HISTORIC MARKERS IN TALLADEGA COUNTY
& OUR SISTER COUNTIES

Inscription:
"Here, on a gentle west slope just outside of the original town limits, lies the earliest public cemetery in Sylacauga. The earliest tombstone remaining in the cemetery dates to 1839. Its location and the adjacent family plots of later dates reveal careful planning of the cemetery. Buried here are early community citizens, among them soldiers of the War of 1812 and the Civil War, Masons, doctors, ministers, land developers, and merchants of "Old Town" Sylacauga. Most of the tombstones are carved from beautiful white marble quarried nearby.The Herd brothers. three skilled Scottish stone masons, first located the rich marble deposits and are buried in this cemetery.

"Listed in the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage on September 15, 1975"

Erected 2019 by the City of Sylacauga.

Location. 33° 10.039′ N, 86° 14.969′ W. Marker is in Sylacauga, Alabama, in Talladega County. Marker is on East Ft. Williams Street east of North Broadway Avenue (Alabama Route 21), on the left when traveling east.

Inscription:
"Marble City Cemetery opened for public burials in 1898 when the City of Sylacauga purchased one acre of a wheat field from James T. Persons. Originally a private burial ground of the George W. Pearson family, the earliest burial dates from 1876. The city expanded the cemetery in 1919 and 1937. This ten acre cemetery is a mirror of the history of Sylacauga’s marble production. Local stone cutters and men from Italy, Hungary, and Scotland used this area’s native white marble to carve these beautiful monuments. Marble City Cemetery is the resting place for veterans of several wars including one Union and nine Confederate soldiers. Also interred here are Talladega County’s earliest settlers and area residents including eight mayors, a probate judge, and Congressman William F. Nichols.

"Listed in the Alabama Historic Cemetery Register"

Erected 2009 by Perpetual Care Committee

Location. 33° 10.372′ N, 86° 15.579′ W. Marker is in Sylacauga, Alabama, in Talladega County. Marker is at the intersection of West 4th Street and Woodlawn Avenue, on the right when traveling west on West 4th Street.

Inscription:
"Built by Andrew Jackson with U.S. Regulars, Tennessee Volunteers and friendly Cherokees and Creeks. Used as advance base during final phases of Creek Indian War, 1813-1814. Military cemetery nearby."

Erected 1953 by Alabama Historical Association.

Location. 33° 10.032′ N, 86° 15.1′ W. Marker is in Sylacauga, Alabama, in Talladega County. Marker is on Fort Williams Street, on the right when traveling east. Fort Williams Street between Broadway Ave and South Norton Ave.

Inscription:
"A.J. Buttram, killed in the Battle of Munford, was the last Confederate soldier killed east of the Mississippi. The monument in his memory was unveiled November 4, 1914, by the John Tyler Morgan UDC Chapter and rededicated in 2015 by the Major General Patrick R. Cleburne UDC Chapter 11445"

Erected by Major General Patrick R. Cleburne Chapter, United Daughters of the Confederacy.

Location. 33° 31.817′ N, 85° 57.366′ W. Marker is in Munford, Alabama, in Talladega County. Marker is at the intersection of Jenifer Road and Campbell Road, on the right when traveling north on Jenifer Road.

Inscription:
"In April 1950, Alabama’s last two living Confederate veterans met here to discuss shared experiences of the Civil War. Local resident Col. Pleasant ‘Riggs’ Crump was visited by Gen. James Moore of Selma, commander of the Alabama chapter of the United Confederate Veterans. Present at the surrender at Appomattox 85 years earlier, Crump had returned to the Lincoln area after the Civil War. He was a member of the Refuge Baptist Church which he served as deacon for 71 years, and was buried in this cemetery after his death in 1951 at the age of 104."

Erected 2010 by Sons of Confederate Veterans Fighting Joe Wheeler Camp 1372, Birmingham.

Location. 33° 39.047′ N, 86° 7.004′ W. Marker is in Lincoln, Alabama, in Talladega County. Marker is on Holly Hill Road (County Route 7), on the right when traveling south. The marker is located if front of Halls Cemetery across the road from Refuge Baptist Church.

Inscription:
"To The Memory of General Jackson and his Tennessee Volunteers while camped here 1814. He fought the Battle of Horseshoe Bend and discharged his Volunteers."

Erected 1933 by Fort Williams Memorial Association.

Location. 33° 9.216′ N, 86° 27.554′ W. Marker is near Fayetteville, Alabama, in Talladega County. Marker is on Gen. Jackson Memorial Dr south of Mallory Cir, on the right when traveling south.

Inscription:
"Settled in 1748 by Shawnee
Indians from Ohio.
They joined Creek Confederacy,
fought against U.S. in War of 1812,
were moved west in 1836.

"Settled before 1836 by men
who had fought in this area
under Andrew Jackson.

"Indian name: Syllacogga or Chalakagay."

Erected 1954 by Alabama Historical Association.

Location. 33° 9.387′ N, 86° 15.047′ W. Marker is in Sylacauga, Alabama, in Talladega County. Marker is at the intersection of South Broadway Avenue (State Highway 21) and Goodwater Highway (County Road 511), in the median on South Broadway Avenue.

Inscription:
"Founded in 1896 by brothers John Judge and Milton Graham Hightower, this small-town livery stable served the community and surrounding countryside until its closing in 1955. Originally located nearby, the business moved to this “New Town” site in 1905. A brick building was erected in 1914 after the original wood-frame structure was destroyed by fire.

