HISTORIC

Location: County Road 47 south of Shorterville, Alabama Marker Dedication or Erection Date: 2006 Erected by the Historic Chattahoochee Commission, the Henry County Historical Group, and the Descendants of D.H. Zorn, 2006.

SIDE 1: Captain Dennis Harrison Zorn Dennis Harrison Zorn was born in 1843 at Lodi, Barbour County, Alabama. At the outbreak of the Civil War, he entered the service in the 15th Alabama Infantry. He lost an arm at Cold Harbor in 1864 and was sent home where he raised a company of soldiers known as Capt. Zorn's Alabama Reserves. This company was attached to the 63rd Alabama Infantry. In 1868, he married his first cousin, Nancy Caroline Zorn. In politics, he was one of the few Republicans in Henry County in a period of Democratic domination of the South. Both Capt. and Mrs. Zorn died in 1899 and were buried near Lodi.

SIDE 2: Zornville Circa 1880, Capt. D.H. Zorn settled here on a sizeable plantation where he operated a legal, bonded whiskey distillery. Whiskey was shipped in volume on barges from Zorn's Landing on the Chattahoochee River. Joe Lovett was the still foreman. The Zornville post office was established in 1883, and operated until 1904 with W.L. Pelham as the last postmaster. Zorn operated a mercantile, cotton gin, gristmill and other enterprises, along with bee hives, vineyards, orchards and a cheese processing facility along with this farming interest. Capt. Zorn practiced fold medicine and was known as "Doc Zorn" to many.

Location: Located near the McKemie Bridge on Alabama Highway 10, fourteen miles east of Abbeville, Alabama. Marker Dedication or Erection Date: February 11, 1979 Erected by the Historic Chattahoochee Commission, the Henry County Historical Group, and the Descendants of D.H. Zorn, 2006.

First settler crossings were made here prior to 1817 on a log ferry operated by Robert Irwin. First bridge built by Prescott and Bemis and destroyed by flood of 1855. Second wooden covered bridge was completed in 1869 by ex-slave Horace King. Third was the Henry-Clay cantilever bridge opened in 1925. Fourth is the present McKemie Bridge opened in 1973. This river was the number one highway for local prehistorical man long before Christ.

Location: Intersection of Alabama Highway 27 and Henry County Road 7 (Old Center Community) Marker Dedication or Erection Date: September 25, 1988 Erected by the Historic Chattahoochee Commission and the Henry County Historical Society, 1988.

SIDE 1: The Cureton Bridge Post Office was established here August 21, 1850. The first postmaster was James U. Cureton who served until 1852. John A. Wood became postmaster and continued in this position until the office was discontinued in 1866. It was re-established July 21, 1870 with Daniel A. Wiggins as postmaster until 1880. The next postmaster was Nancy Willis who served until the post office was discontinued on September 17, 1904 and moved to Capps Station. The mail carrier at that time was Jackson Riley. Erected by the Historic Chattahoochee Commission and the Henry County Historical Society, 1988.

SIDE 2: Cureton Bridge Cureton Bridge was an old settlement named for the Cureton family who settled here in the early 1820's. The village was located on the East Fork of the Choctawhatchee River in the western part of Henry County and the northeast of what later became the Center Community. William Jackson Cureton, 1760-1832, was a native of Virginia who moved here about 1825. He constructed a private bridge across the Choctawhatchee River one mile east of here which was the first to be built over this waterway.

Location: Located at the Church: 301 East Church Street, Headland, Alabama. Marker Dedication or Erection Date: August 19, 1979 Erected by the Historic Chattahoochee Commission and the Henry County Historical Society, 1979.

Organized in 1867, as the Baptist Church of Christ at Bethlehem, it was located at 1 Cleveland Street. Reverend Thomas Scott was first pastor. William Whitehead was first deacon. Moved to East Church and Peachtree Street in 1893. Moved to present site in 1909. Name changed to Headland Missionary Baptist Church. Name changed to First Baptist Church of Headland in 1954.

