Aliceville POW Museum
Aliceville, Alabama--History
World War II
Museums
Prisoners of war
Aliceville is the largest city in Pickens County, Alabama. It was home to a World War II German prisoner of war camp, which is now the focus of the Aliceville Museum.
Located in the southern part of the county, Aliceville is named for Alyce Searcy Cochrane (1875-1922), wife of the city’s founder, John Taylor Cochrane (1873-1938).
Cochrane was a West Alabama railroad pioneer who worked with a group of civic leaders in Carrollton to build a railroad to connect the Pickens County seat to the Mobile and Ohio Railroad’s new line at Reform – 10 miles away. Later, Cochrane had the foresight to run the railroad south and west toward the Tombigbee River, where he established the new town of Aliceville on land he had purchased. The line was first brought into Aliceville in 1902.
The little railroad was eventually extended by Cochrane into Mobile and was named the Alabama, Tennessee and Northern Railroad.
The town of Aliceville was incorporated in 1907. In 1908 the town decreed that every street should have ten-foot sidewalks, built and maintained by the property owners; this was essentially complete by 1910. By that time the town was considering installing water, sewer, and water utilities.
In World War II, the German prisoner of war camp was located in Aliceville to house 6,000 prisoners, delivered to the site by St. Louis – San Francisco Railroad. The population of the camp rarely exceeded 3,500 in its use from 1942-45. The Aliceville Museum and Cultural Arts Center opened in February 1995. The museum has permanent exhibits on Camp Aliceville.
Aliceville Museum
1942
Betty Slowe (Description)
Photograph
2305
Pickens County (AL)
Buhl Service Station
Businesses
This station belonged to O.M. Davis, who lived behind the station. The pump on the left was for oil. A quart glass container was provided; the customer pumped out a quart and poured it into his car. The gas pump is in the middle. On the right is a pump that dispensed kerosene (coal oil) for lamps. The customer brought in a container and could pump a gallon of the kerosene into it.
Bruce Davis
Circa 1925
Betty Slowe (Description)
Photograph
556
Tuscaloosa County (AL)
Phoenix Hotel, Carrollton, AL
Hotels
Historic hotels
Carrollton, Alabama--History
The historic Phoenix Hotel in Carrollton, Alabama, showed the ravages of time as it faced demolition in 1966.
The hotel was built in 1841 and was demolished to make room for a new county activities building. Probate Judge Robert H. Kirksey said the county had advertised to sell the building, but got no offers. The county finally gave the building to a Tuscaloosa man if he would tear it down and remove the materials.
The hotel was a two-story, 27-room hotel located on the main street just across from the county courthouse. In the old days when transportation was a problem, men who served on the jury at the county spent the night in the hotel. There was a spring, called Johnny Woods Spring, located just a few blocks from the hotel and during the 1920s and 1930s, people would come to stay at the hotel just to visit the spring and drink the water.
The hotel was noted for its fine food served buffet-style on a large lazy-susan table. The table had been sold and was, in 1966, being used at a beach house on the Gulf Coast.
Benjamin F. Roper built the hotel, naming it the Phoenix because it arose from the ashes of the Roper house which had burned. A livery stable was built beside the hotel. Roper operated both the hotel and the livery stable for 12 years.
During the Civil War, Northern troops burned the courthouse, but spared the hotel and enjoyed the lodging there.
Olivia B. Sullivan purchased the hotel in 1945 and ran it until the early 1960s.
The hotel was typical of antebellum buildings with square nails and wooden pegs used in construction and much of the lumber hand-hewn heart pine lumber. An coat of white paint kept the building looking immaculate.
The Tuscaloosa News
Tuscaloosa News Archive
The Tuscaloosa News
Nov. 8, 1966
Betty Slowe (Description)
Photograph
2300
Pickens County (AL)
Phoenix Hotel, Carrollton, AL
Hotels
The historic Phoenix Hotel in Carrollton, Alabama, was built in 1841.
