woman in period dress standing in front of the door. The courthouse is placed within framing art showing some of its architectural elements including a floor plan, the back and sides of the house, and close-ups of the molding under the roof, the columns, the door, and the iron railing. In the lower right corner, there is an Alabama Polytechnic Institute School of Architecture stamp with a handwritten inscription "1st Mention" and the artist's information block which reads: "Measured drawing, issued, due, Alabama Poly. Inst., Albion W. Knight." The painting is in good condition with minor edge wear except for two missing pieces from the top edge and is encapsulated.
2005.36.80: L.L. Young to Washington Jones, 1856 May 21
1856; Traveling; New Doctor; Washington Jones; Thad H. Jones; L.L. Young; Martin's Depot; South Carolina; Louisiana; Transcription
L.L. Young writes to Washington Jones, telling him of his friend Thad H. Jones who is coming to Louisiana to open a new practice. 2 handwritten pages.
P.M.B. Young Collection, Bartow History Museum
2005.36.179: Lacy W. Watts to brother, 1856 August 9
Transcription; 1856; Sally; Julia Washington; Dr. Thos. Jones; Henry Farrow; John and Albert Williams; Mary and Sue Williams; Mary; Margaret; Dr. Kennedy; Johnny; Charles Franks; Sam; Pa; Ma; Mr. Watts; Willie; Emma; Florida; Georgia; Arkansas; Greenville; Carolina; Children; Illness; Visitors; Drought
In her letter to her brother, she asked if he liked his profession and if his practice was going well. She discussed the ailments of her children and all the people who had visited in the past months. She mentioned the crops and that they were in need of rain. Four handwritten pages.
Historic one story home originally built in 1930 ca. The home was updated in ca. 1985. The home style is for a single family. It includes a brick foundation, vinyl siding, a garage, and an attached porch.
Sanborn Insurance Maps, 1930, 1948; aerial photos 1957 and 1962
This historic one story home was built in 1920 ca. It was updated in ca. 1965. The home is a craftsman style that includes a brick foundation, a recessed and full facade porch, and novelty/drop siding.
A historic one story home built in 1952 and updated in ca. 2000. This ranch style home includes a brick foundation and walls, and an entry porch. The single family home is in good condition.
Lauren Jones, University of North Alabama
Video about sailing on an older sailing boat, underlined with a version of La Paloma
Images of life on a larger sailing boat, with a youth group that is learning how to set sail, clean the ship and other necessary tasks.
Found on Youtube when specifiying Creative Commons
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sbVd-mDtn8
Architectural drawings; Watercolors; Houses; Dwellings; Doors & doorways; Windows; Shutters; Porches; Columns; Balconies; Hand railings; Woodwork; Roofs; Chimneys; Moldings; Men; Trees; Landscapes (Representations)
This image is a watercolor painting of the William A. Dawson House, also known as the Dawson-Wilson House, in Spring Hill, Alabama done by Martin Lide, Jr. sometime between 1917 and 1942. The house was built in 1834. The painting shows the front exterior of the house with its doors, windows, shutters, columned porch, steps, columned balcony, hand railing, sloped roof, and two chimneys surrounded by trees and landscaping. There is a man in period dress on the steps. The house is placed within framing art showing its architectural features including the molding under the roof and the second floor balcony, side and top views of the columns, a rear view of the house, floor plans, and the wooden railing from the porch and balcony. In the lower right corner, there is an Alabama Polytechnic Institute School of Architecture stamp with a handwritten inscription "1st Mention/HC." The painting is in good condition, missing only a small piece of the lower right corner, and is encapsulated.
Lide, Martin James (rendering); Dawson, William A. (house)
Library of Congress (Historic American Buildings Survey): http://www.loc.gov/item/al0418/
Spring Hill -- Mobile County -- Alabama ; 76 South McGregor Avenue, Spring Hill, Mobile County, AL (just off Old Shell Road, 9 miles from Mobile)
Altadena Valley Community; Rocky Ridge Cumberland Presbyterian Church; Acton Memorial Church; Acton, Zephaniah William Henry; Presbyterian Church of America; PCA;
Altadena Valley Presbyterian Church began in 1854 under the name Rocky Ridge Cumberland Presbyterian Church, near the current facilities of Briarwood Presbyterian Church. AVPC moved to its current facilities in 1912 as the result of a church split over whether or not the church should maintain its affiliation with the Cumberland Presbyterian denomination or establish a new affiliation with the northern Presbyterian Church. The group that moved to the church’s current location chose to be members of the northern Presbyterian Church. The name of the church was changed to Acton Memorial Church, in honor of Zephaniah William Henry Acton, a charter member and founder of the church. The rolls of the church were dominated by the Acton name in those days. Until the late 1960’s, the church struggled in different ways, with any limited prosperity always being followed by some crisis that caused significant numbers of the congregation to leave. With the community beginning to grow around it, and with the blessing of God through some excellent pastoral leadership, the church began to grow in the late 1960’s. The name was changed in 1968 (by a congregational vote of 17-7) to its current name, reflecting the determination of the church to reach its community. Several building programs were initiated and completed during the 1970’s and early 80’s, including the 1983 razing of the old sanctuary and the construction of our current sanctuary as a replica of that old building. On June 4, 1978, the congregation voted unanimously to change its denominational affiliation to the PCA.