Location: Located near the McKemie Bridge on Alabama Highway 10, fourteen miles east of Abbeville, Alabama. Marker Dedication or Erection Date: January 21, 1979 Erected by the Historic Chattahoochee Commission and the Henry County Historical Society, 1978.

The frontier village of Franklin was established here by Colonel Robert Irwin in 1814 on the site of the Indian town of Cheeska Talofa. It was the first colonial village in east Alabama. Fort Gaines, Georgia, was constructed in 1816 to protect the early settlers in this former Creek Indian Nation, West. Twenty-one blocks were laid off for this promising river port of Abbeville. This prospective early city never recovered from the destructive flood of 1888.

Location: Headland Public Square, Headland, Alabama Marker Dedication or Erection Date: 2005 Erected by the Historic Chattahoochee Commission, the Henry County Historical Group, Headland Kiwanis Club and The Headland National Bank, 2005.

SIDE 1: James Joshua Head (1839-1927) founded Headland in 1871 as Heads Land. He patented land, platted the town and built his home. The Post Office opened, as Headland, on October 10, 1871. J. J. Head sold Headland to Hosey C. Powell in 1879, who sold to Dr. Wyatt S. Oates in 1880. J. J. Head moved to Tampa, Florida in 1883 and later established Lake Magdalene. Headland incorporated in 1884 with 26 white and 4 black petitioners. The railroad and depot were built in 1893. Headland grew into Henry Countys largest city by 2000.

SIDE 2: HEADLAND PUBLIC SQUARE This public square was laid off in 1871 by J. J. Head with a vision for a branch court house. Henry County voters decided in the 1879 and 1885 court house site elections not to locate a court house on the public square. Henry has been Alabamas only County with three court houses at the same time. The Alabama Supreme Court ruled in 1908 that the town of Headland had title to the square instead of Dr. W. S. Oates (1852-1913), who had claimed title when he purchased the town in 1880. Dr. Oates was instrumental in the development of Headland. The first public statue in Henry County was erected on the square in 1926 and the square was paved in 1935.

Location: Located on the lawn of the Henry County Courthouse, Abbeville, Alabama. Marker Dedication or Erection Date: March 18, 1979 Erected by the Historic Chattahoochee Commission and the Henry County Historical Society, 1979.

Upon formation, Henry County was the largest county within Alabama, composing all or portion of the present counties of Barbour, Coffee, Covington, Crenshaw, Dale, Geneva, Houston and Pike. When the youngest county of Houston was formed in 1903, Henry became the smallest. Franklin, the dead river port of Abbeville on the Chattahoochee River, was the colonial settler's first beachhead into the wild west of Creek Indian Territory after 1814. Old Henry was the original Alabama Wiregrass area.

Location: There are two markers. One is located at the Screamer Fire Station #1 on County Road 97 and the other is located two miles south of Chester Chapel Church on Alabama Highway 95 at mile marker 57 Marker Dedication or Erection Date: 2005 Erected by the Historic Chattahoochee Commission, The Henry County Historical Group and by Friends of the Creek Indians.

The Treaty of Fort Jackson on August 9, 1814 by Major General Andrew Jackson on behalf of the President of the United States of America and the Chiefs, Deputies and Warriors of the Creek Indian Nation, established a boundary line between the Mississippi Territory and the Creek Nation. The line ran across present-day Henry County from the mouth of Hardridge Creek to south of Chester Chapel Church. The Creek Treaty of 1832 ceded this reservation line allowing Henry County's northeast boundary to be extended from this line north to White Oak Creek. This is the only instance when Henry County gained land.

Location: Located on Alabama Highway 10 at Shorterville, Alabama. Marker Dedication or Erection Date: May 20, 1979 Erected by the Historic Chattahoochee Commission and the Henry County Historical Society, 1979.

Site of the 1831 Irwin Homeplace where 50,000 acres of land was owned by Major General William Irwin (1794-1850). He was an Indian fighter, farmer, politician, statesman, and considered one of the nation's richest and most influential men. A portion of his land was awarded for services rendered during the Indian Wars. Irwinton (Eufaula) was his namesake. He was a major force in the disposition of the last Indian lands. He drowned in the Chattahoochee River and was buried near his homesite.

