Tallapoosa County

Battle of Emucfau

  5 miles south, January 22, 1814. Jackson fortified position here during Creek Indian War (1813-14). Although repeated attacks by the Red Sticks were repulsed, Jackson withdrew with the Indians pursuing.

Battle of Enitachopko

  Creek Indian War 1813-14, 4 mi. E. Hostile Creeks attacked Andrew Jackson, withdrawing to Ft. Strother. Jan. 24, 1814. His troops broke through lines and kept on to Ft. Strother. But Creeks boasted that they defeated ‘Capt. Jack,' drove him to the Coosa.

Court Square   Anticipating the construction of a railroad through the country hamlet of Youngsville, Griffin Young in 1860 hired W. H. Whatley to survery a portion of his property and lay it off in forty-eight town lots. In the plan two acres were reserved for use as a public square. Delayed by the Civil War, the railroad was finally completed to the newly named Alexander City in 1874, and the business center developed around and to the north of the public square.
  In 1877, on the south side of the square, the members of the First Baptist Church erected their first house of worship.
  In 1889, during the term of mayor Buford L. Dean, a courthouse-city hall was erected on the site. The original building was destroyed in the 1902 fire. A second building was erected and a third in 1939.

The First Baptist Church
1872

 In the summer of 1872 a few residents in the village of Youngsville gathered for a revival held on the hill later occupied by Mistletoe Bough. Alexander City’s First Baptist Church and First United Methodist Church trace their origins from that union revival held under a bush arbor.
 On August 3, 1872 eleven men and women guided by Rev. A.K. Tribble met under the bush arbor and organized the Youngsville Baptist Church. J.T.P. Christian and B.B. Reams were elected deacons and T.S. Christian, Sr. was elected clerk. Following the town’s name change the next year, the church became the Alexander City Baptist Church. Sunday services were held once a month until 1879.
 On this site in 1877 the congregation erected its first house-of-worship, a wood-frame structure valued at $1,000. The church erected new sanctuaries on this site in 1906 and in 1967.

First United Methodist Church
1872

 Following a fire in June 1902 that destroyed the Methodist Episcopal Church of the North Alabama Conference, along with most of downtown Alexander City, the church leadership chose to relocate to this site.
 Construction began in 1903 on the neoclassical Romanesque style house of worship. The foundation stones were collected from a nearby farm, and the bricks and timbers were fabricated by local craftsmen within walking distance of the site. The first service in the completed structure was held in May 1906.
 The church traces its origin to a small group of Methodists led by Rev. William T. Patillo, who joined with people of other denominations for a union revival held under a bush arbor in the village of Youngsville in the summer of 1872.

First Presbyterian Church

  First Presbyterian Church was organized March 2, 1893. The church was made up of 17 members at the home of Robert Clinton Sandlin, who was installed as the First Ruling Elder. The church constructed their 1st building on this site in 1895. The church was the only buildng in the business district not destroyed by the fire on Friday, June 13, 1902.
  The postmaster used the church's basement for his office until the new Post Office was rebuilt. In the mid-1900s, the building was renovated by the law firm of Morris, Haynes, and Hornsby.

Fort Okfuskee

  6 mi. west. Built in 1735 by British from Carolina in futile attempt to gain trade of the Creek Indians from the French, located at Fort Toulouse, 40 mi. S. Okfuskee was the largest town in Creek Confederacy.

Grafenberg Medical Institute

  1852-1861. Alabama's first medical school. Trained physicians who rendered great service to the State and Confederacy. Closed by war and death of its founder, Phillip M. Shepard, M.D.

Horseshoe Bend Battleground

  Twelve miles north, there on March 27, 1814, General Andrew Jackson, commanding U. S. forces and friendly Indians, broke the power of the Creek Confederacy. (Located one mile north of Dadeville)

Johnson J. Hooper

Lyman Ward Military Academy

Lyman Ward Military Academy was founded in 1898 as the Southern Industrial Institute by Dr. Lyman Ward, a Universalist minister from New York. Dr. Ward established SII to educate the poor children of Alabama, many of whom had few opportunities due to the devastation caused by the Civil War and subsequent Reconstruction. With donations received from the citizens of Camp Hill and assistance from fellow reformers like Booker T. Washington, founder of Tuskegee Institute, Ward began his school with the goal of preparing young men and women for what he felt was “the work of life.”

