Education; Lee County, AL; Rosenwald Schools; Loachapoka, AL; African American Schools; Rosenwald, Julius; Pearson, Dr. Ann, Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church; Lee County Historical Commission; Randolph, O.L.; Crittenden, Emogene Willis; Lee Crossroads School
In the spring of 1913, Loachapoka became the site of the first of over 5,300 rural black schools in the United States subsidized by Sears CEO Julius Rosenwald. Rosenwald, who grew up destitute, wanted to provide African Americans living in the South with the opportunity to acquire an education in the years before desegregation. He contributed $300 to the school’s building fund and the white and black citizens of Loachapoka raised the remaining $493. The two-room building contained a fireplace to accommodate its heating needs and glass-paned windows. The building initially lacked both electrical wiring and indoor plumbing. The elementary school serviced grades one, two, five, and six, while grades three and four were taught nearby at the Lee Crossroads School on Lee County Highway 188. Eventually, Loachapoka Rosenwald School closed as the town’s African-American children enrolled in other elementary schools, but the town continued to use the building as a community center. In 1960, a fire consumed the wooden structure. Now only a scant few bricks and a portion of the broken concrete foundation remain of the school, which is located on the property of Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church at 2 Day Lily Street, Loachapoka. Dr. Ann Pearson, a former Auburn English professor, researched the Loachapoka Rosenwald School, determined that it was Rosenwald’s first rural school, and spearheaded an initiative to erect a historical marker at the former site. On November 11, 2011, the Lee County Historical Society hosted an event to commemorate the Loachapoka Rosenwald School at which several former students and teachers spoke. Emogene Willis Crittenden, a former student, remembered her principal, O.L. Randolph, as a mild-mannered father figure. Due to a lack of public visibility at the actual site of the school (which is located behind Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church), the Lee County Historical Commission decided to place the marker across Day Lily Street from the church.
Image Source: http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMHPR8_First_Rosenwald_School_Loachapoka_AL “Loachapoka School,” Fisk University Rosenwald Fund Card Database, http://rosenwald.fisk.edu/?module=search.details&set_v=aWQ9MzE3&school_county=lee&school_state=AL&button=Search&o=0 Text Sources: Bradley Roberts, “Rosenwald Schools,” Chattahoochee Heritage Project, http://www.chattahoocheeheritage.org/2011/12/rosenwald-schools/ “Loachapoka School,” Fisk University Rosenwald Fund Card Database, http://rosenwald.fisk.edu/?module=search.details&set_v=aWQ9MzE3&school_county=lee&school_state=AL&button=Search&o=0 Natalie Wade, “Nation’s First Rosenwald School to be Recognized in Loachapoka; School Memorabilia Sought,” AL.com, http://blog.al.com/montgomery/2011/10/nations_first_rosenwald_school.html
Locust Dell Academy operated in Florence from 1834 to 1843. The all-girls school was owned and operated by Nicholas Marcellus Hentz and his wife Caroline Lee Hentz. Subjects taught included reading, math, composition, and painting. The name Locust Dell came from the grove of locust trees the school resided in. The school continued to operate after the Hentz's left Florence in 1843. The Florence Synodical Female College absorbed Locust Dell in 1855. Unfortunately, the original building burned down in 1929. The school was located where the University of North Alabama's Willingham Hall stands today.
Claire Eagle, University of North Alabama
Text: William Lindsey McDonald, A Walk Through The Past: People and Places of Florence and Lauderdale County, Alabama. (Bluewater Publications, 2003), 80. Elizabeth Walter. “Locust Dell Turned Girls” The Picture, Florence, Alabama, January 4, 1973. Images: University of North Alabama Archives and Special Collections
African American History; Florence, AL; Lauderdale County, AL
Locust Dell Academy was established by Nicholas Hentz and his wife Caroline in the 1840s. The school for girls was built by two slaves, Charles Gray and Washington Farris, who had been "rented out" by their masters. The school was absorbed by Florence Female College in 1855. Willingham Hall now sits on its site.
Ashley Pentecost, University of North Alabama
Elizabeth McDonald, "History of Florence City Schools." University of North Alabama archives
Historic Markers; Florence, AL; Lauderdale County, AL
This historic marker is located in front of Locust Dell Academy, which is now the Department of History on the Campus of UNA. on N. Wood Avenue, Florence, Alabama. The text on the marker reads: "On this site Nicholas Marcellus Hentz conducted a girls school, Native of Metz, France. Hentz was a painter, entomologist, author, and was once a professor at University of North Alabama. Experimenting with silkworms, he planted groves of mulberry trees around this section of town. His wife, Caroline Lee Whiting Hentz, native of Massachusetts, assisted in the academy. She also wrote plays, poems, stories, popular novels, and a significant diary of her years in Florence."
