Category: Historic Places

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Catherine Baptist Church: Small Town, Steady Faith

Out in Catherine, Alabama—a little railroad community that’s easy to miss and hard to forget—you’ll find Catherine Baptist Church. Local folks say worship has been held here since 1890, and today it still stands as a faithful landmark along County Road 38.

Catherine itself has never been a large place. Just sixty-five people were counted here in the 2020 census, and most of the families have roots that run deep. In a town this small, a church is more than just a building—it’s where Sundays set the tone for the week.

Listed with the Southern Baptist Convention, Catherine Baptist has been the gathering spot for generations. It has hosted homecomings, hymn-sings, and more than a few potlucks that would make your grandma grin and say, “Now that’s eatin’ right.” For many families, this church has been the backdrop for life’s biggest moments.

If its walls could talk, they’d tell stories of baptisms in nearby creeks, weddings that marked new beginnings, and funerals where neighbors leaned on each other in grief. Every service, every gathering, has stitched the people of Catherine a little closer together—like a quilt pieced by hand, each square holding a story.

For those just passing through, Catherine Baptist may look like another quiet country church along the roadside. But for the folks who know it, it represents steady faith in a world that changes too fast. Around here, people like to say, “Good things don’t holler—they just keep on being good.” Catherine Baptist proves it true.

Even today, the congregation remains active, carrying forward traditions more than 130 years strong. This small church continues to link past and present, reminding us that even the tiniest communities leave a lasting mark through faith, fellowship, and perseverance.

If you’ve got a memory at Catherine Baptist—your baptism, your wedding, or maybe a dinner-on-the-grounds—share it in the comments. And if you’re ever near 280 County Road 38, ease off the highway and take a look for yourself. You might just find that the spirit of Catherine is still alive and well.

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Prisoners of War in Washington County, Alabama

Did you know that Washington County once held prisoner of war camps during World War II? It’s one of those little-known pieces of history that ties our small towns to events unfolding on the other side of the world.

Captured Soldiers in the Deep South

Back in the 1940s, more than 275,000 German and Italian soldiers were captured overseas and shipped across the Atlantic to the United States. Alabama hosted several of these camps, including two right here in Washington County — one in Jackson and another just west of today’s marker in Chatom.

Life Inside the Camps

Life in these camps wasn’t what many might expect. They were run according to the rules of the Geneva Convention, which meant the prisoners received fair treatment. Most were put to work in nearby farms and businesses, earning about 80 cents a day — a welcome boost of labor for local folks whose sons and farmhands were away fighting in the war.

But the work wasn’t all. Prisoners also formed soccer leagues, joined camp orchestras, painted murals, and carved woodwork that some Washington County families still have today. Their creativity left a mark on the community that outlasted the war itself.

After the War

When Germany surrendered in 1945, most of the prisoners returned home. Yet the story doesn’t end there. Decades later, some of those men came back to Alabama — not as captives, but as visitors and friends — to reconnect with the people they had met here.

A Lasting Legacy

It’s a reminder that even in the hardest of times, humanity can break through. A little Southern hospitality reached across enemy lines, and in some cases, built relationships that outlasted the war.

As we stand at the historical marker today, we’re reminded that world history touched even the quiet backroads of Washington County. And like folks around here might say: “Well, I’ll be — only in Alabama.”

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Healing Springs: Alabama’s Forgotten Health Resort

Tucked away in Millry, Alabama, Healing Springs was once one of the South’s busiest health resorts. For decades, people came from far and wide to sip from its bubbling mineral waters, hoping for cures that modern medicine couldn’t provide. Today, the springs still flow quietly along County Road 34, carrying stories of legend, faith, and Southern tradition.

A Place of Healing Since 1872

As far back as 1872, locals were calling this area a “health resort.” Seventeen different mineral springs bubbled up here, each believed to hold a cure for something that ailed you. Visitors swore the water worked as well as any doctor — a kind of backwoods pharmacy straight from the ground.

From Hotel to Resort

The first owner, William Wooten, built a small hotel and a few cottages for guests. In 1886, H.J. Pettus purchased 215 acres of the property. He originally came looking to heal himself — and when he did, he expanded the resort for others. By 1924, Dr. W.S. Knight added a second floor to the hotel and even built a swimming pool, turning the site into a thriving destination.

The Golden Years

During the 1920s and ’30s, Healing Springs was at its peak. Families packed the cottages, and bottles of the “healin’ water” were shipped all across the South. People swore by it the way they did grandma’s home remedies or a glass of sweet tea on a hot afternoon. For a time, Healing Springs attracted more visitors than any other health resort in Alabama.

The Legend of the Springs

According to local lore, an Indian chief was the first to discover the springs’ power when a sore on his leg healed after being washed in the water. Each of the seventeen springs carried its own reputation: Mound Spring was said to help skin troubles, Creek Spring aided the kidneys, and Iron Spring was the cure for chills and fevers.

A Quiet Place Today

The resort finally closed in 1957, but the springs never stopped flowing. If you walk down the path past the gate on County Road 34, you’ll still hear the water bubbling just as it did a hundred years ago. Today, Healing Springs is no longer a bustling resort — it’s a peaceful reminder of how deeply people once believed in the healing power of nature.

💬 Have you ever visited Healing Springs? Share your story in the comments below.

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A Forgotten Crossroads: Discovering Suggsville, Alabama

Suggsville historical marker in Clarke County, Alabama.

Recently, we were out rambling and photographing churches for our ongoing project in the Alabama Black Belt when we came upon a historical marker deep in the woods of Clarke County. The marker stood quietly at the side of the old road, weathered but still legible: “SUGGSVILLE,” it read. Naturally, we stopped, curious about this place we’d never heard of before. What we discovered was a fascinating story of a town that once played a big role in the early days of Alabama—and has now almost vanished from view.

