Capitol Park and Old Tavern in Tuscaloosa (2)

This post is the second one of a pair devoted to photographs I took on a trip in January 2023 to Tuscaloosa with son Amos. Here's the intro from part one:

In October 2014 I posted an item on this blog about a trip my wife Dianne, daughter Becca and I made to Capitol Park in Tuscaloosa, the site of Alabama's state government from 1826 until 1846. Naturally I included many photographs taken on that bright sunny day in late August. 

In January 2023 my son Amos and I made a trip to T-town primarily to visit the Paul W. Bryant Museum. I'll be writing about that experience in a future post. In this two-part post I wanted to share some of the Capitol Park photographs; the overcast skies made it seem like a different place.

Alabama has had a series of capitals beginning with St. Stephens in 1817 during the territorial period. Since then Huntsville, Cahaba, Tuscaloosa, and Montgomery have been state capitals. 

The Encyclopedia of Alabama gives a succinct history of the Tuscaloosa structure:

"The ruins of one of Alabama's former state houses can be explored in Capitol Park near downtown Tuscaloosa, Tuscaloosa County. The city was Alabama's seat of government from 1826 until 1846; the capitol was completed in 1829. After the state capital moved to Montgomery, Montgomery County, in 1846, the building was used by the Alabama Central Female College. The structure was destroyed by a fire in August 1923, leaving only broken columns, some areas of the foundation, and a section of wall."

Capitol Park is located on Childress Hill on the bluff above the Black Warrior River. Efforts to restore the site did not begin until until the late 1980s. The Old Tavern was built in 1827 and after use as a tavern and stagecoach inn served for many years as a private residence. In 1966 the structure was in danger of demolition but money was raised to move it to its current location. The Alabama Central Female College was a Baptist institution that began operation in the old capitol building in 1857. So far I have been unable to determine if it reopened after the 1923 fire. You can read an account of the fire in the August 23, 1923, Birmingham Age-Herald here.

Capitol Park and Old Tavern in Tuscaloosa (1)

In October 2014 I posted an item on this blog about a trip my wife Dianne, daughter Becca and I made to Capitol Park in Tuscaloosa, the site of Alabama's state government from 1826 until 1846. Naturally I included many photographs taken on that bright sunny day. 

In January 2023 my son Amos and I made a trip to T-town primarily to visit the Paul W. Bryant Museum. I'll be writing about that experience in a future piece. We also visited Capitol Park, so in this two-part post I wanted to share some of those photographs. The overcast skies almost made it seem like a different place.

Alabama has had a series of capitals beginning with St. Stephens in 1817 during the territorial period. Since then Huntsville, Cahaba, Tuscaloosa, and Montgomery have been state capitals. 

The Encyclopedia of Alabama gives a succinct history of the Tuscaloosa structure:

"The ruins of one of Alabama's former state houses can be explored in Capitol Park near downtown Tuscaloosa, Tuscaloosa County. The city was Alabama's seat of government from 1826 until 1846; the capitol was completed in 1829. After the state capital moved to Montgomery, Montgomery County, in 1846, the building was used by the Alabama Central Female College. The structure was destroyed by a fire in August 1923, leaving only broken columns, some areas of the foundation, and a section of wall."

Capitol Park is located on Childress Hill on the bluff above the Black Warrior River. Efforts to restore the site did not begin until until the late 1980s. The Old Tavern was built in 1827 and after use as a tavern and stagecoach inn served for many years as a private residence. In 1966 the structure was in danger of demolition but money was raised to move it to its current location. 

The Alabama Central Female College was a Baptist institution that began operation in the old capitol building in 1857. So far I have been unable to determine if it reopened after the 1923 fire. You can read an account of the fire in the August 23, 1923, Birmingham Age-Herald here.

Part 2 of this item can be read here. 

Old Bryce Hospital: A List

I've accumulated a few postings on this topic, so it's time for a list!

Look What They're Doing to Old Bryce Hospital

Aerial View of Bryce Hospital in 1943

A Quick Visit to Bryce Hospital

Bryce Hospital: Some Photographs (1)

Alabama Photos of the Day: Sewing and Such at Bryce in 1916

Look What They're Doing to Old Bryce Hospital

I've done several posts on this blog about Old Bryce Hospital, the state's former giant mental hospital in Tuscaloosa that opened in 1861. One described a quick visit made to the site with several family members in 2014 just before it closed. Others take a look at older photos related to the facility, an aerial view in 1943, and 1916 photos of sewing and other activities by residents. This post shares some photos I took on another quick visit with son Amos in January 2023. 