Dylan Tucker, University of North Alabama
“Locust Dell Academy Marker”. Accessed 11/04/2015. http://www.lat34north.com/historicmarkersal/
Mary Wallace Kirk; Historic Homes; Colbert County, Alabama; Tuscumbia, Alabama
Locust Hill, a historic home located in Tuscumbia, Alabama on the corner of Seventh and Cave streets, was built in 1823 by Col. William Winters. The large 14 room mansion stretches across nearly three-fourths of a city block and features striking architecture that gives it a distinct look. Its deep set windows and one of a kind woodworking designed and made by a local wood worker named Braden, make Locust Hill a house like no other. The 13-inch thick, white, hand-crafted bricks, were created on site. In fact, it is believed to be the oldest surviving brick home in the State of Alabama. The two story home is surrounded by trees and plants of various species, the most notable being the Locust trees from which Locust Hill derives its name. During the Civil War, the home was occupied by a dentist named Dr. Chisholm. As war times continued, the home experienced its fair share of wear and tear. It was used as headquarters for the commander of the federal forces, Colonel Florence N. Cornyn, in 1863, as well as a hospital for Confederate troops. The home was destroyed, trashed from the inside out. Blood stained the floors, the insides were washed white, and the landscape was left desolate. In December of 1865, Captain John Taylor Rather and his family of ten, his son and daughter-in-law as well as their 6 children, later to be seven, purchased the property. After having his home, located in Decatur Alabama, burned by federal troops, Rather used what money he had left, both that which he had buried as well as that which he had snuck in stockings tied inside the hoop skirts of his daughter-in-law and her maid, to purchase the property. The total was $3000 in gold. Rather’s wife’s first purchase for the new home was thick red curtains. Being that there was a price on Rather’s head, the family thought it best to keep the curtains drawn to prevent anyone who sought to harm Rather from being able to get a clear shot. The tradition of drawing the curtains is a practice that lasted at Locust Hill for generations to come. Rather’s son General John D. Rather and his wife Letitia Pearsall worked towards fixing the landscape of the home, planting the beautiful trees and plants that gave Locust Hill its iconic look. The name “Locust Hill” comes from the stunning Locust trees on the property. Rather and his wife had seven children: Hal, Anne, Courtenay, Pearsall, John D. Jr., Mary Wallace, and Ella. The latter, Ella, married James T. Kirk, and their daughter Mary Wallace Kirk would later become the last of their family to have possession of the home. Mary Wallace Kirk was the fourth generation of her family to live at Locust Hill. Mary Wallace Kirk, lovingly known as “Miss May Wallace”, was born in the only other home located on the same block as Locust hill. It was a colonial style cottage that featured a beautiful garden with paths lined with flowers. Her family occupied this home during the first few years of their marriage. At age four, Kirk’s grandparents passed and the possession of Locust Hill fell to the Kirk family. Following the death of her parents, the property then fell into the hands of Kirk herself. Kirk fondly recalls her time spent in Locust Hill in her book, Locust Hill, published by the University of Alabama press in 1975. In her memoir, Kirk discusses many aspects of Locust Hill including not only the history of the home itself, but her own family history as well. The book also includes many of Kirk’s happiest childhood memories of the home. Today, the home is owned by Eli Harper and Laura Gayle Smith who purchased the home with intent to “put it back on the map”. Through continuation of the renovations that began with the previous owner, Harper and Smith have given the home new life. Now, the home is open to the public as a venue for various activities including weddings.
Melanie Hodges, University of North Alabama
University of North Alabama Archives and Special Collections Delinski, Bernie. "Locust Hill." Times Daily, December 28, 2014. Kirk, Mary Wallace. Locust Hill. University: University of Alabama Press, 1975. McDaniel, Mary Jane. "Locust Hill." In Historic Muscle Shoals: Buildings and Sites, 38-39. Tennessee Valley Hist. Society, 1983. Metcalf, Doris. "They Call Him Mr. Tip." In Tuscumbia: The Journal of Muscle Shoals History, 108-109. Vol. 16. Tennessee Valley Historical Society, 2001. Pitman, Mary Ann. "Locust Hill- a Visit into the Past." The Florence times, June 19, 1977.
This historic marker is located on Old Jackson Hwy, Florence, Alabama. The text on the marker reads: "Christians first met here in a log building which also served as a schoolhouse. In 1909 a frame building was constructed. Because of a single cedar tree in prominent view, it was given the name Lone Cedar by Wilbert M (Will) Behel, an early dedicated gospel preacher. In 1938 a more modern stone building was completed by these diligent christians. A larger auditorium was added in 1977. This early christian meeting place soon became a landmark and a vital part of the Greenhill Community."
“Lone Cedar Church of Christ 1898”. Accessed 11/04/2015. http://www.lat34north.com/historicmarkersal/
On long island near Bridgeport. One of the Five Lower Creek towns.