Location: Intersection of CR 31 and CR 119 (Old 431) at Lawrenceville, Alabama Marker Dedication or Erection Date: November 12, 1978 Erected by the Historic Chattahoochee Commission and the Henry County Historical Society, 1978.

SIDE 1: This cultural, educational and religious center in east Alabama was settled in 1823 and named for Joseph Lawrence, prominent pioneer, farmer, and extensive land owner. A Baptist and a Methodist Church were established here prior to 1830. The first settlers of this area came from the Carolinas and Georgia, crossing the Chattahoochee River at Franklin and squatting here until land could be purchased in 1828.

SIDE 2: Lawrenceville Academy The first and foremost educational facility in east Alabama opened here prior to 1840. It later became the Masonic Male and Female Institute. This pioneer school was active for 50 years graduating such outstanding personalities as Anson West, DDV, Methodist minister, missionary, author, educator, and William C. Oates, Governor of Alabama, Colonel C.S.A., General U.S.A., and author.

Location: County Road 92, Screamer Community Marker Dedication or Erection Date: April 23, 1989 Erected by the Historic Chattahoochee Commission and the Henry County Historical Society, 1989.

SIDE 1: Also called Liberty Chapel, the Church was organized circa 1830 and originally located three miles northeast of this site, on the Old Liberty Church Road. Anson West, the prominent Methodist historian was licensed to exhort there November 3, 1855. In 1873, the building was dismantled and moved to this site, donated by the Peacock Family, to be used as a place of Divine Worship. It was used as a schoolhouse for many years. Using much of the original material, the church was rebuilt in 1914 and later enclosed with brick. Sunday School rooms, bathrooms, kitchen and fellowship hall were added in recent years.

SIDE 2: Hilliardsville Hilliardsville post office was established near here on May 18, 1850, with Washington H. Peacock as its first postmaster, followed in 1860 by John M. Woods. Discontinued during the Civil War, the post office was re-established in 1872 with Matilda Thompson as postmistress. Later appointments were John P. Crawford in 1876, Matilda Thompson again in 1878, James A. Phillips and Richard Knight in 1882, Mattie R. Bedell in 1883, John C. McLeod, Maggie E. Johnston in 1884, and William F. Watford in 1887. His son, John W. Watford served from 1897 until October 15, 1907, when mail service was transferred to the Abbeville Post Office.

Location: South Doswell Street (Hwy. 95 S.) Abbeville, Alabama Marker Dedication or Erection Date: May 27, 1979 Erected by the Historic Chattahoochee Commission and the Henry County Historical Society, 1979.

Erected to the Glory of God. The Methodist Church in Abbeville was established circa 1830 as a mission of the Lawrenceville circuit. The 1850 church was erected north of the present post office on East Washington Street. Present church retains most of its original features including bell and belfry, parquet ceiling and hand finished beams. First Sunday School annex built in 1949 with addition in 1958. Proclaimed Henry County's number one historical structure in 1973 by Henry County Historical Society.

Location: Located at the Church at the intersection of Henry County Road 54 and Henry County Road 75 in Edwin, Alabama. Marker Dedication or Erection Date: September 16, 1979 Erected by the Historic Chattahoochee Commission and the Henry County Historical Society, 1979.

This early settlers' church was constituted as a member of the Choctawhatchee Association District here on the Eufaula-Ozark Wagon Train Road, April 23, 1860. First Presbytery was M.W. Helms and J.J. Dickerson, Deacon William Hasten and Clerk D.R. Clanton. About 50 members composed the first membership. Other elders were: Aaron Helms, S.S. Pellum, L. H. Stuckey, P. L. Thomas, Henry Pellum, Albert Lee Ray, W. I. Kelley, Alto Walker, Tom McGowin, R.K. Blaskshear, and S. J. B. Dallas.

Location: 1115 Stovall Drive, Haleburg, Alabama Marker Dedication or Erection Date: July 24, 2004 Erected by the Historic Chattahoochee Commission, the Mt. Zion Baptist Church Family and the Henry County Historical Group, Inc., 2004.

