It has been little more than a year since the U.S. Census Bureau released its 10-year data report on the nation’s people and economy. And one year out, statistics show Pell City has reason to celebrate.
Ranking the population growth of Alabama’s cities, Pell City came in as the ninth-fastest growing city in the state. No.1 was Foley in Baldwin County, and 10th was Fairhope.
In its report of fastest growth between 2020 and 2021, Pell City showed a 2.7 percent jump in population. And while that’s welcoming economic news for the city, it’s not surprising, according to City Manager Brian Muenger.
Vulcan Tire and Automotive coming soon to Pell City
“For the last several years, we have experienced extremely high volume” of new home construction, he said. In fiscal year 2021, the city issued 214 new home permits. This year, the number already issued stands at more than 100, and there are still several months left to go. Over a three-year period, that adds up to 500 new homes – “well beyond anything we have seen,” Muenger said.
In years prior, the average was “strong and steady” at about 50 to 60 new homes a year, he added.
He attributes what some may see as a sudden boom to years in the making. It takes time to move a new development through the permitting and legal stages and into the construction phase. When historically low interest rates intersected with high demand for new housing, it was a “perfect storm” for developers.
He pointed to developments in Horizons and Fox Hollow that has attracted new construction firms with national-level reputations coming into the area alongside local contractors, as well as a “steady influx” of lake-property seekers and buyers as contributing to the growth.
And that’s just inside the city limits. Residential growth’s impact on the economy includes areas on the “cusp” of the border as well as growth on the Talladega County side of Logan Martin Lake. Those areas do business in the city. “Even if it’s not in Pell City, there is a lot going on right around us that is attractive to new investment,” Muenger explained.
Signs of that attraction are already taking shape. Vulcan Tire and Fort McClellan Credit Union are going up on opposite corners of U.S. 231 and Alabama 34/19th Street. Strip centers at Publix are building out. Freddy’s Steakburgers has opened in Bankhead Crossings development near Walmart, and other property is expected to be developed near Buffalo Wild Wings.
Starbucks and Jersey Mikes already drawing new business in Pell City
Just across Interstate 20 at U.S. 231 and John Haynes Drive, newly opened Starbucks and Jersey Mike’s are going strong. In that same complex, construction is moving along on a sit-down restaurant called The St. Clair.
Muenger noted that Starbucks and Jersey Mike’s are “doing incredibly well already.” It is an encouraging sign that what people in the area said they wanted, literally came and in turn, the people are supporting it. “It is testament to our retail capacity.”
Muenger sees it all as a win-win-win. It was the former location of a single business – Hardee’s – which served the community well for many years. But in its place, three businesses will be generating revenue, jobs and filling needs the community identified.
Of late, much focus is on the property just a few hundred yards away on John Haynes Drive. St. Clair’s old hospital has been demolished to make way for a much-anticipated retail center, which will include Hobby Lobby, T.J. Maxx and other nationally known retailers. Trees are being cleared to make way for grading – a welcome sign of progress to passersby and to those involved in the project.
The property, owned by the city, is under contract to be purchased by a Chattanooga-based development company. Final legal requirements of the deal are fulfilled, and officials were awaiting the appraisal and closing in mid-July.
Tree removal began in early July, and traffic-control improvements are underway to accommodate the extra traffic expected in that area. Signals at John Haynes Drive and nearby Jeanne Pruett Drive will be upgraded and timed with signals at Vaughan Drive and Walmart to support better traffic flow through the entire area of U.S. 231 around those developments. Eventually, three lanes will be a part of John Haynes Drive to ease congestion.
“It’s very quickly heading toward something tangible that people can see,” Muenger said, “and that’s very exciting.”
orld of professional photography, John and Gale Kirkpatrick are opening a second location for B Photo Supplies and Framing near Cropwell Commons on Stemley Bridge Road in Pell City.
The heavily traveled thoroughfare, also known as Alabama 34, fronts the new store on the curve just a few hundred yards from U.S. 231 South.
In October, the Leeds couple opened its first store in Hoover’s Lee Branch and within a few days had secured a lease-purchase agreement for the Pell City location, formerly housing Well Way, which moved to a new location.