Street, O.D. "Cherokee Towns and Villages." Publications of the Alabama Historical Society, Miscellaneous Collections, Vol. 1.
Northeast Alabama Archives and Special Collections
Louis Rosenbaum; Jewish Leaders of Alabama; Florence, Alabama Business Owners; Philanthropy; Civil Rights Movement; Florence, AL; Lauderdale County, AL
Louis Rosenbaum was born in Lublin, Poland on May 12, 1887. He, and his brother had "to flee" eastern Poland in 1893. He married Anna Block in 1910, and their only child, Stanley, was born later that year. The family lived in Caspar, Wyoming, Little Rock, Arkansas, Denver, Colorado, and Douglas, Wyoming before moving to Florence in 1918 during the building of the Wilson Dam. He opened the Princess Theatre on September 1, 1919. His business would grow to include movie houses in Florence, Sheffield, Tuscumbia, and Athens. Louis Rosenbaum was a leader of Temple B'Nai Israel, a Civil Rights advocate, and a generous donor to the community and the arts. He served as the Temple's president during the fundraising and construction of Temple B'Nai on Hawthorne Street. He and his wife supported creating a State of Israel and they hosted Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion and his wife. His philanthropic works included donating $25,000 to help fund the building of the Florence-Lauderdale Public Library and giving land on West Alabama Street to create a park near E.C.M. Hospital. He had lived in Florence for over forty-three years upon his death on September 8, 1962.
Pam Kingsbury, University of North Alabama
Vertical Files, Rosenbaum Family. Florence-Lauderdale Public Library, Florence, Alabama. Temple B'nai Israel Cemetery, Obits Compiled by Scott Dawsky, 2005. Vertical files, Florence-Lauderdale Public Library, Florence, Alabama.
From the Rosenbaum Papers, University Archives, Collier Library, University of North Alabama, Florence, Alabama
Lee County, AL; Smiths Station, AL; National Register of Historic Places
The Lowther House Complex was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on September 16, 1993. The Lowther House Complex is located in Smiths Station, Lee County.
Keith S. Hebert, Rivers A. Langley, Photographer
This historic marker is located on Highttower Place, Florence, Alabama. The text on the marker reads: "After flying more than 90 worldwide reconnaissance missions, in 1990 Lt. Col. Ed Yeilding set a coast to coast aircraft speed record of 67 minuets 54 seconds flying an SR-71 spy plane, which is now at the Smithsonian."
“Lt. Col. R. Edward Yeilding Marker”. Accessed 11/04/2015. http://www.lat34north.com/historicmarkersal/
Lee County, AL; Native American History; Creek Indians; Loachapoka, AL; Trail of Tears
Lucv Pokv Tvise (translation: turtle sitting place) was a settlement of the Sawakee Creeks established in 1796. The residents had been forced out of South Carolina and Georgia by expanding white settlements. The village reached a peak population of 564 in 1830. After the signing of the Treaty of Cusetta in 1832, the area's economy was damaged by the influx of Creek refugees and seizure of land by white settlers. In 1835, the majority of the Sawakee residents decided to relocate to the Indian Territory, losing 83 members on the Trail of Tears. The new settlement they started on the Arkansas River, also called Lucv Pokv Tvise, would later be shortened to Tulsa. The former village site in Lee County would become the village of Loachapoka, a variation of its original Creek name.
Text: AccessGenealogy.com. "Native American History of Lee County, Alabama". http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/native-american-history-of-lee-county-alabama.htm Richard Thornton, People of One Fire, "Chattahoochee River Indians". http://peopleofonefire.com/chattahoochee-river-indians.html#more-2031
Education; Lee County, AL; Auburn University; Luther N. Duncan Hall; Duncan, Luther N.; Alabama Polytechnic Institute; Agricultural Extension Program; Alabama A&M; Auburn, AL
The three-story Georgian-style building located at 322 Mell Street was erected in 1928 for the sole purpose of housing Alabama Polytechnic Institute’s Agricultural Extension Program, the capacity in which in still serves today. Named after Luther N. Duncan, the influential director of the extension program and future API President, the building provided a setting for Alabama’s extension agents to prepare to disseminate cutting-edge scientific techniques to farmers statewide. In 1995, Auburn’s Agricultural Extension merged with the Alabama A&M’s Agricultural Extension Program, to form the consolidated Alabama Cooperative Extension System. Luther N. Duncan Hall also houses the administrative office of Alabama Cooperative Extension System.
Image Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luther_Duncan Text Sources: The Heritage of Lee County Book Committee, The Heritage of Lee County, Alabama (Clanton, AL: Heritage Publishing Consultants, 2000), 72, 158. Alabama Cooperative Extension System, http://www.aces.edu/pubs/docs/E/EX-0038/EX-0038.pdf.