Constituted to the Glory of God, circa 1871, by former slaves in the area that later became Halesburg (now Haleburg), Alabama in 1885. Mt. Zion Church is one of the oldest African-American wooden frame churches in service in Alabama's Wiregrass section. The church cemetery contains many graves of former slaves who gained their freedom at the end of the Civil War in 1865. Tradition states that the original sanctuary remains with improvements added over time. Mt. Zion Baptist Church was placed on the Alabama Register of Historic Places in 1985. In 2003, preservation efforts were finished by the church family with help from many friends.

Location: West Columbia Road (County Road 12), Newville, Alabama Marker Dedication or Erection Date: November 6, 2005

SIDE 1: NEWVILLE BAPTIST CHURCH A small Baptist congregation met under a brush arbor in 1876, near what later became the village of Wells which grew into the town of Newville, Alabama. A log church called Center was erected in 1881; it stood about 500 yards from the present church. Sunday School was organized in 1890. Farmer's Union Grange Hall, a two story building, was later constructed -- Center Church held meetings on the first floor. Center became the Newville Baptist Church in 1911. Grange Hall was torn down and a new frame church was built in 1913. The present brick church was built in 1923. Additions were added in 1951 and 1958.

SIDE 2: NEWVILLE BAPTIST CHURCH CEMETERY James M. and Catherine Wells donated one half acre of land in 1887, for the site of the church and cemetery. The oldest known grave is William Y. Kirkland who died April 10, 1891. The church paid W. M. Harris fifty dollars in 1901 for two and one-half acres of land for the cemetery. In 1947, burial spaces were sold for 25 cents a square foot. Nancy Price gave the church one acre of land for the cemetery in 1958. There are over 700 marked and unmarked graves. The Newville Cemetery was listed on the Alabama Historic Cemetery Register in 2005.

Location: N. Broad Street (Alabama Hwy. 173), downtown Newville, Alabama Marker Dedication or Erection Date: November 7, 2004 Erected by the Historic Chattahoochee Commission, The Henry County Historical Group and Friends of Newville, 2004.

SIDE 1: Side 1 James Madison Wells founded a village called Wells circa 1882. When Abbeville Southern Railroad laid tracks through the town in 1893, its name was changed to Wells Station. The post office was built in 1894. Wells Station incorporated as "Newville" in 1903. The town of Newvillebecame prosperous with merchants, banks, lodges, doctors, churches, a Newville High School, a Rosenwald High School, societies, a newspaper, a depot, sawmills, cotton gins, mule stables and all the elements required by a developing town. Newville's slow decline commenced after the great depression due to farm mechanization and loss of commerce.

SIDE 2: NEWVILLE PIONEERS Pioneer men and women of Wells and Newville were farmers, housewives, laborers, tradesmen and entrepreneurs seeking a better life. These pioneers were risk takers who forged a new village and town. Some of these hard working adventurers included pioneering families of: James M. Wells, T. J. Bond, Moses M. Bond, Henry L. Brackin, John Griffin, H. C. Price, Joe Whiddon, Jim Griffin, Dr. Carl T. Jones, Dr. Littleton T. Hutto, James W. Capps, Bud Coley, Abner Jackson, Dr. A. L. Whigham, Lawrence Cotton, Eddie Kirkland, Joe McClendon, John W. Whiddon, Joseph S. Kirkland, William Kirkland and others.

Location: On County Road 89, Newville, Alabama. Marker Dedication or Erection Date: June 7, 2009 Erected by the Historic Chattahoochee Commission, The Henry County Historical Group, Inc., and Friends of Center Methodist Church. 2009.

SIDE 1: OLD CENTER METHODIST CHURCH The church was organized in 1859. The first building was a log structure located just NW of the present building. In the 1870's it was part of the Newton Circuit and was served by a minister who lived in the parsonage at Newton. He came by horseback and preached once a month. The second church was a wood structure. It was built from hand sawn timber. Mr. Taylor Harrison was head carpenter. In 1956, the current brick structure was built.