Altadena Valley Presbyterian Church Website
Killian Cemetery Records at Findagrave.com Killian Cemetery Records USgenweb Archives
Shelby County Historical Society; Cemeteries; Moses Johnson
GPS Coordinates: Latitude: 33.21580, Longitude: -86.55420 Johnson Cemetery Listing on Findagrave.com Johnson Cemetery Listing on Rootsweb
Liz Clayton, Shelby County Historical Society
Johnson Cemetery Listing on Findagrave.com Johnson Cemetery Listing on Rootsweb
The Columbiana City Cemetery represents over 200 years of history in the Shelby County area. Many recognized names are interred in this old cemetery and deserve to be remembered. In 2006 Eagle Scout Robert Justice took on the major task of logging all of the names in the cemetery and then publishing that list on the Shelby County Historical Society website. In 2011 The Columbiana Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints undertook an extensive refurbishment of the cemetery. Thereafter, using Robert Justice’s compilation of names, they created a grid system map to locate all names interred here. They also went completely through the grounds looking for and finding additional graves that had either been lost in the landscaping or added since Robert’s work. Located in Columbiana, Alabama on both sides of Shelby County Highway 47 South. Rootsweb Census of Columbiana Cemetery Columbiana Cemetery listings on Findagrave.com
Shelby County Tax Records 2015 Parcel #21 7 26 4 001 001.000
Shelby County; Civil War; Iron Industry; Iron; Ware, Horace; blast furnace; Historic Shelby Association; industialization
Shelby Iron Works began when Horace Ware purchased land south of Columbiana, Alabama from Green B and Sarah Seale on December 29, 1842. Ware acquired other properties in the area with available timberland and hematite ore. The Shelby Iron Works Company was started with the building of a cold blast iron furnace. The lone furnace stack was built out of brick and stone and only stood 30 feet high. During The American War between the States the iron works was useful in outfitting the CSS Tennessee, CSS Huntsville and the CSS Tuscaloosa. A detachment of Union General Emory Upton's division of Wilson's Raiders attempted to destroy the ironworks on March 31, 1865. The ironworks was rebuilt and continued to operate until 1923 when production stopped. The majority of the Ironworks was dismantled for scrap in 1929. Shelby Ironworks Website
Shelby Springs Hotel & Confederate Cemetery
Shelby Springs; Mineral Springs; Hotel; Resort; Hospital; Cemetery; Civil War
Shelby Springs Resort Hotel is believed to have been built sometime around 1839 providing accomodations to tourists coming to avail themselves of the mineral waters. In about 1856 Mr. Jasper J. Norris of Selma leased the property consisting of 2,700 acres of wooded land, including the springs, hotel and cottages. During the Civil War, the facilities were used as a training center for the young Confederate soldiers. In 1862 Shelby Springs was known as Camp Winn. Several students in the University of Alabama Cadet Corps were sent there to drill troops for the Army. In 1863, the Confederate Army as a hospital and a soldier's home used the hotel and cottages. Father Leray and the Sisters of Mercy staffed the hospital after fleeing Civil War destruction in Vicksburg, Mississippi. They brought with them by train many wounded and sick Confederate soldiers. The Shelby Springs Confederate Cemetery became an extension of an existing cemetery located on a ridge overlooking the springs. Copied from the Shelby County Historical Society Quarterly magazine, dated March 2002: Shelby County Reporter, Thursday, June 10, 1976 Letter to the Editor: With very much interest I read the letter in the "Reporter" about the old cemetery located near, at that time, the old Summer Resort at Shelby Springs. Fifty years ago the Nelson Realty Co. purchased the Shelby Springs and their plans were to build a big Hotel and Club House to be named the "Yamakita Club" but somehow it never materialized. Then a man named Irby procured it and from that the present owner acquired the property, Howard Hall. Since the last two owners acquired it, there were no more good times, such as picnics et cetera at Shelby Springs. People for miles around would come there especially