Noccalula Falls Back in the Day [1000th post]

Well, here we are at my 1000th posting on this blog since March 2014. Scary. 

I thought I would devote this one to a bit of family history. 

In July 2016 I wrote a series of five blog posts about a cedar chest full of personal items belonging to my Dad's older sister Beulah Vee Wright. Part One gives a lengthy introduction. She died in December 1939 at the age of eighteen, so the items date from the 1920's and 1930's. Beulah Vee and my Dad and their parents lived in Gadsden, Alabama. In 2021 I wrote a follow-up post describing our donation of much of the material in the cedar chest to the Alabama Department of Archives and History. You can see a short video about the Beulah Vee portrait among those donated items at the Archives page on YouTube. The actual cedar chest and a small group of other items remain in the family.

We also have numerous photographs taken by her parents, Rosa Mae and Amos J. Wright, Sr. Some of these include a trip to Noccalula Falls in October 1938 and feature Beulah Vee and her boyfriend Porter,  and Rosa Mae. I've also included some photos I took on a visit in 1968. 

The city of Gadsden bought land including the falls in 1946 and has been developing the park ever since. The now expanded area includes campgrounds, a wedding chapel, butterfly and botanical gardens, a covered bridge, pioneer village, minigolf and other amenities. 

My brother Richard and I have some memories of several visits to the falls in the 1960s. Every year in August the Griffith families and other relatives on Rosa Mae's side met for a large reunion, and we often came from Huntsville for the event. Lots of good food was eaten and while the adults talked the kids could play on the rocks, walk the trails to see the old cabins and ride the little train. I seem to remember Dad taking us down the steep trail and under the falls at least once. Of course, the statue of Princess Noccalula reminded us of her legendary leap. 

More comments are below some of the photos. 

Beulah V., October 16, 1938

Beulah V., October 16, 1938. Those shadows must be Amos, Rosa Mae and Porter. 

Porter Hill [her last boyfriend] and Beulah V., October 16, 1938

I've obtained a copy of Beulah Vee's death certificate, which shows her passing at 9:30 a.m. on December 10, 1939. She was attended by Dr. J.W. Ford, who was the family physician. Cause of death is listed as bilateral pulmonary tuberculosis, which I guess explains why her funeral was held the next day. 

From September 7-27, 1939, Beulah Vee kept a diary in a small notebook while she was a patient at Holy Name of Jesus Hospital in Gadsden. A page is included above dated September 14. She notes that "No flowers came" but "Porter came." The notebook records such events as well as how she felt on particular days. In the back the names of her attending nurses are recorded. 

Some years later my mother's obstetrician in Gadsden, Dr. Ford's son, told her his father decided after her death that Beulah Vee may have died of leukemia. People can live for years with tuberculosis, but Beulah Vee's sickness began in March 1939 and she deteriorated rapidly until her death. There was also no treatment for leukemia at that time. 

Rosa Mae Wright [1900-1997]
You can see more photos of her and my grandfather Amos J. Wright, Jr., here and here. 

This photo and the ones below were all processed in June 1968; presumably the family trip to the Falls was in or around that month. I took the photos with a camera I bought on Friday, July 29, 1966, according to notes I made at the time. 

I'm not sure what this mound of stones was or if it's still at the park. Perhaps someone can tell us in the comments. 

I have been unable to determine who is buried beside this cabin. 

Here are a couple of postcards from my collection. 

Source and other photos of the Falls are here. A good account of the legend and its literature can be found on the BhamWiki site.