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| Gen. N.B. Forrest, C.S.A. North Alabama Raid — September 23-30, 1864 —Hemmed in by superior forces, Forrest's fast-moving cavalry raided and destroyed Union supply lines and strong points, captured 2,360 men, and valuable Stores. By swift action, surprise, and bluff, Forrest disrupted Union military plans from Decatur to Columbia. |
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Harris-Pryor House (Flower Hill Farm)Build abt. 1858 by Schuyler Harris on land once owned by Henry Augustine Washington, a distant relative of the first president. Through purchases, marriages, and inheritance between the Washington, Harris, and Pryor families, all from Virginia, a large plantation of over 3,000 acres was established. Long after the demise of slavery, approximately. 60 tenant families lived on the land. Schuyler Harris gave this house to his daughter, Ida Maria, and her husband, Wm. Richard Pryor, son of Sen. Luke Pryor II and Isabella Virginia (Harris) Pryor. It is through this descent that the historic house and farm known as "Flower Hill" are owned and held in trust for future generations by Luke Pryor IV and his wife, Betty (Lamb) Pryor. It is managed through a family corporation and is not open to the public. (Continued on the other side) |
 Harris Pryor House | ||||||||||||
| Across the highway is a large spring known since early times as "English's Spring." It produced enough water for a town, and the little settlement that formed around it was a contender for the site of the county seat. It was not chosen, however, and the settlement ceased to exist. This area, for several miles around, was known as "Quid Nunc" (Latin for "what next"), Beat and Post Office, until about 1910, when it was changed to Harris Station, a community that had formed along the RR tracks to the SW. Time and "progress" have brought about the demise of that community, named for the prominent Harris Family. The Harris Cemetery is among the trees across the Hwy. | ||||||||||||
Harris Pryor House
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| Oakland United Methodist Church |
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| Oakland United Methodist Church Generations of African-American families have worshiped here, beginning with services held under a brush arbor before the Civil War. In August of 1879, the land for the Oakland Methodist church was deeded to parishioners. In a wooden one-room building, they worshiped and operated their own private school, serving the surrounding communities and producing several ministers and educators. The Limestone County Board of Education took charge of the school in 1929, until it closed at the end of the 1952 school year. After the original structure was destroyed by a tornado, the Oakland Methodist Episcopal Church - which became the Oakland United Methodist Church in 1972 - was rebuilt. Renovations to the structure were completed in 1990. |
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| Oakland United Methodist Church Pastor J. Larry Eddie SR |
We had business in Huntsville, we took Hwy 31 south, and we saw the above historical markers dotted along hwy 31, the Oakland United Methodist Church, Harris Pryor House, & Gen. N.B. Forrest, C.S.A.
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| Athens Sacked and Plundered On May 2, 1862, Union troops of the 19th and 24th Illinois and the 37th Indiana Regiments commanded by Col. John Basil Turchin went on a rampage through the town. They looted and plundered stores and homes, stealing clothing, jewelry, and anything of value, destroying what they didn't want. For months afterward, the soldiers stabled their horses in some of the town's churches, burned the pews for firewood, and destroyed the interiors. Col. Turchin, born Ivan Vasillevitch Turchinoff in Russia, was court-martialed in Huntsville for encouraging these actions, but his wife appealed to Abraham Lincoln for clemency. Turchin was promoted to Brig. Gen. one day before the court-martial. |
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| A County Older Than the State Limestone County created Feb. 6, 1818, by the Alabama Territorial Legislature from lands ceded by the Cherokee Nation in 1806 and by the Chickasaw Nation in 1816. Named for the creek (and its limestone bed), which runs through the county. Few settlers were here until the Indian treaties. Athens became a county seat in 1818. Limestone was the first Alabama county to be occupied by Federal troops during the Civil War. |
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| In Honor of our Fallen Comrades |
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| 1861-1865 Confederate Soldiers of Limestone County |
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| Athens College a liberal arts college — 1822 — Athens Female Academy founded by patriotic citizens 1843 Raised to college level under Methodist patronage First college building, Founders Hall (1842-3), still used for classes Unbroken service since 1822 |
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| Athens State College |
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| Old Town Cemetery This is the earliest known cemetery in the town of Athens, and the final resting place for many of its first citizens. The earliest burials date from the 1820s and continue through the mid-1800s, with an occasional burial past 1900. Though the markers are now sunken below ground, others have been destroyed or removed. Trustees of the town purchased this entire block in 1827 for $10 from Robert Beaty and John Carriel. It was initially designated as school property, and a school occupied another part of the property for some years. |
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| Old Town Cemetery |
I had a camera class at Wolf Camera, so on our way to Huntsville, we stopped in Athens to take pictures of the Historical markers around the courthouse, the old cemetery, and Athens College.
We will spend the next few months searching for historical markers within a 100+ mile radius.
Athens!
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