A Visit to Camp Hill, Alabama (2)

This past July my brother Richard and I made one of our annual trips seeking Alabama and family history.

This time we were in east central Alabama mainly around Brundidge and Camp Hill. We visited several other places I've already written about such as Smuteye, Union Springs and Aberfoil. 

The first post on the Camp Hill visit is here. I'll be doing a future post on Tallassee. A decade or more ago mom and her two sisters, Heth and Marjorie, made a similar trip to Brundidge and Camp Hill; some things have changed, others not so much.

UPDATE 19 April 2021: The Alexander City Outlook newspaper recently published an article about a family trying to renew downtown Camp Hill. 

UPDATE summer 2021: The Camp Hill Historic District was designated by the Alabama Historical Commission:

"The Camp Hill Historic District was listed in the Alabama Register for its significance as the town’s historic commercial and economic center. The buildings included in the Camp Hill Historic District are good examples of Romanesque and Colonial Revival architectural types. The town of Camp Hill, Alabama, was incorporated in 1895, but settlement in the area began in the early 1800s. The historic commercial buildings in Camp Hill’s historic business district were developed between 1880 and 1965. The downtown district also includes the Norfolk Southern Railway system (previously known as the Central of Georgia Railway), which was responsible for transporting goods throughout numerous adjoining states in the South." 

Lyman Ward historical marker

The military school is one of the few bright spots left in Camp Hill.

Front view of the former auditorium that's now a gym. In a previous post on this blog I've talked about the time mom saw George Washington Carver speak at the Sourthern Industrial Institute in a big auditorium that is now apparently this gym.

Back view of the gym

This water tower is a landmark in the area. There is a family story in which mom's older brother John climbed the water tower in Camp Hill when he was about 10 years old. He apparently decided not to come down, and soon the sheriff appeared at the parsonage to inform my grandfather, John Miller Shores, the Methodist minister. Rev. Shores had to climb the tower and bring his son down. Her father later told mom that time was the most scared he'd ever been in his life. That water tower seems to be gone now, replaced by this more modern one. 

A view of downtown Camp Hill along North Main Street or County Highway 121.

One of two active store fronts downtown, "The Reading Room" under the blue facade appeared to be a children's library/activity center.

Visiting this hollow downtown late on a Sunday morning, we did run into a gentleman who said he was born in Camp Hill and had lived there all his life. He told us he remembered when Camp Hill was "a jumpin' place." My mother and her sister remember that too. Mom says the railroad brought many travelling salesmen through town who stayed in the hotel. Nearby Lake Martin may now be home to some former residents.

Opposite view of the downtown street

A sign of former life--the word "Winters" appears between the "Enjoy Coca-Cola" advertisements. Perhaps the site of a restaurant?

This corner building held the other active location, a consignment shop. The Reading Room is across the side street, under the blue front.

Tucker's Pharmacy once occupied this location.

More photos of downtown Camp Hill from 1998/9 can be found here.

This photo shows Camp Hill's downtown in the 1930's. 

Source: Web page at Georgia State University

The postmark on the back of this postcard is July 17, 1915.

Source: Alabama Dept of Archives & History Digital Collections

This aerial view of Camp Hill in June 1956 appears to have many cars parked along main street in the downtown area.

Source: Alabama Dept of Archives & History Digital Collections

A Visit to Camp Hill, Alabama (1)

This past July my brother Richard and I made one of our annual trips seeking Alabama and family history. This time we were in east central Alabama mainly around Brundidge and Camp Hill. We visited several other places I've already written about such as Smuteye, Union Springs and Aberfoil. I'll be doing a future post on Tallassee and a second one on Camp Hill. A decade or more ago mom and two of her sisters, Heth and Marjorie, made a similar trip to Brundidge and Camp Hill; some things have changed, others not so much.


We visited Camp Hill on a hot Sunday morning. We had already been to Brundidge the day before, also a very hot late July morning. The heat was about the only thing in common between the two cities. Brundidge seemed to be a thriving small town; Camp Hill is a sad and hollow shell of its former vibrant past. Mom says she and her sisters practically wept at the sight of the town where they had lived for a few years in the 1930's and remembered so fondly.


In the 2000 U.S. Census the population of Camp Hill was 1,273 people. More recent estimates in 2014 give the population as 992 or 947.


The Encyclopedia of Alabama has this summary of Camp Hill's history:


"The Camp Hill area began to be settled by the early 1830s just before Creek Indian Removal. The community initially was referred to as either Burnt Bull or Ashbank. The name Camp Hill most likely came from the area's popularity as a camping place.


"Camp Hill remained primarily a farming community throughout the 1850s and 1860s. The Savannah and Memphis Railroad came through in 1870, bringing with it increased settlement. Camp Hill incorporated in 1895, and its economy at this time was fueled primarily by cotton gins and a brickyard. In 1898, Universalist minister Lyman Ward founded the Southern Industrial Institute to educate underprivileged rural youth. In 1948, it was renamed the Lyman Ward Military Academy."