on the 4th of July ball games et cetera, plenty of water of which there were five kinds, three artesian springs of sulphur water. It was meeting place for all the neighbors. Gone is all that now, an iron fence surrounds the old springs "lot" as it was called, but let us get back to the cemetery, it was known as the Old Soldiers Grave Yard. I personally knew of two old civil war veterans buried there, I.C. Miller and his brother William "Bill" then their sisters Miss Nancy Miller and Mrs. Marian [Mary Ann, second wife of Felix James] Seale ... John Roche Gould, 3329 Oakhill Drive, Birmingham, Alabama 35216. More about Shelby Springs Hotel More about Shelby Springs Confederate Cemetery Findagrave.com listings for Shelby Springs Confederate Cemetery
What remains of the Shelby Hotel, adjacent to Shelby Iron Works, is closed to public and on private property. It is believed to be the first in Alabama to have running water and electric lights. Originally built in 1863, it was totally destroyed by fire in 1898, and rebuilt in 1900. Shelby Hotel by Bobby Joe Seales on Rootsweb Article about Shelby Hotel by Strange Alabama (Beverly Crider) on AL.com
Lindsay Historical Site: David Lindsay, A Revolutionary War Soldier
Shelby; American Revolution; Cemetery; DAR
David Lindsay was born 1750 in Washington County, Pennsylvania and died 1835 in Shelby County, Alabama. He was a private in the American Revolutionary War and a pioneer settler of Shelby County. He married Mary Casey and they had twelve children. On April 2, 1784, in reward for his service to the Commonwealth of Virginia, Lindsay was granted 100 acres of land in Green County, North Carolina. They settled in Shelby County before the 1820 census. He died about 1835 and Mary died about 1847. Both are buried with other family members on a son's former homestead in the Maylene community. The family graveyard has been preserved as the Lindsay Historical Site near Shelby County Highway 17. The David Lindsay Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) was first chartered in Montevallo in 1927 with some members having descended from Lindsay through his daughters. In 2006 the group erected a memorial plaque on a native rock at American Village. In April 2008 they won official recognition of Lindsay's service and genealogy from the National Society of the DAR. David Lindsay Chapter, Alabama Society, Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) Lindsay Historical Site David Lindsay by Bobbie Joe Seales David Lindsay B'ham Wiki Clan Lindsay Site David Lindsay on Findagrave.com
Notes from the Teague Memoirs of Shelby County tell of a man who lived on this side of the river at McGowan’s Ferry (just south of the site of the SEGCO Steam Plant). He had an understanding with an Indian friend on the Talladega County side. The Indian has promised to warn his friend when his people were on a rampage. One day, the white man saw the smoke signal and spread the alarm thet the Indians were coming. It was related that ribbons, corsets, and many bits of paraphernalia were strewn along the road from Wilsonville to Montevallo as the residents left in great haste. On 10 November 1840 a James McGowen of Shelby County filed on a parcel of land in the area one mile from Wilsonville on the Coosa River, that would later be known as “McGowan’s Ferry.” Both James W. and George W. McGowan enlisted and served in the American War between the States. George purchased the site of McGowan's Ferry in 1874 from B. Averitt. It is unclear if he and James W. were related to the James McGowin who purchased the land in 1840. James and Julia Johnson McGowan had been living in Columbiana but moved to Wilsonville between 1870 and 1878 and may have made the move when G.W. purchased the land from Averitt. The town of Wilsonville was first incorporated in 1897. G.W. McGowan was the first mayor. He married Mary Jane Blockton and after her death in 1888 remarried Sarah E. Privett of Calhoun Co, Alabama in 1889. He died in 1903 and is buried in Wilsonville Cemetery. The McGowan Ferry ceased operation in 1939. It was an important linked across the Coosa between Shelby and Talledega Counties. ~ from History of Wilsonville, Alabama AL.com 2013 article about potential bridge sites near locations of old ferry sights.
