The September Program

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Thomas E. McMillan Museum

3:15 p. m

The SeptemberProgram

Debbie Russell, Environ-mental Planning Coordi-nator with the ConecuhNational Forest, will pre-sent the September 25thprogram entitled, "History

of the Conecuh NationalForest and the LongleafEcoSystem.”

Image of Long Leaf Pine at Grass Stage.

Photo is by Kim Gilliand, Editor, Alabama Treasure Forest Magazine

The October 23rd regular meeting of the Es-cambia County Historical Society will be afield trip to the Baker Block Museum inBaker, Florida.

We will carpool and leave the Thomas E.McMillan Museum parking lot at 9:30 a.m. toarrive at the Baker Block Museum for a10:30 a.m. tour.

The admission to the museum is free. Themuseum exhibits include the turpentine andtimber industry, a mercantile store, farmtools, Native American artifacts, a pioneerhousehold display and a military display.

Outside exhibits: an 1870's Hewed log cabin,a early 20th century post office and generalstore, Jackson Veneer, and Mill tool Com-pany.

There is also a wonderful research librarywith area family genealogies, church, commu-nity and school histories, maps, photos andother historical documents, as well as internetresearch.

You will also have time to spend in the mu-seum on your own. Dutch treat lunch will beavailable at 1 p.m. at the Gator Cafe inBaker.

For more information on the Baker BlockMuseum, go to http://www.rottsweb.com/~flbbm/baker.htm

At the September 25, ECHS meeting, memberswill vote on a proposed dues increase for thecalendar year 2008.

Dues for an individual would increase from$15 annually to $25 annually. Lifetime dueswould increase from $100 to $250.

An additional category was proposed by theECHS Board of Directors at the September 11board meeting. That new category would be$50 annual dues for a business and those annualdues would include an advertisement for thebusiness in the ECHS Newsletter.

Please plan to attend the September meeting tovote on this dues increase issue that was pre-sented verbally at the August monthly meet-ing. (One reason for the dues increase is thecontinuing cost of producing the newsletterwhich is over $2.00 per issue.)

The October Meeting : A Field Tripto the Baker-Block Museum in

Baker, Florida

Proposed Changes in Dues to be Voted on in September Meeting

September Speaker 2

Minutes of August Meeting 2

Upcoming Events 3

Alabama in History 3

Old Growth Longleaf Pine 4

The Flomaton Natural Area 5

A Flomaton History 7

Inside this issue:

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Long Leaf Pine Stamp

Volume 34, Number 9

September 2007

In the absence of President Ann Biggs-Williams andVice-President Darryl Searcy, Paul Merritt presided.

Paul recognized new member Bob Winther, who hasmade several contributions to the Museum of items whichbelonged to his father.

Guest Linda Menching was welcomed.

Both the minutes for the July meeting, as published in theAugust newsletter, and the financial report given at themeeting by Treasurer Susan Crawford were approved.

In new business, the membership was informed of a rec-ommendation by the Society Board to increase the annualdues and the lifetime membership dues (Details are givenon page one of this newsletter). The recommendations willbe voted on at the September meeting.

Information of interest to members included a referenceto a new Cemetery Access Law referred to in an article inthe August 27 Mobile Press-Register.

Also, there will be a conference in Huntsville on Septem-ber 20-22 of the Alabama Cemetery Preservation Alliance.

Tom McMillan gave an update on the project to useequipment to locate the exact site of Fort Crawford.There are still plans to use equipment supplied by the Uni-versity of Alabama to help in the search.

At the end of the business session, Jerry Simmons intro-duced Dr. Alan Brown of the University of West Alabamawho presented a program on “Outlawry/How Outlaws Be-came Folk Heroes.”

A brochure concerning The Mockingbird Call from theMonroe County Heritage Museum is available at the fol-lowing address:

Monroe County Heritage MuseumP.O. Box 1637Monroeville, AL 36461Dr. Brown focused on three well-known outlaws con-

nected with Alabama: Railroad Bill, Steve Renfroe, andRube Burrows. In addition to Dr. Brown’s presentation,those at the meeting were able to view an exhibit, “TheOutlaws of Alabama” (see picture above) which gave apicture and brief history of six of Alabama’s most famousoutlaws. This exhibit was presented by the Alabama Hu-manities Foundation.

