Bettie Ann Highway

Dublin Core

Title

Bettie Ann Highway

Subject

Bettie Ann Highway, Lauderdale County, Alabama: Historic Markers

Description

The Bettie Ann Highway was once the home to a thriving farming community that included Toonersville and Whitehead.

The text from the historical marker offers description of how the road came to be named:

The home-place of Bettie Anne Springer-Thornton lies 1.6 miles north on the east side of Lauderdale County Road 51. This home was originally a one-room log cabin, built between 1892 and 1894 by Levi Patrick Thornton. Two rooms and a dog-trot were added prior to 1905. The home was razed and rebuilt in 1945, excluding the south room which remained intact. Bettie Anne Springer, daughter of William Marion Springer (1833-1884) and Rutha Jane Oldham (1826-1896), was born November 17, 1859, in Brooksville, Mississippi, and died May 6, 1932. Bettie Anne was affectionately called “Aunt Bett” by family and friends alike. She donated a portion of property for the construction of the highway, and her son, Samuel Beaver Thornton, donated land for the Old Mt. Bethel Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Levi Patrick Thornton, son of William Henry Thornton (1817-1855) and Sarah Rowsey-Burt (1814-1893), was born August 3, 1850 , in Lauderdale County, Alabama, and died May 14, 1915. Levi and Bettie Anne were married on February 8, 1876, and had twelve children.
They are buried in the Ingram-Thornton Cemetery in Good Springs (old Thorntontown).
Sponsored by Thornton Family Descendants and Benefactors
[2009: Co. Rd. 5 at Co. Rd. 568, Rogersville]


Creator

Pam Kingsbury< University of North Alabama

Source

Historic Marker

Publisher

Pam Kingsbury, University of North Alabama

Date

1820s to the present

Rights

Photographs by Pam Kingsbury.

Format

Still image and text.

Identifier

Bettie Ann Highway, Lauderdale County, Alabama; Rural Community