SIDE 2: OLD CENTER CEMETERY In 1858, Jehoiakim (Acom) and his wife Argent Gay Brannon gave ten acres of land for the church and cemetery. Acom was killed in May 1864 while serving in the Confederate Army. He is buried in the Marietta National Cemetery in Georgia. The oldest known grave is for William J. Cureton, a Revolutionary War soldier, who died in 1833. There are 14 known Civil War soldiers buried here as well as soldiers who served in WWI, WWII, Korea, and Vietnam. The cemetery has over 870 known graves. The Old Center Cemetery was listed on the Alabama Historic Cemetery Register in 2007.

Location: Corner of West Williams and East Washington (AL Hwy. 10) at Old Abbeville Depot Marker Dedication or Erection Date: January 1, 1991 Erected by the Historic Chattahoochee Commission, Henry County Historical Society and the Great Southern Wood Preserving Company, Inc., 1991.

SIDE 1: Originally constructed about 1820 as a single pen log dwelling, this building was later enlarged into a dogtrot house and covered with weatherboards. It was situated next to the earliest Henry County road known as the Irwinton (Eufaula), Franklin, Columbia Postal-Stagecoach River Road. It is an excellent example of the oldest type of folk house in the lower Chattahoochee Valley. Preserved by the L.F. Mills family for over 100 years, this house was disassembled, moved and restored on this site by the A. J. Rane family of Abbeville.

SIDE 2: Abbeville Southern Railroad For the first 75 years of its history, Abbeville's commerce was tied directly to the Chattahoochee River by Indian trails and wagon roads. The arrival of the first train on the Abbeville Southern Railroad, November 27, 1893, signaled the dawn of a new era in Abbeville’s commercial life. In the December 1, 1893 issue of the Abbeville Times, the editor described the arrival which was received by "hundreds of people with happy and throbbing hearts." Railroad workers were treated to a holiday and parade the next day “with over one hundred and thirty mules and as many or more laborers leading the band.”

Location: 1947 Broad Street, Headland, Alabama Marker Dedication or Erection Date: April 29, 2007 Erected by the Historic Chattahoochee Commission, Henry County Historical Group and Rex Kirby of Tyler, Texas 2007.

SIDE 1: PINEY GROVE PRIMITIVE BAPTIST CHURCH AND CEMETERY An arm of the Shilo Primitive Baptist Church located near the Abby Creek, began meeting near the Three Cornered Pond just south of here in 1848. A new church called Piney Grove was constituted on April 21, 1849, by the hands of Elders Uriah M. Pellum and Pilot H. Edwards in the midst of a pine forest near Blackwoods Creek. The church was founded on the Gospel of Salvation by Grace, as taught in the Word of God. Charter members were James Kirkland, James C. Smith, Joseph Lock, James Lock, Willis Lock, Nancy Lock, Rebecca Lock and Morris Ronie. Members first met in a log school house located in the present cemetery.

SIDE 2: PINEY GROVE PRIMITIVE BAPTIST CHURCH AND CEMETERY New members were baptized nearby in Blackwoods Creek. The first church building constructed was here on lands deeded by William and Elizabeth Mims in 1858. The building was damaged by a storm in 1953, and was remodeled and bricked. Additions were added in 1996 and 2005. Remains of 500 Piney Grove worshippers of the Lord and their loved ones were resting in this cemetery in 2006. Earliest marked grave is W. R. Whitehead, who died on October 14, 1871. The Piney Grove Primitive Baptist Church is the oldest entity in the City of Headland, Alabama which was founded in 1871.

Location: Henry County Road 28 just off Highway 95 about 10 miles south of Abbeville, Alabama Marker Dedication or Erection Date: March 12, 2006 Erected by the Historic Chattahoochee Commission, the Henry County Historical Group and the Reuben Hicklin Hall Family, 2006.