Barbara Dixon and Susan Crawford, hostesses, sup-plied refreshments in the parlor at the conclusion of themeeting.

Our speaker, Debbie Russell, has been working withthe Conecuh National Forest for twenty years. Shesays her title in layman’s terms is that of District Envi-ronmental Planning Coordinator. Her official positiondescription is General Biologist working as a NEP/GISCoordinator for the Conecuh National Forest.

Debbie is from Covington County. She was the old-est of three girls and grew up on the family farm lo-cated north of Red Level in the Buck Creek Commu-

nity. She attended Red Level High School, graduatingin 1981 as valedictorian. She continued her education,receiving a Bachelors’ of Science from Alabama Chris-tian College (now Faulkner University) in 1985, major-ing in Psychology/Biology.

Debbie is a qualified Support Dispatcher for naturaldisasters such as wild fires, hurricanes. In fact, sheworked with the National Forests in Mississippi in2005 in this capacity during Hurricane Katrina

Minutes of the August Meeting

VOLUME 34, NUMBER 9 Page 2

Display of Alabama Outlaws provided by the

Alabama Humanities Foundation

Two Events Featuring WilliamBartram

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October 26-28, 2007

The Bartram Trail Conferencewill be held October 26--28 in Bald-win County, Alabama, just east ofMobile. This is the 2007 biennialmeeting of the Bartram Trail Confer-ence.

For registration information, go towww.bartramtrailconference.org

Bartram traveled through what isnow Alabama during his explorationof the Southern colonies in the mid1770's.

His descriptions of the natural envi-ronment and the Indians he encoun-tered were published in 1791 in Trav-els, a literary masterpiece and an in-valuable resource for subsequent gen-erations of scholars.

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February 2008

If you miss the Bartram Trail Con-ference, the ECHS Board of Direc-tors is excited to announce that JohnC. Hall, educator and museum pro-fessional, will discuss William Bar-

tram at the February 2008 meetingof the Escambia County HistoricalSociety in Brewton.

This lecture is part of the DraughonSeminars in State and Local Historyand is made possible by the KelleyMoseley Endowment in honor of Dr.Ralph B. Draughon, president of Au-burn from 1947 to 1965.

**********

September 29, 2007

Performance of Jack Daniel SilverCornet Band

Step back in time to 1905 andgreet the costumed characters whowill be in Brewton Saturday NightSeptember 29th at 7 p.m. at thePatterson Auditorium at JDCC.

The Original Jack Daniel's Sil-ver Cornet Band will per-form. The Brewton Arts Councilencourages members of the audi-ence to wear historical attire aswell.

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October 13, 2007

Alabama Historical Association’sFall Pilgrimage

The Alabama Historical Associa-tion's Fall Pilgrimage will meet inthe McClelland and Annistonarea on October 13.

Pre-registration received by Oct. 1is $10 without lunch, $15 withlunch. On-site registration is $13without lunch and $18 with lunch.

For questions, contact Bobby Mo-sca (205)985-9488

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October 13, 2007

Alabama Genealogical Society’sFall Seminar

The Alabama Genealogical Soci-ety's Fall Seminar is October 13,2007 from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at theAlabama Department of Archivesand History in Montgom-ery. Speaker Craig R. Scott will dis-cuss "A Potpourri of Military Con-flicts."

This will include dealing with therecords of the Revolutionary War,Indian Wars, War of 1812 and theMexican War.


October 1-4, 1867: For the first time in Alabama history, African Americans vote in a statewide election. About 70,000 blackmen, the majority of voters in the election, called for a constitutional convention and elected an overwhelmingly Republican setof convention delegates, including 18 blacks. That convention produced Alabama's fourth constitution

October 9, 1908: Two-term Alabama governor James “Big Jim” Folsom is born in Coffee County. Folsom, known for farm-to-market road paving and other programs to benefit Alabama’s common folk, served as governor from 1947-1951 and 1955-1959.

October 22, 1821: The steamboat Harriet reaches Montgomery after ten days of travel from Mobile. This was the first success-ful attempt to navigate so far north on the Alabama River and opened river trade between Montgomery and Mobile.

October in Alabama History

The picture shows the characteris-tic flat topped crown and gentle lean of longleaf pine.

