Interesting Places in Pickens County

"Randy, there are many interesting places in Pickens County that everyone should see. Don't forget to go down to Old Bethany Cemetery, and there you'll see the gravesite of James McCrory, George Washington's bodyguard. Up here in our own cemetery is the grave of Samuel B. Moore, the fifth governor of the State of Alabama, who was practicing law here when he died. He was also the governor at the time the University of Alabama was built.

Then do you remember Mrs. Lambert that taught down at the Academy? She lives in an interesting old home that was built in eighteen and twenty-six. It was built by Parks E. Ball, who came here from South Carolina in eighteen and eighteen. His original tract of land was on Blubber Creek, near what is now Aliceville, and here he built him a little log cabin. In eighteen twenty-three he gave the land for the Garden area for a cemetery, where they built Enon Baptist Church. The records over in Tuscaloosa prove that he bought eighty more acres of land for a dollar and twenty-five cents per acre in eighteen and twenty-six, and this is where he built his brick home. Near this house is a bubbling spring, and this was a necessity for all the pioneer families. This spring is still active, and furnishes water for the house, and has through all these many years.

The house is the typical two-story west Alabama type farmhouse, with two rooms and a wide center hall downstairs. The second floor had the two bedrooms and a hall, and the bricks that the house is built from were made by hand, by the slaves that lived on the plantation. A clay pit and the kiln was located on the property. And the mortar with which they put these bricks together was made of sand, lime, and straw. The house is in perfect condition at this time; the brick walls are sixteen inches thick. The wood framework of all the windows and doors was hand-hewn, and pegged with wooden pegs. The original floors are there, they are heart pine, and they are still in excellent condition, and they are nailed down with square nails. The paneling in the downstairs hall is the original paneling, and one can see that it was planed down by hand tools. The living and dining rooms have wainscoting. The interesting fact about this is that each large section is a solid slab of wood and is put together by the tongue and groove method. There's not one nail in it.

There are four fireplaces in the house, three of which have the original mantels. The outside wall of the chimney on the dining room side of the house has been worn down by the sharpening of knives as the servants brought the meals in to be served. The slave kitchen was located a short distance away from the house, on this same side, and the fireplace in the dining room also shows evidence where the bricks were worn down by the striking of flint to light the fire.

Many fascinating stories and myths have been told about this old place, and one in particular. The story goes that since there were no banks in this area at that time that Mr. Ball had some of the bricks made hollow in the house, and in these he kept his gold, and only he knew where those bricks were located. Did someone ever find that gold? That's a question. If so, they have kept it a dark and deep secret.

And then, our courthouse is another beautiful old building. This county has had three courthouses since it was made the county seat. The first courthouse was burned by Croxton's army in eighteen sixty-five, as the soldiers came to Carrollton after they had burned the University of Alabama. The second building was built at the cost of about eighteen thousand dollars, and this was burned by Henry Wells. Then the present building was completed in eighteen seventy-seven at a cost of approximately twelve thousand dollars. And under the eaves on the north side is the famous Face in the Window.

Another house this old and in a beautiful condition is the Neighbors-Daniel home, where Jimmy and Frank Daniel live today. This well-kept one-story frame house is a Greek Revival cottage. It had two matching porticoes; one faces the courthouse and one that faces highway seventeen. Each one has four square columns and double entrance doors, with rectangular transoms and sidelights. It has a hipped roof with protruding gables and interior chimneys. Inside the house has wide-board hand planed floors. The house was built about eighteen fifty-four by Zechariah L. Neighbors, who was editor of the West Alabamian, and was later elected the Probate Judge of Pickens County.

Another pretty old house in this town is that house that is now owned by the B. G. Robinson family, and called the Thomas-Willett-Robinson house. Tristan Shandey Thomas built this center part of the house, probably in the late eighteen forties. This part has a center hall and interior end chimneys. Thomas, Thomas was elected the Probate Judge in Pickens County in eighteen forty-nine, and died in eighteen fifty-four. Then Major E.D. Willett bought the house in eighteen and sixty-nine, and added gable roofed wings extending to the front on each side of the original central part. The structure is tied together with a porch. In nineteen nine Judge B. G. Robinson bought the house, and it is still owned by the Robinson family.

Another pretty house in town and one that is well-kept is Bess McGee's house, where she and Prude live today. This is called the Willett-Elliot-McGee home, because it was built by E. D. Willett, Jr., later owned by the Rufus Elliot family, and now owned by Prude McGee and Bess.

Where my office, the board of registrars is today, and is called the old Jones store, was really the first bank of Carrollton. A. H. Dabbs was the first bank president. It was later sold to Mrs. Idus Jones who ran a mercantile store here, and now it is used for the county office building.

The Lawyer's Row, as it used to be called, is where, uh, attorney B. G. Robinson and Benny Colvin have their law offices. These offices were originally owned by Willett and Terry law firm, some of those buildings have been there since before the War Between the States.

Now the Curry and Kirk Law office: the north room of this law office was built by Judge Smith. Records show that the office was in operation prior to eighteen sixty-six. It was nineteen one that Mr. M. B. Curry purchased the property, from Captain B. C. Hodo when Mr. Curry began his law practice. In nineteen seven the south office was added, and Mr. B. G. Robinson, Sr., became a partner in the law firm. And later, in nineteen twenty-five, Mr. John Curry, who lives in Carrollton today, joined his father in the practice, and is still practicing law there, with Freddie Curry as his partner."