Small Town USA - Oak Hill. Alabama

Some of the world's cities are sprawled over miles and miles of land, with building going on everywhere. It is an inevitable sprawl as the population of the earth continues to grow at an alarming rate. Some people see this growth as good and necessary and who can say am empty lot with dandelions is better than a parking garage?

I grew up in small towns. I love small towns, so my keyboard and I are going in search of small! We are going to look at the smallest town in each state and see what it lacks or what is better about living there. Bring a sandwich, the magic carpet is about to fly!

Oak Hill, Alabama is our first stop. Oak Hill is Alabama's smallest incorporated town, with a population of twenty-eight. Yes, I said twenty-eight! How they survive the congestion and crowding is amazing. Of course the crowding is just with beautiful trees, and lovely surroundings.

In the 1820's the ancestor's of Oak Hill residents left South Carolina and Virginia, setting out in covered wagons with their families, their slaves and livestock to resettle. The English ancestors came from Virginia and Charlestown, most of them from the Abbeville District in South Carolina.

These folks had split from the Presbyterian Church in Scotland and were known as Associate Reformed Presbyterians. Theirs was a strict faith and they were Sabbath observers, so along the trail to their new home the folks would stop on Saturday around noon. Men would tend the stock, do repairs - while the women did laundry, bathed children and made sure their food stocks were plentiful. On Sunday they spent the day reading the Bible and studying.

The first settlers were brothers Robert and Joseph Jones and Joseph's wife, Marry Bonner Jones. The built find big houses out of cedar logs, had slave cabins and outer buildings, barns, kitchen and smoke houses. The homes were well-built and cozy.

The two houses were not very far apart and were at Hamburg, a lovely area on Pine Barren Creek. The community was prosperous and as extended family came to settle there was a church and school built. However, the problem of "flux", or malaria took a toll on the folks. They lived in a low-lying area, which brought the flux, and the cemetery stands testament to the fatalities suffered.

The families began to move toward "The Ridge", higher ground, that became Oak Hill, Alabama. Families built big house and the area thrived. In 1849 "Oak Hill Academy" opened its doors. It sat in a grove of trees. The Reverend Cottrell was its first president. Miss Sally McCracken was Rev. Cottrell's assistant and supervisor of a girl's dormitory. It was a large and stately building where thirty-five were enrolled. In 1869 however, the Oak Hill Female Academy closed its doors. In 1940 the building had fallen into decay from non-use and it was demolished.

When Alabama seceded from the Union, the men and boys of Oak Hill began in 1861 to volunteer for various military units of the Confederacy. Five Oak Hill men were killed in the Civil War, but the rest came back to their town and their homes.

After reconstruction Oak Hill became a lovely and prosperous community. At one time there were three doctors, a busy blacksmith shop and a drug store. . . in addition to five general stores!

Oak Hill went through its own hard times during the depression, but has remained a family-oriented community. It is a peaceful and permanent part of the history of the state of Alabama. It may be small, but it has withstood the test of time and tides and remains an integral part of what makes small towns work.