This essay is from the Longleaf Alliance website.

“The majority of forests that exist in theSoutheast today offer little to stimulate theimagination and provide a scant connec-tion to the heritage of the landscape.

“However, character is what sets apartold-growth longleaf pine forests from theyoung, neatly planted forests that pre-dominate in today's Southern landscape.

“The crowns of these longleaf patriarchshave long ago stopped growing in heightand flattened out; seeming to suggest thatsomewhere along the line, these treeshave acknowledged that there is not anadvantage to being the tallest tree in an

environment dominated by lightning.

“Also, perhaps recognizing their ownuniqueness, or as a testimony to theirstubbornness, old (large diameter) long-leaf may subtly lean to one side but refuseto concede to the forces of gravity.

“Each tree has a story to tell. Thegnarled longleaf pines on the steep slopesof Choccolocco Mountain, AL stretch outof the rocky ground like long arthriticfingers; bearing witness to the infrequent(yet historic) ice storms of the area.

“Unhealed notches (boxes) cut into thebases of large longleaf in the sandhills ofSouthern Pines, NC remind us of an in-dustry responsible for giving that state thenickname of Tarheel.

“Ancient longleaf outside of Niceview,FL have seen the demise of socially com-plex Native American cultures and thesequestering and transfer of same piece ofland by the Spanish, French, English andfinally Americans.

“Veteran longleaf near WithlacoocheeFL smothering under an unhealthybuildup of forest litter testify to a battlelost between those who understood thevalue of fire for forest vigor and thosewho wanted to see it extinguished.

“Perhaps there is even a tree or two inthe Altamaha Basin that carries metalfrom the frequent skirmishes betweenGeorgia militia and British rangers fight-ing for territorial rights during the Revolu-tionary War.

“A great deal has changed in the south-ern states over the last 500 years and eachof these ancient longleaf forests stand as aliving legacy to those destructive forcesthat devastated all but a handful of virgin

forests.

“A survey done by a Florida researcherin 1996 found that less then 0.01% of theremaining longleaf pine forests would beconsidered old-growth.

“Those stands that remain are importantscientifically because they serve as abenchmark for forest structure conditionsthat likely existed prior to European set-tlement.

“These stands represent a genetic jour-ney that started several thousand yearsago with the marriage of a flicker of flameand a pine seed. Many of these virginlongleaf forests offer a refuge for plantsand animals that are otherwise rare acrossthe Southeast.

“Culturally, these stands serve as a linkto our southern heritage (with countlesscultures having risen and fallen during thetenure of longleaf).

“The emotion of standing in an ancientgrove of longleaf pine can perhaps best bedescribed as spiritual. Wind stirringthrough the tops of the 350 year old trees,the perfume of pine resin, the sounds ofbirds scurrying about through a lush car-pet of grass cause the visitor to draw in abreath of awe and suggest that somethingthis magnificent was surely not created byaccident.

“With so little longleaf remaining, theseancient groves of longleaf pine forest areimportant because they are a snapshot of aforest that was once so vast that it wasthought to be inexhaustible and serve as areminder to what exactly has been lost.

“Perhaps these groves are importantsimply because they are survivors. “

This picture by David Blevins shows wiregrass which is so important for the survival of a longleaf pine forest. The wiregrass allows for the low intensity burn which is beneficial to these trees.


The following story tells ofthe fire which led to thedestruction of the old treesin the Longleaf Pine forestnear Flomaton. Located atVan Hoosen Road andHighway 31 North, thestand of Longleafs, thisstand had been dedicatedto preservation in the firsthalf of the twentieth cen-tury by the Alger-SullivanLumber company, theowner of the land. Nowowned by the InternationalPaper Company and calledthe Flomaton Natural Area (FNA),this stand once had trees estimatedto be around 350 years old. In 1993,a fire from a garbage pile left un-checked got into the area and com-bined with other factors led to thedestruction of the oldest trees.

On a warm Alabama spring eveningin the waning years of the 20th cen-tury, a small, innocuous emberfloated from a smoldering pile of gar-bage and gently settled on a soft ped-estal of pine needles in a nearby for-est stand. Nobody could say for surewhen it happened, but at some pointlater in the afternoon, a wisp ofsmoke began to twist up out of theground where the ember had landed.Minutes, or perhaps hours later, fromwhere the smoke had appeared, asmall flame stood up out of the pineneedles and began a slow dancethrough the woods.