Shelby; Education; Montevallo, University of; Alabama Girls' Industrial School; Alabama State College for Women
In October of 1896, the Alabama Girls’ Industrial School opened its doors to some 150 young women from all parts of the state. They had come to participate in a great experiment, in an innovation in education for Alabama. They had come to be trained as teachers, bookkeepers, artists, musicians, dressmakers, telegraphers and milliners. In other words, at last, there was a school in Alabama whose purpose was to educate women to be self-supporting; at last, here was an opportunity to escape from the drudgery of field work, mill work, or from the ignominy of depending on a father or brother for lifelong support if there was no husband. At last, here was an opportunity for young women to expand their minds and dreams in a state, poverty-stricken by economic circumstances, that could provide little public education for its citizens. In 1911 AGIS became Alabama Girls’ Technical Institute. The phrase “and College for Women” was added in 1919. In 1923, the school became Alabama College, State College for Women, a degree-granting institution. Two men enrolled in January of 1956, and with 33 more arriving by September, a new era had begun for the school. In 1969, in order to reflect this changing atmosphere, the school changed its name to University of Montevallo, and its four distinct colleges (Arts and Sciences, Education, Business, and Fine Arts) were established. Today, UM holds fast to the principles that we were founded upon and the mission that we’ve always upheld. As Alabama’s only public liberal arts university, we take pride in knowing that our curriculum is both challenging and affordable. And while we offer degree programs in more than 70 academic disciplines, our student-to-faculty ratio is a mere 16-to-1, so you’ll know that you’re getting a tailor-made education. It’s no surprise that we’re continuing to ascend the ranks of U.S. News & World Report’s list of America’s Best Colleges when it comes to overall education and lack of student loan debt. Information above from History of Montevallo University
Shelby County; Museum; Archives; Courthouse; Shelby County Historical Society Inc.; Genealogy; Maps; Deeds; Marriage Records;
Our extensive and growing collection of research materials includes books, periodicals, microfilm, microfiche, family folders and much more. We have the index and records from 1957 through 1994 of the Bolton Funeral Home located in Columbiana, Alabama. We maintain the original old Shelby County Alabama courthouse records, including such records as (1) Probate Estate Files through 1915, (2) Probate Minute Books and Will Books, (3) Marriage Records through 1982, (4) Divorce Case Files through 1950, (5) Chancery Court Records, (6) Circuit Court Records, and much more! We have all up-to-date published counties of the Heritage of Alabama Book Series. For easy research, we have on microfilm and/or CD such items as (1) Shelby County Newspapers dating back to 1866, (2) Shelby County Deed Books through 1899, (3) 1908 through 1959 Alabama Death Certificate Index, (4) 1950-1979 Alabama Obituary Clippings, (5) 1907-1908 Alabama Confederate Soldiers Census, (6) Alabama Confederate Pension Applications, (7) Shelby County Alabama World War I Draft Registrations, (8) Shelby County Alabama World War I Service Records, (9) 1936 through 1969 Alabama Marriage Record Index, (10) 1950 through 1959 Alabama Divorce Record Index, and (8) 1820 through 1940 Shelby County Alabama Census Records, with index for each. We have equipment for you to view and copy these microfilm/microfiche and CD items. For your convenience, we also have on microfilm Alabama County Marriage Certificates for (1) Bibb, 1818-1929, (2) Chilton, 1870-1935, (3) Clarke, 1890-1930, (4) Coosa, 1834-1925, (5) Madison, 1809-1820, (6) Perry, 1820-1929, (7) St. Clair, 1819-1933, (8) Talladega, 1833-1929, (9) Tallapoosa, 1830-1911, and the Jefferson County 1818-1940 Marriage Index, including the Bessemer Annex. In addition, we have Death Index for the following states (1) Arkansas, 1914-1950, (2) Mississippi, 1912-1943, (3) Tennessee, 1908-1954, (4) Texas, 1903-1963, and Pre 1900 Georgia Death Certificates. Our library also offers additional researching FREE through "Ancestry.com", "Fold3.com" and "GenealogyBank.com". The Alabama Historical Commission Oral History Project in 1978, and through a grant received in 2011 from Alabama Historical Records Advisory Board and matching public contributions to digitalize this collection, are now available for your private listening pleasure. To see the index Click Here. The Shelby County Historical Society, Inc. accepts and collects materials which provide information on the history of Shelby County Alabama. It is possible that some of these same materials are also available at the Alabama Department of Archives & History and/or public libraries throughout the state. These materials are acquired for researchers' convenience and not with the expectation that they will be kept forever. We also acquire duplicate copies of many items which tend to be heavily used by researchers. The archive's collection consists of books, dissertations, theses, journals, and newsletters, and also contains materials in a variety of formats, such as microfilm, microfiche, and vertical files of unpublished materials. Because the history of Shelby County is closely tied to the history of Alabama, we also collect some Alabama history reference materials. If you would like to offer reference material to the Shelby County Historical Society, Inc. please contact Bobby Joe Seales. We are located in the Old Shelby County Courthouse, built in 1854 in Columbiana, Alabama. This building has been designated a historic landmark by the National Register of Historic Places and is listed on the Alabama Register of Landmarks & Heritage. The Museum displays many old Shelby County photographs and artifacts from the Indian era through WWII; including such items as the bell from the Alabama, a well-known railroad engine during its time, Creek Indian artifacts, the 1906 Shelby County Courthouse cornerstone contents removed 24th June 2006, and three chestnut wood cars and several feet of wood track that were found on the 4th May 1974 in the forgotten Confederate Gurnee Coal Mine in West Shelby County. They proudly display a serving for 12 of the (1) Alabama College Wedgwood 50th Anniversary Reynolds Hall dinner plates, 1896-1946, and (2) serving for 12 tea cups and saucers, introduced in 1949, with the Library (Wills Hall). Effective August 1, 2015 (until further notice) the hours of operation of our Museum and Archives are Tuesday through Friday, 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. We are temporarily closed, until further notice, on Saturday, Sunday and Monday and Holidays. Please come and visit us. Information above from Shelby County Museum & Archives Website 2013 AL.com article about updates to 1854 Shelby County Courthouse which houses Museum and Archive. Historical Marker Database record of 1854 Shelby County Courthouse.