Suggsville was laid out in 1819 at the crossing of the Old Line and Old Federal Roads, vital routes during Alabama’s frontier era. It was named after William Suggs, a storekeeper who helped establish the settlement. This tiny town quickly became an important hub—home to Clarke County’s first newspaper, and to early cotton, carriage, shoe, and silk factories. The marker even notes that Dr. Denny conducted aviation experiments here nearly a century before the Wright brothers ever took flight. Imagine that—homemade flying machines in the backwoods of Alabama in the early 1800s!

In its prime, Suggsville had schools for both boys and girls, businesses, and a community life that revolved around education and religion. It was once one of Clarke County’s largest towns, and by the 1880 census it still ranked third in population after Grove Hill and Choctaw Corner (modern-day Thomasville). That momentum didn’t last, though. Like so many small towns in the South, Suggsville faded after the Civil War, bypassed by railroads and changing trade routes.

Today, Suggsville is an unincorporated community with no defined center and only scattered residences. Most people driving through the area would never know it once bustled with activity. But the history lives on—not just on the marker, but in the stories of people who came from here. Red Barnes and Sam Barnes, both of whom made it to Major League Baseball, were born in Suggsville. So was Charles Rudolph d’Olive, a World War I flying ace who notched five aerial victories in combat.

Standing there among the pine needles and tall trees, we could almost hear the echoes of wagons on the old road and voices from the past. That’s what we love about these backroads rambles—sometimes you find a story waiting quietly in the woods, just like Suggsville.

Sources: Clarke County Historical Marker (pictured), Clarke County Historical Society, Wikipedia, U.S. Census records.

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Hidden In Plain Sight

Many things we see every day are hidden in plain sight. They are there. We actually see, them. The problem is we see them but then we don’t see them.

One example I am talking about is the little white house that sits in Perdue Hill, AL. on U.S. Hwy. 84. Thousands of cars pass by it every day. It has a Historical Marker out front. Probably a large percentage of people who pass by notice that there is a little old white house sitting there but, they have no clue what that house is nor who it belonged to.

Recently the Perdue Hill-Claiborne Foundation held an event honoring the 200th anniversary of LaFayette’s Farewell and his visit to Claiborne, AL.

I was honored to be a photographer at the event. I was able to capture drone photos of the procession and some other things in the area while I was there.

During the time there I was able to walk around and tour some of the buildings there that I had always wanted to get to go inside of.

One of those buildings is that little white house.

Of course, since it is only a few miles from my house, and I am somewhat of a history buff, I knew the significance of that little house.

That little house holds prominence in history that in my opinion ranks way up the list. It was the home of none other than William B. Travis. The William Travis who died at the age of 26 years old at the Battle of The Alamo in Texas in 1836.

Thankfully this little house which was originally in Claiborne a few miles down the road was recognized and preserved. Thankfully Ann, and Palmer Bedsole were able to have it moved and restored. It is now part of the list of buildings maintained by the Perdue Hill-Claiborne Foundation which has been working for quite some time maintaining and preserving these beautiful buildings for generations to come.

I often wonder how many other treasures like this have slipped into oblivion because nobody knew what they were. So many have been lost never to be seen again. So many treasures of our historic past gone forever.

So many things we see every day we honestly have no clue what they are, what prominence they might have held, nor who they might tie back to in history.

There is so much of our history that has been obliviated never to be documented. So much of it should have been preserved. So much of the things associated with our history still need to be preserved. 

My challenge is to pay attention to what you really see and learn about it. The rewards are astounding to many.

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Melton Statue

I have been through Pine Apple many times over my lifetime. I have heard numerous times that there was a statue there in the graveyard. I never gave it much thought. It was just one more rabbit trail that I had filed in the back of my mid that I needed to run but never got around to it.

I have so many of those rabbit trails that it would be impossible if I had three more life times left to run them all. I still like to run them though from time to time.

This week my wife and I were out checking out churches in Wilcox County that I had not gotten to for my upcoming book.

I started on a photo book of Wilcox County Churches back in October. I had a lot going on and to be able to work on that many churches requires a lot of travel. Instead of completing Wilcox County, I just settled in and went to work on Monroe County. I had numerous personal things going on, and there was no way I could leave home for two or three days at the time. I could however take numerous trips of a couple of hours at the time. I had to burn the midnight oil to get it done, but I was able to release my Monroe County Book the first week in January. 

Then my Jeep decided it was time to give me fits and I lost almost three weeks trying to get it fixed. I got it fixed and then we had weather issues. I don’t function well when the temperature is in the teens. 

Finally, it looked like it was going to break for a day or so. We left home on Monday morning and headed north. I had worked for hours upon hours scouring maps and other sources online hunting the churches in Wilcox County. 

We made it into Pine Apple and I was taking photos of the Friendship Baptist Church. I looked across the road and saw the large cemetery over there. I saw the marker on the fence identifying it as a Black Belt Heritage Area.

Beings that I am totally committed to the things of the Black Belt, and I thrive on learning history I immediately had to take a photograph of the placard with the phone number of the recording on it for a future reference and I had to see the statue listed on there. I walked across the cemetery to the statue and viewed it. Then I captured some photos of it and read the tombstones around it.

Since I had a lot of miles to run to get all of the church photos that I could for the day, I didn’t give the statue much thought for the rest of the day. 

The next day I started to ponder on that statue. Who was this man? Where did the statue come from? So many questions. So few answers.

At first, I sat down and googled “Statue at Pine Apple Alabama. Immediately there were a couple of things that came up. I stared to read about this statue.  I had seen the name on it was William Joseph Melton. He was born Sept. 29, 1846, and died in July 4,1900. That much I knew but what else was there to know?

