RSS Feed
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
From Our Files 23 years ago A crew tore out the old Bassetts Creek bridge on Old Highway 5 near Dickinson to make way for a new $412,000 bridge. The old, narrow bridge was built around 1925. Construction was underway on the new Pecan Grove Apartments on Highway 84, just west of Grove Hill Elementary School. The Grove Hill Baptist Church's educational building was formally named the Charles J. Granade Building at special Sunday services. Rev. and Mrs. Granade were recognized for their 34 years of ministry to the area. It was also announced during the service that the Granades had agreed to donate $150,000 to Samford University in Birmingham. A class action lawsuit was filed against the City of Jackson by a group of black Jackson residents to stop the upcoming July 10 municipal election. The suit sought to change the method of electing council members from an at-large method to single member districts. J. W. Andrews Jr., A. U. Elliott, Edythe White, Chester Tiggs and Earl L. Williams filed the suit. They would prevail in having single member districts put in place. May 3, 1984 40 years ago A rare front page editorial was short and to the point: "If you want a hospital in Grove Hill do not fail to go out to the City Hall next Tuesday and cast your ballot for the one-cent extra hospital tax. With the tax, the hospital can be built. Without it, it cannot. The issue is being checked squarely to the people of Grove Hill as to whether or not they want the hospital. If everybody does his or her part, we will have it. It is now up to you. Be sure to vote YES Tuesday." Grove Hill citizens would vote 389 to 15 for the tax. The Dixie Telephone Company, serving Coffeeville and Pine Hill, announced that it was merging with Continental Telephone Co. of St. Louis, Mo. Clarence Watters, president of the local Dixie company, said the merger was necessary for the system to meet the needs of industrial development in the area. The Grove Hill Municipal Planning Commission for the Town of Grove Hill voted in March to recommend to the Town Council that 40 acres of land owned by J. P. McKee (formerly known as the Forrest Lee Mathews tract) be purchased for a town park. Eight or 10 parcels were looked at but this 40 acres was deemed the "most desirable at a reasonable price." The council accepted the recommendation and made a down payment of $5,000, the money coming from a two-cent tobacco tax fund. The $20,000 balance was financed by the First Bank of Grove Hill for 10 years at a "reasonable rate of interest." The tobacco tax revenue funded several projects, including $1,947.75 last year for lighting a softball field in the CCHS park, light bill and other recreational equipment. "The summer recreational program initiated last year will be continued this summer...It appears income from the two cent tobacco tax will be adequate to meet the payments on the McKee property and finance a limited recreational and development program." Planning commission members included Chairman Clarence Watters, Mrs. John Wilson, Aubrey Feagin and Everette Stephens. May 4, 1967 80 years ago J. W. Mathews wrote of attending the 90th birthday party of John A. Bolen of Jackson. Bolen was born near Shiloh in Marengo County in 1837 and moved to Clarke County in 1860. He enlisted in the Confederate Army, in a company captained by Daniel McLeod known as the Dickinson Guards. He saw action in several "fierce engagements" and was captured and held a prisoner of war at Rock Island, Ill. He was paroled in July 1865 and returned home to be a "humble tiller of the soil," Mathews wrote. He married and raised 11 children. A big flood in the Mississippi River valley wiped out crops and homes. The Democrat carried a list of local contributors that totaled $165.35 earmarked for assistance. Contributions ranged from 25 cents, 50 cents, $1, all the way up to $10 (but not by many). The total raised by the county was $718.95, "have not heard yet from Thomasville." The original goal was $650. An ad for help: "Log sawyers wanted: We pay eight cents a log and pay in cash daily.- Bladon Springs Lumber Company, Service (Choctaw County), Ala."
May 5, 1927
|
for larger version       |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
