Pieces of our past remain on the Coosa River

Story by Roxann Edsall
Photos by Mackenzie Free
Submitted Photos

For most of us, life along the Coosa River is pretty peaceful. Whether we’re headed out to wet a line or just cruise around in the pontoon boat, we probably don’t think much about the bold warriors and soldiers who needed this water to survive. Nor do we envision the battles that took place near the water’s edge. Few reminders of those battles remain today.

Control of waterways and water crossings was a prize to be won in many skirmishes, as was the case in 1864 in the Battle of Ten Islands. The engagement ended badly for the Confederate troops when, vastly outnumbered by the Union forces, they tried valiantly to keep the opposing forces from crossing the Coosa River at the Ten Islands Ford.

Today, the importance of this battle is commemorated at Ten Islands Historical Park in Ragland. A historical marker looking out over the water just north of Neely Henry Dam reminds observers of the history made there.

Union General William Sherman had ordered Major General Lovell Rousseau to lead a raid into Alabama with the mission of destroying the railroad that connected Montgomery to Opelika. If he could destroy that section of rail, he could disrupt the supplies to the Confederate army.

His secondary mission, Rousseau was told, was to destroy any ironworks or furnaces that made weapons along his route.

On the Confederate side, Brigadier General James H. Clanton and a cavalry of 300 were charged with protecting both Janney Furnace and nearby Cane Creek Furnace and keeping Rousseau and his band of 2,300 raiders from crossing the Coosa River. Rousseau’s raiders persevered and were able to defeat Clanton’s men. Having found out the location of the two furnaces, Rousseau sent a detail to destroy them both.

“Rousseau picked Captain Ed Ruger and told him to burn down Janney Furnace and any buildings that supported it,” tells Janney Museum Director Tom Norton, describing events leading up to the attack. “After he burned the place down, he wrapped the small chimney in dynamite and blew it up, too.”

The raiders destroyed the Cane Creek Furnace, but only destroyed the infrastructure of the Janney Furnace. What remains today is what didn’t get burned or blown up. That they didn’t completely destroy the stone structure supports the theory that the Janney Furnace was not fully functional at the time of the attack.

The furnace had just been constructed and was likely not quite ready for production. What businessman Alfred Janney had built, hoping to produce 15 tons of pig iron per day, likely did not have a chance to support the Confederate war effort at all.

That theory would later be supported in a 2006 study of Janney’s 50-foot high remaining stone structure. Jacksonville State University Professor Emeritus Dr. Harry Holstein led a study of the ground in and around the hearth.

“We didn’t find any evidence of charring or burning on the bricks,” said Holstein. “That, coupled with not finding any slag or sand on the casting floor, indicated that it was highly unlikely that the furnace had ever produced any pig iron at all.”

After being destroyed by Rousseau’s Raiders, anything left at the Janney Furnace was hauled away or sold for scrap. In the 140 years that followed, the stone structure was nearly reclaimed by the earth. When Calhoun County Commissioner Eli Henderson helped to establish the Janney restoration project, the furnace was so hidden by overgrowth, that it could barely be seen.

“It was really covered with vines, kudzu, poison ivy and pine trees,” said Holstein. “Eli Henderson really pushed the effort to reclaim the furnace and highlight the history that was made there.”

It since has been cleaned up and is now able to be seen at the site of the Janney Furnace Museum on Janney Road in Ohatchee. A monument erected on the site pays homage to local soldiers who died in the Civil War. Visitors can also see a one-room log cabin like one that would have been in the Janney Furnace workers village.

The Daniels House was built in 1843 and was heavily damaged in a deadly tornado in 2011. It was disassembled and moved five miles to its location near the furnace.

Commissioner Henderson was also a champion in the effort to save another local piece of history. Barely five miles from the Janney Furnace is the site of a military fort that was instrumental in the Creek Indian War of 1813-14. It is overgrown by weeds and woods and all but lost to history now.

Less than a mile from Henry Neely Dam, a simple engraved rock now commemorates the significance of Fort Strother, the first military installation ever built in what is now Alabama.

The Battle of Tallushatchee and the Battle of Talladega might have ended very differently had it not been for this fort built by General Andrew Jackson in 1813. Shawnee Chief Tecumseh was rallying tribes to resist the expansion of the United States into Native American lands.