Robin Lightfoot; Lynching; Bushwhackers; Civil War; African American History; Lauderdale County, AL
Robin Lightfoot, a mixed blood slave, help to organize the first church of African Americans at Florence, Church Spring, in 1837. Reverend Lightfoot preached on the hope for eventual emancipation for his people. While Union General Don Carlos Buell occupied Florence in 1862, Reverend Lightfoot’s sermons were relayed to local Bushwhackers, pro-confederate guerillas. The Bushwhackers captured Reverend Lightfoot at the current location of Wood Avenue Church of Christ. They hauled him to Stewart Spring and lynched him in an oak tree.
Michael Williams, University of North Alabama
Debra Glass, Maed and Military Historian, Heath Mathews. n.d. "Civil War's Western Theater." armyoftennessee.wordpress.com. Accessed April 19, 2015. https://armyoftennessee.wordpress.com/two-martyrs-robin-lightfoot-and-w-h-mitchell/.
Located in Beauregard along Lee Road 133. Coordinates: 32.5151385, -85.2674422
The Macedonia Church of Christ cemetery is located in the western part of Lauderdale County. To reach the cemetery, travel Alabama Highway 20 west from Florence, AL. Immediately after crossing over the Natchez Trace Parkway, turn left onto County Rd. #5 and travel 1.4 miles, turning right onto County Rd. 158 and travel 0.4 mile. The cemetery is just past the church on the right. The marker at the cemetery reads, "The church dates its roots to the early 1800’s, the congregation met in homes with Joseph Fanning, visiting evangelist. The church was first organized as Macedonia Baptist Church. In 1834, J.W. Smith supervised a building on this site. In 1880, T.B. Larimore, a well known evangelist among Church of Christ churches in the area, was asked to preach. The congregation then changed to the present name. The church has made a powerful impact. The adjoining cemetery is the resting place for many of the county’s beloved sons & daughters." Full list of graves is located in the source.
Montgomery, David L. "Macedonia Church of Christ." Cemeteries Only. April 12, 2015. http://cemeteriesonly.com/MacedoniaCem.html. Accessed April 29, 2015.
This historic marker is located on County Road 158 west of Road 5, Florence, Alabama. The text on the marker reads: "Tracing its roots to the early 1800's. The Macedonia Baptist Church originally met in homes with Joseph Fanning, visiting evangelist. In 1834, J.W. Smith supervised a building on this site. In 1880, T.B. Larimore, an evangelsit among Churches of Christ was asked to preach. The group then changed its name to Macedonia Church of Christ. This church has made a powerful local and world~wide impact. Its adjoining cemetery is the resting place for many of the country's beloved sons and daughters."
“Macedonia Church of Christ Marker”. Accessed 11/04/2015. http://www.lat34north.com/historicmarkersal/
This historic marker is located in River Heritage Park, near the Marriott Hotel in Florence, AL. Text on the marker reads: "In 1891, G.W. Goethals, in his role as supervisor of public works on the Tennessee River, reported directly to the Secretary of War. Later, he was Chief Engineer for the construction of the Panamal Canal."
“Maj. Gen. George W. Goethals Marker”. Accessed 11/04/2015. http://www.lat34north.com/historicmarkersal/
Major General George Washington Goethals' Home — 1888-1907 Marker
This historic marker is located on North Wood Avenue north of East Irvine Avenue, Florence, Alabama. The text on the marker reads: "The great engineering genius of the Panama Canal lived at this site from 1888 until 1907. As a young lieutenant, Gothals was sent to Florence to speed up the work on the Muscle Shoals Canal Project which effectively by-passed the serious river impediment known as the Muscle Shoals. His successful accomplishment here were considered as an apprenticeship that led to his renowned work in the building of the Panama Canal (1908~1914). Goethals later remarked that his work on the Muscle Shoals Canal loomed far larger in his memory than the canal in Panama."
“Major General George Washington Goethals' Home — 1888-1907 Marker”. Accessed 11/04/2015. http://www.lat34north.com/historicmarkersal/
Mapleton; Civil War; Levi Todd; Robert McFarland; Colonel John Harlan; Florence, AL; Lauderdale County, AL
The residence of Mapleton was built in the Federalist style under the direction of a South American architect. During the Civil War it was known as Todd’s Hill because it was the home of local physician Levi Todd. When the Union occupied Florence in 1862, Colonel John Harlan of the 10th Kentucky headquarter there. Colonel Harlan, who was famous in the area for arresting a local Presbyterian minister for praying for the Confederacy, would later become an associate justice of the US Supreme Court. After the war, Confederate Major Robert McFarland purchased the house. Robert McFarland was born in Londonderry County, Ireland, on August 6, 1836. He had been educated and prepared for a life in the British army. When he failed to get in the Crimean War, he left Britain for the United States in 1854. After graduating from Washington College, he studied law under John W. Brokenborough in Lexington, Virginia. He attained a Bachelor of Law in 1860 and moved to Florence in April of that year. In Florence he partnered with James B. Irvine. When the Civil War broke out McFarland volunteered in the Confederate Army and was made a captain in the 4th Alabama Infantry. He fought in the first battle of Manassas. After his first twelve month enlistment was up, he was tasked with recruiting a cavalry regiment. His new regiment joined General John H. Morgan and participated in the Ohio raid. When General Morgan was captured, McFarland’s regiment was transferred to General Cleburne’s command. He led a charge at Dug Gap for which his gallantry was cited by General Cleburne. At Villa Rica, Georgia, he was wounded severely when his horse was shot out from under him. McFarland was on station in Huntsville from December 1864 until Union forces drove him out of the city in January 1865. After the war, he returned to Florence and practicing law.
