The Monroeville Walking Tours will have 3 major focuses:
(1) What was here in the beginning, i.e., 100 years ago
(2) What Monroeville was like in the 1930's----the era for Harper
Lee's "To Kill A Mockingbird."
(3) What is here today, and the history of some of Monroeville's
historic structures. All tours will be different, but all tours will
cover the same route!
ITEMS OF INTEREST REGARDING EARLY MONROEVILLE, BY NOTED
MONROEVILLE AUTHOR, GEORGE THOMAS JONES:
AROUND
THE PUBLIC SQUARE IN 1903:
In the downstairs gallery of the old courthouse, there is a model of
the town square as it was 100 years ago. It is these 3-acres which
were designated for usage only as a public square in the original
Federal Land Grant of 80-acres that was issued to then Monroe County
Probate Judge Henry Taylor on July 11, 1831.
This was the original Monroeville, named for then Secretary of
State, James Monroe, who later became President of the United
States.
The population of Monroeville in 1903 was approximately 450. The
official census of Monroeville in 1900 was only 422. The towns of
Burnt Corn on the Old Federal Road eastward and Claiborne, the
Alabama River Port to the west, were both still thriving and heavily
populated by comparison.
The young town got a boost in 1832, when citizens voted to move the
county seat from Claiborne to Monroeville, where it has remained
from that time to the present.
We can document the existence of at least five different courthouses
that have been erected on this Public Square:
1st) A log structure combining the courthouse and county jail
built in 1832. It burned the following year destroying county
records. No county records exist from 1815 (when Monroe County was
first declared a part of the Mississippi territory), until after the
fire in 1833;
2nd) Was a two-story frame
building built by Wingate Rumbley and believed to have been erected
on the southwest section circa 1840. It, too, burned circa 1849, but
this time all records were saved;
3rd) Was the first brick
courthouse, a simple, two-story building built in 1852, and shown on
the model. It was used as a public building until the completion of
the 1903 courthouse. The 1852 building burned in 1928. The two iron
columns, mounted on the north wall of the courthouse exhibit room,
and a brick walkway in Nick Hare's garden, are the only remnants of
this courthouse;
4th) Is the Old Courthouse,
built in 1903. It served as the county courthouse for sixty years;
5th) Is, of course, the present
courthouse which was occupied in 1963.
The Old Monroe County Courthouse, the most famous of America's
courthouses, was built in 1903, under the leadership of Monroe
County Probate Judge Nicholas Stallworth. The architect was Andrew
Bryan, a prominent Southern municipal architect. The contractor was
M. T. Lewman, from Louisville, Kentucky, who was contracted to build
the courthouse for $ 29,000. The actual building cost was
considerably more, due to the fact that the cost of the foundation
and the basement were not included in the original cost estimate. It
is widely said that the cost overruns on the Old Courthouse defeated
Judge Stallworth in his subsequent run for re-election.
Many of the materials used in the construction of the courthouse
were shipped in by rail, including manufactured heart pine flooring,
and rolled tin for the ceiling of the upstairs courtroom, which is
stamped in a dogwood pattern. The courthouse dome is made of sheet
metal, which has, at various times, been painted silver or white.
The courthouse clock strikes on the hour, and is frequently
mentioned in the works of Truman Capote.
MONROEVILLE'S
OLDEST COMMERCIAL
STRUCTURE:
The F. Metts Store, built in 1873, is the oldest commercial
structure left standing in Monroeville. It was purchased by Barnett
& Jackson Hardware Company in 1909 and moved back off the square. It
is a free standing wooden structure between the new City Hall and
the Post Office, and can be viewed from East Claiborne Street.
THE
POST OFFICE:
On this site originally, was the
Yarbrough house/hotel, built in 1833. It was the oldest building of
any kind on the square, when it was demolished in 1937, to make way
for the present post office. The antique "Beatty Square Grand"
piano, now placed in the main Exhibit Room of the Old Courthouse,
came from this house, where it was played for travelers enjoyment
after the evening meal.
Inside the Post Office is a WPA (Works Progress Administration)
mural, titled "Harvesting". The subject is a farmer using a
three-mule team to pull a threshing machine across a wheat field.
The site is the Midwest, possibly Kansas. The artist is Arthur L.
Bairnsfather, and the date of the painting is September 1, 1939.