Several years ago the University of Alabama purchased the closed hospital, and it is now undergoing extensive renovation for a welcome center, the theater and dance school and a mental health museum. You can read a recent newspaper article about the present status here. More history of Bryce can be found in this article. The renovated building is expected to open in late 2023. 

A few more comments are below. 

Changes in the building are immediately apparent as you drive up to Old Main. 

These two photos are from our 2014 visit and show the old portico. Construction began in 1853 but was not finished until 1859. Peter Bryce was hired as superintendent and the Alabama Insane Hospital finally opened with patients in 1861. The portico was not original and added later while Bryce was still superintendent. The structure was not safe and need to be replaced. 

Hudson Strode's "Now in Mexico"

As the downsizing of my book collection continues, I'm even letting go of volumes that have Alabama connections. Can you believe it? This post is about such a book and its author.

Strode was born in Cairo, Illinois, on Halloween, 1892. His father Thomas was a native of Huntsville, Alabama. Because Thomas suffered from tuberculosis, the family soon moved to Denver but Thomas died in 1896. By the time Strode was 12 his mother Hope had remarried, and the family had moved to Demopolis. 

He graduated from the University of Alabama in 1913 and received a master's in English at Columbia University. Hudson Strode taught English and creative writing at the University of Alabama from 1916 until retirement in 1963 with various time outs for travel, breakdowns and service at the Pensacola Naval Air Station during World War II. In 1975 he published The Eleventh House, a memoir that covered events in his life until the start of World War II. Strode died on September 22, 1976. The New York Times noted his passing. 

Many of Strode's books relate to his travels to places such as Cuba, Bermuda, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Asia and India and Mexico. He also published a three volume biography of Jefferson Davis and edited Spring Harvest: A Collection of Stories from Alabama. I hope to do a blog post on that anthology at some point soon. 

Strode's greatest legacy is the long list of former students who published more than 50 novels and 100 short stories. Borden Deal alone published more than 20 novels and a number of stories. I've put together this listing from various sources and have included links and a representative--or in some cases only--novel or other publication. Many of these authors were prolific novelists, short story writers, and poets; others published a single book. As far as I know, all of these individuals are deceased except Nancy Huddleston Packer.  

John Mayo Goss, one of his students, won First Prize in the 1946 O. Henry Memorial Award contest given to the best story published in the previous year. Strode was one of three judges that year; stories by Truman Capote, Patricia Highsmith, Eudora Welty and others did not win. This tale has been dissected on the Passing Tramp mystery blog. Two years later Goss published a novel, This Magnificent World. 

STUDENTS [probably incomplete]

Links are given to entries at the Encyclopedia of Alabama or other sources. 

Douglas Fields Bailey, Devil Make a Third [1948]

Babs Deal, The Walls Came Tumbling Down [1968]


Borden Deal, Bluegrass [1976]

Lonnie Coleman, Beulah Land [1973]

John Finlay, Mind and Blood: Collected Poems [1992]

Robert Faucet Gibbons, Bright as the Morning [1943]

John Mayo Goss, This Magnificent World [1948]

Winston Groom, Forrest Gump [1986, also many other books!]

Harriet Hassell, Rachel's Children [1938]

Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird [1960]

Helen Norris, Something More Than Earth [1940]

Nancy Huddleston Packer, Old Ladies [2012]

Thomas Hal Phillips, The Bitterweed Path [1950] 

Catherine Rodgers [McLain], The Towers Inheritance [1958]

Elise Sanguinetti, The Last of the Whitfields [1962]

Carlyle Tillery, Red Bone Woman [1950]

Ann Waldron, The Princeton Murders [2003]

Alabama author Alina Stefanescu wrote a blog post in 2009 about Strode's Tuscaloosa home and his life and career. That post includes a partial list of Strode's students with some comments. 

The photos below should give you some idea about the book, published in 1947. I've made comments below a couple of them. 

Full disclosure: no, I haven't read it, and since I'm not likely to, I'm letting it go.  

Hudson Strode [1892-1976]

Source: Encyclopedia of Alabama

This copy was purchased at Smith & Hardwick, a legendary book store that operated in Birmingham from 1934 until 2004. I remember visiting its second location in Forest Park before it closed. 

I assume Mrs. Spigener is this lady, and she was married to this gentleman. You can see their modest Tuscaloosa home on Zillow. 

Yes, my copy is signed by the author.