General Jackson was sent to Alabama to stop Chief Tecumseh’s warriors who were intent on driving out the frontier settlers there.

On a hill overlooking the Coosa, just past the Ten Island Ford, he built Fort Strother, a supply base and forward command post that served to support the efforts in America’s battle with the Creek faction known as the Red Sticks. From this base, he planned to launch attacks against nearby Red Stick villages.

One such attack took place Nov. 3, 1813, when Jackson sent Brigadier General John Coffee and 900 of his troops 10 miles southeast of the fort to destroy the Creek village of Tallushatchee.

Among those troops was a well-known frontiersman named Davy Crockett, serving in the Tennessee militia. By the end of the day, nearly 200 Creek had fallen at the hands of the American force, which logged it as their first military victory of the war.

Six days later, General Jackson marched from Fort Strother to Talladega to help Coffee win the Battle of Talladega. The two wins at Tallushatchee and Talladega caused considerable casualties for the Red Sticks, which set up for an American victory at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend in Tallapoosa County the following March.

After General Jackson marched on toward New Orleans to defend the city in 1814, the fort was abandoned and fell into disrepair.

Archaeologists from Jacksonville State and the University of Alabama have studied the site, as recently as 1999, revealing hundreds of artifacts. Using ground-penetrating radar (GPR), the team noted the location of at least 60 pinch-toed coffins aligned in military fashion.

“There are actually 80 marble headstones sitting somewhere in Ragland, last I knew,” said Holstein. “Local historians had raised the money to purchase headstones for those soldiers buried there. But the restoration never got off the ground. You can’t just identify the graves and then not protect the cemetery.”

Despite the fort being listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972, proposals to have it reclaimed and rebuilt have proven too costly and, so far, not a high priority.

Today, what remains of the fort is hidden in dense woods, along with the unmarked graves of soldiers who died there. The campaign to reclaim the fort seems to have died with the passing of its champion, Henderson, in 2020.

These relics of war, some well preserved and others shrouded in the growth of years of neglect, sit as a reminder that our waters have not always been a place of peace and tranquility. Our comfortable homes and businesses are built on the bravery of those who walked these shorelines before us. l

Editor’s Note: You can learn more at the Janney Furnace Museum in Ohatchee.  www.janneyfurnace.org

A lesson in patience and perseverance

Story by Roxann Edsall
Photos by Richard Rybka
Submitted Photos

Quinten Edward Lumpkin had a vision.  He believed in family, community, the Golden Rule and the American dream.  It was his vision that eventually led to a beautiful development of seaside-inspired homes on the shores of the Coosa River.  Though he would never see the first home built, the lighthouse on the peninsula was built with him in mind.

He only had $21 to his name when “Buck,” as he’d been called since childhood, came home from the Navy in 1948.  When he didn’t find a job in his hometown of Gadsden, he figured he’d just open his own business. 

He found a storefront in downtown Gadsden that he could rent for $12.75 a month.  Not wanting to use more than half the cash he had to live on, he got his brother-in-law to co-sign on a $150 loan.   With that, he opened an engine repair and sales shop that evolved into Buck’s Boats. 

The old storefront location didn’t work for long, though, as there was no rollup door to bring in merchandise.  They had to turn boats on their sides to fit them through the standard doorway.  It was so small that only three aluminum boats would fit inside, with enough extra room for five or six outboard motors. 

They moved to a former Buick dealership, which gave them more space, but still only 10 boats fit in the showroom.  In 1969, Buck borrowed enough money to purchase 13 acres on the shores of the Coosa River.  He had sold his home to help raise the deposit on the property, so he and his wife, Pauline, had a partially sunken houseboat dredged up and pulled to the property. 

They cleaned it up and lived there while they figured out how to fund the building of the store.  The boats were sold and serviced under a revival tent they got when an evangelist, who was one of their customers, fell behind on his boat payments and offered the tent as a partial payment. 

Always the creative thinker, Buck saw his chance to fund his building when he read an ad in the newspaper of a Gadsden foundry seeking bids to demolish their building.  He bid $10. 

The next lowest bid was $56,000 from a construction company.  The foundry owner refused Buck’s bid, thinking he would likely not have the means to complete the work on time. 