The Kirkpatricks readily admit that their business plan is constantly evolving – an effort to meet the needs and demands of the photography industry. They have capitalized on opportunities when they saw them, and they are filling niches previously underserved.
Photography supplies and more
Within the space, you will find a photography studio on one end with a number of backdrops and sets designed for professional photographers to hold sessions without having to fund and maintain their own space. A retail store of photographic equipment and supplies not available in this part of the state occupies another portion of the building. And custom framing, also not available in the area, is prominently featured.
Their building also provides two short-term-lease office spaces, available for business people to meet their clients in a professional setting. They may need office space only a few hours a month, and the Kirkpatricks are providing those kinds of opportunities.
In their own business, high-end products for lighting, bags, straps, umbrella and backdrop stands, tripods and lenses are among the offerings for photographers. “Photography is a tough market,” Kirkpatrick said. “We wanted to level the playing field” by offering studio space, equipment, reception and back-office support, if needed.
Top names like Savage, Godox, Sirui, Peak Design, Superior and Geekoto lead its photography equipment offerings – equipment not found in this part of Alabama.
The Kirkpatricks know firsthand the struggles of the photography business. They started out as wedding and event photographers in 2003 in addition to their ‘day jobs’ at Briarwood Christian School. The photography business grew rapidly, and they opened their first studio in 2006 in the Birmingham area.
It did very well until 2009, Kirkpatrick said, which was in the midst of the Great Recession. Photography is a luxury item, he said, and they scaled down significantly through that financial crisis.
They kept all their equipment, though, weathered COVID setbacks and delays and then invested in all the inventory when Perry Computer and Camera closed its doors in Birmingham, leaving only a couple of photography suppliers located hours away.
They have added custom framing, a natural fit for the photography business but yet another need for the general public.
As any good entrepreneur will tell you. Find a need and fill it. That’s exactly what the Kirkpatricks are doing. Their investment in Perry’s photography inventory led to the Lee Branch studio opening – already thriving – and now the Pell City expansion with its early indications of great potential.
“We made the investment, so they won’t have to,” Kirkpatrick added. “We want to serve the community because there is a need.”
They are thick-skinned and tenderhearted. They are hardworking and resourceful. They are disciplined and devoted. Their legacy is a long and important one.
It is a bit of a love story actually … the relationship between a farmer and his farm. There’s a deep and spiritual connection between farmer and field. The very nature of farming is built on faith.
They must have faith in the changing of the seasons, the weather and the very cycle of life itself. So much is out of their hands. Their lives become a continuous prayer.
Just as the farmer must cultivate, prepare and protect his fields … the field also cultivates and prepares the farmer. It is a job like no other, after all.
It has no beginning or end … the work is never done.
They are the original founders & curators of civilization. The stewards of both land & livestock. They bear the burdens and responsibilities of the landscape and living things appointed to them. They are bound to it by blood, sweat and birth.
It is a calling after all … A noble one. A divine partnership of the highest order …
The farmer and his farm.
[*St. Clair County currently has roughly 500 working farms comprising nearly 60,000 acres]
[**Featured photo of Legacy Farms of Steele]
– Mackenzie Free –
Wife, mother, photographer & current resident of the unassumingly magical town of Steele, Alabama
“Ultimately, I’d like it to be like ‘Make-a-Wish’ for the elderly.” – Larry Bell, hunting guide
The beautiful house and barn sit well back from the road, just beyond the tranquil pond and surrounded by gently sloping hills of lush green grass. It looks like a peaceful private oasis.
Amazing Grace Farm is unquestionably a peaceful oasis, but its mission is far more inclusive than private. They open their doors by invitation to elderly and disabled individuals to reconnect with nature and enjoy outdoor activities. It is also open to first responders and veterans, and all of it is offered at no cost to participants.
Amazing Grace Farm offers hunting and fishing experiences, including those with mobility and special needs on the 113-acre property off Highway 26 in Ragland. Their list of accessible activities includes hayrides, cornhole, picnics, relaxing at the fire pit, shooting at their range, and meditation and relaxation. They are partnering with senior centers and veterans’ organizations to bring visitors to spend the day at the farm.