It turned out that Mr. Melton was a very influential man in Wilcox County. He was also a very successful planter. All of the sources I saw said that when he died his daughter took a photo of him with her to Italy and commissioned an artist there to carve a statue of him out of marble. 

All of the sources said that the statue was transported by ship and then transported up the river to Claiborne where it was off loaded onto a wagon and hauled the rest of the way to Pine Apple.

Then when the statue was being erected in the cemetery is where things got complicated. Supposedly the members of the church had some issues with it being there because it violated the Ten Commandments because it was a “Graven Image”. Finally, a compromise appears to have been reached. The statue was allowed but it had to be laid down instead of standing up. Then at some later date permission was given for it to be erected. Now I don’t know if it was given or just somebody took it upon themselves to erect it. Regardless of that fact it stands 122 or so years later facing East and proudly overlooking the cemetery. 

The recording states that Mr. Melton was a Civil War Veteran that was captured as a prisoner of war. Supposedly he died suddenly in Montgomery. His body was transported back to Pine Apple where he was buried. 

So here we are all of these years later and I found it. Now that is one off of my bucket list.  I ran a long day looking for churches and found some. I can only imagine what interesting thing I will find the next time I go out. That was definitely an interesting find.

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The Dirigible Came to Vredenburgh

I was born in 1957. Growing up in Monroe County Alabama was indeed incredible. When I was born my parents lived with my grandparents. When I was three years old, my mother went to work at the Vanity Fair Mill in Monroeville. I stayed with my great aunt while my mother worked. I also was blessed to spend a lot of time with my grandparents. Because of that fact I was blessed to hear hundreds if not thousands of stories. What would I give now to be able to go back and rehear those stories again.

My great aunt was born in 1896. My grandfather was born in 1906. My grandmother was born in 1908. My grandfather and great aunt were born and raised up at Sedan which was a community located a short distance above Vredenburgh, in Southern Wilcox County.

My grandmother was born in Clarke County, in the area called Cane Creek, which was in the vicinity of Chance, Syrene, and Lower Peach Tree. I am not sure what went on with her family, but her mother and the children moved to Monroe County in approximately 1916. She always told me it was when she was 8 is where I draw that conclusion. 

Between the three of them there were literally thousands of stories. So many of them I remember bits and pieces of but do not know enough of facts in them to retell them accurately. That is something that I totally regret and wish so desperately that I could.

One story that I remember was of the dirigible.  My grandfather always told a story of the time that the Hindenburg flew over Vredenburgh. Now I honestly do not think it was the Hindenburg because I find no record of the Hindenburg flying in this part of the world. I do indeed believe that there was a airship of that type that did. The reason being that there were so many people that saw it. Therefore, I do not believe he was imagining things.

Looking online I found that the Hindenburg was slightly over 800 feet long. That was huge. I can imagine that the one that they saw was quite possibly something close to that in size. The Hindenburg crashed in May of 1937. By him thinking it was the Hindenburg I assume that this would have been very close in that time frame. In fact, I am thinking that this was just a very short time before it crashed that he saw it. He seemed to think that it had passed over and then crashed like within a day or two. 

This thing whatever it was came over at night. Supposedly there were lights all over it. Or it was well lit.  Apparently, it caused quite as stir in Vredenburgh. From what I can determine it was not running very fast. Also, from the information I can remember it was not flying very high. 

Think about it being 1937 in the town of Vredenburgh. It is night, and this huge thing comes flying over. I don’t know if they had ever even seen an airplane although I would have thought that they would have. Regardless of what they had seen or not seen; this thing definitely caused a stir. Apparently, many were terrified. My grandfather always said that one older woman came running in at the commissary screaming at the top of her lungs. She was screaming over and over, “Lord have mercy, that Frisco has done left the rails.” It had to have been pretty large for her to associate it with a train from the Frisco Railroad. Also for her to associate it with the Frisco Railroad it would have come from the West heading East, since the L&N RR. serviced Vredenburgh from the east side.

Now almost a century later, I have not found anybody else that tells that story. I have not heard it recapped in decades. I just know that from all appearances it really happened.  Like so many other stories that have been told it is one that definitely deserves to be written down and passed on to the future generations.

For those that lived it, this was an experience that they remembered till the day they died. 

The night that the dirigible came to Vredenburgh was definitely a historic event.

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New Liberty In The Red Hills

I say it every time I go on another adventure or write another blog, but I want to say it again. I love doing what I am doing. There is always another interesting time, place, person, or thing, right around the corner. More times than not they are hidden in plain sight as well.

For years I have seen pictures of the Pilgrim Rest Church in the Red Hills. As all of those that follow me know I was fortunate enough to finally run somebody down that knew something about that one. When I was getting information on it another old church came up. It also sits in the Red Hills of northern Monroe County. This one unlike the old Pilgrim Rest is not as well-known nor as often photographed. One reason is it is not on the main drag road. The other is that it is on private land with no trespassing signs out a distance away from it.

New Liberty in the Red Hills

I knew of its existence before talking to my friend about the Old Pilgrim Rest. However, I did not know anything about it. Because I was working on so many different things I kind of put it on a back burner in my mind so to speak. It was one of those places that I would think about from time to time but did not work on finding anything on.

I recently started working on a picture book of the churches of Monroe County. As I was working on that project, I realized I needed to share that one in the book. With that in mind I started searching. 

As I started asking questions to my sources that know the people in that area I hit on a name. Then I got a phone number for a guy. Because I had so much going on I held on to the number for a couple of weeks before I called. When I called, I got a guy named Ronnie Nettles. He was a nice guy that I immediately knew I needed to visit and get more info from.

We agreed on a time to meet up at the old church and so on a beautiful Sunday Afternoon, we left home heading that way. 

