2016 April 30, Saturday, Athens State University Stroll

Ducks in the pond in the park behind the visitor center

All the strollers gathered in front of the Limestone Athens Visitor Center for a picture. 
Each person signed the list of the area they wanted to visit. 
Athens State University was added to the list. I had not been on campus, so I decided to take the University Stroll.

Sloss, Pettus, Cook, Stockton Home on Beaty St

We walked North on Beaty Street, crossing E Hobbs St, and stopping to view the Sloss, Pettus, Cook, and Stockton Homes. 
We walked toward E Bryan St to 100 N Beaty St, stopping to view the President's Home across the street from the University. 
Bullington House, built in 191, is an example of the Free Classic architecture.

Founders Hall, Athens University 

President's Home on the corner of Beaty and Bryan streets

Our first stop was Founders Hall, built in 1842 by the Tennessee Conference of the Methodist Church. 

Founders Hall is the house of the President, Financial Affairs, faculty, and staff offices for the College of Arts and Sciences. Founders Hall also houses the New Testament Chapel, containing life-size carvings depicting Christ and other New Testament figures.

Parlor

Founders Hall houses the majestic Altar of the New Testament woodcarving. The life-size carving took 12 years to complete, depicting Christ and New Testament figures and verses carved in tulipwood. 

McCandless Hall was built in 1912 

Next, we visited McCandless Hall, which houses the auditorium and serves as a venue for community concerts, plays, and lectures. The auditorium features a tracker-action pipe organ dating back to 1892.

A couple of Christian tunes were played for us. 

Tracker-action pipe organ dating back to 1892

Founders Hall and McCandless Hall were the only two buildings that we went inside.

Wooden Carved Fiddler

The library opened in 1996  

Outside, we saw a wooden Carved Fiddler, the Black Bear Mascot, the Clock Tower, and the Alumni Fountain. 

Alumni Fountain 

Black Bear Mascot 

The Clock Bell Tower chimed while we were there.e

Our Group 

Our group included a Professor, two students (the lady dressed in red was our tour guide), a member of Limestone Athens Visitor Center, the white-haired lady played the tracker-action pipe organ for us, the boy wearing a red shirt and black shorts joined us (his grandparents live in the Sloss, Pettus, Cook, Stockton Home above) and the woman sitting behind our guide was my friend Janet. 

We were given a little history of the Carter Physical Education Center

The athletic program, built in 1965, was discontinued in 2004. Now housed in classrooms.

Classroom Building
houses a student lounge and interactive classrooms

Our time was running short, and it looked like rain, so we went to the front of the University, where we saw McCain Hall and Waters Hall. 

Our group 

McCain Hall, built in 1962, serves as the facility's offices.

Waters Hall houses a classroom.

We began our journey back to the Visitor Center. I stopped to take a picture of the College Inn Newby Gulf Station Museum. 

Built in the late 1920s, it was where everybody caught up on the latest news. 

College Inn was a place where soldiers home on leave visited.

College Inn Newby Gulf Station Museum 

Once the tour was over, my friend Janet and I went to Wildwood Grill to eat lunch. 

I ordered a salad, and she ordered a homemade grilled cheese with a salad.

Wildwood is listed among 11 extremely tiny restaurants in Alabama, which is fantastic. 

Wildwood Grill 

Wildwood may be a small restaurant, but that doesn't diminish the deliciousness of the food or the extraordinary dining experience. Wildwood Deli is definitely a must-stop!

When we finished eating, we walked around the square, looking at and taking pictures of the cars, trucks, and motorcycles on display. 

Classic Cars on the Square

Classic Cars on the Square

Classic Cars on the Square

I had a great time on the walking tour and the touring of the cars, trucks, and motorcycles on the square. I had a great lunch, but I was tired and hot from all the walking, and I still had to drive almost an hour home. 

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 American Civil War. 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 supporters of the Confederacy among the United Daughters. 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 of their graves. 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 the 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 cobbler who made and repaired shoes and boots for both Confederate and Union troops, as well as 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 worked in the newspaper business in Nashville, but upon his return to Athens, he entered the grocery business alongside 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

Formed in 2003, they meet on the first and third Mondays 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 in the 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 instructed to leave her and her belongings alone. 

Joe Curtis

General Hiram Higgins
He was a brick mason, a freemason, and an archaic term referring to a person 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 helped develop 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. 

2016 April 9, Saturday, Earth Day in Sheffield

I attended the Ninth Annual Shoals Earth Day Fest located on the lawn of the Sheffield City Hall.
I listened to Uncle Shuffelo and his Haint Hollow Hootenanny at 1:30PM

Some of the Green Projects 
Audubon
Climate Change Causes
Defenders of Wildlife
Environmental Education 
Fresh Air Family
Fun and Education Solar 
Healthy Communities 
How to build a raised vegetable garden
Solar Training
Ideas for Green High School
Taking it to the class
the American Solar Energy
the Greens
US Environmental Protection 
Protection of endangered species.

