The Vagabond

By Danny Crownover It was reported in 1883 that a large colony of gypsies was encamped near Gadsden. The camp had the usual herd of trading horses, or swapping stock, and many gaily colored wagons. During these times, bands of gypsies came around and often left a trail of thievery, robbery and weird horse trades.

By Danny Crownover Like many other cities, Gadsden has an official flag. Back in 1937, the city commission appointed a group of four men and five women to design a city seal that would also be used toward a city flag. The group decided upon a design that carries the official seal of the city

By Danny Crownover The Vagabond finds much of interest in occasional drives around Gadsden and Etowah County. Last week, I passed by what used to be the Allis-Chalmers plant in East Gadsden. It was recalled that back in the 1940s the plant was built by the U.S. government as a shell plant during World War

By Danny Crownover Claude Stowers, Jr., recently sent The Vagabond an interesting article on possums, and the article noted that possums are actually our friend. It seems that the animals are able to withstand up to 80 rattlesnake or coral snake bites, and thanks to the possum, there is an antidote to poisonous snake. In

By Danny Crownover Alfred Gregory Lee helped established one of the first newspapers in Etowah County. He was a printer, a newspaper editor, a Washington, D.C. news correspondent, a reporter and one of the most prolific writers of letters and postal cards in the United States. A member of an old pioneer family of Etowah

By Danny Crownover The Vagabond has wanted for years to know more about Louis Hart, who owned the Bellevue Hotel and built a trolley line from downtown to Noccalula Falls. The answer came recently after some heavy research was done. It was often said that Hart moved up north, but that was not the case.

By Danny Crownover The Vagabond came across a true Christmas article originally written by local historian Marvin B. Small. It reads: “Back in the year 1895, there was a spot in West Gadsden that was known by old timers as Lovejoy’s Crossroads. In those days, Tuscaloosa Road (now Tuscaloosa Avenue), as it was then called,

By Danny Crownover Acquired by the U.S. Army in July of 1942, Camp Sibert consisted of 37,035 acres in Etowah and St. Clair counties. Historical records show that the property was used extensively as the main training camp for chemical warfare troops during World War II. The federal government took over land south of Alabama

By Danny Crownover Around 1902, a story was reported of the capture of Jeff Van Horn at Sligo, a little coal mining village on Sand Mountain located near Mountainboro. Van Horn had escaped from the Jefferson County Jail in Birmingham along with Frank Duncan, one of the most noted criminals ever to be tried, convicted

By Danny Crownover From the day in 1879 when the Sells Brothers Circus exhibited an electric light in Gadsden as a feature attraction to the present electricity has played an important role in the region’s growth. In 1887, the first steam powered electric plant was built in this area when such things were still in

By Danny Crownover Soon after Baine County was created in the fall of 1866, a number of Gadsden citizens petitioned Probate Judge L.E. Hamlin to call an election to determine whether the town should be incorporated. Under the old village code of Alabama, communities of not less than 150 and not over 2,000 population could

By Danny Crownover One of the most interesting of the old timers who contributed much to the early development of Gadsden and Attalla was Rufus B. Rhea. He was born in the Cherokee Nation near Attalla on August 26, 1832 and died on Jan. 4, 1908. Rhea operated a fine and prosperous farm near what

By Danny Crownover Back when it was a small village, Gadsden had a few citizens protesting against the idea of allowing stock, particularly hogs and cows, to roam the streets at will, and those complaints became vociferous enough to attract the attention of local authorities. There was no serious attempt to remedy the situation until

By Danny Crownover Streets in Gadsden often were named for a certain person or thing connected to the site. For example, Walnut Street received its name because it once was lined with the many beautiful walnut trees. Chestnut Street was named for the groves of American Chestnut trees. Another street name that comes to The

By Danny Crownover Albert E. Paschal came to Gadsden in 1879. At about that same time, he bought the lot and built the home that he was to occupy for many years. For a long time, the residence was used as a club house by the Elks. The lodge moved out when it built its

By Danny Crownover J.J. Blanchart established the first bakery in Gadsden in 1868 in a frame building occupying the western half of the site of the old woman’s department of the Hagedorn department store located on the north side of Broad Street between Fourth and Fifth streets. Blanchart was born around 1819 in France. He

By Danny Crownover Back in 1868, Gadsden was excited over an effort to bore an oil well in Owl Valley, located just on the northern edge of the city. A Mr. Rogers of Pennsylvania came to the area and leased a large acreage of land entitling him to bore for oil on a royalty basis.

