ISSN-1071-2348 January 2018 The Jackson County Chronicles Volume 30, Number 1 In this issue: Please renew your membership in the JCHA: Our renewals are • A Tribute to John Neely: A trickling in very slowly this year. If your mailing label identifies you as seminal figure in restoring the Please Renew (meaning you were active in 2017) or Expired Scottsboro freight depot is (meaning you’ve not been active since 2016), please renew for 2018 or remembered in this tribute by convert to a life membership. David Campbell. • Sand Mountain Pottery: Once Our January Meeting: This quarter’s JCHA meeting will feature considered purely utilitarian, two of our favorite folks: Joyce Money Kennamer and JCHA board pottery produced on Sand member Judge John Graham. Joyce will speak about “The Rise and Mountain is now being recognized Decline of Skyline Colony,” and John for its uniqueness and artistry. will talk about the time in 1998 when • A profile of Thomas Jefferson the bulldozers were ready to level Bouldin: Our centennial tribute to historic Skyline School. This our county’s WWI veterans continues. presentation was originally made to a • Clarence Bloomfield Moore : In group at the Skyline Heritage 1914 and 1915, Clarence Association dinner last April. The Bloomfield Moore, the son of a meeting will be held on Sunday, wealthy Philadelphia family, January 28, 2018 at 2:00 p.m. at piloted his boat The Gopher along the Scottsboro Depot Museum. the Tennessee River unearthing native American artifacts. Thanks to our guest contributors in this issue: Blake Wilhelm, • A rail trip through Jackson archivist at Northeast Alabama Community College (NACC); Dr. County: In 1883, The Alabama David Campbell, president of NACC; and Betty Bouldin Knight, Herald described the county as it Fackler historian. They share their insights with our readers. looked from the railroad. • Red Sharp: From a 12-year-old The Stevenson Rail Hotel was badly damaged in October . logger to prominent entrepreneur, Speculation is that the rear of the building was struck by debris from Red Sharp made his mark in a passing train. In his “State of the City” address for the city of county lore. Stevenson, Mayor Rickey Steele expressed doubt that the structure • Hats: An examination of the would be repaired. It is possible that the brick will be salvaged and culture and business of women’s used to build another, perhaps similar, structure. Jen Stewart is hats. leading the JCHA’s effort to preserve this structure. The second AppalachiaBama podcast, produced by NACC’s About this Publication: The Jackson County Chronicles is archives department, is now available online. The podcast focuses on published quarterly by The Jackson Scottsboro singer Nolan Strong, an early pioneer in “Doo Wop” and County Historical Association. R&B music. The podcast is linked from the JCHA web page Editor: Annette Norris Bradford jchaweb.org. Associate Editor: David Bradford Editor Emeritus: Ann B. Chambless Erratum: Don Hodges, who provided the picture of Laurel Street used on page 7 of the October 2017 Chronicles, wishes us all to know that he is not nearly old enough to be in a photo taken in 1937, that the male child in the photo is his brother Tommy. © The Jackson County Historical Association January 2018 !1 of !26 ISSN-1071-2348 January 2018 Tribute to Mr. John Neely With the recent passing (December 3, 2017) of Mr. City of Scottsboro. Importantly, the city under Mayor John Neely, members of the Jackson County Historical Price’s leadership and his advisor/friend John Neely Association (JCHA) lost a great friend, one who had were ready to take on the responsibility for the done much for the organization during a very building with the understanding that the JCHA would important time. Mr. Neely was instrumental in manage and raise money to restore the building. John helping save what has become one of the city of Neely’s influence and political acumen were key to this Scottsboro and the Tennessee Valley’s signature happening. With his guidance, and that of Mayor buildings—the Scottsboro Freight Depot. In the Price, the City of Scottsboro and Norfolk Southern mid-1990s the building was threatened with Railroad closed the deal on what previously had looked demolition, just as surely as it had been during that like mission impossible. Soon thereafter, Mr. Neely, Civil War skirmish that occurred at the Depot in 1865. myself, Mayor Price and others in the JCHA obtained a Only this time, it was officials of the Norfolk Southern $10,000 grant for the City of Scottsboro (with a Railroad Company, owners of the building, who had $10,000 match) from the Alabama Historical expressed their intention to demolish the building that Commission to reroof the Depot building. It was felt they had come to consider a liability. that a new roof would stabilize the interior of the building