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By the late 1800s, the L&N Railroad had become one of the major economic engines in the area. Not only did industry thrive on the ability of railroads to convey goods, but the railroads also provided rapid movement of travelers as well as news along its steel rails which cut through the rapidly disappearing virgin pine forests of the area. Salesmen, coming from Pensacola, often took the rails to Flomaton and other locations where they would depart and go door to door plying their trade which sometimes would be elaborate goods and other times...
Over the last few weeks I have participated in the Escambia County HCE Cultural Arts Show, the Blackcat Reunion, Sawmill Day, and the Baptist Missionary Association of America (in Rogers, Arkansas). In a few hours I will be off to the District 1 HCE camp in DeFuniak Springs. Hopefully, after that, I get to stay home for a while with no rushing around to make preparations for upcoming events. This brings me to thoughts of what Ma and Pa (known to non family as Mary and Herbert Blackwell) would think of all this rushing around. During my childhoo...
I walked into the house from the front porch. The rickety old screen door slams behind me. Out of the mist of time I'm at the kitchen table with my whole family. It's in the early part of May 1954. Mama has the newest little Smith in her lap as she spoons beans into blue speckled aluminum plates for the toddlers. They sit on the old wooden bench with three more of us. Nine Smith children along with Mama and Daddy makes for crowding. Six sit in ladderbacks all scrounched together. I hear spoons and forks clatter, coffee cups dinging against...
In the old days, meaning that time before the early 1960s, when many of the tiny communities in our area seemed to prosper and their residents had more of a home view than a world view, there existed small places like Malta and Dugout which had a big influence on farming on industry. The exact origin of the name 'Dugout' is clouded with the fog of history but some say it comes from a train wreck that "dug out" a hill or from a dirt pit which operated there at the time of the construction of Highway 31 in the 1920s. At one time, an agricultural...
A unique feature of the American landscape is the county courthouse. Take a trip along the old major highways and you will often find at the center of a county seat stands a large, old, sometimes overly elaborate courthouse. At first glance, you may think that these ancient buildings have always marked the center of county government, but this is often not the case. All of our local counties have moved county seats. Milton is the second known center of government in Santa Rosa County. In Escambia County, Alabama, Pollard once held the title,...
I'm writing this story in honor of my brother Jarvis. He was known all his short forty nine years as "Humpy". Humpy got that moniker from a fall from the farm wagon when he was just a little tike. Daddy and Mama were clearing some land where they thought one day would be where they planned to settle and build our family a house. Baby Jarvis was in the wagon and somehow tumbled out to hit the ground. The family lore had Daddy and Mama saying he was like Humpty Dumpty in the fable nursery rhyme, Humpty Dumpty. Humpty got shortened to "Humpy". In...
Mother’s day is this Sunday, May 12th. We would like to extend Best Wishes and a Happy Mother’s Day to all the “Special Women” in your life that have shown you some “Motherly Love” through the years. It could be your Aunt, Auntie, co-worker, daughter, friend, Grandma, Granny, Mama, Mi Mi, Me Maw, Mommy, Mother, Nana, sister, and sister-in-law. It’s a time we recognize the importance of being a female and the beauty and responsibility that it entails. However, May is also a time for women to think about their health and what we can all do to...
The advent of Highway 31 brought about rapid transportation between the hamlets and towns of the area. Motorists could now travel routes in a few hours that previously would have taken a half day, full day or multiple days to traverse. On April 5, 1934, The Atmore Advance reported the opening of the Highway 31 portion between Sardis Church Road and Canoe. All along 31, truck stops, motels and other tourist attractions began to spring to life. In Canoe, the Lighthouse was an early example of...
This past weekend we had the Blackcat Reunion at Lake Stone. I got to see several old friends that I haven't seen in many years, and some that I see almost daily. This is a great opportunity to see some friends you went to school with that you may not have seen in several years. I've been to a few of the reunions now and it seems that almost that each year I get to see different friends that for some reason wasn't able to make it the previous year or years. If you like good food that is another reason to come to the reunion, there is always...
Escambia County Alabama Jr. High Schools, Wallace, Huxford, McCullough, McCall, Damascus, Henley Roberts and North Brewton met each May to play in tournaments for a trophy. Boys played baseball, girls played softball. This is my memory of a softball tournament played on the gray dirt and crabgrass field at Huxford. 1956 was the defining year. Wallace had never won a tournament trophy to my knowledge. If the Gods smiled on us, this would be the year of, The trophy. By the grace of God and assigned by our Principal Mr. B. G. Tew, Mrs. Lena C....
Crowds showed up in Jay , Fla. Friday and Saturday night to watch and participate in the 18th annual Jay Pro Rodeo. The two night event began at 8 p.m. nightly and stretched far into the evening hours. Vendors were set up to serve everything from hotdogs and hamburgers to leather crafted purses and belts. The mechanical bull made its annual appearance to cause the laughs of young and old alike as daring guys and gals tried their hand at staying upright on the bucking bull. As the cowboys and...
May is Asthma Awareness Month, and it’s time to bring awareness of a chronic incurable, inflammatory disorder of the airways. Did you know that Asthma is one of our nation’s most common and costly diseases? There is no known cause and over 20 million people have it. The severity of asthma, as well as the frequency of asthma episodes (“attacks”), can be influenced by exposures to allergens and/ irritants (“triggers”) in the environment, both indoors and outdoors. It is important to know that Asthma attack triggers are often hidden. The most co...