“Our elderly and disabled often end up being stuck inside all day looking at four walls,” says owner and director Judy Batson. She is also a nurse and CEO of Healing Touch Caregivers in Gardendale. “I wanted to give them a way to have fun and enjoy outdoor activities again.”
Judy had passed by the property countless times on her way to visit elderly clients in her work as a nurse. Each time she passed the sprawling landscape with its charming barn and home, she felt a stronger connection to it.
Occasionally, she even pulled in to pass the time between clients. On one such occasion, she found the realty sign lying down in the grass, so she called the number. When she said she wanted to place an offer on the property, she was told there were already other offers, and she likely didn’t have a chance. She didn’t hear back from them and forgot about the exchange until she got the call three months later. Her offer had been accepted.
Crew at the Cafe
“The idea for it was God-given,” says Judy. “Something about this place spoke to me.” From that point on, she says, she was driven to make the farm a place for a ministry to those she felt were forgotten – the elderly, veterans and those with special needs.
She describes the house as being in “deplorable” condition, with destruction by animals and termites just scratching the surface of the level of decay. It was in such bad shape that the appraiser (who at the time was also the mayor) declared that Judy was essentially buying the land and barn; the house wasn’t worth anything. She spent the next two years working with subcontractors to gut and rebuild the house. On the recommendation of a neighbor, she hired Craig Grigsby and John Bush to work on the floors. And they’re still working at the farm two years later – Craig as property manager and John as assistant property manager.
Both Craig and John live in Panama City, Fla., and spend two weeks of each month at the farm working to restore it and to build programs. They’ve hired another friend, Larry Bell, also from Panama City, to serve as the guide for the hunting program.
The three share Judy’s enthusiasm and mission for serving seniors. “I was introduced to hunting by my grandfather,” Larry explains. “What got me into this was to be able to give back to the people who introduced me to hunting. Ultimately, I’d like it to be like ‘Make-a-Wish’ for the elderly. We could give someone that one last big hunt.”
Craig’s family did not hunt, so, he says, friends invited him along. “As a 16-year-old growing up, I was taken hunting by a couple of preachers. Every Thanksgiving, they would go hunting with their families and they’d invite me. I loved listening to their stories around the campfire. It made me want to hear more.”
On this day, the fire pit is empty. A group of visitors is gathered inside around the coffee table as temperatures soar close to 100 degrees. Guests include seniors from the Ragland Senior Center, veterans and first responders from Ragland and Pell City. Laughter gives way to hugs as paramedic Cathy Riggs is reintroduced to the senior whom she helped on a call just over a year ago. After they catch up, Cathy goes with a guide who takes her to visit her old childhood swimming hole on the property.
“Do you know where Happy Top is?,” asks 94-year-old Raymond E. Smith, Jr., as he talks about where he was born and raised. “You know Lewisburg? Bradford? It’s not far from Bradford. We used to walk from Bradford to Happy Top to go to church.” Raymond is Sgt. Maj. Smith, a Green Beret who served in Vietnam. He talks proudly of his love for America and his pride in his service to the Army Special Forces unit. He also dearly loves fishing.
When the temperature cools off, allowing him to be outside with his oxygen tank, he’ll be headed to the fishing pond. It is stocked with bass, crappie, bluegill and crackerfish. Having the pond dug out and stocked was a big-ticket item for Judy and the Amazing Grace team. Luckily, there was clay and dirt to be sold that helped offset the cost.
There are many big projects in the works to continue to build programs for their guests. One of those projects is building a 12-by-12-foot shooting house. Why so big? Craig explains that it would allow the family of a physically challenged person to be a part of the experience in watching the shooting. They’ve also contracted with Michigan-based Wolf Creek Productions to document the experience as a keepsake for the client.\
A relaxing swing in the woods
Craig has also spent many hours working to implement plans for a zero-entry pool. Even with him digging it himself and purchasing supplies, the estimate to complete the project is $180,000. And, even then, they can’t find anyone willing to come out to work. They remain confident that it will come together eventually. “We even plan to invite churches to use it to baptize people who wouldn’t be able to (using traditional baptismal fonts),” says Judy.