Bairnsfather was hired to paint the mural after he won an open
competition conducted by the Treasury Section of Painting and
Sculpture under the WPA, and for which he was paid $680. (The post
office was built in 1937).
Under the Works Progress Administration (WPA) a part of President
Franklin Roosevelt's economic recovery programs evolving out of the
Great Depression, unemployed artists were hired to paint murals in
Federal public buildings. The "Harvesting" mural is one of the
surviving works of President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal Art
Program.
The mural was restored in 1985 by John Bertalan, a native of
Birmingham who specializes in art restoration. Bertlalan believes
this mural is the only one of its kind since the artists were
commissioned and no restrictions were placed on their commissioned
works.
MORGAN
FURNITURE COMPANY/COMPUTER
SUPPORT SERVICES:
This building originally housed Jennie Faulk's Millinery Shop.
Jennie Faulk was Truman Capote's cousin, with whom he stayed when he
visited Monroeville. Local attorney Charlie Hybart at that time
leased part of the upstairs for his law office. It later served as
the offices and showroom for locally owned Morgan Furniture Company
until the early 1990's, when Mrs. Gladys Morgan closed the business.
It was purchased by former Monroe County Tax Collector Charlie Deer
of Ollie. It is still under the ownership of Deer, leased to
Computer Support Services.
BARNETT AND JACKSON HARDWARE/THE
FRAMERY:
Barnett and Jackson bought out Monroe Hardware in 1904. They
continued operating out of the old store until 1909, when they built
this two-story brick building which presently occupies this site.
The building is owned by Mr. Norman Barnett of Monroeville. When
Bear Creek Lumber Company, in the south part of the county at
Manistee, closed, Mr. Gus Barnett moved the brick to Monroeville in
a wagon to build this building. It presently houses The Framery, a
frame shop operated by Ann and Clark Dees (Picture not available at
this time).
FIRST NATIONAL BANK BUILDING/LAW
OFFICE OF GEORGE ELBRECHT:
This building was in continuous use as a bank until the mid-1990's
when it was acquired by local attorney George C. Elbrecht, and
renovated for a law office. In the 1970's the old First National
Bank merged with the Monroe County Bank, and this building served as
an office of the latter until such time as its acquisition by
Elbrecht. (Picture not available at this time).
The Monroe County Bank is now owned by South Alabama Bancorporation.
LA
SALLE HOTEL - MONROE COUNTY PUBLIC
LIBRARY:
The Monroe County Public Library has been in the former La Salle
Hotel Building at 121 Pineville Road since 1984. It is on the site
of one of the oldest parcels that has been in continuous usage since
it was part of a land grant (#8417) from the United States of
America to then Probate Judge Henry W. Taylor.
There have been several different structures on the property,
including a stable, homes, a Methodist parsonage, and hotels, some
with restaurants. One of the hotels with a restaurant, The
Commercial Hotel, was owned and operated by Mrs. Charles Richard
Crook until her death. Her daughter, Helen, and son-in-law, Harvel
Deas, moved in and ran the hotel until it was purchased by Sarah
Strong of Brewton. She continued operating in the same old frame
building until 1939, when it was demolished, and a more modern two
story brick building was erected. Mrs. Strong sold the motel to Mr.
and Mrs. David Katz in 1952, who gave it the name the LaSalle Hotel.
During this time many dignitaries visited the La Salle, including
Academy Award winner, Gregory Peck, who visited Monroeville to
prepare for his role in the movie, "To Kill A Mockingbird," along
with members of the big dance bands who came to Monroeville to play
for the Cotillion Club. The hotel later became a restaurant with the
last owner being a Mr. L.C. Gaston.
In 1979 the building was purchased by Mr. Dwight Harrigan, who sold
it to the Monroe County Public Library Board in 1981. The building
was appraised at $229,000. The Library raised $125,000, and Mr.
Harrigan donated the remaining $104,000 for the library to have a
new home.
Today, the library is shelved with fiction, non-fiction, biographies
and large print books on the first floor. The second floor holds
reference books, paperbacks, books by Alabama authors, a geneology
room with a computer, a forestry collection, and computers with
internet access.
The librarian is Mrs. Bunny Hines Nobles, whose father, the late Dr.
Hines, a veterinarian, also served as Mayor of Monroeville. Today,
Mrs. Nobles's sister, Anne Hines Farish, is in her third term as
Mayor of Monroeville.
