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)
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)
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)
Ralph School
Rural schools
The date of this photo of students at Ralph School is unknown.
In the front row are Chester Barton, Floyd Phillips, Bessie Poole, Stella Phillips, Hortense Phillips and Aileen Phillips.
In the second row are Willie Phillips, Phelan Beck, Tom Allen Walker, Robert Bruce Taylor, Dorothy Ray, Gertrude Walker, Kathleen Taylor, Mackie Thomas and Mary Ella Poole.
Elaine Sloan
Betty Slowe (Description)
Photograph
2310
Tuscaloosa 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)
Pickens Theater in Reform, 1948
Theaters
Reform (AL) -History
The photo shows the movie "Forever Amber" was playing at the Pickens Theater in 1948. The theater was a gathering place for teens and others from around Pickens County since, at times, there were no other theaters in the county. It also provided jobs for teenagers running the projectors and selling popcorn. One person remembers the popcorn machine being pushed to the open door, causing the aroma of popcorn to fill the Main Street of Reform. About this time, the cost to see a movie was 10 cents, but dimes were hard to come by. But if you could get a dime, you could see two western movies and a serial.
Mac Harper
1948
Betty Slowe (Description)
Photograph
2418
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)
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)
Williams Hotel, Gordo, AL
The Willams Hotel was located on Main Street in Gordo, Alabama. The date of its construction is unknown, but is after 1900. The building was demolished in the 1960s.
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
Unknown
Betty Slowe (Description)
Photograph
2524
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)