As the temperatures cooled in theevening, the fire slowed and eventu-ally bedded down next to ancientlongleaf pine trees for the night. Itwould not be until the next morning

that fire was discovered. The forest,called the Flomaton Natural Area,was a 50- re impenetrable jungle ofbriars and brush with many old, scat-tered longleaf pines. However, whenthe local volunteer fire department

arrived, they were probably relievedto find that the fire that had slowlyfingered its way into the woods wascontained on all sides by dirt roads.

Likewise, since the flame hadmoved into the humus layer and wasobviously running low on strength.

there was little need to calldispatch and tell them itwas going to be a late eve-ning. The last puffs ofsmoke were expelled laterthat day with little humanintervention. By all countsthat afternoon, an angryconflagration had beenavoided and the patriarchallongleaf pines were saved.

For weeks after the fire,the forest seemed to takeon a new life. In places thefire opened up the other-

wise impassable thicket of briars andbrush, allowing several varieties offlowers to sprout from the ashes. Al-though the last fire that these longleafpines had seen was several decadesprior, they were veterans of countlessfires in the past and stood seeminglyunaffected by the disturbance.

Though it wasn’t immediately evi-dent from the fire at the FlomatonNatural Area, the lifeline of theselongleaf pine trees had been severed.The result of a seemingly unimpres-sive, smoldering fire had been theconsumption of most of the trees’fine roots. Although by all outwardappearances, the long leaf pineslooked verdant and healthy: withmost of their fine roots gone, thepines struggled to survive on dimin-ishing resources and still fend off in-sects and pathogens.

Two years after the fire, the contestfor life was lost to unremitting attacksby small, wood-boring beetles. Long-leaf pines that were alive well beforeAlabama was a state, longleaf pines

(Continued on page 6)

“Although large conflagra-tions are devastating to

longleaf pine forests thathave gone without fire for

multiple decades, low-intensity fires that burn un-

der dry conditions in de-graded longleaf pine forestscan smolder in the organicduff layer and result in up-

wards to 60% of the oldlongleaf pine [being de-

stroyed] “

The Flomaton Natural Area in 1958


that had survived incalculable natural and manmade dis-turbances, were now dead.

When the last of the trees dropped its needles, two yearsafter the spring wildfire, it was determined that no long-

leaf pine greater than I8” di-ameter survived the fire and nolongleaf pine greater than 80years old survived (includingone tree more than 360 yearsold).

For several years, theghostly masts that were oncetrees stood as indicators to aproblem that many other landmanagers across the range oflongleaf pine were about torealize. The problem revealedby the wildfire at the FlomatonNatural Area was that a fire-deprived longleaf forest re-sponds differently to fire than itdid historically, when fire wasa frequent visitor.

In 1889, a Florida residentmade a farsighted prediction:“the total abolition of forestfires in the South would meanthe annihilation of her grand(longleaf) lumbering pineries.”As a consequence of an over-zealously applied policy of to-tal fire suppression, many ofthe mature, remnant longleaf

pine stands seen today are unhealthy, decadent, and atrisk of catastrophic fire.

Although these mature longleaf trees have been able topersist on the landscape, decades of fire suppression hascreated a forest unable to repopulate itself. Today, mostnatural resource professionals recognize the necessity of

fire to restore degraded longleaf pine forests.

However, what is not as well recognized is that the big-gest threat to the restoration of these stands is the inappro-priate reapplication of fire. Regardless of the land owner-ship, there are numerous instances where fire (either pre-scribed or wild) set under the wrong conditions has re-sulted in longleaf pine stands with many dead, maturetrees as witnessed in the Flomaton Natural area.

(Continued from page 5)

Logs from Flomaton were used forrestoration purposes in ColonialWilliamsburg. Here tree #281,

determined to be 287 years old, is cutto be used in the Peyton Randolph

home (Inset).Photo of the Peyton Randolph House


The Flomaton Natu-ral Area today isbeing restored

through the jointefforts of The

School of Forestryat Auburn Univer-sity, The RSDA-

Forest Service, andthe Alabama For-

estry Commission,in agreement withChampion Interna-tional Corporation.These entities havestared a program ofrestoring the long-leaf pine ecosys-tem. The stand isnow said to be re-turned to its stateof being a good

representation ofvirgin stands oflongleaf pine de-scribed by early

authors.