Shelby County Musuem & Archives Website
1859: Sick Children; Mental illness; Physical illness; Shame; Meeting; Love; Longing; Visiting; Family Matters; Transcription
Louisa writes to Tom, excusing herself for being in a poor mental/physical state because her recent bouts of illness. Much of her family has been sick, including children and aunts. She hopes that she can come visit him or he can come visit her soon. 3 handwritten pages
2005.36.300: Louisa Young to Pierce M.B. Young, 1860
1860; Walnut Grove; West Point NY; United States Military Academy; Charleston SC; Greenville SC; Mother (Caroline Young); Lollie H.; Robert, Jr.; George; Tom; Sally; Billy; Grandma; Family; Friends; Gossip; Convention Delegates
Louisa wrote to Pierce to share news about family and friends. She commented on her appreciation for her friends welcoming her back home but explained that they seem tame after spending so time much time sojourning in the company of the "fast people" of the West. She mentioned their brothers Robert and George, and a wedding invitation. She asked PMB for his opinion about her marrying Tom. She enclosed "pin money" in the letter and sent best wishes. 1 handwritten envelope and 4 handwritten pages.
2005.36.107: Louisa Young to P.M.B. Young, 1859 June 9
1859; Family relations; Robert Young; Macon; Georgia; Savannah; Georgia; Washington; Tennessee
A brief letter from Louisa Jones to PMB Young. Louisa expresses how she misses her brother and is excited to see him during an upcoming visit. She mentions the condition of their brother, Robert. Louisa discusses family matters as well as mentioning family friends who miss Pierce.
P. M. B. Young Collection; Bartow History Museum
Bartow History Museum Auburn History Department
Peter R. Thomas Jr. Auburn History Department
2005.36.146: Louisa Young to P.M.B. Young, 1857 June 16
1857; Walnut Grove; Robert Young; Dr. Hart; West Point; New York; Social Relations; Entertainment; Colonel Watts; P.M.B. Young; Louisa Young; family affairs; military training; cadet life
This letter from sister Louisa expresses how much she misses Pierce. She discusses a visit from Robert that went well. Louisa also expresses her pleasure at Pierce's bright future by complimenting his position at West Point. Louisa mentions a wedding she attended and how everyone in attendance asked about Pierce.
P.M.B. Young Collection; Bartow History Museum
2005.36.174: Louisa Young Jones to P.M.B. Young, 1857 July 10
1857; Louisa Young Jones; Pierce Manning Butler Young; P.M.B Young; Walnut Grove; Georgia Daloney; Burke County; Mississippi; Cartersville; Marietta; Milledgeville; Pensacola; Florida; West Point; New York; Money; Land Purchasing; Travel; July 4th; Horseback riding; Politics
Although the letter is not signed, it appears to be Louisa writing to her brother, P.M.B. Young. She informs Young of local happenings and gossip. 4 handwritten pages.
2015 Soccer Championship Ticker Tape Parade
2005.36.151: Lucy Dashwood to P.M.B. Young, unknown
St. Valentine's Day; Love: Romance; Lucy
A love letter from Lucy Dashwood to P.M.B. Young. 1 handwritten page.
The landscape photograph is of the summer time construction at the United States Nitrate Plant Number Two. The photograph shows several facilities under construction at the time and each are marked on the photograph. The history of the nitrate plant's construction was twofold: first, the plant was constructed to produce large amounts of fertilizer, and second, the plant was to produce the ammonium nitrate necessary for explosives at the end of World War I. However, World War I ended before the plant could produce for that purpose. Another reason why the plant was constructed dealt with independence from the nation of Chile and their grip on nitrate production globally.
