TBT: Red Level, Alabama – A description of the town in 1913

The following description of Red Level, Alabama is from The Pensacola Journal, June 08, 1913, Covington County, Ala. Edition,

ONE OF THE LIVE TOWNS IN COVINGTON COUNTY ARE LOCATED IN A FINE, FERTILE FARMING DISTRICT WHICH HAS MUCH TO OFFER THE PROSPECTIVE SETTLER.

The up and coming little city of Red Level, Alabama, with a population of 400 people, is located in one of Covington county’s best farming section, and plainly shows the effects of that fine prosperity it has always enjoyed.

R. L. Purnell is mayor of the town, and local agent for the L. & N., and he one of the most public sprited and best boosters 1n the county.

He knows his city and his section well, and is well-versed in just what may be done with the land, if it is given proper attention and intelligent cultivation.

R. G. Woods, is clerk; C. W. Costen, city treasurer, and S. M. Hogg; city marshal.

The council is composed of D. J. Law, G. H. Smith, C. W. Costen, R, E. Lee,. and R. G. Wood, all public-spirited citizens who give their time and energies willingly for the uplift and progression of their promising city.

There are tour churches represented In Red Level, two Missionary Baptist congregations, under the respective charge of the Rev. Mr. G. H. Shear, and the Rev. Mr. S. P. Lindsey, the Methodist church being in the hands of the Rev. Mr. G. B. Tate, and the Presbyterians having, as their pastor, the Rev. Mr. W. M. Willis.

The Masonic and K. of P. orders are well represented in Red Level, both having prosperous memberships; the ladies have their Eastern Star society, and their Woodmen Circle.

There is one hotel, the Red Level hotel, owned by J. G. Barrow, one thriving bank, The First Bank of Red Level, strongly financed and a credit to the communty and to its owner, C. A. Costen: the Red Level City School is in the able hands of Prof. E. L. Etough, and two assistants, the musical department being under the guidance of Miss Ethel Williams.

Railroad street is a street of fine residences, where Covington coanty roses, and the gorgeous wild Verbena blend their colors in nature’s general beaunifying scheme; there are 16 good “business places, a fine little L. & N. station, a Woodman hall, and city real estate goes at an average of $50 per lot.

Red Level has a cotton gin, operated by the Red Level Gin Company, of which C. S. Walton is president, and ships from 5 to 6 thousand bales of cotton yearly.

When you consider that the town was only incorporated in 1900, you will realize the rapid strides which the people have been making in their work of city-building during the last 13 years, or since the L. & N. railroad company first opened up their territory.

Has Good Backing

Red Level has the best kind of backing” in the fine farming territory with which she is surrounded.

Aside from her farming interests, T. M. Costen operates a large turpentine still two miles north of town, and the Loango Turpentine Stills are located five miles south.

Cotton yields from 1 to 2 bales to the acre; corn 40 to 100 bushels to the acre, and Irish potatoes 150 bushels to the acre.

This year J. G. Barrow is making a success in raising snap beans for the Birmingham and Montgomery markets.

Time will tell in just what proportion he will count his gainings, but he is shipping beans at $3 per hamper — there are 3 pecks to the hamper just as fast as he can gather them from his fine 15-acre patch.

The people in the Red Level section are just beginning to see the money in fancy truck farming, too, and this year, which has been the initial year in the business, has, so far, seen some remarkable records made in the raising of fine vegetables for the larger markets.

Strawberries bear well, and the soil has to be only moderately fertilized to produce any of the foregoing. Red Level is a town to keep your eyes on; the right kind of people are there with the right kind of enterprise and ability; and, to add to an already ideal situation, the soil responds to cultivation beyond the expectations of the most enthusiastic each month the year.

Red Level is among Covington county’s banner farming sections, and has already made records which have been noted throughout the entire southeast portion of the state.

ALABAMA FOOTPRINTS Confrontation:: Lost & Forgotten Stories 

Some stores include:

• Tecumseh Causes Earthquake
• Terrified Settlers Abandon Farms
• Survivor Stories From Fort Mims Massacre
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• Threat of Starvation Men Turn To Mutiny
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See larger image ALABAMA FOOTPRINTS Confrontation:: Lost & Forgotten Stories (Volume 4) By (author): Donna R Causey List Price: Price Not Listed Kindle Edition: Check Amazon for Pricing Digital Only

About Donna R Causey

Donna R. Causey, resident of Alabama, was a teacher in the public school system for twenty years. When she retired, Donna found time to focus on her lifetime passion for historical writing. She developed the websites www.alabamapioneers and www.daysgoneby.me All her books can be purchased at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble. She has authored numerous genealogy books. RIBBON OF LOVE: A Novel Of Colonial America (TAPESTRY OF LOVE) is her first novel in the Tapestry of Love about her family where she uses actual characters, facts, dates and places to create a story about life as it might have happened in colonial Virginia. Faith and Courage: Tapestry of Love (Volume 2) is the second book and the third FreeHearts: A Novel of Colonial America (Book 3 in the Tapestry of Love Series) Discordance: The Cottinghams (Volume 1) is the continuation of the story. . For a complete list of books, visit Donna R Causey

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