New Liberty A.M.E Church sits in the Red Hills on Olivia Road. Olivia Road is off John Shannon Road. It is a short distance south of where John Shannon Road and River Ridge Road cross each other. John Shannon Road runs from Old Scotland Road all the way to County Road 56 between Vredenburgh and Buena Vista. Olivia dead ends in private property at the old church.

My wife and I drove to the old church and parked. In just a short time a pickup rode up with two guys in it. They introduced themselves and we shook hands. One of them was Ronnie the guy I had been talking with on the phone. He sent the other one back down the road to where they had been sitting to get his older brother. He drove up shortly. His name was Clevester.

Broken cornerstone

We walked around the old church and talked. It was interesting to learn. First off, I learned that the building was the second building. The first building had been sitting on the south side of the present building. It was built in the mid to late 1800’s but neither Ronnie nor Clevester knew the years. 

Secondly, I learned that not only was the first building a church, but it had also been a school. It was amazing how many people used to be out in those hills where nobody is now. Now there is nothing out there but woods and miles of red dirt roads. This church was only a mile or so as the crow flies from the Old Pilgrim Rest Church. There was two if not more churches in that community. 

I learned that these guys’ great grandfather Jeremiah Fountain had been the founder of the church. 

As we continued to talk, we walked over to where the old cornerstone for the present building was. Unfortunately, it had been damaged in an accident. From it we were able to see that this building had been built in 1970. 

As we continued to talk, I learned that they closed the doors on this one and moved to Tunnel Springs and founded another church. That one also is named New Liberty. The one in Tunnel Springs was built in 1995 and the one in the Red Hills was closed at that time. The reason for closing this one and moving to Tunnel Springs was the fact that it was in such a remote location and that the roads were in such bad shape for people to try to travel. 

New Liberty A.M.E Church at Tunnel Springs

I had learned from the information I got on Pilgrim Rest Church that the two churches had often fellowshipped with one another until their closings. Pilgrim Rest had closed before New Liberty. These guys also told me that same thing. 

One other interesting thing I learned was that while in the present location that there was always a weeklong revival the third week in September. This weeklong revival normally drew significant crowds and was looked forward to all year long.

Clevester, who was older than Ronnie also had an interesting contribution. He talked about the old original building. He said that it had two front doors and two rows of pews. He also said that it was heated with a wood heater and that it used kerosene lamps for lighting.

We briefly walked out into the cemetery and they both pointed out graves of their grandparents and other relatives who had now passed on but were significant to this old church. There were several graves that had slabs but nothing on them signifying who was buried there. I understood that there were others that were unmarked.

Click to enlarge.
Click to enlarge.
Click to enlarge.

One interesting fact to me was that there was a grave, that the marker appeared to be that of a civil war soldier buried there. His name was Fletcher Fountain. That one I will have to try to research further.

Click to enlarge.

As we continued to talk, I learned that the New Liberty church in Tunnel Springs closed for the pandemic. During that time, it suffered some water damage. Now it is being worked on to re-open soon. 

As I we prepared to leave and said our farewells I was swept up in thoughts. We headed out across the Red Hills heading back across to Franklin. As we crossed the miles of rough red dirt roads my mind considered many things. I thought about how many people once lived in what is now nothing more than woods for miles in all directions. I thought about what it must have been like living out there back then. I would imagine that even then although it was a populated area, it would have still been sort of isolated. By that fact I bet that there was a strong sense of community. Then as always, I pictured in my mind travel across the rough hills and hollows. I wondered how many years it was before automobiles came into that part of the world. I could picture a way of life that in many ways was hard. I also pictured a way of life that was fulfilling in many ways. It was no wonder that these two guys I had the privilege to meet today were the great guys they appeared to be. I understood the pride they must have in the fact that their family carries a rich heritage in the Red Hills of Monroe County Alabama. It was definitely a pleasure to meet them, and I look forward to seeing them again one day soon.

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Snow Hill Institute Visit

As long as I can remember traveling up Al 21 going north, I have seen a sign that says Snow Hill Institute. I have learned over the years that this was indeed a very famous school.

Until I started doing my focus totally on the Black Belt, I did not know that much about it other than it was an old school for Black Children.

I was born in 1957 and remember the goings on of the Civil rights Movement of the early 1960’s although I was a small child. I know that in the early 1970’s the laws concerning segregation caused many schools that had been for black children to close and students both black and white were bused to other schools to satisfy that all were desegregated. Because of that fact many small country, and even some larger town or city, schools closed and bigger ones were built or added on to.

I saw Snow Hill Institute on a Historical list of Black Belt things and immediately it hit me. I know “about” where this is. I have never actually driven through and seen where it stands nor what it looks like.  Like always I had to do some research.

Naturally one of the first places I went to learn was the internet. As with more times than not the first thing I found on it was at encyclopediaofalabama .org. Here is what they have to say about it. (1) “The Snow Hill Normal and Industrial Institute was an African American school founded in the Snow Hill community of Wilcox County in 1893 by Tuskegee Institute graduate William J. Edwards. It operated as a private academy until in 1924 and the boasted 27 buildings, 35 employees, and some 400 students at its height. The building then served as an Alabama public school until 1973, when court-ordered desegregation forced its closure. Of the original campus, eight buildings survive. The site, which includes the burial plot of William Edwards, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1995.”

Like so many of the historical sites we have there is multitudes of information online with a simple search of their name. Snow Hill Institute is no exception.

Because of that fact I rarely add much more because of the ease of research through search engines it is easier to just make that reference instead of trying to compile it and then make sure everybody is cited as they should be for their hard work.

As I stated earlier, I had known about Snow Hill somewhat. I did not however know exactly where it stood other than the sign on Hwy 21 pointing in to it.

My wife and I were out rambling on this particular day, and I saw the sign. My wife had asked me about it earlier on another trip recently and I had told her what I knew, and we did not take time to go in to find it. Today we had time and here we went.