M.C. Fesmire, The University of North Alabama
Text: History of Muscle Shoals with Views of Wilson Dam by W.R. McKerall The Muscle Shoals Project by State Normal School (The University of North Alabama) Souvenir of Inspection Trip by Officials and Citizens of The Tri Cities Wednesday March 12, 1919 by United States Nitrate Plant No. 2 Photo: UNA Archives and Special Collections
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The Kiddy Hotel/House was the primary hotel for the Sweetwater area of east Florence at the end of the nineteenth and early twentieth century. The proprietors of the Kiddy Hotel were the husband and wife couple of James and Harriet Adair Kiddy. The Kiddy Hotel sat atop the East Hill in Sweetwater when the area became the center of the industrial boom in Florence. Before the hotel was on East Hill, it was on Aetna Street within a short distance of the Central Baptist Church in east Florence. After moving the Kiddy Hotel to East Hill, the hostelry was near Blair, Connor, and Cole Streets in east Florence. Shortly after moving the Kiddy Hotel to East Hill, the Kiddy’s sold the property to the Beckman family of the Florence area. During the years of operation for the Kiddy Hotel, Harriet Kiddy was well known for her cooking ability. Colloquially deemed “Aunt Harriet’s” cooking, she made from scratch beaten biscuits for breakfast and buttermilk custard for supper for the guests of the hotel. Her hotel cooking gained her local acclaim as a wonderful cook, to the point where traveling businessman through Florence would stay at her hotel just for her cooking. An interesting fact for the hotel is that the kitchen was in the cellar of the multi-story hotel, so Aunt Harriet would use a hand-operated dumb waiter to deliver the food to the guests in the dining room on the first floor.
Text Sources: McDonald, William Lindsey. "Remembering Sweetwater: The Mansions, The Mills, The People." photos by L.D. Staggs, Jr. Killen, Ala., Bluewater Publications, 2002. McDonald, William Lindsey. "Sweetwater: The Story of East Florence." Florence: Florence Historical Board, 1989. McDonald, William Lindsey. "A Walk Through the Past: People and Places of Florence and Lauderdale County, Alabama." Killen, Ala., Bluewater Publications, 2003. Picture Source: UNA Archives & Special Collection. William L. McDonald Collection. “Kiddy Hotel/House.” Florence, Alabama, Box 12: Florence Industry, 12-03.
The Philadelphia Furnace was located on Sweetwater Creek to the south of present day Veterans Drive. Originally owned by the father of the Sweetwater boom, Judge William Basil Wood, the furnace was known as the W.B. Wood Furnace in 1889. The W.B. Wood Furnace was one of the first industries in the Sweetwater area, but it was incomplete. John W. Norton of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was hired as its manager. While Norton was manager, he oversaw the completion of the W.B. Wood Furnace in 1891 and the furnace was renamed in honor of his home city of Philadelphia. The Philadelphia Furnace could produce 45,000 tons of iron a year. By 1892, the Philadelphia Furnace fell into financial trouble because of the economic depression of 1892 and was subsequently sold to the Sloss-Sheffield Steel and Iron Company a few years later in 1899. The Sloss-Sheffield Steel and Iron Company owned the Philadelphia Furnace from 1899 to 1926 when in 1926 the furnace was blown out. In 1901, the Sloss-Sheffield Company resumed operation after the company upgraded and remodeled the furnace that was ten years old. Under the direction of the Sloss-Sheffield Company, the Philadelphia furnace employed 175 men in 1906 and could produce up to two hundred tons of iron a day. At the peak of production for the furnace, it produced about 70,000 tons of iron a year. Unfortunately, production stopped in 1926. The workers for the Philadelphia furnace lived in a company-owned village along what is now Veterans Drive and what was and is Aetna Street. The Sloss-Sheffield Company provided a two-story brick commissary for food, dry goods, and other necessities for the families of the Philadelphia furnace workers. When in operation, the furnace was a remarkable sight. The furnace had the highest smokestack in all of Sweetwater. The furnace operated around the clock with three shifts per day. When the night shift would clock in, they would be the men who began the process of dumping the molten red slag along the railroad tracks by the furnace. Stories abounded over the sight of the molten red slag being dumped. A story of an immigrant Irish worker to east Florence, Pat McClutchin, described him being awoken from sleep around midnight to the glow of the molten red slag. He was staying at the Kiddy Hotel at the time in Sweetwater and was heard moaning by the other guests in the hotel. According to the story told about McClutchin, he thought he had died and gone to the gates of Hell. McClutchin's fear was not true, but the slag was always that hot.