Menawa, War Chief

  About 1766-1837. Indian farmer-merchant chose to resist whites' advance on Indians' lands. In Creek War he led Creeks at battle of Horseshoe Bend. His warriors were beaten by Jackson's superior force but Menawa escaped.

Needmore
1873

 Freedmen moving to the new market town of Youngsville in the early 1870s occupied homes along a street they called Needmore Street. They relocated their house of worship from near the present junction of South Central Avenue and Cherokee Road to the Needmore neighborhood where Methodists and Baptists shared a building.
 Missionaries from the Methodist Episcopal Church formed a congregation in Alexander City and, in 1873, Bishop Gilbert Haven appointed Rev. George Scott pastor of the new church. In 1876 the church became a charter member of the Central Alabama Conference. In 1895 the Bethel Baptist Church congregation constructed a separate house of worship. Great Bethel Baptist Church attained distinction in the 20^th century for its religious and social outreach programs under the leadership of its pastor of 45 years, Rev. Milton Nunn.

Rousseau's Raid

  Along Stow Ferry Road on July 16, 1864, a column of five federal cavalry regiments led by Major General Lovell H. Rousseau passed on their way to destroy the railroad at Opelika. Captain Thomas A. Elkin of the 5th Kentucky Cavalry in the lead detachment rode into Youngsville about 6:00 P.M. on the 16th. The Yankees scavenged and burned four tax-in-kind warehouses containing grain, cornmeal, and bacon.
  Crossing the Tallapoosa River in the darkness on the 16th, Col. William D. Hamilton of the 9th Ohio recalled: "Ever after we referred to the crossing of that river in the night with shudders. . . unpleasant as that of any battle."

The Savannah and Memphis Railroad

  The transformation of Youngsville from a country hamlet to a market town can be traced from the arrival of the railroad. The Savannah and Memphis Railroad was completed from Opelika to teh east side of the Tallapoosa River at Sturdivant in 1872. Anticipating the extension of the railroad to Youngsville, the grateful citizens in 1873 renamed the village's name to Alexander City in honor of Edward Porter Alexander, president of the S&M. On June 24, 1874 an excursion train pulled by an engine christened Simon Suggs steamed into Alexander City bringing dignitaries and visitors who joined thousands of residents to celebrate the inauguration of rail service.
  A passenger-freight depot erected in 1874 and rebuilt after the 1902 fire stood on the opposite side of the railroad from this site until relocated to Court Square in 1955.

Sidney Z. Mitchell, 1862-1944
Industrialist and Electrical Pioneer

  Born in Tallapoosa County, reared in Coosa County by his grandmother, Ann Jordan; educated at the United States Naval Academy.
  A pioneer in the generation of electricity throughout the world, his engineering and financial knowledge provided many of the guidelines for the production of the electric power we take for granted today.

Youngsville   Following the Creek Cession of 1832, settlers, mostly from Georgia and the Carolinas, occupied this section of the former Creek Nation. Among the first settlers was James Young who purchased land a half-mile west near a trading post called Georgia Store.
  Community life can be dated from 1837 when Griffin Young opened a post office in his store and eight men and women, "The Baptist bretheren settlers of Youngsville" organized Fellowship Primitive Baptist Church. The store and the church were within view of this site.
  For the first thrity-five years of its existence, Youngsville was a country hamlet of scattered farms, a store-post office and a church. The Civil War delayed the construction of a railroad and an ambitious plan by Griffin Young to promote a "town" on his property.
  Anticipating the arrival of the railroad, the Town of Youngsville was incorporated in 1872 and, the next year, the town's name was changed to Alexander City in honor of E. P. Alexander, president of the Savannah and Memphis Railroad.

• Newspapers on microfilm at ADAH
• Probate records on microfilm at ADAH
• Vital records on microfilm at ADAH
• County historical and genealogical societies
• Current county highway map from Department of Geography, The University of Alabama