Hannings, Bud. 2013. Every day of the Civil War : a chronological encyclopedia. n.p.: Boston, Massachusetts : Credo Reference, 2013., 2013. UNA Library Catalog, EBSCOhost (accessed April 30, 2015). T. A. DeLand, A. Davis Smith. n.d. "genealogytrails.com." Alabama Trails Biographies. Accessed April 17, 2015. http://genealogytrails.com/ala/lauderdale/biomcfarland.html. Scott, Jaqueline E. 1990. "Major McFarland makes Florence his home." Times Daily, July 9: 4d.
Photo from following websites: http://genealogytrails.com/ala/lauderdale/biomcfarland.html Photo from following websites: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/116389971590120539/ Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, ALA,39-FLO,6-3
Mallard Fox Creek Wildlife Management Area
Recreation; Wildlife Management Area; Decatur, AL; Morgan County, AL
This wildlife management area contains over 1,483 acres of land along the southern shore of Wheeler Lake. It provides access to a number of habitats for wildlife. The site offers opportunities for viewing waterfowl, wading birds, and woodland songbirds. The area does have small game hunting for hunters. http://www.outdooralabama.com/wildlife-management-areas
“Mallard Fox Creek Wildlife Management Area.” Accessed July 9, 2015. http://msnha.una.edu/plan-a-visit
Opelika, AL; Lee County, AL; Industry; Manufacturing; Automotive
South-Korean-based Mando produces brake corner modules, brake calipers, suspension modules and steering systems. The business opened in 1996, and still operates today. The facility employs around 700 people, and is located at 4201 Northpark Dr., Opelika, AL.
Image: http://ltc4940.blogspot.com/2009/04/opelika-al.html
Talladega County, Sylacauga, Cemetery, Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage
In 1898, the Marble City Cemetery officially opened after the city of Sylacauga bought one acre from James T. Persons. Although there are earlier marked graves, it was originally a burial ground for the Pearson family. The original deed, notarized by J. W. Langley, was dated August 27, 1898. The land was divided into lots and numbered. Currently the cemetery contains 2,520 graves dating back to 1876. Over the years the cemetery has gone under renovations for cleaning and improvements. Eight Sylacauga mayors are interred at the cemetery along with a Union solider and Sylacauga’s first mayor. In 1995, the cemetery was added to the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage.
10th grader at Hudson High School in 1964 The Selma Campaign 1963-1965 Wally G. Vaughn Near Tractor Equipment Company. Became Dean of Pharmacy at Xavier University
R.B. Hudson High student (class of 1966) who participated in the march.
Montgomery County, Montgomery, Education, Alabama Women’s Hall of Fame
In 1914, Margaret Booth opened the Margaret Booth School as a college preparatory school for girls. This school occurred in Booth’s home. Margaret Booth was a longtime proponent of women’s education after receiving her own education in Montgomery public schools, the Agnes Scott Institute, and Mt. Holyoke College in Massachusetts. When she returned to Alabama, Booth became the first principal at the new Demopolis High School. She was also the founder of the Demopolis Public Library after donating a single volume. Booth is now a member of the Alabama Women’s Hall of Fame Between 1914 and 1915, Miss Booth stated in the Margaret Booth school bulletin, “It is my hope to be the instrument in the hand of Providence of founding an institution which shall accomplish for young women in Alabama what our college preparatory schools are accomplishing for boys”. The school/home was located on 529 Sayre Street Montgomery, AL.
http://preserveala.org/pdfs/AR/AR_Property_Listing_4_9_15.pdf http://www.awhf.org/booth.html
Lola Sewell remembered that her brother, Marion Sewell, participated in Bloody Sunday.
