The James Store in Canoe ran a weekly ad in many local papers in the early 1900s.
Escambia County Alabama was created following the War Between the States. The time immediately after the war was a dark time for many in that much of the infrastructure of the area had been destroyed or was primitive. Literacy rates were not exceptionally high during this era and historical documentation of local events was scattered and sporadic at best.
Yet as our area slowly emerged from the war years, the stream of economic prosperity began to slowly flow south. As the population of our area began to grow with farms, businesses and industry taking hold, the need for news grew as well. Therefore, by the late 1880s newspapers were beginning to flourish in the area.
Old newspapers, many of which exist on microfilm, in local libraries, on the internet or in the vault of local county courthouses, contain the best documentation of our history in that there is limited historical resources from those early years.
One of the earliest newspapers in our section was the Monroe Journal, which was published at one time at Claiborne, Alabama. There were several other newspapers published at Claiborne as well. William Travis, who went on to glory at the Alamo, was also a newspaper publisher, attorney and teacher in the river front town.
The Evergreen Courant and the Evergreen Star were also earlier papers in our area. All three of the above papers carried ads and news from the Escambia and North West Florida area as well.
Newspapers from the era 1880-1950s served a different purpose than most are familiar with today. Whereas local and national news was very important to the reader, the readers also wanted to know how their neighbors and friends were getting along in the towns in the area. Brewton newspapers like the Pine Belt News ran news from local communities like Canoe, Uriah, Atmore and a little place called Local, Alabama (which is now called Huxford). The blurbs mentioned about individuals in these news tickers can sometimes give clues to what our ancestors were up to on any given week.
Ads for businesses very seldom carried the address of the business because most of the stores were known to the locals and the towns were so small the businesses weren't hard to find. An example is an ad for the J.T. Nowling Store in Jay, Florida which ran in the Pensacola News Journal in April 1913 which reads, "Will be glad to communicate with anyone regarding Jay or Santa Rosa County."
Old newspapers from the area also settle old historical questions and create new ones. For years it was this writer's understanding the Canoe bank was constructed in the late 1920s. However, a review of the old Atmore and Brewton newspapers show it had applied for a bank charter with the state in 1913 and was open at least as late as 1916-18.
Other old papers from the area refer to a colony at Canoe known as the Canoe Highlands Colony. Mr. S.L. Baker, Mr. German and Mr. Whitley were prime movers in this colony. The papers refer to settlers moving down from places to the north with their furniture, fixtures, etc, and setting up the colony. By the late 1910s the colony falls into obscurity with no further mention of the place. Mr. Baker is referenced as having moved to North Dakota. The exact location of the colony remains unknown.
Several papers of historic relevance in our area are: The Pine Belt News (1894-1917) The Atmore Spectrum (1903-1912), The Atmore Record (1912-192?) , The Escambia Record (192?-1928), Escambia and Baldwin Times, The Brewton Leader, The Laborer's Banner, The Flomaton Enterprise, Flomaton News, Escambia County News, The Flomaton Journal, The Tri-City Ledger, The News Journal, Atmore News, Atmore Advance and the Brewton Standard. It's amazing how many papers came and went in the history of the area.
In the Escambia and Santa Rosa County Florida area the papers from the era were, The Pensacola News Journal, The Pensacola News, Pensacola Gazette, Pensacola Commercial, and the Pensacola Gazette.
For more on the topic visit the Jay Historical Society on Thursday June 14, 2018 at 6pm for a power point presentation on the old newspapers of our area with old photos and ads included.
Coming soon: Shadows and Dust III-view the trailer on Canoe Civic Club's Facebook Page.