and prevent further deterioration. This roof Recognizing the significance of the Scottsboro Depot, helped maintain the interior of the building until a new a number of citizens, most associated with the JCHA, wave of preservationists could step forward years later began working to see what could be done to save this and restore the building into the outstanding facility it historic landmark. John Neely was one of those is today. These preservationists, many still active today, individuals, and his role in saving the Depot was have fought the third skirmish in the life of the important. Mr. Neely was a retired State Farm Scottsboro Depot—raising the funds and doing the Insurance executive and friend of the Scottsboro work to get the building restored. The history of the mayor at the time, Mayor Louis Price. It was John Depot is a fascinating one, as are the stories that went Neely who worked with Mayor Price and City Planner on behind the scenes to save the building from Curtis Davis to create a plan to preserve the Depot for demolition. the city. There were certainly others involved in the early days As these local political ties were maintained and of this “Save the Depot” effort. I recall Ms. Drenda support from the city secured, local citizens worked to King, Mr. Clyde Broadway, Mrs. Ann Chambless, and convince Norfolk Southern officials and the public that Mr. Bob Gamble with the Alabama Historical the building should be preserved. These efforts took Association all being involved and playing important many forms, such as conducting research that showed roles. Architect Harvie Jones of Huntsville helped that the Civil War skirmish was an intense battle that with designs for the restoration of the building. involved African-American Union troops who acted (Please forgive me if I have failed to mention others heroically; enlisting the aid of the Alabama Historical who were involved.) Looking back, it is easy to see Commission, which declared the Depot a threatened what an important role Mr. John Neely had in these Alabama treasure; bringing in the Auburn University efforts, and for those of us fortunate to know and work DesignAlabama team to show how town development with him, we’ll always remember his warmth, wisdom, could occur that would feature the Scottsboro Depot; wit, perseverance, and skill with people. Ultimately, and gaining public support through news releases and John Neely left a lasting imprint on the people and articles which showed how important the Depot had town that he loved. He will be missed. been to the town. Eventually, these efforts culminated in the Depot being added to the National Register of Dr. David Campbell Historic Places. Negotiations with the city and Norfolk Southern officials went on for some time until an agreement was reached. Norfolk Southern Railroad officials eventually did decide that it would be in both their best interest and that of the city to donate the Depot building to the © The Jackson County Historical Association January 2018 !2 of !26 ISSN-1071-2348 January 2018 The Sand Mountain Pottery Tradition: Art from the Earth The Potters’ Legacy Although already prized by collectors, and known as “East Alabama Pottery,” it wasn’t until the 1980s that the mystery of the origin of Sand Mountain pottery was unearthed. Collector and researcher Ron Countryman established that “East Alabama” pottery was a product of the Belcher’s Gap community on Sand Mountain. Countryman discovered this fact while researching for the 1986 exhibition of Pottery from the Mountains of Alabama at the Bessemer Hall of History, which compared pottery from Sand Mountain and Sterret. Improved transportation into Sand Mountain put an end to this artisan pottery making prior to World War I. Mass-produced pottery arrived from the North, and a stoneware manufacturing plant was built in nearby Fort Payne. All that remains of these potteries that produced such sought-after art are a few sherd piles spread throughout Jackson and DeKalb counties. The Davidsons Although the makers of stoneware on Sand Mountain in the late 19th and early 20th centuries considered their work to be functional and utilitarian, art collectors and scholars around the world covet the pieces today for their quality and aesthetic beauty. The work of several inter-connected families in the Belcher’s Gap/Rodentown area of DeKalb County, Alabama is particularly prized. The first of the potter families in this area was the Davidson (or Davison) family. Brothers Azel and Abraham Burdyne Davidson bought two tracts of land in the southeastern section of Sand Mountain and moved their families here from White County, Georgia around 1858. The brothers, along with Abraham’s sons, Alvin Steele Davidson and Asberry F. Davidson, made large storage jars and jugs with a runny brown-green alkaline glaze that they sold locally.