They are also working on a café, adjacent to the pool area, where guests could come to get a cool beverage and relive “soda fountain” memories. While not complete, the plans include 50s-style furnishings and a jukebox.
Judy is quick to credit the completion of so much of the work at Amazing Grace Farm to Craig, John and Larry. “They share my vision, and they have such big hearts,” she says. “This would not be where it is without them.”
Greg Estes, commander of the Ragland VFW, is impressed with the changes. “I remember seeing this property when it sold. It’s night and day different.” He is already making plans to bring people to the farm. Teresa Harden with the Ragland Senior Center brought a group to the farm and plans to make the trip again. “It means the world to them. They enjoyed it so much.”
Editor’s Note: The farm is in need of sponsors to help with the costs associated with the programs. Amazing Grace Farm is a nonprofit and depends on donations to meet the needs of its visitors. If you are interested in visiting Amazing Grace Farm or supporting their ministry, you can contact them at 205-281-7828 or info.amazinggracefarms@gmail.com.
Faith-based healing in a peaceful environment finds home in Odenville
Story by Elaine Hobson Miller Submitted Photos
Anna was beyond broken. Hooked on methamphetamine and heroin, she was trying to get off drugs. She was living in Colorado, but her story started as a child in her native Estonia. That’s where her mother sold her for sex as a preschooler.
“The person who hurt me the most was my own mother,” says Anna, now 37 and living in Alabama. “She was hooked on drugs. One day when I was 5 years old, my Dad walked in on me and two men. He tried to protect me. My mom killed my dad.”
The chapel
In 2020, 10,583 situations of human sex trafficking were reported to the National Human Trafficking Hotline. The number of situations involved 16,658 individual victims. Almost 81 percent of those were women. Likely 50percent or more were children. Fifty-nine of these women made their way to The WellHouse, a faith-based healing place for women who are victims of sex trafficking. Anna is one of the nearly 600women who have been through The WellHouse program since its founding in 2010.
“There is no such term as human trafficking in Russia,” Anna says. “What my mother did to me was considered normal.” After their father’s death, she and her brother were sent to an orphanage in Latvia, where they stayed eight years. “There was lots of abuse there, too, physical, emotional, sexual.” She came to the U.S. in January 1981, when a Florida pastor and his wife adopted her and her brother. “But I was damaged goods, I had no self-worth.” She moved to Colorado to work on a ranch when she was 19. She married and divorced twice and had a child by each husband. “I had really bad attachment disorder and PTSD.”
She developed conversion disorder – an emotional state that turns into physical seizures. In the middle of a Botox injection in her neck, seizures brought back the buried memories of her childhood experiences. “I got really sick physically and emotionally,” she says. “I had counseling, physical therapy. But I didn’t know how to cope, so I started using meds. I ran out of my prescription meds, started using my son’s ADHD prescriptions. Methamphetamine is pretty much the same as ADHD meds.”
Anna weighed 73 pounds and had bruises all over her body when she got herself admitted to a psychiatric hospital. “I was slowly killing myself,” she says. “My (adoptive) mom and me were looking for places for rehab, and I must have filled out an application for The WellHouse while researching online. I was in the hospital for two weeks when the rescue supervisor from WellHouse called me and said they had a bed for me.”
Anna entered The WellHouse grounds in Odenville on Nov 4, 2019. It was after sundown. Despite the darkness, she immediately felt a sense of peace. “The healing started as soon as I got on campus,” she says. “You feel safe here. It was time for me to stop running and face my demons.”
Anna graduated from WellHouse in December 2020, after receiving “lots of TLC,” and experiencing the programs the ministry offers. “They taught me self-worth, and I started growing. I learned how to cope with trauma. They teach you how to be the person you are. I found God here, too, and learned of his love. I’m still getting counseling for maintenance, but I have a job in retail, and I’m living on my own. WellHouse literally helped me heal.”
The WellHouse is a faith-based, Christ-honoring program for young women caught up in sex trafficking for whatever reason, according to board chairman Al Worthington.“We’re of the opinion that without faith there can be no major healing because the trauma is too great.”
