Montevallo in 1868 was a flourishing town according to this article

MONTEVALLO

Transcribed from The Shelby Guide, Columbiana, Alabama May 4, 1868

We paid a visit to this flourishing town last Saturday. It is situated in this county, on the Selma, Rome and Dalton Railroad, 18 miles west of this and 55 miles from Selma.

The adjacent country abounds in minerals, and the valley lands are rich and productive. The trade of the place is very heavy, principally from the counties of Bibb, Blount, Jefferson and Tuscaloosa, consequently, there are a number of large business houses in the place which are well filled with goods.

Two women seated on the porch of a house in Montevallo, Alabama (Alabama Department of Archives and History)

Businesses in early Montevallo

Prominent among those are house of H. C. Reynolds & Co., Lyman & Davis, Steele & Vandergrift, J. M. Denson & Sons, Brown & Adams, dealers in dry goods and groceries; C. S. Rowley, Lynch & Nabors, dealers in groceries, and Fowler & Davis, druggists. The professions are ably represented – the law in the persons of Paul H. Lewis and Burwell B. Lewis, of the firm of Lewis & Leeper; medicine, by Drs. Wilson and Davis.

Edmund King House, ca. 1934 Highland & Bloch Streets, Montevallo, Shelby County, AL (Library of Congress)

Schools and churches

The Schools – male and female – are excellent, and under the charge of gentlemen well qualified for the positions assigned them. Maj. A. D. Bailey has charge of the first named and the Rev. —- Merideth Presbyterian minister, of the latter. Of churches, they have three, Methodist, Baptist and Presbyterian.

Messrs Lyman & Davis have recently established a Factory on the creek which passes by the town, the extent of which we did not learn, but the thread they turn out is equal to any made in the State. The water power is sufficient for a much larger quantity of machinery than it now operates and is easily controlled.

Montevallo ca. 1970s (Library of Congress)

Taking it all in all Montevallo is an inviting place to live at – none more so in this section of country.

ALABAMA FOOTPRINTS Confrontation:: Lost & Forgotten Stories

Prior to statehood, Alabama was a vast wilderness with a large Native American population. It is only natural that when new immigrants from other states arrived, conflicts over the land would arise. Soon, these small conflicts exploded into war.

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• Terrified Settlers Abandon Farms
• Survivor Stories From Fort Mims Massacre
• Hillabee Massacre
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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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