SIDE 1: Reuben Hicklin Hall Log Home Reuben Hicklin Hall (1812-1890) and Mary Ann Strange (1814-1872) moved to Henry County by ox wagon from Washington County, Georgia, in 1845. They built a log home just south of here with slave labor. They were parents of five children. Four grandchildren were prominent newspaper men, with Grover Hall receiving a Pulitzer Price in 1928. Reuben later married Keziah Hardwick (1840-1907). Their two children were Robert Fowler Hall (1874-1961) and Helen Hall Barnes (1876-1909). The log home passed to Robert Fowler Hall and subsequently to his eldest son, Eddie Hickland Hall, a long time county clerk, and to his male descendants.

SIDE 2: Robert Fowler Hall Home This Queen Ann cottage style home was built in 1908 by Robert Fowler Hall and Oberia Dukes Hall (1876-1951). They reared thirteen children. Built of heart pine, the home had 4 fireplaces, 4 bedrooms and a parlor. Carbide lights and an indoor toilet were added later. Their farm had 750 acres of sugarcane, corn, cotton and peanuts. "Mr. Fowler" represented Henry County in 1918-1922 and 1938-1942 in the Alabama House and 1926-1930 in the Senate. His legislation resulted in the construction of State Highway 95 in 1929. This home stands on "Hall's Spur" road. William Loring Hall, his youngest son, became the owner in 1962.

Location: Highway 10 west from Abbeville at mile marker 133 Marker Dedication or Erection Date: April 9, 2006 Erected by the Historic Chattahoochee Commission, the Henry County Historical Group, State Representative Locy Baker, and State Senator Myron Penn, 2006.

SIDE 1: Rosa Parks Lived Here Civil rights pioneer Rosa McCauley Parks was born on February 4, 1913 in Tuskegee, Alabama. Shortly after her birth her parents, James and Leona Edwards McCauley, moved here to a 260 acre farm owned by her grandparents, Anderson and Louisa McCauley. Her father, a builder, designed and constructed the Henry County Training School for black students in 1914. After a few years in Henry County, Rosa and her mother moved to Pine Level, Alabama to live with her maternal grandparents while her father went north seeking new building opportunities.

SIDE 2: Rosa Parks Lived Here Rosa McCauley married Richard Parks, of Pine Level, in 1932. She returned to Henry County in 1944 on behalf of the NAACP to investigate the alleged rape of a young black woman by seven white youths. Rosa McCauley Parks gained national attention on December 1, 1955 when she refused to relinquish her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama bus to a white man. Her refusal to go to the back of the bus sparked a successful bus boycott that earned Rosa McCauley Parks the title of "Mother of the Civil Rights Movement in America". She died at her home in Detroit, Michigan on October 24, 2005.

Location: Located on the lawn of Abbeville City Hall, E. Washington St., Abbeville, Alabama. Marker Dedication or Erection Date: April 7, 1979 Erected by the Historic Chattahoochee Commission and the Henry County Historical Society, 1978.

SIDE 1: Pre-historical man; Creek Indian Nation, West 1519-1814; Spanish Florida 1540-1702; French Louisiana 1702-1763; British West Florida 1763-1780; Spanish West Florida 1780-1813; United States 1813-1861; Georgia Territory 1732-1802; Mississippi Territory 1798-1804; Alabama Territory 1817-1819; Washington County 1800-1812; Conecuh County 1818-1819; Confederate States of America 1861-1865; United States 1865-. Abbe, an Indian name of nearby Creek meaning a grove of dogwood trees.

SIDE 2: The oldest remaining colonial settlement in east Alabama from Florida to the Tennessee line and older than the County of Henry and the State of Alabama. An active trading post was located here in Alabama Territory on "The Hill" early in 1819. The first settler gateway to the Wiregrass was at Franklin, located 14 miles east.

Location: Henry County Road 47, south of Shorterville, Alabama Marker Dedication or Erection Date: July 4, 1996 Erected by The Historic Chattahoochee Commission and The Bennett Family, 1996.

SIDE 1: The Mansion" was built in the 1830's on this site by Colonel James Bennett and his wife, Harriet M. Grace. Tradition maintains that it was the only three story antebellum home in the Chattahoochee Valley. The top floor was a ballroom. Six columns spanned the façade which included a winding staircase. "The Mansion" could be seen from the Chattahoochee River and was know by riverboat travelers as "The Showplace of the South." James Bennett came to Alabama in 1817 with his father, Luke Bennett. They first settled on a ridge between what is now Clayton and Louisville along with James Arthur, Pious Chambers, and others.