Teaching juggling

Uncle Shuffelo and his Haint Hollow Hootenanny

Sheffield City Hall

Dancing to the music 

Stopped at Ricks Barbecue for a South West wrap

Climate Change: Causes

👣👣👣👣 2016 April 9, Saturday, Historic Walking Tour of Downtown Athens

The guided walks offered by the Athens-Limestone County Tourism included the 

The Historic Downtown Athens Square

Beaty Historic District

City Cemetery 

Athens Veterans Museum

Athens State University

The walks are set for one hour but can last a bit longer, with knowledgeable guides. 

There were four in our group including our guide that took the Historic Downtown Athens Square walk.

Athens-Limestone County Tourism

Our first stop was The Gulf Station, it was one of the full-service stations in Athens. It was owned by Jack Parks and Louis Speaks and was located at the corner of Market and Clinton streets.

The Gulf Station  

Our next stop was Train Depot: 
From the 1850s-1970s the Louisville & Nashville Depot
 located between Market and Washington Streets

Cistern

Our next stop was the Cistern:
This cistern is the last remnant of Trinity School located here 1865-1907. The cistern was used to store rainwater collected from the roof.

No physical evidence remains of the Ross Hotel, the Chapman Quarters, and other buildings on this block, which played an important role in Athens's history.

Trinity, a school for the children of former slaves, was established here, on the old Richardson property, in 1865, primarily through the efforts of Miss Mary Frances Wells, the school's principal and chief proponent.

Trinity Hall was built here 1881-82, as a joint effort by the American Missionary Association and local African Americans who handmade and laid the bricks for the building. It burned in 1907 and was rebuilt the following year on the old Civil War fort site west of town

The Raisler Corner Building 

We stopped at The Raisler Corner building, it was sold to the Hendricks Brothers.

Scenes from Hobbs and Marion Streets

North Side Square

Second Confederate Monument

We stopped in front of the Courthouse and were told the history of the first Confederate Monument:
We were told that the Confederate Monument located on the courthouse lawn, was the second monument made. The first monument, the soldiers did not like because the face on the monument was facing downward-looking like they were defeated so, another monument was made to replaced the first monument. The first monument is located in the Athens City Cemetery.

 UG White Mercantile Since 1917

 Store Fronts on the Square Athens

After we finished the walking tour and we walked back to the Visitor Center where I bought eight Postcards.

Post Cards of Athens 

Post Cards of Athens 

These are the four postcards that I bought:

1. Welcome to Athens Limestone Alabama

2. Confederate Monument a Confederate soldier guards the Courthouse square

3. The Richard Martin Rails to Trails Limestone County

4. Hendrix Building Historic build the former Raisler Building

1. Post Office Mooresville is the oldest Post Office in Alabama that is still in use

2. Newby Gulf Station East Street

3. The Brick Church in Mooresville the Oldest Town in Alabama

4. L&N Depot in Elkmont Alabama is used for town meeting

April 2016 A busy month

April 1 rode to Mule Day in Columbia Tennessee 

April 1& 4 went to Chiropractor

April 2  rode to Columbia TN to watch the Mule Day Parade ate lunch at Jacks Lawrenceburg, TN

April 5 We went on a tour of Tiffen Plant in Red Bay ate lunch Jacks Red Bay, Al 

April 6 CBS classes

April 7 went to Get Dirty at the Library: Landscape Design for Sustainability

April 8 went to Chiropractor

April 8 Took Dad to Dentist & Emergency Room

April 9 went on a guided walking tour of historic Downtown Athens

April 9 Earth Day Sheffield, Al 

April 11 Took Dad to the oral surgeon to get tooth cut out

April 12 We went on a tour of the Belle Chevre Goat Cheese Factory in Elkmont Al ate lunch Preston’s Restaurant Lexington, Al 

April 13 Last Class of CBS 

April 14 Get Dirty at the Library: Growing Herbs

April 16 Walking tour of UNA by Thomas Hale

April 17 Athens Cemetery Stroll 2-5PM

April 19 Started Weight loss Program Took B-12 Shot 

April 21 Get Dirty at the Library: Fighting Invasive Plants

April 22 Jewish Passover Meal at First Methodist Church Killen 

April 23 We went to Cornbread Festival in South Pittsburg TN ate lunch Harvey’s Pirate Drive-in

April 25 Took Dad to the oral surgeon he got two teeth cut out

April 26 Took B-12 Shot 

April 26 Went to Florence Ophthalmology PC Doctor Gray

April 28 Went to Get Dirty at the Library: Composting

April 30 Went to Guided walking tour of Athens State University ate lunch at Wildwood Deli