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)
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)
Cabaniss Grocery in Samantha, circa 1963
Grocers
Cabaniss Grocery store, constructed of native stone, stood at the corner of Hwy. 43 North and Northside Road in northern Tuscaloosa County. Visiting out front are John Manley Cabiniss, George Nelson, Oscar Cabaniss, Virgil Spencer, Buck Savage and Wordner Duncan. The store replaced one that was once part of the Stagecoach Exchange at what was then called 'Marcumville'. The Crossroad Grocery stands on the site now.
Cabaniss Grocery was renamed Cabaniss and Sons after John Manley Cabiness took over from his father,Oscar Cabaniss.
Circa 1963
John Harris (Description)
Betty Slowe (Description)
Photograph
343
Tuscaloosa 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)
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)
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)
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)
Main Street, Gordo, AL
Towns and districts
Main Street in Gordo before 1898.
Settlement of the town of Gordo, located on U.S. Hwy 82, 23 miles west of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, in east-central Pickens County, began before 1847. A web site, www.postalhistory.com, reports a post office in Gordo at that time. A sawmill had opened in the area in 1831.
Before the Mobile and Ohio Railroad came in 1898, Gordo was called the Crossroads settlement and was located on the stage line, a mile northeast of the city’s present location, at the intersection of the Columbus-Tuscaloosa and Fayette-Vienna Roads.
In Spanish, Gordo means fat or abundant. Speculation is that the city was named for the famous battle of Cerro-Gordo fought near Mexico City during the Mexican-American War in 1847. Cities and counties in Iowa, North Carolina and Illinois are also named after that battle.
On April 5, 1865, Union Captain William A. Southerland of Croxton’s Army and 75 men left Tuscaloosa on the Columbus Road. Southerland’s official report mentioned going through Gordo, where he met no opposition, and continued to Carrollton where the courthouse was burned.
With the railroad a reality in 1898, businesses developed near the railroad and the town moved south. On March 7, 1901, a fire broke out that destroyed several businesses before the fire could be brought under control.
The town was incorporated around 1900. The first mayor was John J. Windham.
By 1905, Gordo had grown enough to support six businesses; by 1913, that number had increased to around 30. A new brick schoolhouse was built in 1911, and by 1913, the town had a telephone system, a bank, a bottling works, and two cotton gins. An elementary school was built in 1936.
The 2010 census showed the population of Gordo to be 1714, up from 1677 in the 2000 census. The present mayor is Craig Patterson.
Frank Elmore
Betty Slowe (Description)
Photograph
2522
Pickens County (AL)
Main Street, Gordo, AL
Main Street In Gordo, AL, with its unpaved Main Street and with electric poles running down the middle of the street. The Mobile and Ohio Railroad is shown in the foreground.
Settlement of the town of Gordo, located on U.S. Hwy 82, 23 miles west of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, in east-central Pickens County, began before 1847. A web site, www.postalhistory.com, reports a post office in Gordo at that time. A sawmill had opened in the area in 1831.
Before the Mobile and Ohio Railroad came in 1898, Gordo was called the Crossroads settlement and was located on the stage line, a mile northeast of the city’s present location, at the intersection of the Columbus-Tuscaloosa and Fayette-Vienna Roads.
In Spanish, Gordo means fat or abundant. Speculation is that the city was named for the famous battle of Cerro-Gordo fought near Mexico City during the Mexican-American War in 1847. Cities and counties in Iowa, North Carolina and Illinois are also named after that battle.
On April 5, 1865, Union Captain William A. Southerland of Croxton’s Army and 75 men left Tuscaloosa on the Columbus Road. Southerland’s official report mentioned going through Gordo, where he met no opposition, and continued to Carrollton where the courthouse was burned.
With the railroad a reality in 1898, businesses developed near the railroad and the town moved south. On March 7, 1901, a fire broke out that destroyed several businesses before the fire could be brought under control.
The town was incorporated around 1900. The first mayor was John J. Windham.
By 1905, Gordo had grown enough to support six businesses; by 1913, that number had increased to around 30. A new brick schoolhouse was built in 1911, and by 1913, the town had a telephone system, a bank, a bottling works, and two cotton gins. An elementary school was built in 1936.
The 2010 census showed the population of Gordo to be 1714, up from 1677 in the 2000 census. The present mayor is Craig Patterson.
Frank Elmore
Circa 1900
Betty Slowe (Description)
Photograph
2528
Pickens County (AL)