I turned from Hwy 21 and headed up towards the school. I was not sure what I was even Hunting. We came to the brick sign at what we learned was the entrance. Then we headed up the narrow-paved road into the school. That is when I saw it.

My first glance was shock. I was actually disturbed. I saw what had been these beautiful brick buildings that were now going away fast. It was obvious that there had been roof damage at some time in the past probably from a storm of some kind. There were remnants of blue tarps on the roof.

The roofs were falling in in places. It was a sad time for me. I do not know what I was actually hoping to see but in my expectations something as important to history of Alabama as this I felt would be, and rightfully should be preserved. Instead, they were falling in and fast going away. 

We drove up the road and I stopped several different times and took photos documenting best I could and then we would move a little further in and I would do the same. We moved on up to the top of the hill and then turned around and came back out. For me it was a solemn time. Any time I see things of great historical significance in trouble it does something to me. I want to see them all preserved. 

As always when I left my mind went to racing. I could imagine what it was like for all of those young people at that time in history. I could imagine what the classes were like. I could imagine that there were things like vegetable gardens there. I could imagine what great people came from this place and the accomplishments they were able to achieve because of the education they received here.

Hopefully in the not-too-distant future something can be done to this great historical place and it can be preserved. Like so many others of great significance it is slowly decaying and going away so that a future generation will not be able to see what it was like and know the great things that were accomplished here.

( 1 ) https://encyclopediaofalabama.org/media/snow-hill-normal-and-industrial-institute/

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Black Lutheran Schools

I am forever enthused at what lies around the next corner. Always no matter where you turn in our beloved Southern Black Belt Region there is something to find that you did not know. Another story, another interesting person, place, or thing. 

I have been tied up for the last week working on projects concerning other business and had to refrain from rambling. Here it is another week coming up and last night my wife said, “it is supposed to rain mid-week.” If we are going to ramble, we need to do it tomorrow. Ha ha, she didn’t have to twist my arm. She is normally the one that is the responsible party in this relationship and tends to what needs to be done. I am normally the one that wants to be out rambling.

Last night I started scouring the maps. I had intentions of covering the area West of AL Hwy 21 and South of AL 10 as much as possible in the time we had. If you know the area, you know it is a sparsely populated area. Many miles of dirt roads with long distances where there are no houses of any kind.

Looking at Google Maps I found several potential things that I wanted to investigate in that area. As I continued looking, I found a church that jumped out at me. It was called Rosebud Lutheran Church and Rosa Young grave on the map. I later learned the proper name was Christ Ev. Lutheran Church and School.

Of course, I had no clue who Rosa Young was, but I had a strong awareness of the Lutheran Churches and Schools that had existed many years ago. I could remember the one at Tinela in Northern Monroe County. I actually remember as a very small child that they had school and church there in what would have been the very early 1960’s.

I also remembered that there was one North of Vredenburgh in Southern Wilcox County on the dirt roads that I always thought was one. I did not remember it being open, but I do remember going up through there and a guy I knew lived there on the property. There was also one out from Buena Vista. Although, I did not know where they were I had always heard that there were others. The ones I knew of closed to the best of my understanding and remembrance when they built a new one on the South side of Vredenburgh.  That one was larger and from my guess consolidated several of them into one. This would have been in the early 1960’s. I remember they had a school bus that I think was blue that served the school. I was very young when this happened, but I definitely remember much concerning it.

Because of my curiosity over the years, when I saw that one on the map it immediately jumped out at me. I knew that if there was a way, I would find it on this trip. We wound our way up through the hills from Beatrice checking out some other places that I had found on the map that were interesting. Because I am trying to be as thorough as possible locating things in an area, I was doing my best to get to as much as possible that looked like a possibility.

We ran miles of dirt roads some of them were pretty rough. With a rain coming in some of them would be definitely four wheel drive all the way in a Jeep. This time they were just slick and boggy. Next time will be a different story if it rains. We went through from old Nadawah across the hills and came out on AL 265 and then we turned back across the hills again from Fatama towards Neenah. Then finally in towards Rosebud. Watching my map closely we were able to find it with no trouble. Rounding the curve in the road there it stood. 

There was a green building trimmed in white. A lump came into my throat. I remembered those colors or in my mind they were the same anyway. The building looked to me almost exactly like the one I remembered from my early childhood at Tinela. As with every historical thing like that I see that for whatever reason my mind went elsewhere. It went to the old building on AL 41 out from Tinela. I remembered it when it was being used. Then I remembered it going down. Decade by decade slipping into oblivion being reclaimed by nature. In my mind they were exactly the same.

Mt Olive Church School (click link to read)

Then I started to focus on the rest of the grounds. Directly in front of the church was a grave surrounded by a metal fence. I then realized that this was the grave of a woman named Rosa Young. There was a small paragraph long introduction to her on her grave. 

Now if you know me, you know I had to find out more about this woman Rosa Young. They always say that Google is your friend. So, I went home and entered her name.

The first page that came up was the Encyclopedia of Alabama with her information.

https://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/rosa-young/ From that information printed there I learned that she was known as the “Mother of Black Lutheranism in central Alabama. She was a strong advocate of education of rural children.” Rosa Young was born in 1890 and died in 1971. According to the above link, “she was instrumental in founding and promoting the development of Lutheran schools and congregations in the Alabama Black Belt.”

The story on the Encyclopedia of Alabama website is a great story and I will not try to elaborate more because the link to the information is there. One thing in the article in that publication however I strongly disagree with is that it states, “Young and a man named Nils J Baake visited these sites and founded schools that became centers of Lutheran congregations in Buena Vista, Tilden, Tinela, and Midway (all in Wilcox County) in 1916 and Ingomar (in Dallas County) in 1919.” I personally know for a fact that the one at Tinela, and Buena Vista were actually in Northern Monroe County. Tilden appears to have been in Dallas County, Midway also appears to have been in Monroe but at the writing of this post I have not located its where-a-bouts although I intend to if possible.

