A Quick Visit to Bug Tussle

This post is yet another entry in the series I'm doing on various places my brother Richard and I visited in July on our annual trip to explore Alabama and family history. I've written about Bessemer and Jasper visits here and here. On Saturday morning after we left Jasper we headed toward our next stop, Colony, a town founded by African Americans just after the Civil War. I'll do a future post on Colony, but now it's Bug Tussle's turn. 

Bug Tussle is in Cullman County at the intersection of state highways 69 and 91. We didn't find much there. The sign below announcing the Bugtussle Steak House was inviting, but the place was closed, as in permanently. We did stop at the Bug Tussle Marketplace, which has a couple of reviews and photographs on Yelp. Google Earth also shows a Dollar General and a few dwellings near the intersection. 

State highway maps list the location as Wilburn (Bug Tussle). Virginia Foscue's Place Names in Alabama indicates Wilburn was the original name of the area, given to it by Charles Sandlin, the first postmaster. A post office operated there from 1903 to 1906. Foscue cites the "general assumption" that Bug Tussle indicates the presence of bugs in the area. However, that pretty much describes all of Alabama.

Note that the address given on the sales receipt below for the marketplace is "Bremen, AL", which is an unincorporated town further north on highway 69 toward Dodge City. Bremen is the location of Cold Springs Elementary and High Schools. According to Foscue, Bremen was originally called Empire when founded in 1860. After his appointment in 1879 the first postmaster James Macentepe changed it to avoid confusion with another town of that name and to honor the German city.  

A 1990 Tuscaloosa News article discussing strange town names in Alabama can be found here. That article gives the origin of Bug Tussle this way: an old man climbed a nearby mountain [perhaps Cold Springs Mountain] and thought the movement of people below looked like bugs tussling. 

Alabama's town is not the only U.S. Bug Tussle. The one in Texas is also spelled as two words, the ones in Kentucky and Oklahoma are one word. On January 4, 1967, a season 5 episode of the Beverly Hillbillies entitled "Mayor of Bug Tussle" was first broadcast. The Clampett's home state was never specified in that series, but in this episode Bug Tussle is identified as their home town.

Where is Arkadelphia & What Does It Mean?

Last year brother Richard and I made one of our trips exploring Alabama and family history that took us through Bessemer, Jasper, Bug Tussle, Colony, and Hartselle. We also went through Arkadelphia, which is about halfway between Bug Tussle and Colony on Alabama Highway 91. I failed to take any photos there, but recently returned and did so. This post is the result. 

Virginia Foscue's Place Names in Alabama notes that a post office was established in Arkadelphia in 1854. She also discusses the origin of the name. "One proposed explanation is that the name was that of the wife of John A. Donaldson, the first postmaster. However, it may be a combination of Ark, the name of an early nearby settlement and PO in Winston Co., and -adelphia, a pseudo-Greek combination meaning 'brother-place,' probably taken from Philadelphia."

There is a much larger Arkadelphia, the seat of Clark County, in Arkansas. According to the U.S. Geological Survey's Geographic Names Information System, only two towns in the U.S. have that name. Also according to the GNIS, the Alabama town once had an elementary school, and Cullman County also has an Arkadelphia Mine and Arkadelphia Mountain. 

Because of shifting boundaries, Arkadelphia has been located in three Alabama counties: Walker beginning in 1820, Blount in 1850 and finally Cullman in 1901. The community was a stagecoach stop on the Huntsville to Tuscaloosa road and once included a tavern and blacksmith shop. The post office closed in December 1968. 

Arkadelphia's first school was built before 1900, and several different buildings housed the facility over the years. In 1962 the school was consolidated with one in Hanceville. In 1921-22 the town had a four-teacher school with 117 students in grades 1-7 and 20 in grades 8-12. By 1959 that elementary school had 59 students and three teachers. 

Arkadelphia is not listed in the 2000 or 2010 U.S. Census cities and towns in Alabama. The Wikipedia article linked above gives an 1880 U.S. Census population of 195. In 1950 the Cullman County voting precinct 7, Arkadelphia, had 944 people, according to the Alabama Almanac and Book of Facts 1955-1956. 

Unless otherwise noted, much of this information came from Margaret Jean Jones' 1972 book, Combing Cullman County. On page 106 she has a photograph of a house built by Jeff Calloway in Arkadelphia in 1820. She also describes a 12-room house built in 1884 by Dr. Charles Drennen that included a clinic and hospital. Those facilities closed soon after 1900 and the house eventually became an apartment building. At the time Jones wrote, the house was still standing in Arkadelphia. 

Various comments are below the photos. All photos are mine unless otherwise noted. 

Many times I've passed this exit on I-20/59 in Birmingham and wondered where or what is Arkadelphia?