The following article from 1964 is reprinted with per-mission.

PROGRESS IN COMMU-NITY IMPROVEMENTA History of Flomaton,

Alabama

By Mrs. Korrie G. Brown,February 12, 1964

In order to tell of the pro-gress of a community, wemust know something ofthe origin and backgroundof that community.

The Alabama- FloridaRailroad Charter wassigned in 1850 and when completed wentno further than the Tensaw River. A branchline was built to Pensacola and the lastspike connecting the Montgomery and Mo-bile Division with the Pensacola Divisionwas driven by Major Reuter in 1872.

In 1880, the Louisville and NashvilleRailroad came into possession of this rail-road and they bridged the road across theriver into Mobile, thus connecting Mobilewith the northern part of the country.

The first depot in Flomaton was an up-right plank shack. There were two morestations built after that, both burned, beforethe present station was built in 1912.

The first store was built and operated byMrs. Wiser, Mrs. Charlie Brown's grand-mother. She also operated the first hotel.

Major Reuter, the contractor who builtthe railroad line to Pensacola and drove thespike connecting the two divisions, namedthe town "Reuterville." It was later named"Whiting" for an early settler, but manycalled it "Pensacola Junction.11

Dr. James A. Wilkerson who came herefrom Illinois and practiced medicine herefor many years and died of overwork dur-ing the yellow fever epidemic in 1898, de-cided to do something about the name ofthe town as mail was coining addressed toall the names.

He took the first three letters of Florida,

"Flo," and the last two of Alabama, "ma,"and submitted the name "Floma" to thePostal Department. Because of the similar-ity of the name to "Florala" the Postal De-partment rejected the name "Floma," butadded "ton" to the name and so the name ofthe town became "Flomaton.”

Early records speak of deep mud andnarrow streets. In 1917 there were no pavedstreets except in front of the W.J. Bryanhome where Mrs. Hugh Barker now livesand the part of Palafox in front of Teats,Edward's and the Drug Store.

There were only a few stores, the WilliamTownsend store, the Scroggings store, theDrug Store, a barbershop, cafe, and a liverystable. The Post Office was in the back ofthe Drug Store with Mr. Rufus Abernethyas Postmaster.

There was no Houston Street for a longtime, only Railroad, Gary, Ringgold,Church, a path on what is now Wilkinson(which they called Pig-tail Alley), Collegeand Poplar Streets, all leading only a shortdistance from the main street of Palafox.

All dwellings in the town were badlyweather-beaten and showing no evidence ofhaving been painted in years except theW.J. Bryan home, and the Cliff and HarrisVinson homes or Church Street.

There were three churches, the Baptist,the Methodist, and the Catholic, and noschool building as school from the fourth

through the seventhgrades were taught inthe lower floor of theMasonic building whichwas located next to theold Catholic Church.

I taught the first threegrades in a buildingcalled the Greasehouse,down back of DickFore’s home.

In November, 1918, amass meeting of thepeople was held in thebuilding used as aschool and plans werestarted to build a school.

A lot where the Elementary School nowstands was secured and in September, 1919,a two-story building was opened for use.

It was after then that Miss Lucille Mayocame to Flomaton and began teaching theschool year of 1922-1923. She served thecommunity in this capacity for over twentyyears.

The school soon outgrew the building andthey were teaching in the Klu-Klux Hall,located on Rose Hill at College Street andwhat is now Ringold Street, and in theCatholic Church and the Baptist Church.

During the Commencement of 1925, thepeople of Flomaton realized the inadequacyof the old Elementary School building tohouse both the Elementary and HighSchool pupils.

Fired by this need, a small group of pub-lic spirited citizens canvassed the town inan effort to raise sufficient funds withwhich to build a High School building.Several thousand dollars were raised withthe added promises of donated buildingmaterials by carload lots, such as cement,brick and lime.

These plans were placed before theCounty Board of Education. The CountyBoard pledged their aid. A site was securedand plans were submitted to the buildingcommittee from which the plans for the



present High School were erected.

