Alabama's First Library, Books and Printing

Alabama's oldest operating library is now known as the Huntsville Madison County PublicLibrary. An effort to open a library began in 1817 when the city was still part of the Mississippi Territory. Records show that on December 10th of the following year, William Atwood purchased two shares of stock in the Huntsville Library Company. Thomas G. Percy was listed as President and Robert Fearn as Treasurer. In the following year, during the assembly called to form the State of Alabama, James G. Birney gave notice that he would ask to incorporate the Huntsville Library Company.




An 1818 stock certificate in the Huntsville Library Company. 
Source: HMCPL Digital Archives.

Printed books and printing itself arrived even earlier. In July 1540 Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto and his expedition entered what is now Alabama; among their supplies were some books. All were burned in the battle of Maubila on October 18. The two most extensive accounts of the expedition describe the destruction by de Soto's men of many of their own supplies as they tried to trap Native American forces. The burning included clothes, ornaments and chalices, wafer molds and wine for mass. The books destroyed may have been mostly religious in nature.


Hernando de Soto [1496-1542]
Source: Wikipedia

 In September 1807 a political pamphlet was published at Wakefield, a town in Washington County that no longer exists. On February 19 of that year former vice-president Aaron Burr was arrested in Wakefield as he attempted to flee to Spanish West Florida and escape President Jefferson's warrant.

ALABAMA LIBRARIES PRIOR TO WORLD WAR I: A CHRONOLOGY IN PROGRESS

Birmingham Photo of the Day (4): Downtown, 1939

This 1939 photo of the south side of the 1700 block on 3rd Avenue North is from the Birmingham Public Library Digital Collections. Businesses include Seals Piano Company, Gluck's Hat Cleaning Company and Raymor Printing. 

Alabama Pizza Pasta in London, England, in 1998

No, we couldn't believe it either. But here's the story.

In May 1998 I headed to England to give a talk at an anesthesia history meeting in Bristol. Wife Dianne, son Amos and daughter Becca went along for the ride--well, several of them, actually. Although the travel there and back was a nightmare which included two lost days, we had a blast in England.

Arriving bright and early one morning at Gatwick airport, we picked up the rental and started toward Bristol on one of the "M" roads, British for Interstate. We hadn't been tooling along for long [on the wrong side of the road, of course] before this young lady's voice blurts out, in a wonderful accent, "Traffic flowing freely." In a word, we were startled. Our rental agency clerk had neglected to tell us we were getting a speaking car. What will they think of next? Remember, this was the digital dark ages of 1998.

After awhile we arrived in Salisbury finding ourselves in the metaphorical shadow of the great cathedral and very hungry. We parked the car and then had a decision to make. What would be our first meal in England? Traditional pub food or pizza? The kids opted for the pizza parlor just across the street and so the theme for the journey was established. 

The adventures in England continued for several days. We stopped to see the big rocks at Stonehenge on the way to Bristol, drove through the wonderful city of Bath, and got to see something of Bristol. During the meeting Dianne took the car and the kids up to Stratford-on-Avon looking for that Bard guy. 

The big rocks

Once the meeting was over, we drove back to Gatwick, dumped the car, checked into the hotel, and took the train to Victoria Station. That evening we rode a double-decker London bus and had dinner at the original Hard Rock Cafe.

The following day, our last full one, we mostly spent watching the changing of the guard at some big palace and took in the Tower of London. They wouldn't let us sample the Crown Jewels, unfortunately. 

The big palace 

The guards at the big palace


Anyway, after that we headed to a shop devoted entirely to Beatles memorabilia and took tea at a nice place on Piccadilly Circus. Then it was time for a little stroll before heading back to the hotel. Low and behold, we rounded a corner and there it was:

We were surprised, to say the least. Since we had just had something to eat with tea, we weren't hungry. We took these photos, but didn't go inside and ask about the name. We've regretted that decision ever since, although the name may have been chosen just for the startle effect.

Others have also wondered about that name. In a January 14, 1997, entry in his travel diary [link is broken], Roger MacBride Allen wrote "The only restaurant name I saw in London that made less sense was one in Piccadilly -- Alabama Pizza Pasta. I never knew that Alabama was famous for Italian food." Another web page [link is broken], with a photo from 2006, feeds from the same trough, calling the name "nonsensical" since "Alabama is not widely known for its Italian foods."  

I wonder if these people have trouble dealing with "Beatles" and "Yahoo" and the whole concept of naming things in a way that will be remembered. Don't tell them about "Google."

I doubt if the restaurant is still operating. A search on that Google thing doesn't turn up a web site or other current presence on the net. Ah, well, we have the memories....