By Danny Crownover Back in 1961, The Vagabond was just six years old. It seems that his father had to go to East Gadsden for errands. Coming back, Little Vagabond noticed a boy scout fair along First Street. Tents and stations were lined up all the way from the amphitheater to the old armory next

By Danny Crownover Author’s note: Robert Elton recently sent The Vagabond his memoirs of growing up in Gadsden. Robert is originally from Gadsden and graduated from Gadsden High School. He studied broadcast production at Auburn University and went on to work for South Carolina Educational Television Network. Robert and his wife Jean Pearce Elton live

Author’s note: Robert Elton recently sent The Vagabond his memoirs of growing up in Gadsden. Robert is originally from Gadsden and graduated from Gadsden High School. He studied broadcast production at Auburn University and went on to work for South Carolina Educational Television Network. Robert and his wife Jean Pearce Elton live in Orangeburg, South

By Danny Crownover Episode 13 : 1950’s dance bands This episode is a portion of my late brother Bill’s memoir. Bill wrote his memoir for the family only, but I include this story in this series because it is a part of Gadsden’s unwritten history. The following are Bill’s comments about one of Gadsden’s best but

By Danny Crownover Not long ago a student asked The Vagabond how, why and when the federal government took over control of all navigable streams in the United States. From 1790 to 1810, the improvements of the rivers and harbors were made by states with the consent of U.S. Congress. From 1810 to 1852, these

By Danny Crownover Author’s note: Robert Elton recently sent The Vagabond his memoirs of growing up in Gadsden. Robert is originally from Gadsden and graduated from Gadsden High School. He studied broadcast production at Auburn University and went on to work for South Carolina Educational Television Network. Robert and his wife Jean Pearce Elton live

By Danny Crownover Episode 9: Gadsden Pilots baseball The following is a piece written by my old school buddy, Ben Barnes. The Gadsden Pilots were a mid-20th-century minor league professional baseball team. In the late 1940s, the Pilots were one of eight teams in the Class B Southeastern League. The Pensacola Flyers were from Florida and

By Danny Crownover Author’s note: Robert Elton recently sent The Vagabond his memoirs of growing up in Gadsden. Robert is originally from Gadsden and graduated from Gadsden High School. He studied broadcast production at Auburn University and went on to work for South Caro-lina Educational Television Network. Robert and his wife Jean Pearce Elton live

By Danny Crownover Robert Elton recently sent The Vagabond his memoirs of growing up in Gadsden, and I’d to share his story. Robert is originally from Gadsden and graduated from Gadsden High School. He studied broadcast production at Auburn University and went on to work for South Carolina Educational Television Network. Robert and his wife

By Danny Crownover One of the funniest things to happen in Gadsden during the 1890s was the purchase of a “dead man” by four of the leading farmers of Etowah County after having reached a decision to go into the show business. It was no fun for the farmers and even less fun to put

By Danny Crownover Gadsden’s very first architect was W. H. Willett, who located here around 1887. One of his big jobs was the new Episcopal Church in West Gadsden, which, it was claimed, took on the aspect of an English cathedral. That was quite natural, for Mr. Willett came from England where he attained distinction

By Danny Crownover In 1939, a tourist passing through Gadsden on his way home to Kentucky from a brief stay in Florida wanted to know if the locals really appreciated the wonderful white way of the Gadsden-Atalla Boulevard, for he said that it was the longest and most beautiful he had ever seen. The passerby

By Danny Crownover  In the beginning of the 20th century, gas lamps were being used as streetlights. Architects realized that the safer electric light bulb had enormous advertising potential. As early as 1910, streetlights dazzled visitors around the U.S. This type of street soon became known as a White Way, defined as “a brilliantly lighted