In 1927, through the influence of Mr. C.J.Meriwether, who was ever loyal to thecause of education, having served as chair-man of the local school board for a numberof years and on the County Board of Edu-cation as well, the County Board of Educa-tion took over the financing of the building,securing state aid.

The cornerstone was laid in 1928, andschool opened for the first time in thebuilding in September of that year with Mr.John Martin as principal with five teachersin the High School and five in the Elemen-tary School, the principal supervising bothschools.

In the summer of 1931, the second storyof the Elementary School was torn off andmore classrooms were added to the groundfloor. Since then a well-equipped cafeteriahas been added and more classrooms,

A vocational building was erected andformally opened in January 1938, and aHigh School Gym in 1962.

Of the churches in the town, the Method-ist is the eldest, having been organized in1870 by Reverend Bob Baker in a little logschoolhouse on Palafox Street about whereVictone Cleaners now stands.

This building was used until 1883 when itwas moved to the northwest corner ofChurch and Palafox Street. In 1904, thisbuilding was sold and removed to makeway for a more commodious buildingwhich was destroyed by fire on January 23,1944.

This lot was sold and the lot on the north-east corner of Church and Palafox Streetwas purchased where the present MethodistChurch was built and formally opened inAugust 1947.

The First Baptist Church was organizedin 1878, and for a long time stood wherethe L. L. Harper home now stands.

The church needed repairs and morespace so it was sold and a new church waserected on the southeast corner of College

and Houston in 1947 with ReverendMcCoy Bynum as pastor.

The Catholic Church was organizedsomewhere around 1913 and was on the lotwhere Dick Fore's home stands. That build-ing was sold after being damaged by theflood of 1929 and its membership haddropped to approximately eight.

In 1940, a new Catholic Church was builton Houston Street with Father John Morganas priest.

The Pentecostal Church was organized ina tent in 1929, by Reverend S. D. Page ofNorth Carolina. The present church on

Palafox Street was built and formallyopened in 1953.

The Christian Church was organized andbuilt in 1945 with Reverend Charles Lucasas the first pastor.

Bethel Baptist Church was organized andbuilt in 1949 with Reverend Cloud as itsfirst pastor.

Clubs and civic organizations haveplayed an important part in the growth ofFlomaton. The first federated Club inFlomaton came into being by a series ofprogressive steps.

In the school year of 1917-18, a Parent-Teacher Association had been organized.Members of the group becoming interestedin civic conditions of the town met on Feb-ruary 8, 1928 and formed a Garden Club.

On February 29, 1928, the Garden Clubbecame the Civic Club, enabling its mem-bers to branch into other fields of activity.Under the leadership and guidance of thisclub, new interest and civic pride was cre-

ated resulting in many town improvements.

Landscaping, shrub and flower plantingby home owners and the first town clean-upprogram was begun. Hundreds of cans,bottles, and rubbish were picked up andplaced in one huge pile,

The crepe myrtle was adopted as the townflower and many of these beautiful shrubswere planted, as well as the first abelia,azaleas and camellias.

Wishing to grow mentally the membersplanned a study course and out of this grewthe Flomaton Study Club which was organ-ized on November 9, 1928 and was feder-ated the same year. The Club disbanded inI960.

It was they who named the Elementaryplayground the "Norma White Playground"for a beloved teacher* While in existence,its members worked with every worthwhileproject of the community, helping with theRed Cross, the Blood Program and theMarch of Dimes, the Cancer Drive and thedrives for crippled children.

During the depression of the early 1930'sthey answered numerous calls for clothingand books for underprivileged children.Many of these requests were made by ourschool's beloved teacher, Lucille Mayo. InFebruary 1930, the Flomaton Study Clubvoted to form a Public Library.

This was duly accomplished and Dr.W.L. Abernethy generously donated the useof a building. His sister, Miss Kate Aber-nethy, was the first librarian. Mrs. JamesMcCurdy, Mrs. C*W* Edwards, and I weremembers of the Library Committee.

The library functioned for about sevenyears when it was discontinued and thebooks were given to the High School Li-brary as they were striving to get enoughbooks to accredit the High School.

There were seven hundred books. TheClub continued to function and work in theinterest of the community until it was dis-continued, working with the cemetery, theschool, the hospital and promoting a JuniorClub in 1932.