Worthington, an area real estate developer, got involved in The WellHouse in 2013 when his wife showed him a newspaper article about a nationwide human trafficking sting in the U.S. and in Canada. The sting resulted in the arrest of 123 pimps. One of them was based in Birmingham, and three young girls under his charge were rescued.
“The article quoted the woman who founded this ministry,” Worthington says. “She had a pretty horrific youth, was trafficked at 15 through the age of 26, and ended up here in Birmingham. I called her that day and met with her the next. I told her I thought I might be able to help.”
Finding A Home
The founder began The WellHouse by taking exploited girls into her home in Tarrant City. Around 2011 or 2012, the Woman’s Missionary Union, a partner of the Southern Baptist Convention, gave her an old house in West End, where churches adopted rooms, decorated and furnished them. In 2014, WellHouse moved to Pell City, but when they eventually wanted to expand, neighbors expressed concerns about who was coming into the neighborhood, and the city asked them to leave. “We bought 63 acres in Odenville in the summer of 2016, and in 11 months built two homes and an office,” Worthington says. They now have six buildings, including a chapel and administration building.
Enter the grounds on a warm spring day, and you’ll see several large, rambling, ranch-style homes. You can feel the breeze off the pond and watch the antics of the resident gaggle of geese. Beside the pond are picnic tables and a hammock that beckons one to doze between the trees from which it is strung. Also next to the pond is a chapel – the newest building on campus. It smells of new wood inside, and its exposed ceiling beams give it a rustic feel. It’s easy to see why Anna felt at peace on the campus.
“The purpose of The WellHouse is to rescue women who have been trafficked for drugs and sex, and some from domestic abuse,” says Carolyn Potter, CEO of The WellHouse. “We built the programming around the issues they have.” These include childhood sex abuse, sex trafficking, substance abuse, a lack of basic life and social skills and a lack of education.
How It Works
The program begins with the rescue. “We get them when we can, rescue them from different sources,” Worthington says. “Some are reported by police, some call our 800 number or the National Human Trafficking Hotline. Next comes time in the Stabilization Center, an apartment set aside for this purpose in one of the campus buildings.
“This is a huge life change for these women,” Potter says. For two weeks they receive around-the-clock attention. They are seen daily by a home coordinator and director of trauma therapy, who build an individualized treatment plan for each.
Taking a holistic approach, The WellHouse treats the physical, emotional, relational and spiritual problems of these women. Physical problems, such as traumatic brain and sexual injuries, are handled first. The physical heals the fastest, while the psychological takes longer.
“It’s healing to be in a pretty place,” says Holly Bunn, chief development officer at The WellHouse. “Our buildings are new, with new furnishings, much of them donated. We have pretty, elegant decor, because these women deserve it.”
The WellHouse has an on-site medical clinic managed by UAB School of Nursing. “Their medical needs can be intense,” says Potter. “We partner with Alabama Psychiatry for those who need more. Odenville Drugs has been a great partner, too.”
When the women first arrive, they’re dealing with a lot of psychological trauma. They don’t have much self-confidence, they don’t make eye contact, and they don’t trust anyone. “That’s how trafficking works, by destroying their sense of self-worth,” Bunn says. “After a while here, they begin to believe in their own worth. They get to know themselves again, then start to accomplish things – they get their driver’s licenses, their GEDs, achieve six months of sobriety. Then they keep going on their path to success.” They can stay at the WellHouse up to three years.
Their treatment plan is divided into three phases, beginning with time living inThe Immediate Shelter (TIS). That’s where women continue to be evaluated and assessed and to get back the identification documents, such as passports and driver’s licenses, that traffickers took from them. “TIS can house 12 women,” says Bunn. “They stay there from 90 days to four months. At that point, with the help of her case manager, a woman will decide whether to remain at The WellHouse long term.”
Phase 2, or Next Steps to Freedom (NSF), involves living in another home that also houses 12 women. “There, they continue with what was started in the first phase, with a case manager and more therapy,” says Bunn. “Cases become even more individualized in this phase.”
