Along the banks of Sizemore Creek

A whisper echoing through a gentle breeze, willow trees that witnessed life and death and an old white oak that stands in silent repose while holding in her wisdom acquired over a century of being rooted near the banks. These are some of the sights and sounds of Sizemore Creek which reverberate as if in another dimension as creek goers and traffic pass on the bridge above unaware of her past. Yet just off the roadway this ancient creek seeks to pass on its secrets on to a new generation.

Sizemore Creek is most likely named for the forgotten community which was founded along its banks when the area was part of the American frontier shortly after the Creek Indian War somewhere between 1813-1816. According to Annie Waters' History of Escambia County, the Sizemore family lived along the creek when the area was part of Baldwin County.

It has been said Sizemore had a school house built of cedar logs and a puncheon floor. These were split logs bored to hold wooden pegs for legs which served as benches. A teacher, Mr. Sherril, taught students of the Thigpen, Palmore, Sanders, Blankenship, Walton, Bette, Boggan and Steen families.

Jim Travis, a brother of Claiborne attorney William B. Travis who went on to fame commanding the ill-fated garrison at the Alamo, operated a mill along Sizemore Creek. The area from Pine Barren Creek to Sizemore Creek and along Big Escambia Creek was also part of a lawsuit by heirs of Spanish settlers in 1913 seeking to recover these lands as part of a treaty settlement with the US government. The suit apparently failed.

Much of the history from the banks of Sizemore Creek can be found in the fading yellow newspapers of our area which give a hint at her past. The May 14, 1903 edition of Brewton's Standard Gauge noted, "All our people are busily engaged in some avocation; farming, sawing logs, and driving buck and ball. You can hear the crack of the ox-driver's whip, the merry gee and haw of the farm boy at the plow-handles, the scream of the engine on the Sullivan & Alger RR. Miss Leila Bailey is teaching school at Little Rock."

This article also noted industrial construction along the creek, "Boggan and Buzbee intend to put up a fine grist mill and gin this summer, to be run by the water of Sizemore."

It has been said that prior to the current bridge site along Sizemore Creek, stagecoach drivers and locals forded the creek at a point along what is now Philyaw Road. As late as 1987, the ruins of a turpentine camp or other industrial apparatus could be viewed to the east; just downstream from this crossing.

A bridge was built in the 1800s but regular repair was needed. An early bridge project along the creek was begun by A.J. Hall when he requested the sum of $150 to pay laborers working on the bridge in the early 1900s when he was a county commissioner.

The banks of the creek have always been used for recreation and at least as early as April 8, 1909, papers such as The Atmore Spectrum noted, "A small crowd from here attended the picnic at Sizemore bridge last Saturday. They report having a very nice time."

The waters of the creek also yielded trout in large numbers in the old days according to The Atmore Advance from August 24, 1944, "Many residents of Atmore are to be found fishing on the banks of Sizemore Creek, ten miles northeast of Atmore. This steam is particularly popular because of the trout found there."

Charlie Owens shot and killed an otter four feet and nine inches long along Sizemore Creek in the early 1900s and sold the hide to Mr. T.E. Stone of Atmore for five dollars. Rattlesnakes of great lengths were also killed along Sizemore, both then and now.

The quite flow of idyllic calm along the creek, much cherished by picnic patrons, fishermen and swimmers, was broken from time to time by the rapid flow of tragedy. "There was a bad wreck or rather a rear end collision on the Alger-Sullivan log road Sunday evening, near Sizemore injuring three men: Joe White, Mr. Stacy and Mr. Brown. The latter is not expected to recover as his skull was fractured. There was considerable damage to railroad property," The Standard Gauge-Brewton, February 2, 1905.

Drownings along the creek have taken the life of several through the years. In early November 1947, Mr. A.H. McElhaney drowned at Sizemore Bridge in the late 1940s when the vehicle he was driving left the bridge and crashed into the water below. His passenger, Ervin Wallace crawled out an open window but McElhaney, who was knocked unconscious in the wreck, drowned.

Prof. W.B. Boggan lived and died near Sizemore. Boggan was a Confederate veteran and upon his death, The Atmore Spectrum noted, "He was a well-known man, and as he had taught school in various parts of the county, and is declared to have been a splendid gentleman and a Mason. He was the author of a treatise of arithmetic which was adopted by a number of schools." During his time teaching at the Canoe School there were two schools in operation. Boggan taught one of the schools and Miss McKittric, originally from Evergreen, taught the other school. There was much enthusiasm aroused in the community by a well-advertised spelling match between the "Yankees" of Miss McKittric's school and the "Grays" from Professor Boggan's school, the "Grays" won.

In 1949 authorization for a new bridge over Sizemore Creek was approved at a cost of $18,000. A replacement to this bridge was constructed in the late 1990s-early 2000s.

Today, the rush of time and vehicles roll unabated along the bridge over Sizemore Creek. Yet mired in the sandy creek bottom and along the overgrown banks, memories and history seek a friend of any who care enough to uncover her stories.

Shadows and Dust Volume III: Legacies is available for purchase in the amount of $30.00+$5.00 shipping and handling to PO Box 579 Atmore, AL 36502 or visit Lulu Publishing.com; Amazon.com, Barnes and Nobles.com OR at the Monroe County Heritage Museum in Monroeville, Alabama or by calling 251 294 0293.

The Canoe Civic Club is proud to announce the date of the upcoming Canoe Homecoming in beautiful downtown Canoe from 8:30am-2:30pm on Saturday November 23, 2019. Call 251 294 0293 for free vendor spots.