Pelham Railroad Depot Then and Now

Perhaps the oldest structure in Pelham is the former train depot now located in Pelham City Park along with the baseball and softball diamonds, football field, tennis courts, picnic areas and walking trail. The depot stood by the tracks behind Pelham City Hall from the early 1900s until it was moved to the park in 1988 and restored. Owner CSX Transportation donated the building to the city. An open house for the refurbished structure was held on May 7, 1989. The project was part of the statewide Alabama Reunion effort to promote heritage and economic development.

For many years the building housed the area chamber of commerce office. In 2005 the Greater Shelby Chamber moved its office to the Shelby County Services Building. After another renovation, the city’s Park and Recreation Department moved into the former depot. The structure was repainted olive and khaki which were believed to be its original colors.

The depot is included on the “Surviving Depots in Alabama” web page, which is part of the AlabamaRailPics.com site. There the building is identified as a “former ACL Depot.” By 1986 the Atlantic Coast Line railroad and its successor were owned by CSX.

Pelham’s railroad service predates the depot. An 1887 “Railroad and County Map of Alabama” engraved for Grant’s Business Atlas shows the town on a railroad line from Birmingham to Montgomery. At that time the route belonged to the Louisville & Nashville Railroad, which later became part of the ACL system. A good history is Wayne Cline’s Alabama Railroads published in 1997.

Note: A version of this post was published in the Pelham
City News Holiday 2013 issue.

This painting by local artist Carl B. Salter [1919-2005] shows the Pelham Depot as it looked in its original location. 

This biographical directory of some Alabama artists was published in 1989.

Birmingham Photo of the Day (3): Downtown, 1930

This photo from the Birmingham Public Library Digital Library shows a portion of 2nd Avenue North between 19th and 20th Streets around 1930. Visible are Kress's, the Trianon Theatre, F.W. Woolworth and on the right Caheen Brothers. In the lower left is apparently the sign for a dentist. Aren't those cars and streetlamps wonderful? 

Pelham's Oak Mountain State Park

Alabama’s largest state park forms the northeastern section of Pelham since annexation by the city in 1990. Pelham was a small, unincorporated town when the park was created in 1927 by the State Land Act’s grant of 940 acres. Improvements to the park were made during the Great Depression of the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps.

In 1943 the National Park Service deeded some 8000 acres to the park from an acquisition in the previous decade. Further improvements such as the golf course and the demonstration farm were made in the 1970s. Our largest state park also has the state’s largest wildlife rehabilitation center.

These two photographs from the 1940s or 1950s are among several Girl Scout scenes at the park available from the Alabama Department of Archives and History in Montgomery.

 

 

Source: Alabama Department of Archives & History

 

 

Note: A version of this post was published in the Pelham City News Summer 2013 issue.

A Story in Stone: John Payne, M.D. [1860-1901]

Cemeteries are places crowded with fascinating stories, and the Pelham City Cemetery just off U.S. 31 at the corner of Industrial Park Road and Lee Street is no exception. There among many others with the same surname is the marker of John Payne, M.D.

Born in August 1860, Payne appears in the 1880 U.S. Census living in Shelby County with his father William H., a farmer, and mother Jane and his nine siblings. Somehow Payne managed to go to medical school, graduating from Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia in 1886. That school would have offered him one of the best medical educations available in the U.S. at the time. Members of the Shelby County medical board which tested him that same year for certification were apparently not impressed. The state medical association’s Transactions for 1887 noted, “This examination is not credible to the board. The papers are badly arranged, written on both sides, and some of the sheets evidently missing.”

Nevertheless, the board granted his certificate, since “The answers are usually correct.” After his examination, Payne moved to the Birmingham area and practiced there until his death. Sadly, he was shot by telegraph operator James P. Cook on May 30, 1901, and died the next day. A newspaper account of the murder declared that “The physician was a very popular young man.”

According to that press article, Cook shot Payne twice in the head from behind the doctor. Cook had recently separated from his wife, “said to be a very handsome woman,” and jealously was presumed to have fueled both the separation and the murder.

Payne apparently never practiced in Pelham, although during his lifetime several other physicians did. Based on the state medical society’s annual Transactions, at least four doctors were in Pelham at some point during those years: Eli F. Denson, Andrew W. Horton, and two Johnsons, Joseph M. and William R.K.

Payne is not the only physician buried in the City Cemetery who practiced elsewhere. William Betta Cross is known to have spent time in Helena and Columbiana before his death on Christmas Day 1884. That’s another story hidden in stone. An inventory of the cemetery done in 2002 is available.  

More photos can be seen at the Find-A-Grave site for Dr. Payne.

A version of this article appeared in the Pelham City News Fall 2013 issue.