Although most of the women at The WellHouse are between 20 and 30 years old, most haven’t finished the 10th or 11th grade, according to Bunn. “We meet them where they left off with their education, before or at the time when trafficking began,” she says. “We help anybody who wants to go to college, too, through scholarships,” Potter says. “They attend here, online, in mobile classrooms. We apply to a group in Tennessee calledFree for Lifethat gives scholarships specifically for trafficking survivors, and they can go anywhere they want online.”
The Next Phase
After meeting certain requirements, the women “graduate” from The WellHouse. “We actually host a graduation ceremony for them,” Bunn says. That brings about the third phase of the program, Next Steps to Independence (NSI). “Some women move back to their hometowns in this phase, but some aren’t financially ready to live alone,” she says. “NSI takes place in one of our buildings that contains apartments with two bedrooms each, for 16 total beds. They must apply to live there and must have full-time jobs or almost full time and be enrolled in college. They must have their own transportation, too.”
Most of the women in NSI apartments will have saved up to buy a car, but The WellHouse helps with that, too. “Car day is a big day here,” Bunn says. “We have a car fund from donors, and we’ll use it to match their savings up to $2,500.” Women may live one to two years in these apartments, because they need that time to work out the kinks of their new lives. “They pay us $200 a month rent,” Bunn says. “That money goes into a savings account, and we give it all back to them when they leave here.”
Some of the programs offered at The WellHouse include art therapy by a retired schoolteacher, equine therapy at King’s Home in Chelsea, quilting classes taught by women from a local church, and ShopWell, a work-therapy program where the women make jewelry that is sold to the public online, at events and on campus. ‘After they work with ShopWell for six months, The WellHouse helps them find part-time jobs in the community, usually with some of their sponsoring partners. “We also offer job preparation courses,” says Bunn. “We partner with WorkFaith, a career preparation organization.”
Volunteers help, too. “We have a volunteer training program for individuals who are interested,” Bunn says. “They can house sit for a while to give a house mom a break, handle transportation, cut grass, do repairs, mentor, etc. We’re always looking for more volunteers.” Some of the administrative work is done by volunteers, while others sort clothing for Elizabeth’s Closet, the campus clothing boutique furnished by donations. “Every quarter we have a shopping day for the women,” Bunn says. “Volunteers sort the donations and tidy up.”
As a ministry, The WellHouse philosophy is that a spiritual encounter with God and the healing power of Jesus are paramount to recovery. However, staffers don’t force the issue. Participation at monthly chapel services is voluntary. “Spirituality is threaded throughout our programming because we want everyone to know they are loved by God and us,” Bunn says. “We have Bible studies and morning prayer. But we support and facilitate believers of other religions besides Christianity, too.”
The WellHouse operates on an annual budget of $2.4 million, which is funded 100% by donations and grants from individuals, churches, foundations, corporations, nonprofits and federal funding for victims of crime. Fundraising gets a boost with special events in January and October. The one in October is a luncheon where a sex-trafficking survivor shares her story. The January affair is a big party called the Grace Gala, held this year at Thomas Jefferson Towers in Birmingham. “We may have to find a bigger venue next year,” Bunn says. “We had 300 people attend this year.”
The newest program for the ministry, WellHouse Child, is aimed at girls between the ages of 11 and 18. “We have learned that lots of teens are being trafficked,” Bunn says. “They’re minors, and there used to be no safe house in Alabama for trafficked minors.” WellHouse Child is housed in a new, separate building erected in 2020, and will hold 10 minors. “We’re more than excited to begin this new program,” Bunn says. “These girls are identified the same way as other women, through law enforcement, hospitals, health care workers, families. Sometimes, their families are the perpetrators.”
WellHouse Child is a lot like the adult program but tailored to children. They have the same issues as older women. “Their needs are the same, but more extreme,” Bunn says. “They are more likely to run away. Some may need more psychological care than we can give them.”
WellHouse partners with Children’s of Alabama, where the youth are assessed and may have to return for medical attention. “We’re very excited because there’s such a huge need for this program,” Bunn says. “We take residents from all over the U.S. We’ll be able to pave the way through helping others understand how to do this work.”