The hotel was a two-story, 27-room hotel located on the main street just across from the county courthouse. In the old days when transportation was a problem, men who served on the jury at the county spent the night in the hotel. There was a spring, called Johnny Woods Spring, located just a few blocks from the hotel and during the 1920s and 1930s, people would come to stay at the hotel just to visit the spring and drink the water.
The hotel was noted for its fine food served buffet-style on a large lazy-susan table. The table had been sold and was, in 1966, being used at a beach house on the Gulf Coast.
Benjamin F. Roper built the hotel, naming it the Phoenix because it arose from the ashes of the Roper house which had burned. A livery stable was built beside the hotel. Roper operated both the hotel and the livery stable for 12 years.
During the Civil War, Northern troops burned the courthouse, but spared the hotel and enjoyed the lodging there.
Olivia B. Sullivan purchased the hotel in 1945 and ran it until the early 1960s.
The hotel was typical of antebellum buildings with square nails and wooden pegs used in construction and much of the lumber hand-hewn heart pine lumber. An coat of white paint kept the building looking immaculate.
The Phoenix was demolished in 1966 to make room for a new county activities building. Probate Judge Robert H. Kirksey said the county had advertised to sell the building, but got no offers. The county finally gave the building to a Tuscaloosa man if he would tear it down and remove the materials.
Library of Congress
Betty Slowe (Description)
Photograph
2326
Pickens County (AL)
Stuart Purser Mural, Carrollton, AL
Mural painting and decoration, American
Carrollton, Alabama--History
Purser, Stuart R., 1907-1986
Bankhead, William B. (1844-1940)
United States Post Offices
The Carrollton, Alabama, Post Office and Agriculture Building was built in 1940 and is still in use as the post office today. It has a mural entitled “Farm Scene with Senator Bankhead” painted in 1943 by Stuart R. Purser. Senator William B. Bankhead (1874-1940) was the father of actress Tallulah Bankhead.
Stuart Purser was born in Arkansas but grew up in Louisiana. Despite his father’s wish that he become a medical doctor, Purser chose the life as an artist. With a bachelor of arts degree from Louisiana College in Pineville, he left for Chicago and the Chicago School of Arts with $14 in his pocket. He worked as many as four jobs at one time to graduate from the art school.
He taught for a year in Washington State before returning to Louisiana to head the art program at Louisiana College.
After returning to the South, Stuart painted four murals located in the states of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. These were done during the Depression and funded by the U.S. Government Treasury Department to enhance public buildings. They focused on local themes.
The mural in Carrollton included the U.S. House Speaker William B. Bankhead who had helped secure funds for the project. Other murals are in post offices in Gretna. La., Leland, Ms., and Ferriday, La. The Gretna mural portrays steamboat river traffic in New Orleans. The other two feature the economy of cotton production in the South. The Leland mural shows wagons carrying cotton to the gin; the Ferriday mural shows people working the cotton gins.
Over the years, Purser taught at several universities, retiring in 1975. He died in 1986.
Betty Slowe
Jan. 22, 2016
Betty Slowe (Description)
Photograph
2042
Pickens County (AL)
First Coker Tomato Club, 1916
Rural conditions
Clubs
Rural families
4-H clubs
Rural reformers developed tomato clubs for girls in the early 1900s. The club got girls interested in home economics which would benefit them when they became rural mothers. Keeping girls up to date with the latest advances relating to the home would in turn improve family life. These clubs led to 4-H Clubs.
Tuscaloosa News Archive
1916
Jennifer Spraggins (Description)
Photograph
269
Tuscaloosa County (AL)
Echola School
Echola--History
The Echola School was located at the intersection of Echola and Upper Columbus Roads in the community of Echola in northwest Tuscaloosa County, Alabama..
The community was settled about 1828 and was a prosperous farming area before the Civil War. Many pioneer families that settled in the area operated extensive cotton farms, some with slave labor. Cotton became the first product for commerce from the area.