Source: AA Roads

There is another United Methodist Church on Arkadelphia Road near Birmingham Southern College. This church also serves the community of Bremen. Both churches are in the North Alabama Conference of the United Methodist Church.

A Methodist church was first organized in the community in 1867.

Here's a view of Highway 91 toward the Arkadelphia cemetery. 

I think Swann's operated until fairly recently; the store below is a reminder of much older days in the community. 

In her book Jones notes, "The local trade area now has only two general stores..." Even that has changed since she wrote it in 1972.

The community center applied to the state as a non-profit entity in September 1991. 

For some strange reason, although I stopped right in front of it, I did not photograph the church itself!

The cemetery is large, well maintained and still active. According to an inventory available here, graves date to the early 1800's.

This 1902 "Official Map of Cullman County, Alabama" shows Arkadelphia in the extreme southern portion of the county. The community remains on official state highway maps, such as these recent ones below.

A Quick Visit to Hartselle

Each year my brother Richard and I take a trip together primarily to explore Alabama and family history. Our trip this past July ended in Hartselle, and this post examines a few things we found there. Comments on other stops: Bessemer & Jasper, Posey's Hardware in Jasper, Bug Tussle, and Colony. 

Hartselle had about 14,000 people in the 2010 U.S. Census. The town has a nice historic downtown area which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1999. Notable natives include author William Bradford Huie, politician John Sparkman and various sports stars. 

Incorporated in 1875, the town has some interesting history. The downtown area has rebounded from two major fires in 1901 and 1916. A Rosenwald school for black residents, built in the early 20th century, closed in 1969 and had to be demolished in 2000. Hartselle High School celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2009. 

In March 1926, more than a dozen men stormed the bank, held hostages for four hours and then made off with $15,000 worth of cash, gold and silver. They used six sticks of dynamite to blow the bank's safe. The robbers were never identified; today the building is the home of a boutique. 

In the late 1980's Hartselle was home to the "Tomb of Mystery Museum" operated by magician John Reed. The collection consisted of his personal magic materials and historical acquisitions over the years. I wonder whatever happened to those items. 

We had a specific goal in mind for this Hartselle visit, but we also managed to see a few other things. All will be revealed in the comments below. 

Back in June I posted an item about James Copeland, a Confederate veteran who once vowed never to cut his beard if the South lost. He kept his word, and his beard was said to be nearly seven feet long when he died. According to my research, he is buried in the cemetery adjacent to this Methodist church outside Hartselle.  

Richard and I spent a half hour roaming around the cemetery in the July heat hoping to find Mr. Copeland's grave. We didn't, but there are many unmarked graves here. As the marker below notes, the cemetery has graves going back to 1804, so it's worth visiting as historic itself. 

Like Birmingham, Hartselle has its iconic Iron Man. We found him on our way to the Methodist church. He's on Iron Man Road. At the Iron Man Grocery. In the Iron Man community, with an Iron Man Barber, too. The fellow has been around for a century or so and has survived various attacks of vandalism.

Iron Man was originally an advertisement for VegaCal. Bessemer pharmacist W.D. Taylor developed the liver tonic, and the iron man advertised his product. "VegaCal Gets the Bile" according to the slogan on his chest. Apparently several of these iron advertisements were made in Birmingham and scattered in the area. I wonder if any others have survived.

UPDATE 5 August 2021

A brief history of the Iron Man was published 30 July 2021 by the Hartselle Enquirer. 

See also Kennedy, James H. Iron Man pride of community named for him. Birmingham News 11 March 1991

There is a Civil War site of significance in the area.

Richard and I had lunch at Cahoot's Cafe in downtown Hartselle, where I had a great Reuben sandwich. As you can see from the photo below, the place is packed with all sorts of neat historical stuff. 

A few years ago the Hartselle Public Library was named after one of the city's most famous natives, William Bradford Huie. The journalist and novelist was a  very controversial figure during his lifetime, but returned to live in Hartselle in the mid-1950's. He is buried in the city cemetery. 

This building seems to have been a bank at one time; that book drop area sure looks like a former drive through for one.  

FURTHER READING

Black group unable to save landmark building [Morgan County Training School]. Associated Press 2000 September 25

Keith, Susan. Welcome to John Reed's World of Magic. Kudzu Magazine/Birmingham Post-Herald 1988 October 28, pp 4-6

Kennedy, James H. Iron Man pride of community named for him. Birmingham News 1991 March 11

Mcdaniel, DeAngelo. From the ashes: Downtown Hartselle survived 2 major fires. Decatur Daily 

McDaniel, DeAngelo. Memorabilia captures century of Hartselle High. Decatur Daily 2009 September 18

Shocking, unsolved 1926 bank robbery still provokes interest. Birmingham New 2000 March 28, p 2B