Editor's Note

Alexander City, Alabama 125th Anniversary 1873-1998 

By Bob Saxon, Editor

Tens of thousands of people have called Youngville-Alexander City home since the area was first settled over one hundred and sixty years ago.  Most were ordinary people who lived ordinary lives.  A few participated in the great events of their time: frontier settlement, civil war, emancipation from slavery, wars and depressions.

Change the names of the poeple, adjust some dates, add or delete some events, and the history of Alexander City could serve as the story of hundreds of similar communities throughout the South.  In the grand scheme of things, Alexander City is a small part of larger mosaic.  Read the pages of The Alexander City Outlook for any decade, and it becomes clear, that for over one hundred years, Alexander City citizens have watched, compared and measured their town with the accomplishments of her peer cities.  If Opelika installed electric lights or Dadeville paved its sidewalks, the people of Alexander City began to feel the need for electric lights and paved sidewalks.  The consequence of this constant comparison is a general sameness from town to town.

But this sameness misses the essential point.  What makes a family or a town special to us is not its uniqueness and special qualities, important as these may be, but rather the simple fact that it is OUR family and OUR town.  We want to identify our heroes and our villains.  We want to know about the men and women who took the risks, and who succeeded and who failed.  And we especially want to know about the what ifs.  We want to know what was preserved that we now so much appreciate, and what was destroyed that we now so much regret.

All progressive communities have a collective vision.  In 1860 when Youngville was a nondescript country hamlet, its citizens wanted to become a market town.  Within fifteen years they achieved that goal.  Near the end of the 19th century, they recognized the limitations of remaining strictly a market town, and they aggressively sought manufacturing industry.  They achieved that goal.  Today, it is fair to ask, "what is Alexander City's collective vision of the new century?"

Acknowledgements

How very important it is for us to honor our heritage and preserve it for generations to come!  We hope that by producing a publication about the City of Alexander City during the past 125 years, we can honor our heritage and preserve it for all people.

The idea of producing a publication about the City of Alexander City celebrating the changing of the town’s name 125 years ago has been a challenge to many people.  the town was named Youngville in about 1836 and retained that name until 1873.

Many people have contributed to the success of this.  Above all, I thank my friends, Bob Saxon, Gwen Bishop, Edith Cameron Blankenship, Judy Duncan Harris, Mary Lee Radney, Lenore King, Bruce Wallace, the late Judge J.C. Coley, and John Russell Thomas.  We benefited from the generosity of many people that loaned us pictures and shared information with us about Alexander City.

This task could not have been completed without the help and cooperation of the Alexander City Outlook, Russell Corporation Print Shop, and Aliant Bank.

The members of the 125th Celebration committee are:
Gary Burkett
Jack Coley, Jr.
Elaine Gwaltney
Rev. Eddie Hunter
Lenore King
Dr. Brooks Lamberth
Lamar Latimer
Mayor Don McClellan
Ann Neighbors
Tillie Parks
Joe Robinson, Jr.
Dell Stone
Andrew Thomas
K.A. Turner
Rev. Emerson Ware
Tom Young, Jr.