During the years before 1860 and in the early years of the 1900s, beautiful farms and farm homes were built in the area.
There were several cotton gins in Echola operated by water power or by oxen and horse power. Cotton bales were marketed in Northport, Alabama, usually hauled in oxen wagons. Years later, the cotton was carried to Northport, Gordo and Moores Bridge to be ginned.
When cotton was no longer “king,” farmers grew vegetables and dairy cattle; much of the cotton land was used to produce timber for the market. More recently, chicken houses have become prevalent in the area.
Many Indian artifacts have been found in the area around the Sipsey River, Dunn’s Creek and Cleveland Creek; it is certain that the area was home to large Indian communities.
There were several one-room schools around the Echola area. Highland, Sardis, Cleveland and Dunn’s Creek were some of them. In these schools, all ages were taught by one teacher. The students went to school for a few days after the crops were laid by but the school recessed when students were needed to help with the planting and harvesting. The children might go to school for only 3 to 4 months a year, some of them older than the teacher.
People of these communities got together to develop a consolidated school so that the students could get a better education. Community members pledged and donated money and a five-room school was built on donated land near the intersection of Echola and Upper Columbus roads. It was completed in the 1921-22 school year and had ten grades taught by five teachers. The school is shown in the photograph above. Those who wanted to graduate had to transfer to Tuscaloosa County High School or Gordo High School. Eventually used as only an elementary school for several years, the Echola School closed in 1950. The building was purchased by the community and used as a community center for many years. The long-time landmark was severely damaged by a fire in 2010 and had to be demolished.
Golden Mayfield was postmaster at Echola in 1903 when the area was named Elbert. There was another post office in Alabama named Elbert and confusion resulted, so Echola became the official name of the area and the post office.
Julia Pearson followed her father and was postmistress at the Echola Post Office for 50 years. She and her husband operated a small store where the post office was located. She turned the job over to her daughter-in law, Bernice Pearson, who in turn, turned the post office/general store over to her daughter Beth Branyon. The post office and the store are now closed, though the building still stands.
Dunn’s Creek Baptist Church was established in 1834 and is still serving the Echola community. Though there have been other churches in the Echola area during the past 100 years, Dunn’s Creek remained the most active.
Friends of Historic Northport
Betty Slowe (Description)
Photograph
2105
Tuscaloosa County (AL)
Busy Bee Restaurant, Gordo, AL
Restaurants
The Busy Bee Restaurant in Gordo, AL, is shown in this photo from 1915. The restaurant was located on Main Street in Gordo.
Men shown from the left are Lovie Zeanah, David A. Cummins and Julius Geer. The child is unknown.
Dr. Patton had an office above the Busy Bee.
Frank Elmore
1915
Betty Slowe (Description)
Photograph
2523
Pickens County (AL)
City Hall and Jail, Gordo, AL
Gordo, Alabama--History
Jails
City halls
The building was built in 1914 by Gordo's first town council to house Mayor Benjamin Garrison's office, city courtroom and jail. It was used as city hall and jail until 1949. Records show it to be the oldest remaining brick structure in Gordo. It was restored in 1974 by Gordo Tuesday Study Club as an art gallery and museum. It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on Dec. 17, 1974.
Betty Slowe
Betty Slowe
1914
Betty Slowe (Description)
Photograph
2299
Pickens County (AL)
Gordo, AL, Fire, 1901
Fires
A fire destroyed seven businesses in Gordo on March 7, 1901.
Gordo was originally founded about a mile north of its present location but moved south to be near the Mobile and Ohio Railroad when it came through in 1898.
The store in the background was occupied by J.H. Propst General Merchandise Store and later owned by G.H. Sanders. This photo was published in The Tuscaloosa News as a historical photo on June 24, 2019.
Frank Elmore
March 7, 1901
Betty Slowe (Description)
Photograph
2526
Pickens County (AL)