"The Hightower Brothers furnished area farmers with agricultural resources, local businesses with vehicles, and the people of Sylacauga with recreational transportation. In addition to providing mules, horses, wagons, buggies, and farm implements locally, the stable was a major supplier of mules to Camp McClellan in Anniston during World War I.

"Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997, the building was donated by the John Milton Hightower family to Blue Bell Creameries in 2000."

Erected 2002 by Alabama Historical Association.

Location. 33° 10.334′ N, 86° 15.142′ W. Marker is in Sylacauga, Alabama, in Talladega County. Marker is at the intersection of North Norton Avenue and West 4th Street, on the left when traveling north on North Norton Avenue.

Inscription:
"Stars Fell On Alabama.
"November 30, 1954. It was a cold, clear early afternoon when Dr. Moody Jacobs left his office for lunch. In the sky, he saw a trail of dark smoke and heard an explosion before white smoke shot out in several directions. “I thought a plane had exploded,” Moody said. Back by 1 p.m. he received a call to an Oak Grove home to treat Mrs. Ann Hodges who’d been struck by a “comet.” The descending fireball had actually been seen by many people across Alabama that day. The Air Force even searched for a crash. The next day, Julius K. McKinney, a farmer who lived near the Hodges, was driving a wagon when his mules shied away from a black rock in the road. After geological confirmations, McKinney sold the 3½ pound rock to the Smithsonian Institute where it resides today in the Hall of Meteorites. The Hodges and McKinney Aerolites are the only known meteors from that day but other “comets” surely reached the ground the day “Stars Fell On Alabama.”

"Hodges Meteorite
"The Town of Oak Grove, Alabama has the distinction of being home to the first modern instance of a meteorite striking a human being. On this property, owned by the Guy Family, an 8½ pound “comet” crashed into a house that stood 50 yards southwest of this site facing Odens Mill Road. It was around 12:30 p.m. on November 30, 1954 when Elizabeth Ann Hodges, who was feeling a bit ill, was taking a nap on the couch in the living room. The meteorite crashed through the roof, bounced off a radio and stuck her thigh. Even though she was under a couple of blankets, the grapefruit-sized rock left severe bruises on Mrs. Hodges left hip and hand. She became an instant celebrity. The Hodges meteorite has been on display at the University of Alabama’s Museum of Natural History in Tuscaloosa since March of 1956."

Erected 2010 by Alabama Tourism Department and the Town of Oak Grove.

Location. 33° 11.362′ N, 86° 17.671′ W. Marker is in Oak Grove, Alabama, in Talladega County. Marker is on Old U.S. Highway 280, 0.2 miles north of Odens Mill Road (County Road 36), on the left when traveling north.

Inscription:
"A.J. Buttram
Confederate Soldier
Killed Here Apr. 23, 1865
During Croxton’s Raid"

Erected 1914 by John Tyler Morgan Chapter, United Daughters of the Confederacy and Veterans and their Descendants.

Location. 33° 31.819′ N, 85° 57.363′ W. Marker is in Munford, Alabama, in Talladega County. Memorial is at the intersection of Jenifer Road and Campbell Road, on the right when traveling north on Jenifer Road.

Inscription:
"Historical records indicate that DeSoto and his men, as they traveled the South in search of gold, were the first white men to see the Lincoln area. With the ceding of the Creek Indian Territory in 1837, the population of the area increased. The community was known as Kingsville until 1856 when the name was changed to Lincoln. The name Lincoln came from Revolutionary War General Benjamin Lincoln who accepted the sword of surrender from the British at Yorktown, Virginia in 1781. The 1880s represented a period of growth with the construction of the Georgia Pacific Railroad through the community and construction of Dam 5 and Lock 4 on the Coosa River. The local office of the Corps of Engineers remains at Lock 4. The next major events occurred in 1911 with the incorporation of the community and construction of the first county high school. The original town limits were slightly over one square mile.

"The 1960s marked the beginning of change for the community with the construction of Logan Martin Lake, the Interstate Highway and the Alabama International Motor Speedway (later renamed the Talladega Superspeedway). The city council began the annexation of land surrounding the original town limits and improving and expanding the water system. New parks were built in the 1970s. The decade of the 1980s saw the construction of the first waste water system and preparation of the legislation creating the International Motorsports Hall of Fame. On May 6, 1999, Honda announced their intentions to build an automotive plant here; the City of Lincoln played a key role in that decision."

Erected 2010 by The Alabama Tourism Department and the City of Lincoln.

Location. 33° 36.846′ N, 86° 7.125′ W. Marker is in Lincoln, Alabama, in Talladega County. Marker is on County Road 433 north of 1st Avenue, on the right when traveling north. Marker is located in the lawn area near the railroad tracks in downtown Lincoln.

Inscription:
"Here in 1814 Tennessee Troops Joined Andrew Jackson's force which won the Creek Indian War. After Indian removal in 1836 these veterans brought their families here, named this community for their old home in Tennessee. Fayetteville Academy was built in 1850."

Erected 1954 by Alabama Historical Association.

Location. 33° 9.315′ N, 86° 24.205′ W. Marker is in Fayetteville, Alabama, in Talladega County. Marker is at the intersection of Old Fayetteville Road (County Route 34) and Caudies Lake Road, on the right when traveling east on Old Fayetteville Road.