The Mission at Vredenburgh was a short distance North of the Monroe/Wilcox County line almost directly above the Apple Grove Church. Nothing stands visible there today however according to land ownership maps the Lutheran organization still owns the 5 acres there.

As I stop and think about this information that I have accumulated I can only imagine that it was a monumental feat for this woman raised in rural Alabama in those times to accomplish the feats that she did to bring education to this part of the Rural South. There are volumes more written about her online and in books so I won’t try to quote any more. 

Rosa Young is one more great American that should be remembered for centuries to come as a person in our great land that made a difference. In my opinion she is indeed a hero of our beloved Black Belt.

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Why The Black Belt?

Several people have asked me the question, “Why the Black Belt”?

Here is the best explanation I can give. Ever since I got back into photography a few years ago I have been sort of searching for a niche. I love drones, history, the outdoors, and writing stories. 

I have retired from both my lawn service business and as the pastor of a small church. My wife and I love to get out and ramble. Our health is good. Normally when I am out and about she is with me. 

I have been for quite a while shooting drone photos and videos of forest fire lookout towers. I bought my first digital SLR camera a couple of years ago. I had of course always since I was a kid loved photography. In the 1980’s and 90’s before digital I shot a lot of 35mm photos. I had owned numerous cheap digital cameras and taken a lot of photos with them also.

I felt the need/desire or whatever you would term it to travel and document the various things of our beloved southland. Even back with 35mm I did that often as well as some wildlife photography. First off, I started doing drone videos and putting them on YouTube. As that progressed, I started shooting photos of other things. I especially liked documenting pre-1900 churches.

I had already traveled over several counties in Alabama and some in Mississippi taking photos of the small towns. Midsummer of 2023, I started to try to visit all 67 counties in Alabama. I actually wrote a blog post on doing that in August. Rambling The Black Belt.

I decided to work the area East of I-65 from the bottom of the state to the top. Then, I would work the area from the bottom to the top on the West side of I-65. I went out four times. I would leave home, hit as many small map-dot towns as I could in a day. Then I would spend the night in my van and go again the next day.

I did this four different times. Three of those times I ran almost 600 miles each and put in a lot of hours. The fourth I ran over 700 miles. I would take so many photos doing this, that it would take me two weeks several hours a day, after I got home, to just go through, sort and locate where all the photos were taken. After that even more time to process and share to social media and on the website.

I was thoroughly enjoying doing what I was doing and planned to continue till I got all 67 counties. When I got up as far north as Hwy. US-80 which had me working the Eastern Black Belt I started to realize that I was trying to cover too much territory at the time. I was taking hundreds of photos, but I was trying to cover too much too thinly. Doing it this way just did not give me enough time to find out anything about what I was photographing. I was just getting photos but not getting the story behind the photos.

That is when I realized that I needed to focus deeper on one area and stick with it. Because there is so much of what I love in the Black Belt, that was where I needed to be. So here I am.

My goal now is to focus for as long as it takes on primarily the Western, Alabama, Black Belt. Western, meaning the areas primarily West of I-65. I do plan at some point to go back into the Eastern part again and do it the same way. My plan is to capture photos of as many of the pre-1900 churches as I can locate as well as any other things of historical interest. Along the way I will document whatever else that I run across that is interesting, unusual, or basically that catches my attention. I will focus at times on wildlife and primarily birds. The Black Belt is very rich in birds, and I feel that is something else I would like to keep documenting.

As I document the churches, I post them on my website under the tab Black Belt Churches. That page has an index of the counties. Under the tabs of the counties are the links to the individual pages of the churches themselves listed in alphabetical order for that county. That will be an ongoing work where I populate the various county pages as I visit them. Over time it will be into the hundreds of historical churches.

I have been and will continue to write blog posts on whatever and whenever as I travel. They can be viewed as I post them on my web site jacksonsramblings.com. I would like to go back to making some videos but I will not say when that will happen because doing what I am trying to accomplish now is a full time job, believe it or not.

From the information gathered and shared on my website it would be nice to have some books as well as calendars and other material printed.

I have always loved wildlife and at some point, I would like to have my wildlife photos somewhere as well, possibly another page on the website or on another website.

This is a project that to do it justice will take several years quite possibly. A lot of it will take multiple trips into the same area over the coming months and even years.

It would be incredible if I could pick up some sponsors who would love to see this accomplished. I could really use some updates on some of my camera equipment. There is also a considerable cost involved in traveling, maintaining and at some point, replacing my Jeep.  There are also expenses to maintain my small motorhome, as well as fuel and campground fees, meals when traveling, and so forth. There are always computer related expenses as well. My current MacBook is three years old so hopefully I won’t have to replace it for a good while yet.

Between my Facebook groups and pages, I now have in the thousands that follow and I appreciate the friendships that I have already made and look forward to a whole lot more as time goes on. I can only imagine what the coming months and years can and will bring. There are so many that I want to meet face to face and learn their stories and the stories of their family’s contributions to our great Black Belt Reigon.

If you have read this far, I welcome you and hope you will see fit to follow along on this project as I travel our beloved Historical Alabama Black Belt.

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Pine Flat Methodist Church

We woke up this morning as normal. It was a cool early Fall Day with the wind blowing. After we had breakfast and a couple of cups of coffee my wife asked me if I had anything I wanted to do today?

Now if you follow me then you know that it does not take much to get me to head out rambling. We finished our coffee and got showers and packed some stuff for a picnic style lunch and got in the Jeep and headed out.