Human trafficking is such a hidden crime thatit’s hard to get statistics, according to Bunn. Social media plays a big part in it, because victims are groomed and sold online through commercial sex ads. “Only one percent of cases are from abductions,” she says. “Most involve a manipulation process.” Men can be manipulated into the sex trade, too, and while The WellHouse only accepts women now, Bunn, Potter and Worthington hope to add a program for men someday.
Every woman who winds up at The WellHouse comes of her own will. There are no contracts, and the only requirement is the desire to get well. “As much love and support as we give, it’s a lot of work for these women,” Bunn says.
Anna couldn’t agree more. “At times, I wanted to give up, but I couldn’t,” she says. “I’m grateful I had the courage to stay at WellHouse.”
Editor’s Note:If you suspect a girl or woman is the victim of human sex trafficking, you may call The WellHouse local Crisis Line at 205-306-6058 or their toll-free Crisis Line at 800-991-0948. For more information about their program or volunteering, send a note to info@the-wellhouse.org
St. Clair County’s courthouse stands like a beacon, centering a perfectly square intersection in downtown Ashville. The structure itself has undergone many renovations since Littleton Yarbrough built it in 1844, but it remains central to the county’s legal system, making it the oldest operating courthouse in Alabama. Many of the stories created within its walls and the legal system itself were shaped by those who served as its judges.
A sampling of those earliest years gives a glimpse of how history was made and who made it:
John Ash
John Ash was born Nov. 30, 1783, to William and Jane (Fleming) Ash. The family originated in York County, S.C., and, making their way south, found themselves in Franklin County, Ga., for a time. John, his brother, James, and their families made their way to Alabama.
In January 1817, they were making their way on the Old Montevallo Road, which led through modern-day Ashville and Odenville in Beaver Valley. They camped there and spying game in the distance, John dismounted his wagon, took aim with his rifle and fired. The shot caused the horse to bolt, and Betsy, John and Margaret Ash’s daughter, was thrown from the wagon.
John Ash historic marker
She lay unconscious for three days until Jan. 27, when she died at the age of 3. Not finding it in their hearts to leave Betsy alone, the family stayed with her. A log dogtrot house was constructed for John’s family and his wife’s parents, the Rev. Thomas and Ann Newton. This house, the Ash-Newton Cabin, still stands today and is the oldest structure in St. Clair County.
John would have a two-story house built not far from the Newtons and his beloved daughter.
In November 1819, Ash succeeded James Thomason as county judge and remained in that position until the next election in 1821. Ash was the first man elected to that position, as Judge Thomason had been appointed by Gov. William Wyatt Bibb.
In 1820, Ash, Joel Chandler, John Cunningham, John Massey and George Shotwell were selected by Bibb to secure a Seat of Justice for the county. The first courts had taken place at the home of Alexander Brown near present-day Ashville in Old Town, or “Cataula” in the Creek Language.
On Nov. 28, 1822, St. Clairsville, which covered 30 acres and was in the center of St. Clair County, was incorporated. In less than a month, on Dec. 12, the town was chosen by the five commissioners as the county seat.
St. Clairsville was owned by Philip Coleman, a man who possessed great business skills. He and the commissioners had a model of the town built and began dividing it into lots and selecting locations for the county courthouse and jail.
After this process, Coleman and the commissioners agreed to rename the town Ashville, to honor their friend Judge John Ash.
The courts were moved to Ashville well in advance of the construction of the first courthouse, an 1824 wooden structure that stood on the site where Ashville Rexall Drug was located and is now home to Ashville Dental Care.
The new courthouse was built in 1844 by Littleton Yarbrough, and although renovated several times, part of the original 1844 structure still stands, encased in the modern building, making it the oldest working house of justice in the state of Alabama.
On Oct. 8, 1823, Ashville was purchased by the commissioners for $10,000. Judge Ash would continue to serve his community and county as state senator from 1825-1826, then 1832-1833 and 1844-1845.
Margaret died in 1855, aged 63, and was reunited with her husband on April 1, 1872, when he departed this life at the age of 89. They are both buried at Liberty Cemetery in Odenville and had a total of 13 children together.
