28 comments

  1. I love history about my hometown.

    1. Fayette has been a settlement around here for around 200 years.. Folks started calling this a town around 1821.. In 1824 when Fayette County was created, a courthouse and post office were built, signs directing people to the town were labeled “Fayette Courthouse” and that became the unofficial name. In those days the courthouse was located a few miles north of what we now call “Five Points”. The first courthouse there burned in 1854. The second burned in 1866. A third courthouse was built on the same spot. Somewhere along the way the name of the town became Fayetteville.
      In 1883, the railroad came to town. Almost to town, anyway a depot across the lowest, flattest area around. The depot was a mile south of the Fayetteville Courthouse. Businesses started moving to the area of the depot for convenience in receiving and sending goods, and cater to travelers coming on the train.(It was called (Depot Town) The people back in Fayetteville called it Frog Level because of the frogs.. Depot Town was located in a low area and tadpoles hatched, the area around the depot would be hopping with time frogs..The name Depot Town stuck so they got its first post office..A short time later however, a new postmaster took over and renamed the post office “Alfreda” after his wife. His tenure was short and he was replaced by a fellow who named the place “ICY”, his nickname for his daughter .All these names came and went in a matter of less than 10 years. Finally a local businessman must have had enough. A petition was made and granted to incorporate the town as “Latona”.. One year later, Judge Holland Bell granted a petition to merge the neighboring towns, Fayetteville and Latona were consolidated into “Fayette” A new courthouse was erected that year, three blocks from the Depot..
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  2. Powell Family in “Benjamin and Ambrose Powell of Culpeper County, Virginia” by Catherine Lee deVeau.
    The first pages of introduction are by E.A. Powell who grew up in Fayette, County. There is a lot of history of this family in the first of the book, and then on pages 35-134. Evelyn Ellis McBride.

  3. This picture is my grandfather, Jase Whitson. He ran the water mill near New River Church of Christ.

    1. Thank you for identifying him.

    2. Jase was short for Jason, it was Jason Thomas Whitson…… Frances Moore is my grandmoms sister, Jason whitson my great great grandad, his wife was Beula Gurley Whitson, she and her sister married Jason and his brother…. 2 brothers married 2 sisters, both sisters died in the same year, 1919. Beula died a few hours after giving birth to a son who lived. There are more pictures published in the Fayette news paper of 1960s doing a story on the original 1930s pictures

  4. I did not have anthing to do with either of those courthouse fires.

  5. Took my kids to this spot.yesterday.

  6. Nora Sanford Newby is this one of your ancestors? Not the pic the McCollum guy?

  7. I don’t think so mine was train robbers! Lol

  8. We do have a colorful history. Lol.

  9. Just add both sides to my family tree! Them’s my kind of people, I’m talking about old timers who stood on their own two feet.

    Guarantee you them folks were the kind that would do to ride the river with, and that’s a compliment of the highest sort, if you’re an old timer!

  10. I find this kind of stuff interesting

  11. I only recently found that I have ancestors from Fayette County.

  12. It makes me sad to see the city of Fayette decline in pride of ownership. Once beautiful homes, neighborhoods, businesses, and buildings look unkempt with out storage and litter. She appears unattractive to prospective businesses and families. Memories of a once thriving and close-knit town will never fade as I feel I received a wonderful upbringing in her arms.

  13. Andrew McCollum is this some of your people??

    1. David Lyle yeah when it said “deliberately” set the place on fire I knew then that’s my kin

    2. Andrew McCollum Hell yeah..lol

    3. David Lyle hope you’re doing well big guy

    4. Andrew McCollum doing great.. How about yourself??

    5. David Lyle good glad to be out of Birmingham working in Clanton now so it’s right down the road from the house

  14. Robert Avant Thought you would enjoy this article.

  15. Gwendolyn Tucker Lindsey, Brad McDonald, Amanda McDonald

  16. Courthouse here in Dekalb County was burned also about the same time and I think I know why. There were a good many from this area that fought for the Union during the Civil War and some families like my mom’s received land grants after the war from President U. Grant . So the courthouse where deeds and land grants were kept was burned. This county was rich in minerals and iron ore , coal , lot of carpet baggers came here to invest in mining, steel company, brick factory and other get rich quick investments . But most all their investments faded into losses after a few years and more followed until 1940’s when the textile industry took off .

  17. Yep…grt grt grt grandfather lost his farm because of the fire(or so I was told)

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