Business correspondence from Malta, Ala.
Situated 3 miles east of the historical center of Atmore, along the old L&N Railroad (CSX) lies an area known as Malta. Little more than a highway sign along Highway 31 marks the rough location of the area although Malta is officially located at 31.025 latitude and 87.455 longitude.
It has been said Malta's range is from the road known as Florida Highway to about where Parker and Sons Construction yard is presently located. In the old days Graham Oil was on this site. Several generation of young people would know the old Graham Oil building as Blanton's Roller Rink. The building has long since been demolished.
At one time several businesses thrived along 31 in the Malta area. Evers Print Shop was on the south side of 31 near the big drainage ditch close to Graham Oil. Further up the highway towards Canoe was the Torch Lounge and Restaurant. The Torch set in the vacant spot between Highway 31 and the Atmore Municipal Airport. Prior to being the Torch, it went by another name and was said by some to have been a rowdy place at times. Later it became an animal hospital and later, a gas station.
Between the Torch Lounge and Graham Oil was Builder's Hardware, which was a first rate hardware store in its day. The Atmore Saddle Club was also located in Malta and so is the present day location of Unity Baptist Church.
The origins of Malta are obscured by the yellowing pages of history but at one time numerous potato sheds and fruit farms dotted the horizon in the long flat fields of the tiny area.
Malta Fruit Farms was one such example. At one time, Mr. Huxford and Mr. Benenson were the proprietors of the farm which grew 250 acres of strawberries, peaches and potatoes. The farm's letterhead proudly advertised "The Klondyke" strawberry as "the berry for the millions."
At some time prior to 1919, Mr. Huxford left the operations of the farm and Mr. Benenson took over as sole proprietor. According to Bill and Joe McMurphy, the Benenson's were heavily invested in fruit production during this era in that they also owned a peach orchard which was located in the area where Tom Byrne Park sits in Atmore. The orchards spread well into the large fields to the east as well.
Another large landowner in the Malta area was Mr. Dink Goldsmith. It has been said by some that Mr. Goldsmith came to the area from out West during the Dust Bowl days of the Great Depression
Another interesting resident of Malta had a purported cure for cancer. The trains along the L&N would stop near the man's house and the passengers would disembark at will to purchase the elixir from his front porch. It has been said his house was the old farm house which once stood just to the east of Charles Godwin's law office on 31.
Today Malta is remembered as a geographic oddity by only a few. Yet at one time fortunes rose and fell in the fertile fields in Malta, Alabama.
The book Shadows and Dust III: Legacies is now available for purchase. The hidden history of our area is documented through ten years of All Things Southern articles. Learn about the Canoe Highlands Colony, the ghost town of Falco, Alabama as well the forgotten history of the last great act in the drama that was the War Between the States as Union troops marched through the area. Shadows and Dust III is available online at Lulu publishing.com or by sending $35 (this includes shipping-the book cost without shipping is $30) to Kevin McKinley at PO Box 579 Atmore, AL 36054. Also available: Shadows and Dust I and II and Canoe: History of A Southern Town Shadows and Dust I and II and the Canoe book are available for $20 each