SIDE 2: Showplace of the South The "Mansion" later burned to the ground leaving only the kitchen standing. Its construction of 10” x 10” beams set on concrete blocks made of sand and pebbles from the property. Cut nails and large steel spikes were used throughout the building. The cemetery here holds the graves of Colonel James Bennett; Bartlett Smith Bennett, infant son; James W. Bennett, CSA; John B. Bennett, CSA; the Bennett slaves; and the construction overseer from New York, Mr. Williams, who died of pneumonia before "The Mansion” was completed. Harriet Grace Bennett rests in an unmarked grave in the Shorterville Baptist Church cemetery near her son Thomas.

Location: Located at 300 Kirkland Street, Abbeville, Alabama. Marker Dedication or Erection Date: December 6, 1987 Erected by the Historic Chattahoochee Commission and the Abbeville Chamber of Commerce, 1986.

This rare, dual front door, double pen Creole cottage was constructed circa 1840 on the military three-notch road, now Kirkland Street. It is the oldest remaining structure in Abbeville. Earliest known owner was Confederate Colonel William Calvin Bethune, M.D. Last owner-dweller was Mollie Kennedy. To avoid immediate demolition, it was purchased in 1976, placed on the National Register in 1978 and initially restored by the Henry County Historical Society. It is presently owned by the Abbeville Chamber of Commerce.

Location: 300 Trawick Street, Abbeville, Alabama Marker Dedication or Erection Date: May 29, 1990 Erected by the Historic Chattahoochee Commission and the Henry County Historical Society, 1990

SIDE 1: This school and experiment station was created by Alabama Legislative Act No. 579, February 28, 1889. This was the first school in Alabama to offer free secondary education. SAAS was also the state's and Auburn’s first junior college. Probate Judge John B. Ward is known as the "father of the college". He lobbied for a two story brick building which finally was completed in 1898. The first 1889 classes were held at The Abbeville Academy until the main building was completed. Later, similar wooden structure schools were established in each congressional district.

SIDE 2: First Free Secondary School SAAS opened September 16, 1889 at The Abbeville Academy. Abbeville was referred to as "the educational center of the southeastern United States" by the Abbeville Times. Renowned Lawrenceville Academy headmaster Joseph A. Espy was the first president of the “agriculture college”. Local homes boarded the students from five counties and three states. The school had 227 students during the 1890 commencement, with graduating exercises lasting four days at the new brick courthouse on the square. Several name changes have occurred since its founding. In 1943, Abbeville Secondary Agriculture School became Abbeville High School.

Location: West of Newville, Alabama at 1624 County Road 73 Marker Dedication or Erection Date: October 29, 2006 Erected by the Historic Chattahoochee Commisson, Henry County Hisorical Group and the Union Springs Missionary Baptist Church 2006.

SIDE 1: UNION SPRINGS MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH AND CEMETERY Union Springs Missionary Baptist Church was dedicated to the Glory of God on September 19, 1896. Founders of the church included the Rev. Zack Deese, George Murray, Nathan Jones, Alec Cutchen, George Stokes, Marion Holland and Jasper Roney. The congregation first met in the Jones Valley School building which was constructed of logs. The school was located two miles northeast from the present site. Near the school were several gullies, each with a bubbling spring. From this union of springs came the name "Union Springs." Members were baptized in a pool of water that formed below these springs.

SIDE 2: UNION SPRINGS MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH AND CEMETERY Church members voted to construct a new one-room wooden frame church building in 1902. Elizabeth Jane Holland Jones donated land for the new church. The Holland-Jones family cemetery already existed on the property from which the present Union Springs Cemetery began. The earliest recorded buiral is Isaac M. Holland, son of Thomas B. and Roseannah Holland, who died on February 7, 1864. The community which surrounded the church also became known as "Union Springs." The church was damaged by a storm in 1949. The present Union Springs Church sanctuary and six classrooms were completed in 1951.