“Clubs and civic organiza-tions have played an impor-

tant part in the growth ofFlomaton.”

In 1956, they gave their first $100.00scholarship to the most outstanding HighSchool graduate. This continued for threeyears. Miss Ida Mae Tedder was the recipi-ent of the first scholarship.

The Lions Club was organized on De-cember 14, 1934. Besides procuringglasses and working with the underprivi-leged, the Lions Club promotes the BoyScouts, the local Blood Program, the firstCity Park near the bridge, and a swimmingpool — still a dream of the future.

The Lions later sponsored "Lions’ Park"with its recreation facilities.

The Research Club was organized in1948. It has helped in many fund-raisingprojects for worthwhile community pro-jects, purchased playground equipment andhelped to keep it in repair.

They gave a record player to the Ele-mentary School, placed a backstop on theplayground, helped in the erection of achain-link fence around the Elementaryschoolground, helped beautify the Aber-nethy Hospital grounds and made drapesfor the hospital.

Their present project is a Lending Li-brary. This Library was housed in severalbuildings until the present Public Librarywas built in Lion's Park*

The Tri-City Chamber of Commerce wasorganized in 1950, with Carl Jones aspresident. The purpose of a Chamber ofCommerce is to advance the commercial,industrial and civic interest of a commu-nity.

The Tri-City Chamber of Commercepromotes the Christmas parade. It has pro-moted the widening of the bridge over theEscambia River on Highway No. 4, theimprovement of Palafox Highway throughSouth Flomaton and on south, helped se-cure waterworks in South Flomaton, pro-moted the Radio Station as a means of areaadvertising, promoted the Cemetery as acommunity service and promoted theUnited Fund.

They helped secure the new Post Office,helped on expansion of the city limits, andworked for an overpass since its organiza-tion.

In the early years, Flomaton dependedlargely on the Railroad for support with thefew merchants and the outlying farm areaadding to the town income.

Today, the oilfields, pulpwood and lum-ber business, sand and gravel industry,dairy and cattle industry, concrete works ofmany types, and the Goodwill Manufactur-ing Company employ a total of 461 em-ployees in the immediate vicinity.

In the outlying area, there are manythings that add to the income of the com-munity, among these are garages and ser-vice stations, which were unheard of in theearly nineteen hundreds.

In that era, there was one dentist, twodoctors and one hospital at Century. Nowwe have two well-equipped hospitals, TheTurberville Memorial Hospital opened in1905 with eight or ten beds. Later, therewere twenty more beds added.

A thoroughly modern hospital is nowunder construction which will have fortybeds with plans to add another wing. TheAbernethy Hospital opened for service in1956 with nine beds, later eighteen bedswere added, making a total of twenty-sevenbeds.

A new wing is under construction whichwill add twelve more beds bringing thetotal to thirty-nine. This wing will be com-pleted in the early spring of 1970.


Picture of Flomaton in 1919


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ECHOES, The newsletter for the Escambia County Historical Society is published monthly except November. Editor, Ranella Merritt; Assistant, Jerry Simmons

Comments are welcome. You may email the Society at [email protected] or call 251-867-7332, or 251-809-1528.

Mailing address: ECHOES

Escambia County Historical SocietyPO Box 276

Brewton, AL 36427.

ECHOES

Notice that some pages are “Journal” pages. On these pages are longer and often more in-depth stories of interest usually found in the Society's Jour-nal. You may expect at least 2 journal pages in each newsletter.

Due to rising costs and to keep membership rates the same, the member-ship voted to include journal-type pages in the newsletter instead of making a separate publication. We hope you enjoy this new format.

If you have a suggestion for a topic, or will help in research, please let us know!

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A History of Escambia County $55.00 $50.00Headstones and Heritage $40.00 $35.00Escambia Historical Society Cookbook $10.00 $ 5.00 Wildflowers of The Escambia CD $17.50 $15.00A Picture Story of Century DVD $17.50 $15.00Old 100 in Indiana DVD $17.50 $15.00

The Escambia County Historical SocietyP.O. Box 276

Brewton, AL 36427Phone: 251-867-7332

E-mail: [email protected]

THE NEWSL ETTER FORT HE ES CAMB IA COUNTY HISTORIC AL S OCIETY

We’re on the web!

www.escohis.org

Documents

The September Program