March 14, 2025, 8-5:30 P.M. Scottsboro All Day

 Everyone parked in the Patches Merchant Emporium 1501 Broad St parking lot around 8:00 A.M.

Everyone loaded onto the bus, and off we went for a full day of adventures.

 

Variety Bake Shop 

Our first stop was The Variety Bake Shop, where we were served two sausage rolls, a glazed donut, and a history lesson from the owner. Several people bought a variety of their desserts.

I took pictures of a few historic markers across the street, posted on poles along the left side of the courthouse.

Veterans Memorial Park, Scottsboro 

Our next stop was Scottsboro Veterans Memorial Park. 

It was full of historical markers and military vehicles. 

Our next stop was the Scottsboro Museum, but no one was home. 

Our guide called their number, but no one answered. We rode by the old Mill and the Airport and finally stopped at the Train Depot.

We all got off the bus to go inside, but the curator called from the Scottsboro Museum, so we loaded it back on the bus and returned to that museum. 

The Scottsboro Boys

By this time, it was lunchtime, so we stopped at Payne's Sandwich Shop. There, we were served a red slaw dog, chips, potato Salad, and our choice of ice cream. I ordered Rocket Road. 

Payne Sandwich Shop 

After lunch, I walked up the sidewalk, taking pictures of markers. 

We loaded back onto the bus and rode to the Scottsboro Train Depot. 

Hubby shows the ladies how the scales work. 

Next, we rode to the Scottsboro Heritage Center.

The curator told us some of the history of the 1881 Procter House. 

The house was built by John A. Brown and sold to A.W. Brooks, the Mayor of Scottsboro.  

The house was then sold to General John R. Coffey. In 1981, the City of Scottsboro bought the home and turned it into a Museum, a research center, and a community venue. 

We could not go upstairs because it was being repaired. 

Outside, we visited Sagetown, a re-creation of a pioneer village, where our curator told us the history of each building.

Proctor Heritage House Museum

One of the buildings was the Little Courthouse, which housed public records dating as far back as 1820.

Our next stop was a sampling of specialty teas and protein shakes. The owner gave us a little history of his store. 

Long walk up the hill to the cemetery. 

Our last stop as a group was the grave site of Mayor Robert Thomas Scott and his wife. 

Their graves were atop a hill, which we had to walk to. 

We returned to the parking lot and said goodbye.

Hubby and I decided to visit Unclaimed Baggage. 

Unclaimed Baggage Scottsboro 
The Truck where it all began.

We did not buy anything, but they had an incredible museum inside the store. 

Outside was a sign telling about the beginning of Unclaimed Baggage.

Then, we began our two-hour trip home. 

We stopped at Taco Bell in Rogersville to pick up something for dinner. We had a great time but were ready for bed when we returned home. 

Cell Phone Photos 

6765-68 @ 9:12 A.M. The Variety Bake Shop

6769-72 @ 8:30 A.M. Markers left side of Courthouse 

6773—85 @ 10:07-10:50 A.M. Scottsboro Boys Museum 

6786-90 @ 10:55-11:47 A.M. Payne's Sandwich Shop 

6791-6817 @ 12:14-12:41 P.M. Train Depot 

6818-40 @12:50-1:17 P.M. Proctor Museum and Pioneer Village

6841-41 @ 2:37 P.M. Scottsboro Nutrition 

6843- @ 4:45 P.M. Unclaimed Baggage Outside 

6844-6868 @4:53-56 P.M. Museum @ Unclaimed Baggage 

6869-72 @5:03 P.M. outside Unclaimed Baggage

Walked 2.6 miles and 6,848 steps 

"Hi, I'm Hoggle." (inside the museum at Unclaimed Baggage)

2016 Sunday, April 17 Athens Character Cemetery Stroll

Sunday from 2–5 P.M.

Athens Cemetery

Caroline Page

Mrs. Caroline Preston Peck 
This strong woman settled in Rowland, now Tanner, with her family after the War of the South of Independence. She relied on her Methodist faith to keep the family together. 
The Peck families came from the north to settle in Athens. 

Rebekah Thompson Davis 

Mary Mason 
Mary was one of the strongest United Daughters supporters of the Confederacy. Miss Mary explains the Confederate Circle and the Confederate monument.

Confederate Circle and Tombstones
The Confederate Circle in Athens City Cemetery contains graves of over 50 soldiers killed in or around Athens during the WBTS, 8 unknown. Around 1898, ladies of the local UDC were working in the cemetery when bones, believed to be soldiers, were found. The ladies felt these soldiers deserved a proper burial. In 1901, the local UDC chapter placed markers with the soldiers' initials on each grave. In 1994, the Chapter researched and ordered new markers with full names and Military Service. The markers were replaced with the joint effort of the SCV Camp 768 and UDC Chapter 198

Kristi Valls

Mary Norman Moore McCoy
She was twice President of what is now Athens State University, once as a single young woman and later as a mature widow with four stepchildren. 

Frank Travis

Ortho Frazier
He was born a slave but was able to buy his freedom. He was a cobble that mad and or repaired shoes and boots for Confederate and Yankee troops and civilians.

Kathy Horton Garrett

Rebecca Maclin Hobbs
Mother of Captain Thomas Hubbard Hobbs and a very stalwart supporter of the Athens Female Academy and the Athens First Methodist Church 

Dr. David Griggs

Thomas Turpentine
He joined the Confederate Army at the age of 13 and served until his regiment surrendered in Selma. After the war, he lived in Nashville in the newspaper business, but upon his return to Athens, he went into the grocery business with his father. 

Glenn Hall

Jonathan Adams
He initially brought his family to Limestone County on a flatboat down the Elk River before it was legal for a white man to purchase land. The Federal soldiers arrested him and burned his house and crops. He later returned and was able to legally purchase land and settle here.

Athens Dulcimers

First formed in 2003, they meet on the first and third Monday of each month to play and practice. 

Dana Hickman

Emily Horton Sr
Her husband was a Confederate Soldier and later Probate Judge of Limestone County, but her son, Judge JE Horton Jr., became world-famous for his brave ruling in the "Scottsboro Boys" trial. 

Carol Cordero 

Kathy Lane Townes 
A local girl who married one of the officers of the Union Occupation forces. 

Al Elmore

Chief Justice Thomas McClelland 
He served as a register in the chancery of Limestone County from 1874 to 1876. Served Alabama Senate for two terms. In 1884, he was elected State Attorney General. He became Chief Justice in 1898 and served until he died in 1906.

Peggy Allen Towns

Emily Frazier
She became a land-owning free black lady. The soldiers were admonished to leave her and hers alone. 

Joe Curtis

General Hiram Higgins
He was a brick mason, a freemason, and an archaic who organized and led a company of soldiers and fought in the Mexican-American War. 

Beth Ham

Margaret Beckham Nixon
She stood her ground and refused to give up all her meat stored in the smokehouse. 

Billy Ward

Robert Beaty Mason
Grandson of Robert Beaty, who served in General Roddy's "Bull Pups" when he was 16. He started the development of the town of Bismarck. 

Jerry Barksdale 

Daniel Barksdale
He was a Secessionist until after the occupation and "Sack of Athens" by Union Soldiers under Colonel Turchin. 

Robert Reeves

Robert Donnell 
He was a Cumberland Presbyterian Circuit Rider and one of the founders of the Athens First Presbyterian Church.