Students at Flomaton Elementary School had Field Day on Fri., April 26 at the FHS football field. The PTA was on hand to serve snacks and drinks as the children enjoyed the fun-filled day in the sun....
The late 1800s-mid 1900s saw the appearance of many small communities in our area as settlers moved in to get cheap land. Many of these settlements had at least one store, a post office, a school, usually more than one church and several families. Steadham, Alabama was no different. Steadham exists now only in the yellowing pages of dusty old newspapers and few, if any, still remember the community. Little is known of the history of the settlement but it appears to have been situated south of...
Sawmill Day 2019 will be Saturday, May 4th. I hope you'll join us. We still have a few spots for vendors or exhibitors. Call Jerry Fischer (850-256-3980) if you are interested. Besides our vendors and exhibitors, all of our museums will be open and staffed. Look around, ask questions and see what you can learn about our area history. Agnes Grant and Jeanne Nolen have some contests which will run all day with cash prizes announced in the afternoon. Bob Page will be in the Boxcar Museum to answer...
My first grade teacher at Wallace School, Miz. Marbel Currie taught me everything I needed to know. Anything else I learned was by accident....... First, she taught me to listen, ask permission to speak by raising my hand (very trying). With my family so large and all having something to say, I hadn't developed the skill of listening or waiting to speak. We all talked at once (Grissett side) and somehow learned to winnow important information. Mama & Daddy were tired and just let us run with it. Most talking was around the kitchen table as we...
Several former Flomaton residents came back home Saturday to spearhead a fun-filled day at Oaks Common Park to show their gratitude over the park's improvement and its current and future impact on young lives. Flomaton Councilwoman Lillian Dean said Jessica Carter, owner of Jessica No. 1 Catering in Pensacola, Raymond Spears, Jevon Pleasant and James and Edward Wesley grew up in Flomaton, attended school in Flomaton and now live in Pensacola. "They wanted to come back and give thanks to the comm...
A man stopped by the office the office the other day to get some “bugs” identified. He discovered the pests crawling out of his recliner. The County Agent quickly identified the bugs as “Bed Bugs” Yikes! He was the third person to bring this type of “bug” to the office in less than a month. That’s very interesting to say the least. The first thing people think about when they hear the word bed bug is “Ewww!” According to Dr. Jody Green, an Extension Educator, the truth is, bed bugs do not discriminate and can affect all individuals, fami...
I believe it is not all bad when beginning something new and different to use the performances of others as a means of measurement. Others in similar situations establish the ground rules. They provide a yardstick. But once we know the rules, we should turn our attention to what we are doing, not what others are doing or have done, don’t you think? When the focus is on the performances of others, we lose sight of what we are capable of doing. I have discovered that champions don’t waste time and energy concerning themselves with how others are...
I was digging around in a box of stuff the other day and came across my old high school class ring. My mind flashed to the people, cars, and places that I knew in those days and I thought it funny how something of little physical value can hold so much worth in memories. This is the thing that our society is built on also, simple items that hold worthwhile memories. In case you have not been to the museums lately, let me offer a short description. But, first l will state this. This year the society celebrates thirty-one years of sharing...
My earliest memory of Easter had to be around the time I was about two/three years old. I have a vivid memory of watching my older siblings look for eggs around the grass clumps, little trees and washes in the red clay of a dirt pit near Cowpen Creek outside Canoe Alabama. Our family lived on third avenue in Atmore so this was a trip out of town for us, the distance of about ten miles. I know this was the place because Mama and Daddy told me they brought us here to swim and play in the water at Cowpen Creek. They said, as a baby, I loved to...
Preschoolers at Flomaton's First Baptist Day Care got to explore right in their back yard, Thursday, April, 11, on a field trip to Turtle Point Science Center which is also located within Flomaton's town limits. Turtle Point's director, Jackie Word, opened the minds of the kids to new wonders in science when she explained the life cycle of butterflies, guided the kids on a nature walk through the center and introduced some local wildlife with a hands-on experience. The preschoolers began their...
“Here comes Peter Cottontail Hoppin' down the bunny trail Hippity hoppin', Easter's on its way”. That little “song” is running through my mind now, as I remember that most “children” young and old, are looking forward to the traditional Easter Egg Hunt. You remember how that goes don’t you? You dye all those eggs, and then hide them outside in the grass, bushes, behind trees and who knows where else. After the hunt is over you then eat the eggs you found, right? NO! WRONG! No Way! NADA! Zilch! Please Don’t Eat those eggs!!! Eggs like most other...
Escambia County (Ala.) Schools gathered at Escambia COunty High School in atmore last Wednesday, April 3, to participate in Super Fun Day. Students from T.R. Miller High, Brewton Middle and elementary, wsn elementary, middle and high, pollard-mccall elementary, flomaton elementary and high, huxford elementary, escambia county middle and high and rachel patterson elementary schools were cheered on by their peers as they participated in games, relay races, bowling, and ball throw, competing for...
Along Highway 31, in the quite farming community at Wawbeek, sets a lonely red dirt road leading to Bowman Cemetery. History has long moved on from the days when the location marked a vibrant saw mill community, having left only a stone orchard of headstones to mark its passing. The people who lay beneath these stones each have a story; a story of the life of their time and inter-mixed with their earthly remains are the aspirations, ambitions, successes and failures from the days they walked...