Their original grave markers were donated to the City of Ashville by the John Scoggins family and are on public display at Ashville City Hall.
E.J. Robinson
When Henry DeBerry resigned as probate judge in 1871, Gov. Robert B. Lindsay appointed E.J. Robinson, a young Ashville attorney, to that office. In 1874 Judge Robinson was elected to a full, four-year term, and the voters kept him in office until 1886.
Elisha James Robinson
Elisha James Robinson was born on Sept. 16, 1846, to George and Mary Robinson, who had come to Alabama from Newberry District, S.C., in 1849. The family first lived in Elyton, but in 1857, they purchased a farm two-and-a-half miles away from Ashville.
When he was 17 years old, Robinson entered the Confederate Army. He joined Company E, 53rd Alabama Infantry Regiment in June of 1863, and at once was in the thick of battle at Big Shanty. On Dec. 13, 1864, the discharge of a torpedo caused him to lose his right foot. He was soon discharged and returned to his studies. He read law and passed the bar examination at the age of 22. He was only 25 when he became probate judge.
Judge Robinson was married three times – first to Susan Vandegrift, then to Lena Ligon, and the third time to Laura Weatherall. Two of his sons, Harold and Memory Leake Robinson, were Birmingham lawyers.
After his service as probate judge of St. Clair County, Judge Robinson moved to East Lake and sold his beautiful Victorian home, built in the 1880s, to James P. and Clara (Inzer) Montgomery, which would remain in the Montgomery family for many years until it was transformed into a bed and breakfast inn known as “Roses and Lace.”
It is now owned by the Nicholas Lemonds Family. Judge Robinson served as mayor of East Lake for a number of years and was active in promoting public schools there. Robinson Elementary School was named for him.
He is interred with his third wife at East Lake Cemetery.
James Lewis Herring
James Lewis Herring was born in St. Clair County on Sept. 7, 1876, to James P. Herring and Elizabeth Forman. After his father’s death of brain fever in 1878 at the age of 27, Elizabeth remarried and moved from Springville to Ashville.
Judge James Herring campaign pin
The young James would one day be a football player and graduate of the University of Alabama. He received his degree in law from Georgetown University.
In 1906, at the age of 29, James became the president of Ashville Savings Bank and would serve in that capacity for the remainder of his life. On Dec. 21, 1910, he married Esther Nunnally and the next year was elected probate judge. During his four-year term, Judge Herring championed for new and better roads in St. Clair County.
The Herrings moved to Gadsden in 1916 and there, the former judge would be engaged in real estate and civic activities. He was also a devout Mason.
Judge Herring passed away on Sept. 13, 1952, at his home and was interred at Forrest Cemetery. He would be reunited with his wife almost two years later, when Esther passed away at the age of 68 and was laid to rest beside him.
In 1884, Judge Herring’s uncle, Augustus B. Herring, transformed the family home in Springville into the Herring Hotel, which stood until it destroyed by a fire on Christmas Day in 1960.
Curtis D. Adkins Sr.
Curtis D. Adkins Sr. was born on Jan. 24, 1897, in Moody, attended high school in Leeds and returned from his World War I service in France to become St. Clair County tax collector at the age of 23, the youngest person to ever serve in that office.
Curtis D. Adkins
In 1928, he became St. Clair County probate judge and served as vice president and president of the Leeds State Bank for many years, as well as president of the Ashville Savings Bank. He was also a livestock dealer with large farming interests and served as post adjutant for the American Legion chapter in Ashville.
Death came suddenly and unexpectedly early in the morning on Wednesday, Feb. 22, 1956, and he was buried at Ashville City Cemetery. At the time of his death, he was director of the U.S. Savings Bond sales program for the state of Alabama.
Judge Adkins was married to the former Erin Westbrook, and their children were Joe, Curtis Jr., and Carolyn (Adkins) Spann. His grandson is the noted television meteorologist and author, James Spann.
Adkins’ portrait was donated by the Joe Adkins Family to the Ashville Museum & Archives. It was painted by Floyd Stewart, Bessemer, a painter and St. Clair native. l