M.C. Fesmire, University of North Alabama
Text Sources: McDonald, William Lindsey. "A Walk Through the Past: People and Places of Florence and Lauderdale County, Alabama." Killen, Ala., Bluewater Publications, 2003. UNA Archives & Special Collection. McDonald Collection. Factories and Mills. Box 25, Volume 3, Factories and Mills File 3.1. Florence, Alabama. William Lindsey McDonald, “Untitled Manuscript." McDonald, William Lindsey. "Sweetwater: The Story of East Florence." Florence: Florence Historical Board, 1989. Sheridan, Richard C. “Industrial Growth in the Shoals Area 1818-1933,” Journal of Muscle Shoals History, vol. 7 (1979). Picture Source: UNA Archives & Special Collection. William L. McDonald Collection. “Philadelphia Furnace.” Florence, Alabama. Box 12: Florence Industry, 12-29.
William McDonald Richardson owned the Richardson Lumber Company. Richardson had served as the first manager of the Acme Lumber Company. The Richardson Lumber Company was located on Sweetwater Creek on Huntsville Road between Sweetwater Avenue and Minnehaha Street. Richardson built his lumberyard on the old site of the Florence Planning Mill and Manufacturing Company. After some time, Richardson moved his lumber company to downtown Florence on to East Tennessee Street. Richardson had gained valuable experience at Acme Lumber Company as manager before opening up his own lumberyard. He had the unfortunate privilege of being the Acme Lumber manager when the Spanish influenza broke out in Florence in 1918. He had to oversee round the clock shifts to produce the large number of coffins necessary to bury the deceased during the influenza outbreak. The coffins were primarily for the construction workers at Wilson Dam in 1918 and the workers at the Colbert County nitrate plants as well.
Text Sources: McDonald, William Lindsey. "Remembering Sweetwater: The Mansions, The Mills, The People." photos by L.D. Staggs, Jr. Killen, Ala., Bluewater Publications, 2002. McDonald, William Lindsey. "A Walk Through the Past: People and Places of Florence and Lauderdale County, Alabama." Killen, Ala., Bluewater Publications, 2003. Picture Source: UNA Archives & Special Collection. William L. McDonald Collection. “Richardson Lumber Company.” Florence, Alabama. Box 12: Florence Industry, 12-06.
The Foundry/Florence Stove and Manufacturing Company
The Foundry/Florence Stove and Manufacturing Company played an important role in the history of the Sweetwater area of Florence, and as of today, the remnants of their factory still operates under a partnership of former employees as the Martin Stove and Range Company/Martin Industries, Inc. As of today, the factory is located on East Tennessee Street. When first established, the Foundry was located on Commerce Street in Sweetwater. The Foundry became the Florence Stove and Manufacturing Company when Henry H. Theole moved his company to Commerce Street in 1888 from Evansville, Indiana. An important businessman in Florence, Thomas Jefferson Phillips partnered with Theole. Phillips owned many entrepreneurial ventures in the Sweetwater area of Florence. When the Florence Stove Company commenced manufacturing, the factory produced stoves, heaters, wash pots, skillets, “sad” irons for ironing, and “dog” irons for fireplaces in a 150,000 square foot warehouse facility. Theole specialized in machine and jobbing work for repairing brass and iron molding and pattern work. Theole would hire local former slaves who became well-known locally for casting. The artisan former slave Pompeii worked at the company and cast sets of dog irons which can be seen at the W.C. Handy Museum in Florence. Workers who worked at the Florence Stove Company lived in a group of red frame houses owned by the company due south of the foundry on “Theole Row”. Theole also employed convicts at the Florence Stove Company as operators and common workers in the foundry. In 1918, the Florence Stove and Manufacturing Company was failing financially and two brothers, Charles and William Martin, Sr., partnered and purchased the company. The two brothers renamed the failing company Martin Stove and Range Company and within two financial quarters, the enterprise turned profits. During the 1970s, the Martin Stove and Range Company was reorganized into Martin Industries, Inc. And by 1987, Martin Industries, Inc., sold the families interest to a partnership of employees at the Florence facility who currently run the company on East Tennessee Street today. As of the late 1980s, the payroll was 1.5 million dollars with annual sells being five million dollars for more than 10,000 tons of gray iron casting.
Text Sources: “Martin Industries, Inc. - Company Profile, Information, Business Description, History, Background Information on Martin Industries, Inc.” last modified 2015. Martin Industries, Inc. Forum. http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/history2/45/Martin-Industries-Inc.html. McDonald, William Lindsey. "Remembering Sweetwater: The Mansions, The Mills, The People." photos by L.D. Staggs, Jr. Killen, Ala., Bluewater Publications, 2002. McDonald, William Lindsey. "A Walk Through the Past: People and Places of Florence and Lauderdale County, Alabama." Killen, Ala., Bluewater Publications, 2003. Picture Source: UNA Archives & Special Collection. William L. McDonald Collection. “The Foundry/Florence Stove and Manufacturing Company.” Florence, Alabama, Box 12: Florence Industry, 12-31.