The quest today was for the very Southeast side of Wilcox County. I had determined that I need to try to make another trip into that area and try to find a few more possibilities for photos and stories. I am trying to do as exhaustive coverage as possible of the Black Belt Region and it requires at times numerous trips into an area.

We covered several things and wound up on Hwy 10 headed East towards Greenville. When we crossed the Butler County Line, I said I will turn around at the next good place I find to get out of the road.

As we rode along, we came to a cemetery on the left (north side of Hwy 10). I slowed and turned in. I decided to look at the headstones for a minute and possibly take a few shots of the cemetery. 

That is when I saw it. Sitting in the back, kind of in a corner was this beautiful old white church building. You guessed it. My phobia kicked in. The one that must take a photo of an old church. I just had to check that out.

I walked through the cemetery and captured a few shots of the various graves. One particularly interesting one was one I saw that was covered in seashells. I saw at least one that was above the ground. There were others with beautiful headstones.

I finally got to the back of the cemetery and maneuvered around and captured a few frames of that beautiful old church. 

I would be afraid to guess how many times I have traveled across AL 10 in my lifetime. It is not that often, but it has been a considerable number. I am sure I have seen it before but for some reason I did not remember paying any attention to this church.

I saw the sign outside that said the name was Pine Flat Methodist and it was established in 1858. 

I went on back to the Jeep and we went on our way. I pondered on this one for a while and then my mind went to other things and places as we headed on home.

When we finally got home, and I had opportunity I started to research Pine Flat Church. I found that it is indeed a Historical Black Belt Church.

The first source I found on it was the Greenville Advocate online newspaper (1). The article in the September 27, 2023, titled Pine Flat Church Celebrates 165 years jumped out at me. From that article I found that on October 1, 2023 Pine Flat held the yearly home coming event and this year was the 165thyear. This memorial event is held the first Sunday in October and has been since 1968.

The second source I found on this old church was from a site called (2) Wikimapia. It said, “In the spring of 1858, the present Pine Flat Methodist Church building was erected by the men of the community with the help of their slaves. Virgin pine trees were felled, and the timber sawed with a jigsaw at Bowen’s Mill. The boards were then hand planed.”

“The church lot was deeded by James and Martha Reynolds who lived near the site where the first house was built in Butler County; this home was erected by James K. Benson, government surveyor in 1815”. 

This article goes on to say,  “The church had a slave gallery extending across the front end. This gallery could be entered by stairs leading from the front porch. At morning services, the slaves sat in the gallery and in the afternoon special services were held for the slaves who sat downstairs while the white people attending sat in the gallery. When the church was repaired in 1870 the slave gallery was removed. The pews, communion rail, table, half octagon-shaped pulpit, and doors all are constructed of heart pine and are put together with square nails or wooden pegs. At first the center pews were divided with a solid partition to separate the men from the women. The one odd small bench, in the style of a colonial deacons’ bench, was one of three that were placed near the altar, and were used by those who came requesting the prayers of the congregation.”

This is truly in my opinion a historical Black Belt Church that appears to be in great condition and will hopefully be standing just as well kept for centuries to come. I salute those that are taking care of it and hope the generations that follow will do the same.

Sources:

(1) https://www.greenvilleadvocate.com/2023/09/27/pine-flat-church-celebrates-165-years/

(2) http://wikimapia.org/37239368/Pine-Flat-Methodist-Church

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Ramah Church (Lowndes County)

Recently on my social media page I was asking for input on locating interesting places. Many times, I have done this in the past and had success in finding interesting places and other times it has been a dead end. 

On this particular time, I got several things mentioned and I made notes to figure it all out for some times of rambling in the future.

 One particular comment with a link immediately caught my attention. It was a blog post Michaelclemmer.blogspot. It was titled Ramah-The Church that Hope Built. Here is a link to this site. https://michaelclemmer.blogspot.com/2014/05/ramah-church-that-hope-built.html?fbclid=IwAR3SiRr2H0CY9J8wTsRK5J1quN-eH35Q9fuEWNhfNumQ3k9RY7d8NKyKlHc

Now like most times I read this and was immediately enthused on this great old church. Beings I was focusing on the areas of Lowndes and Dallas Counties I knew I had to find it while I was in the area.

I won’t in this post try to retell this writer’s story, but it is a noteworthy read.

Note that this Old Church was built in 1868 and was not affiliated with any denomination and was remodeled in 1904. From my observation it appears to be pretty much the same since this renovation.

Sitting at the bottom of the hill looking up at this beautiful old church gives one a sense of awe. As I recounted the story told from the linked blog post I could only imagine what it was like back when it was first built.

Reading that it was built by former slaves who were very poor it made it even more significant. Just to look up the hill at it and focus on the prominence of it. The commanding position on the top of the hill gave it distinction. 

As I do on almost everyone, I see I stop and think. I try to picture as typical Sunday morning. As I was thinking about it I could picture probably numerous people dressed as best they had to dress. Men, women, boys, and girls. Probably in a community as described there would be no flashy carriages. Probably only mules and wagons and people walking to get there in time for service. I could still visualize gatherings outside with food and laughter. This was a place I felt of peace. It was a place to gather, grow, and be uplifted and strengthened by the community around you.

This is one more place that has stood over 150 years and is still well preserved. Hopefully it will stand that much longer still as a symbol of Hope on this High Hill.

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CME Church At Lowndesboro, Alabama

I say it most of the time when I write about something that I have found. “I love rambling in Alabama.” You never know what is around the next turn. There is always something new to learn. There is always something different to see. Just when you are kind of starting to wonder, “well I wonder what’s next.” Bang here comes something else. It never disappoints. There is always something out there if you keep on looking.

This week I was looking in the area of Lowndes and Dallas Counties. We were staying at the Prairie Creek Campground. We left home around mid-day and drove the camper up and set up for the night. Then we set out for whatever.

