Title
Old Center Church, Tuscaloosa
Subject
Churches
Description
Old Center Church sits on New Watermelon Road in Tuscaloosa. Families that lived in the area help build the church in the late 1800s. Most of these families were members. The Christian, Robertson, Bedford and Dockery families were members and their families are buried in the cemetery. The late Jack Warner had the old church restored in 1971.
Frank Hamiter worked for Gulf States Paper Corp. and one of his first jobs was to pick logs to be used to rebuild Center Church. The logs came from the Scottsville area in Bibb County, the logs used were picked from a stand of Longleaf pine on company land. They had to be a certain diameter at breast height with a certain length. After the logs were selected, they were hauled to the site by Talmage Farley, A GSPC contractor that was harvesting this tract of timber. The tree-length logs were hauled on a bob tail or short pulpwood truck. The logs were unloaded at the church site.
John McPherson and his crew used broad axes to hew the logs to replace the deteriorated ones in the old church. In the photo Sam Wilson works to restore the old church again in 2019, almost 50 years after its last renovation. Just like the families before him, Wilson goes to the woods to select the logs to use in his renovation.
The historical marker, worn to almost unreadable, reads: Built of massive pine logs in 1875, this church has been an active house of worship, and center of community, civic activities and education for more than a century. Restored on the original site in 1971.
Frank Hamiter worked for Gulf States Paper Corp. and one of his first jobs was to pick logs to be used to rebuild Center Church. The logs came from the Scottsville area in Bibb County, the logs used were picked from a stand of Longleaf pine on company land. They had to be a certain diameter at breast height with a certain length. After the logs were selected, they were hauled to the site by Talmage Farley, A GSPC contractor that was harvesting this tract of timber. The tree-length logs were hauled on a bob tail or short pulpwood truck. The logs were unloaded at the church site.
John McPherson and his crew used broad axes to hew the logs to replace the deteriorated ones in the old church. In the photo Sam Wilson works to restore the old church again in 2019, almost 50 years after its last renovation. Just like the families before him, Wilson goes to the woods to select the logs to use in his renovation.
The historical marker, worn to almost unreadable, reads: Built of massive pine logs in 1875, this church has been an active house of worship, and center of community, civic activities and education for more than a century. Restored on the original site in 1971.
Creator
The Tuscaloosa News
Source
Tuscaloosa News
Publisher
The Tuscaloosa News
Date
July 28, 2019
Contributor
Betty Slowe (Description)
Type
Photograph
Identifier
2570
Coverage
Tuscaloosa County (AL)
Original Format
Photograph