Stories From the Front Porch In Courtland | Local News – Moulton Advertiser

Courtland hasnt changed much since the building Linda Peebles calls home was a commercial bank in 1899. Oh, shes made it into a showplace on the inside, complete with loft, but on the outside it is almost as if time has stood still. If you squint your eyes just a little bit, and if you have a good imagination, you can almost see horses and wagons rolling by, women dressed in crinolines and men in top hats escorting them along the streets after church on Sundays; kids playing hopscotch or kick the can, and people stopping to pass the time of day and maybe a train will go by, its whistle echoing through the little town were common in the days when cotton was king and Courtland was one of its kingdoms.

Linda often sits on the sidewalk outside her building/home, enjoying the peace and quiet, visiting with people who stop by to pass the time of day. Even with the new rules about keeping six feet of distance between folks, a little crowd gathers to stop and visit. Richard and Brandy Thompson, Lisa and Greg Pace and Stacy and Rhonda Hughes come along on their golf carts and Tim Sherrill stops his bike in front of the gathering to see whats going on. Its nice to see people gathering on lazy Sunday afternoons again, even if they are about six feet away from one another.

The view from Lindas porch on the sidewalk is spectacular this time of year. Linda and her impromptu guests are just across the street from the old-fashioned square complete with gazebo, which is set in between the store fronts and the railroad tracks. Spring has come to the valley and people are itching to get out and see its splendor, even from a distance.

Many is the time when Linda has listened to the local folks tell stories about this community, some are funny, some sad, and some, she says, just happened.

Back when Courtland was a busy, vibrant place, people talked about their crops and the war, now we talk about how it was back in the good old days when this place had just about anything anyone would want, and people came here to shop on Saturdays to get supplies for the week, and to visit with friends and neighbors after a long week of hard work, Linda reminisced. Those days are gone for good, but now, our town is coming together, people are getting out enjoying the sunshine, and speaking to their neighbors at a distance of six feet, of course. Hopefully, someday well be talking about this quarantine from our front porches, Linda sighed.

Greg and Lisa Pace have only lived in Courtland for a few years but they have become active forces for the advancement of the little town. In fact, Lisa organized and executed the wildly successful Wings Over Courtland which brings thousands of people to Courtland each spring.

From our time being in Courtland, owning the Warbird Diner and organizing the Wings Over Courtland event weve had several stories shared with us, said Greg. These stories are all from the 40s about the air base and its effects on this community. We have heard stories of the influx of men and women into the area to work on the air base during its time of construction, to the contributions of hard-working men and women who lived here.

Weve also heard the funny stories that were told about the different people who came here and the funny things that they did and had happened to them and weve also heard the sad things about how the planes would wreck and crash and cadets would lose their lives training to defend our nations freedoms.

The one story that always rings true for Greg is how this community came together to support that group while they were here. Cadets and officers frequently attended family picnics, invited by the local people. Anytime there were activities going on downtown the cadets would fly over in their airplanes to show out for the crowds, she laughed. Weve also heard stories of how some of the men came here and met the love of their life. Often they wounded up moving back here to set up permanent residence and become prosperous members of the community.

All these stories good and bad were told about real life experiences, they were told on the front and back porches of Courtland homes daily, Greg reminded us. Every day was a new wonder with people coming in and out, people coming into town, talk of the toll of deaths, and old friends getting together to talk about how things had changed with the war, both locally and overseas.

It was a tough time for the people of Courtland, Greg continued, But they all banded together and did what needed to be done to support our local troops and the troops overseas with rations and with hardships. They all held in there together to make Americas Greatest Generation, as it later became referred to.

The Paces favorite story from Courtland Army Air Base is about a lady that grew up at the end of the airfield. She came into the diner and told us about how she used to watch the cadets as they would learn to fly when she was a child. Every day they would get a little better and a little better. She said you could always tell when they were entering the end of their training because their last couple of days they would fly over very low and slow. They would wiggle their wings at them as if to wave. Sometimes they would even throw out their goggles and flight helmets to the kids below. They knew that those pilots were moving on to the next phase of their training and then would soon be going off to war followed by the next class.

Lisa recalls another story that is told about Courtland and the air base times. It is said that if you had an empty room you either had a Rosie the Riveter working at the base living with you or you had a soldier living there. This was very true all over the community, but the McMahon House (where the Paces live now) at one time held up to forty soldiers while they were building the base. One of the favorite stories of that time is that one evening while horse playing some of the soldiers living in the house, broke Dr. Jack Shacklefords teester bed that was left in the house by the family.