Lauderdale County, Alabama; Florence, Alabama; Mars Hill Bible School; Church of Christ; Private Schools
Mars Hill Bible School is a private preparatory day school for boys and girls in Florence, Alabama. The school begins at pre-kindergarten goes through the twelfth grade. Mars Hill Academy was opened by Thomas Brown Larimore in 1871. The academy, which was later called Mars Hill College, operated as a boy's school for sixteen years. The college was closed in 1888. Mars Hill Bible School is located at 698 Cox Creek Parkway in Florence, Alabama. In 1947 several local churches of Christ reopened the school. Mars Hill Bible School is affiliated with the Church of Christ and is completely autonomous.
The Mars Hill Church of Christ, established in 1871, is one of twenty-nine Churches of Christ in Florence. The Church of Christ denomination emerged out of the American Restoration Movement, a movement to reestablish America’s Christianity on the teachings of the New Testament, which lasted from 1801 to 1906. Restoration followers were known as Stoneites and Campbellites, named after the two prominent leaders of the movement, Barton Stone and Alexander Campbell. Congregations set up by followers of Campbell called themselves Disciples of Christ, while those established by Stoneites were called Churches of Christ. The beliefs of the Restoration Movement made their way into the Shoals during the 1820s and 1830s through efforts of Restoration ministers, who ultimately shaped the religious culture in the region. The first two Restoration ministers to enter the Shoals were Ephraim D. Moore and James Evans Matthews. Moore, born in North Carolina in 1782, converted after he read and heard about Alexander Campbell’s teachings. Moore settled near Florence, Alabama, in 1823 and established the first Restoration church in the Shoals, known as the Republican Congregation. However, three years after its founding the congregation still had only ten members. In 1826, James Matthews, a Kentucky Christian minister, moved to Florence and helped Moore spread the movement. In the fall of 1827, Moore wrote to Barton Stone of the success he and Matthews had in growing converts in the Shoals region. Recounting a week-long camp which resulted in forty Shoals’ residents professing their faith in Christ, Moore reassured Stone that “the good work is moving on in almost every direction.” However, the Restoration Movement in the Shoals did not take place without opposition. Baptists and Presbyterians entered the Shoals during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries and did not approve of the activists’ efforts. For example, in 1830 the Muscle Shoals Baptist Association printed a resolution that defined the Restoration Movement as a “divine operation of the Holy Spirit either disavowed or so obscurely avowed, as to amount to disavowal. We see experimental religion ridiculed and reprobated.” The resolution criticized the efforts of Stone and Campbell’s disciples as “effort(s) by man to pull down the old order of faith and practice taught by our Lord and His apostles, and establish on their ruins a new order.” After converting to a Restoration church, William Henry Wharton of Tuscumbia was “discarded…opposed, calumniated, misrepresented, abused, denied entrance into houses consecrated to the worship of the only living and true God” because of his support for Reformation ideology. In addition to the vocal opposition from various denominations, in his article “History of the Church of Christ in Northwest Alabama, 1866-1880,” Shoals historian Wayne Kilpatrick argued that the Civil War ultimately hindered the Restoration Movement in the Shoals region. Kilpatrick claimed that many churches in the Shoals, including Restoration congregations, experienced a drop in membership during the war, which Kilpatrick defined as the “silent years” of the Restoration Movement. Nevertheless, the silent years in the Shoals ended with the arrival of Theophilus Brown Larimore in 1868. T. B. Larimore was born on July 10, 1843, in Jefferson County, Tennessee, where he grew up fatherless and in poverty. Despite these challenges, Larimore enrolled in Mossey Creek Baptist College (present day Carson Newman University), a theological institution, at the age of sixteen. During his time at in college he did not experience a spiritual conversion. As a result of his lack of personal experience with religion while in college, when the war began Larimore enlisted in the Confederate army and served as a scout in the Company B of the 5th Tennessee Cavalry. After serving in the war, Larimore became a member of a Restoration church in 1864, and thereafter, the church became the center of his life. Shortly after becoming a member of a Restoration church, he taught theology at Franklin College in Nashville, Tennessee, for two years, and accepted a position as a teacher at Mountain Home Academy, a Restoration institution located in Lawrence County, Alabama, in 1868. Larimore’s early efforts to expand the Restoration Movement in the northwest region of Alabama, however, did not succeed. For example, as Larimore remembered, the congregation at Hopewell Church located in Lauderdale County, “let me try to preach once, and were so well pleased with that ‘sarmint’ that they let me off—suddenly!” Also in 1868, Larimore married Julia Esther Gresham, who had inherited twenty-nine acres in Lauderdale County from her family. On this land, Larimore established Mars Hill Church of Christ. Larimore and others purchased land for a new building and in 1904 a new structure was built. The congregation continued to worship in this building until the current building was completed in 1969. In addition to Larimore, some prominent ministers of Mars Hill Church of Christ were Paul Simon, Robert Walker, and Kenneth Davis.