Sweetwater Mill has a relationship to the Sweetwater area because it is an old part of the Cherry Cotton Mill plant. The J.T. Flagg Knitting Company purchased the mill after the conclusion of World War II because the company was looking to expand because of the success the company had providing clothing for troops. During the 1960s, J.T. Flagg sold his knitting company to Genesco Textile Manufacturers out of Nashville, Tennessee, thereby transferring possession of Sweetwater Mill to Genesco. As the 1970s progressed, the textile operations of J.T. Flagg were moved from east Florence to the Florence Industrial Park before being closed down by the end of the 1970s. Sadly, the Sweetwater Mill, the last facility used from the Cherry Cotton Mill, closed about fifty years ago.
Text Sources: McDonald, William Lindsey. "A Walk Through the Past: People and Places of Florence and Lauderdale County, Alabama." Killen, Ala., Bluewater Publications, 2003. Picture Source: UNA Archives & Special Collection. William L. McDonald Collection. “Sweetwater Mill.” Florence, Alabama. Box 12: Florence Industry, 12-61.
Another lumber company located in the downtown Florence area, W.E. Temple Company and Planning Mills was a fixture in Florence at the beginning of the twentieth century. W.E. Temple was well known for his architectural ability because he constructed the 1901 Lauderdale County Courthouse and the 1903 Florence First United Methodist Church, which met an unfortunate demise in a fire in 1920, and the Florence Post Office in 1912-1913. Shortly after completing the federal building, the Temples left for Hopewell, Virginia to make a new home. Temple’s Planning Mill was originally located alongside Sweetwater Creek on Huntsville Road between Sweetwater Avenue and Minnehaha Street.
Text Sources: McDonald, William Lindsey. "A Walk Through the Past: People and Places of Florence and Lauderdale County, Alabama." Killen, Ala., Bluewater Publications, 2003. McDonald, William Lindsey. "Remembering Sweetwater: The Mansions, The Mills, The People." photos by L.D. Staggs, Jr. Killen, Ala., Bluewater Publications, 2002. Picture Source: UNA Archives & Special Collection. William L. McDonald Collection. “W.E. Temple Company and Planning Mills.” Florence, Alabama. Box 12: Florence Industry, 12-15.
The Tennessee Valley Fertilizer Company is another company that the Ashcraft family of Florence either owned or had a stake in. In 1897, a year before he founded the Florence Cotton Oil Company, Lee Ashcraft founded and incorporated the Tennessee Valley Fertilizer Company. At the time of incorporation, the Tennessee Valley Fertilizer Company had an initial capital stock of fifty thousand dollars, before increasing to one hundred thousand by 1903. The Fertilizer Company was well known for making custom-made guano fertilizers for customers if the fertilizers were needed for a special purpose. Some of the various guano fertilizers they produced were named King Cotton Grower, Three Link, Ashcraft Special, Cotton Seed Meal and Bone, Tiger Cotton Grower, Tiger Guano, Tiger Potash Guano, and Blood and Bone. The factory’s location was on Cherry Street in Sweetwater. On the first day of operation, Lee Ashcraft and an unnamed helper produced eleven bags of fertilizer together. From 1897 to 1904, Tennessee Valley Fertilizer Company under Ashcraft produced nineteen different fertilizers at 15,000 tons annually. Lee Ashcraft owned the Fertilizer Company until 1909 when the International Mineral Corporation (IMC) bought the company from Ashcraft. The Fertilizer Company became the oldest running fertilizer plant for IMC in the country into the early 2000s. As of today, it is still in operation under the name of Agrium, Inc. in the same area of Sweetwater right next to Veterans Drive and the Patton Island Bridge. The original factory for the Fertilizer Company stretches back to before the Civil War when the facility the fertilizer plant occupied was a flouring mill for Florence. Unbelievably, the three-story building that existed in 1897 when Lee Ashcraft began the business was not burned to the ground by Union forces in during the Civil War. So the original Tennessee Valley Fertilizer Company factory building could trace its industrial genealogy back to before the Civil War.
Text Sources: McDonald, William Lindsey. "Remembering Sweetwater: The Mansions, The Mills, The People." photos by L.D. Staggs, Jr. Killen, Ala., Bluewater Publications, 2002. “Florence As She Is." The Florence Times. 1903. McDonald, William Lindsey. "A Walk Through the Past: People and Places of Florence and Lauderdale County, Alabama." Killen, Ala., Bluewater Publications, 2003. Picture Source: UNA Archives & Special Collection. William L. McDonald Collection. “The Tennessee Valley Fertilizer Company.” Florence, Alabama. Box 12: Florence Industry, 12-39.