Brenda Kay Owen Smith stands in the park looking around at the stores, and the familiar streets of Courtland, thinking back to a time when they were filled with shoppers, The whole town used to bustle with activity, she sighed. She can recall when Dinky Davis rode a bicycle to deliver for Gilchrists Grocery. Everybody knew him; he always had something new on his bicycle to show kids. That bicycle is in the Courtland Museum now.

She can picture other stores, and recalls that Carl Jenkins Drug Store on the corner had a soda fountain. There was a poolroom next door and they had a little place in the wall where they could hand in food, my grandmother thought that was the most awful place, Brenda laughed. There were two beauty shops, one was owned by Lois Kimbrell and the other by Abilene Smith, and there was a tractor place near them. Dr. Carraway had a dental practice here. The barber shop was owned by Guy Terry, there was a movie theatre across from the old hotel, and an ice house owned by Leland Hill. She recalls Delashaws Department Store, and Son Givens Service Station which was near where Courtland Baptist Church is now and there was a blacksmith shop in town. But one of her favorite memories is of riding the train to Decatur to visit her aunt. I dont remember much about what the train car looked like because there was so much else to see out the window, she said.

It was a simpler time. I remember when I was a small girl my daddy, Flavious Owen, would sometimes let me tag along with him to the gin. I loved these times because I had him all to myself.

She recalls long lines of wagons and pickup trucks, filled with soft, fluffy white cotton, waiting to be ginned. Daddy would register our wagon, get in line and then we were off to talk and visit with the towns people as well as people from all of Lawrence County.

These were exciting days for the little girl. I didnt get to go often, but when I did, I would get a rare treat of a hamburger and an Orange Crush. We would eat and talk in the park, then go up to Mr. Boots Gilchrists store where he would get me some of my favorite candy, banana kisses and coconut haystacks for a penny. He would stand there patiently letting me decide what I wanted then say, Okay, and smile, and how I loved that smile! Then he would take my hand as we started down the street. It made me feel so special, I was so proud of my Dad!

Ellen Hampton tells this humorous Courtland story which appears in Early Settlers of Alabama, about Dr. Jack Shackelfords practice of medicine.

He had the good sense to embrace the mild mannered practice of Bronssais, in an age when colonel, jalap, gamboge and the Lancet were heroically used. He cured his patients with gentle remedies, and topical applications, while his competitors killed them scientifically. He was especially successful in nervous disorders, but his remedies were not always laid down in medical books. In one case a lady of a local family, living in the neighborhood of Courtland, imagined that she had swallowed a frog. When she mentioned it to him, he first attempted to remove the impression from her mind, but finding it useless, he said sympathetically, But if it be as you suppose, I can kill the frog in your stomach, and then remove it by an emetic. She acquiesced joyfully. He colored red some effervescing powders, and directed her to take them at regular intervals, until he returned. He had much trouble securing a tree frog, but prize of a quarter offered to the boys, at length bought one, and he hastened to see his patient, who was in a state of anxious expectancy. The emetic was administered, and after the first spell of vomiting, she inquired, Doctor, has the frog come? He answered, No, madam. A second dose was given, and she had a severe spell of vomiting. He threw the frog into the bowl, saying joyfully, Here it is, madam. She wiped her eyes, and when she saw it exclaimed, I knew I could not be mistaken. Then she fell back on her pillows and was completely cured.

The Courtland Museum is an interesting place to spend an afternoon if you love history and want to learn more about the city and the county. According to former Mayor Rudy McCarley, parts of the history of Courtland is even associated with the Spanish American War and is still celebrated in Goliad, Texas, where in 1835 Courtlands Red Rover forces joined with Texans to engage in battle with the infamous General Santa Anna. Many Courtland men were killed, and according to Goliad history, more men lost their lives there than at the Alamo. Captain Jack Shackleford was one of the soldiers who survived the battles which ended in 1836. He died years later in bed at his daughters home, the McMahon House.

Under normal circumstances The Courtland Museum is open to the public on Friday and Saturday from 10:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. For now it is closed until further notice due to the COVID-19 virus.

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Stories From the Front Porch In Courtland | Local News - Moulton Advertiser