Jesse Brock, University of North Alabama
Text: Wayne Kilpatrick, “History of the Church of Christ in Northwest Alabama, 1823-1861,” The Journal of Muscle Shoals History Vol. xi (1986), 32-34. Barton Stone, The Christian Messenger Vol.2, no. 1, 16-17. Kilpatrick, “History of the Church of Christ in Northwest Alabama, 1823-1861,” 36. Wayne Kilpatrick, “ History of the Church of Christ in Lauderdale County, 1866-1880,” The Journal of Muscle Shoals History Vol. xi (1986), 67-85. Lee Freeman, “A Brief Study of the Life of Elder Theophilus Brown Larimore “, in folder “McDonald Collection: Church Information Collection: Other Denomination-Church of Christ,” Box 37, Bill McDonald Collection, Archives/Special Collections, Collier Library, University of North Alabama, Florence, Alabama. Frank Richey, “T. B. Larimore—The Preacher,” The Alabama Restoration Journal Vol. 4, no. 2 (April, 2010), 3. Bill McDonald, “Story of Mars Hill’s first lady,” Time Daily, October 12, 2003, in folder “McDonald Collection: Church Information Collection: Other Denomination-Church of Christ,” Box 37, Bill McDonald Collection, Archives/Special Collections, Collier Library, University of North Alabama, Florence, Alabama. Mars Hill Church of Christ, “A Brief History,” Mars Hill Church of Christ, http://marshillcc.org/a-breif-history.html (accessed May 1, 2015).
Wilcox County resident who participated in Bloody Sunday march.
Maria Gitin, This Bright Light of Ours: Stories from the Voting Rights Fight
Education; Lee County, AL; Auburn University; Carnegie, Andrew; Carnegie Libraries; William J. Samford Hall; Curtis, Nathaniel C.; Alabama Polytechnic Institute; Auburn, AL
The institution that would come to be known as Auburn University’s first library operated out of three rooms on the second floor of William J. Samford Hall. These rooms quickly became overcrowded with an excessive amount of volumes. In 1908, Andrew Carnegie provided an endowment of $30,000 to allow the institution to build a much-needed stand-alone library. Nathaniel C. Curtis, the chair of Alabama Polytechnic Institute’s Architectural Department, designed the new library, which opened on January 11, 1909, and boasted a 60,000-volume capacity. In 1940, Auburn’s Board of Trustees allocated funds to enlarge the Carnegie Library, effectively doubling its volume capacity and adding two new reading rooms. In the early 1960s, Auburn University began building a massive new library building. On November 5, 1963, the building was dedicated and the institution’s library officially moved from the Carnegie building to the new facility. Auburn University tapped the old Carnegie Library to house student financial services and redubbed the building Mary Martin Hall in honor of Auburn’s librarian from 1918 to 1949. Mary Martin Hall still stands at 211 West Thach Avenue, Auburn University.
Image Source: http://family.auburn.edu/profiles/blogs/the-best-free-services-auburn-students-should-be-taking-advantage Text Sources: History of the Auburn Libraries, http://www.lib.auburn.edu/dean/history.php. Ralph Draughon, Jr., Delos Hughes, and Ann Pearson, Lost Auburn: A Village Remembered in Period Photographs (Montgomery: NewSouth Books, 2012), 12.
Auburn, AL; Lee County, AL; Industry; Cabinets
This business produces cabinets and employs roughly 600 people, making it one of the largest employers in Lee County. The business opened in 1999, and still operates today. Masterbrand Cabinets is located at 300 Webster Rd., Auburn, AL.
Image: http://www.city-data.com/businesses/206166423-master-brand-cabinets-inc-auburn-wa.html
After leaving her job as a music teacher at a private kindergarten in Tuscumbia, Maud McKnight Lindsay started the first free kindergarten in the state of Alabama in 1898. She taught children from the cotton mill district in East Florence. The original location was a Florence store front but the school was moved to a small cottage building across from Brandon School. The Maud Lindsay Free Kindergarten is still in operation today. Lindsay was active in the settlement house movement, traveling to Boston and New York to work. She was also a prolific children's book author and poet. The building it slated to be moved when the new hospital is built. The location is still undetermined.
Text: Elizabeth Womack McDonald. History of the Florence City schools, 1820-1967, 1900. UNA Library Catalog, EBSCOhost (accessed April 29, 2015). Anita Miller Garner, "Maud McKinght Lindsay," Encyclopedia of Alabama. http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-2376 Image: University of North Alabama Archives and Special Collections
This historic marker is located on Cole Street near Old Brandon Elementary School in East Florence, Alabama. The text on the marker reads: "Born in Tuscumbia, Lived in Sheffield Daughter of Robert Burns Lindsay, Governor of Alabama 1870-72. Teacher of Alabama first kindergarten-1898. Ranks as one of the greatest kindergarten teachers in the world. Author of 18 books for children. Maud Lindsay was close friend of Helen Keller. The Florence Free Kindergarten Established September 3, 1898 Founded through the efforts of Miss Loulie Johnes, Mrs John R. Price, Mr. Frank Jackson, Mr. Thomas Phillip, Teacher Miss Maud McKnight Lindsay Teacher, Writer, Philanthropist. The Monument erected for Miss Maud Lindsay in Appreciation of her life of service to the community. By students and friends Mrs. Grover Garner Chairman September 3, 1970."
