ALTOONA LOSES TOWN CHARTER Even though the mayor and council appeared to have strong momentum, trouble was brewing behind the scenes. Two months…
Author: Ryan Cole
WALKER HALE’S BACKGROUND Walker Hale, the son of Stephen F. and Martha Mackey Hale, was born in Leesburg, Cherokee, County, Alabama, on September…
Prior to the creation of Altoona, a route known as Possum Trot traversed east-west connecting from modern Highway 278 to Oneonta.
Throughout human history, one of the most feared viruses was smallpox. Although eradicated today, at one time the virus did not discriminate its…
The boll weevil is an invasive pest that had devastated many cotton fields and led to the collapse of many farms. Originally found…
In 2011, when I was working on what would become Tales from Altoona’s Cemeteries, I came up with a list of individuals buried…
After a decade of being on the “I’ll get around to it” list, the culmination of historical research and on the ground fieldwork…
An 1820 document found at the Alabama Department of Archives and History helps construct the first map of Blount County, Alabama.