I call it whatever because I am looking for whatever. I don’t know what it is but when I see it, I will know. Historical, different, original, yep I want to see it and take photos of it and learn what there is to know about it.

Riding into Lowndesboro, Alabama Tuesday afternoon did not disappoint. The first thing I noticed was the big old pre-1900 churches. I don’t know what it might be called to be the way I am about them, but I don’t seem to be able to pass one of those old churches without stopping and taking photos of it. Lowndesboro is a treasure in that sense.

One such church that I found was the CME Church. Now all of them are neat and I will probably talk about them later but this one is different for sure. At first I saw the church and did not realize exactly what I was looking at. At any rate a friend of mine had told me about this church. I got some photographs of it and the others in town and then went over to the Library at Hayneville. In the Alabama Room at the public library is a treasure trove of Alabama History stuff. 

On one of the shelves, I found a book titled Lowndesboro’s Picturesque Legacies. In that book was the story of this church and how it came to be.

From the story I read in this book a wealthy planter by the name of Major William Robinson was instrumental in the building what was first named the Methodist-Protestant Church. This was a church that was typical of the time. It had a gable roof on it with a portico that ran across the entire front of the church. This portico was supported by four tall wooden columns.

This book and other sources I read online dated the construction of this beautiful church at 1833. Although I did not get to go inside to see for myself. The writing says that there are winding narrow steps inside on each side that lead to the balcony that is across the rear of the church. 

The thing that makes this one more unique than any other in the entire world is the small octagon shaped steeple with the copperplated dome on top. This dome was once on top of the State Capital at Cahaba. I could not believe it. That to me was one of the most amazing things I had ever seen. I have seen a lot of 1800’s churches but never even knew before this week that this one existed.

This is one of the oldest churches in the Black Belt Region of Alabama. The book said that The Methodist-Protestant Church acquired the dome from the capital after the flood of 1933 caused it to collapse. 

Major Robinson wanted to retain this part of the Cahaba Capital. He acquired the dome and according to the book Major Robinson had to use six yokes of oxen to move it and because of the road conditions it took him a month to move the dome from Cahaba to Lowndesboro.

The book goes on to say that when he got there with it there was a dispute among the members and all except two families left the church. They established a new church at the present site of the United Methodist Church.

At the death of Major Robinson in the 1880’s the building and property were deeded to a group of former slaves and their children. It was at that time renamed CME Church.

Services continued in the church until 1966. The building was abandoned in 1983. In 1990 it was leased by a local task force for fifty years so that it could be preserved.

Today it stands a beautiful building that I was so fortunate to get the opportunity to photograph and find out the history on. It is truly a beauty to behold.

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Adams Grove Presbyterian Church

We all have things on our bucket list. For some folks the list is actually a real list and for others it is just something that they keep in the back of their minds. I am kind of that way. I don’t actually have a list made out that I follow but, I do have a lot of things that I want to see and do.

One of those things was to take a photograph of the Adams Grove Presbyterian Church at Sardis, Alabama.

I honestly don’t know the first time I saw a photo of it, but it was years ago. For some reason I have wanted to capture a photo of it ever since. Now you might ask why? I honestly do not know why it has stayed on my mind so long.

I have passed through Sardis several times over the years but for some reason I was in too big of hurry. Other times I would totally for some reason forget about it till it was too late to try to figure out where it was located.

On a recent trip to the Dallas/Lowndes County area taking photos and doing research I was in Selma. I had come across Hwy 80 from Prairie Creek Campground where my wife and I had our camper parked. I thought about it and this time it would not leave my mind, so I told my wife that this time I was going to find it before I went back to Prairie Creek for the night.

We drove down to Sardis, and I typed it in the map, and it popped up. I proceeded to follow the directions to get to it. I drove up and pulled to the side of the rode and as silly as it might sound to some I just stood there in the edge of the road in awe. Now if you are not addicted to taking photos of historical buildings that might sound crazy to you. However, for me it makes my mind go to racing.

Like I have done so many times before when seeing something like Adams Grove my mind went into overdrive. As I stood there, I started to picture in my mind what it looked like when it was new. I looked at what I could see from the road. As I stood there, I started to focus on what I could see of the interior. Obviously from the road I could only see a small amount, but it was enough.

I could picture it as it appeared in the 1860’s. I had read that it was constructed mainly in 1853 and somewhere in the back of my mind I thought that I had read it was finished in early 1854. (Researching later I did not find a date of 1854 so I guess that was just a dream.) 

I captured a few frames of it and proceeded back to the Jeep where my wife and Taffy our little dog were waiting patiently for me.

Riding on I was focusing on driving and the church. Pondering on what I had read up on it and what I saw. I had read that there were four different entrances. One for the women, which I assumed from past stories on others of the same time frame was the left front. One for the men which I assumed from the same sources was the right one. Then there were two side entrances for slaves to enter and they sat in the balcony. I have never heard any sources say whether the man and women slaves entered different doors.

All of the sources I have seen said that it was of an Antebellum Greek Revival Styled Architecture.  

As I said earlier, something about it just captivates my mind when I think about it. The time and expense involved in building it. I can see the men, women, and children in my imagination going and coming. I can see the horses and carriages bringing people. Probably some lived close enough as in most cases with many churches of that era to walk to church without a horse or carriage.

Then as I always seem to move forward in time in my mind I can for whatever reason imagine that there were cars. First Model T’s and then newer and more modern cars. 

From the best understanding I can find the last services were held there in 1974 and it was added to the Historic Registry in 1986. It is now privately owned.

This is just one more treasure that is slowly slipping into time and decay. In my opinion it would take an immense amount to restore it but it would be incredible to see it restored to its former glory once again.

This is truly one of many Black Belt treasures that I have been fortunate enough to get to see and hopefully one of many more left for me to find and photograph.