“Maud McKnight Lindsay Marker”. Accessed 11/04/2015. http://www.lat34north.com/historicmarkersal/
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.
Alfred Huger Moses; Sheffield, Alabama; Colbert County; Jewish settlement
Alfred Huger Moses was responsible for the establishment of Sheffield, Alabama. Born in Charleston, South Carolina, he moved to Alabama after serving in the Confederate Army where he achieved the rank of Captain. HIs wife, Katherine, five children, and brother moved to the area with him. He hoped to create an industrial mecca much as Sheffield, England had. He was briefly part of a land and iron boom in the area but was left almost penniless during the 1890s when pig iron prices were falling and banks were failing. He was the first mayor of Sheffield, Alabama.
A History of Sheffield, privately printed by the Sheffield Public Library.
Cemeteries; Rogersville, AL; Lauderdale County, AL
To reach McCartney Cemetery from Rogersville, head north on AL 207 for one mile. Then turn left on County Road 55. Head straight on County Road 559 and the cemetery is at the end of the road. A full list of records can be viewed within the source.
"McCartney Cemetery." http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~allauder. Accessed September 9, 2015.
Architectural drawings; Watercolors; Houses; Dwellings; Doors & doorways; Windows; Balconies; Hand railings; Porches; Columns; Roofs; Moldings; Women; Trees; Landscapes (Representations)
This image is a watercolor painting of the McElhaney House in Auburn, Alabama done by C.L. Hendrick in 1933. The house was built in 1844. The painting shows the front exterior of the house with its doors, windows, balcony, railings, columned porch, steps, and sloping roof surrounded by trees and landscaping. There is a woman in period dress standing by the door. The house is placed within framing art showing its architectural features including scales and a close-up of the columns and the molding under the roof. In the lower right corner, there is an Alabama Polytechnic Institute School of Architecture stamp with the handwritten inscription "1st Hon. Mention"? and the artist's information block which reads: "C.L. Hendrick, API, Arch Dis-476." The painting is in fair condition and is encapsulated.
Hendrick, C. L. (rendering) ; Unknown (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/al0280/
Auburn -- Lee County -- Alabama ; 135 North College Street, Auburn, Lee County, AL
McFarland Park and Recreation Area Marker
This historic marker is located on McFarland Drive in Florence, AL. The text on the marker reads: "This bottom land serves as a reservoir for TVA's flood control program. Florence leases it for recreational purposes when not being used by TVA. Major Robert McFarland, a native of Ireland, his wife, Kate Armstead McFarland, and their seven children resided in the ante~bellum mansion now called Mapleton that overlooked this river bottom. Strawberries were once grown here. Jobless families were encouraged to plant vegetables gardens here during the Great Depression. Major McFarland rode with Confederate General John Hunt Morgan and became the first cavalryman to leap across the line onto Indian soil."
“McFarland Park and Recreation Area Marker”. Accessed 11/04/2015. http://www.lat34north.com/historicmarkersal/
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.
Liz Clayton, Shelby County Historical Society
Architectural drawings; Watercolors; Houses; Dwellings; Doors & doorways; Windows; Shutters; Porches; Columns; Balconies; Hand railings; Ironwork; Roofs; Chimneys; Towers; Moldings; Men; Women; Children; Trees; Landscapes (Representations)
This image is a watercolor painting of the McLaren-Burris House (also known as the Burris House, Riverview, Charles McLaran House; McLarin-Humphreys House) in Columbus, Mississippi, done by an unknown student 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 railings, sloped roof, two chimneys, and tower room rising from the roof surrounded by trees and landscaping. There is a couple on the porch and a man, woman, and child on the grounds, all in period dress. The house is placed within framing art showing its architectural features including the molding under the roof, the columns, the iron railing from the balcony, a floor plan, and various scales with a drawing of a grape vine around the upper frame. The top of the frame contains a title box with a short history of the house. In the lower right corner, there is a handwritten inscription "1st Medal" and a stamped gold star. The painting is in poor condition, with tears, spots of discoloration and missing pieces from the edges and corners, and is encapsulated.
Library of Congress (Historic American Buildings Survey): http://www.loc.gov/item/ms0112/ ; Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_McLaran_House
Columbus -- Lowndes County -- Mississippi ; 514 South Second Street, Columbus, Lowndes County, MS
Located in Beauregard along Lee County Road 240. Coordinates: 32.51997, -85.23179