The military academy is one of the few thriving institutions left in Camp Hill. Lyman Ward was a fascinating individual; you can learn more about him here. He even ran for governor in 1946 as a Republican, but was soundly defeated by Democrat Jim Folsom. More information about the Universalist Church of American is here.

UPDATE 19 April 2021: The Alexander City Outlook newspaper recently published an article about a family trying to renew downtown Camp Hill. 

UPDATE 9 May 2023: The Alexander City Outlook newspaper recently published an article about some Auburn University researchers and their Camp Hill history project. 

Lyman Ward [1868-1948]

Source: Wikipedia

First Universalist Church of Camp Hill

This cornerstone gives the basic dates. 

An historical marker offers more information on just how a Universalist Church ended up in a tiny town in east Alabama in the late nineteenth century. 

The church and its grounds are obviously cared for, but a congregation has not met here in many years. 

This church is now the Gracefulness Baptist Church. When mom and her family lived in Camp Hill, it was the Methodist Church where my grandfather, John Miller Shores, was minister. He served the North Alabama Conference of the United Methodist Church for some 55 years. 

 This house was apparently the parsonage for the Methodist Church when mom and family lived there. Mom remembers a large open space between the parsonage and the church. Another house is between this one and the church, but a more modern one. Mom also remembers a large front porch, which seems to fit this house. 

Richard spotted the top of this house as seen in the second photograph below. This large structure is well-hidden in an otherwise nice neighborhood. The decay foreshadowed what we saw later in Camp Hill's former downtown. 

A Visit to Brundidge, Alabama

This past July my brother Richard and I made one of our annual trips seeking Alabama and family history. This time we were in east central Alabama mainly around Brundidge and Camp Hill. We visited several other places I've already written about such as Smuteye, Union Springs and Aberfoil. I'll be doing future posts on Camp Hill and Tallassee. A decade or more ago mom and two of her sisters, Heth and Marjorie, made a similar trip to Brundidge and Camp Hill; some things have changed, others not so much.

Brundidge is a very nice little town in southeastern Pike County that bills itself as "Alabama's Own Antique City." The downtown area is filled with shops and galleries of all types; we enjoyed a respite from the late July heat in a pleasant coffee shop. Almost all the storefronts we saw were occupied by active businesses or other entities. The population in 2013 was estimated at just over 2000 people.  

My maternal grandmother Tempe Hilliard Flowers Shores was born in Brundidge and lived there until she left to attend Huntingdon College. Her parents Joseph and Mollie Flowers lived in Brundidge for many more years. After Tempe married future Methodist minister John Miller Shores, they and their children, including mom, often visited. My maternal great-grandfather ran a general store in town. 

Richard and I wanted to visit the house and store sites as well as the Brundidge City Cemetery where ancestors are buried. On the way out of town to seek another cemetery nearby, my brother and I passed the reason Brundidge seems to be doing so well: a massive Wal-Mart distribution center. 

Photos and more commentary are below. 

UPDATE 22 December 2021

 The Alabama Historical Commission recently designated historic districts in Brundidge, including the area where the Flowers' general store was located. See below for a more recent photo of the building today. 

The Brundidge City Cemetery is well kept these days and also was when mom and her sisters visited. 

Interestingly, there were two lines of Flowers living in Brundidge who were not related. Arthur Talmage Flowers was a member of the line we are not related to. The symbol above his name indicates he was a Mason. He married Vela, one of Tempe's younger sisters. Thus a Flowers married a Flowers. 

Here's the house where my grandmother Tempe Hilliard Flowers Shores was born and where mom and family visited many times.

Mom said she remembers playing around the big tree. The small house on the left is a more recent addition to the street.


The three photographs below from family collections show the house and barn in earlier decades.  

The barn no longer exists, but the house and its small addition to the left--done originally for a master bedroom with bath--look pretty much the same. My aunt Heth was born in the house. 

Tempe's parents, my great-grandparents Joseph and Mollie Flowers, are buried in the Brundidge City Cemetery. Their daughter Vela is buried close to them. 

The storefronts on this part of Brundidge's main street have remained much the same for many years. The far white building was my great-grandfather's general store. 

The general store is now the Brundidge Police Department headquarters. Richard and I went inside and explained our interest to the two young people working there on a Saturday morning. 

Here's a closer view of the storefront. Next door is a law office. Mom said when she and her sisters visited a liquor store occupied the site. She said her grandfather Joseph Flowers, a Methodist teetotaler, would have been horrified.

Mom remembers being taken to the store by "Papa" as a young girl, allowed to play there and take naps atop a stack of overalls. The pile was so high "Papa" had to put her up there and take her down. 

Photo below is a more recent one via Google Maps; the police station has moved and the space has become another general store of sorts. [22 December 2021 update]

The Masonic lodge is currently located on the main street. A.T. Flowers was probably a member of this lodge.

This Baptist church is located a few miles west of Brundidge near a place once known as Hilliards Crossroads. 

Many of our Flowers and Hilliard ancestors are buried in this cemetery behind the church.

This side of my family seems to have had several Masons; my grandfather John Miller Shores was also a member. Quay was our great-uncle, and Tempe Flowers Shores' younger brother.