Undaunted, Buck took out a bond for $56,000 to protect the owner and completed the demolition with two weeks to spare.  Then he took the parts and reassembled it on his own 13-acre plot of land.

After a 17-year career with Mercury Motors, Buck’s son, Tony, bought the business in 1989 and renamed it Buck’s Island.  Now located just minutes from the shores of Neely Henry Lake, it boasts a staff of 33. 

Three generations of the family are now involved in the business.  Mary, his wife of 32 years, runs the day-to-day operations.  Their daughter Katie is in the sales department, while another daughter, Angela, runs the service department with her master technician husband, Israel. 

“As a kid, I loved being here as much as I do now,” says Angela.  “I remember wandering around in the old attic space and seeing things brought back from other countries by my grandfather.”  She also remembers the fun of jumping from boat to boat in the showroom, a love that her own daughter now shares.

Tony, too, grew up spending his days with his dad at the business.  “We didn’t have money for daycare,” explains Tony.  “Mom worked in the sales tax office for the State of Alabama, so I’d come to work every day with Dad until I started school.  He took a broom one day, cut the handle in half and handed it to me and said to get to work.  I helped in the business all the way through high school.” 

One day after he had earned a degree in industrial design from Auburn University, Tony asked his dad how he had learned his business skills.  “I knew my dad had quit school in the 8^th grade to support his mother and sisters after his dad died.   So I said, ‘Dad, how’d you learn to run a business?’  He said, ‘Son, I learned in Sunday school.  I learned that if you treat customers the way you want to be treated, you’ll never want for business.’ ” 

That Golden Rule philosophy still drives the business today.  “We do a lot of business – about 10 times the business the average boat dealer does.  What that means is that we have more stock than most,” explains Tony.  “We also don’t sell boats.  We help facilitate people in buying a boat and guide them through the process.  We try to step into the customer’s shoes and have empathy with the customer.  We just treat them like we’d want to be treated.”

Yet another vision

So what does Buck’s Island, the boat sales and service business, have to do with Buck’s Island, the housing development?  In short, it was Buck’s dream from the time he purchased the land that one day he would move the boat business to build homes on the water’s edge. 

“My dad had told me about his vision of building homes on the 13 acres whenever city water was available.  We had to get new zoning regulations passed to allow the houses to be built the way we wanted,” said Tony. 

He partnered with a builder and in 2000, built the first 10 houses in what they called Harbor Point, a peninsula on the grounds of the property.  Three years later, they moved the boat business to a temporary rental building in Rainbow City so they could tear down the building to make room for the rest of the subdivision on the 13-acre plot. 

As they were building the new housing on the property, they began building their new boat showroom and service center in a new location on Highway 77.  The highway location has provided greater visibility and boosted their business.

The builder has almost completed the last home on the Buck’s Island development, capping the number at 47 homes.  The lighthouse Tony built to draw attention to the property on the banks of the Coosa is also a tribute to the man who inspired the development of the brightly colored waterfront homes. 

He loved visiting the Caribbean islands and guided Tony in planning the development.  “He said to make everyone feel like they’re on vacation when they come home every day,” explains Tony.  Sadly, Buck passed away in 1993 before seeing his vision become reality.

What Buck started with his $150 investment has fueled a deeply rooted passion for giving back to community.  Buck’s Island sponsors Fish Fest, a day of fishing and seminars, and sponsors more than 40 high school fishing teams.  “They’re our future,” Mary underscores. 

Editor’s Note:  You can find Buck’s Island at 4500 Hwy 77.  Their inventory includes Bentley and Crest pontoon boats, as well as Skeeter, G3, Avid, Falcon and RescueONE Connector Boats.  They’ve also added fishing kayaks and a tackle shop.

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See a need and fill it

Buck’s earns worldwide reputation for first-responder boat

Story by Roxann Edsall

Coming up with a product that is sold worldwide and helps first responders to be safer and more efficient is something to be proud of.  Southside native and business owner, Tony Lumpkin, is profoundly thankful for such an opportunity. 

He developed a boat that will connect together with others to build a large floating platform of any shape or size.  The design is particularly useful for water rescues, recoveries, dive operations and flood evacuations.

Called RescueONE Connector Boats, they are virtually impossible to tip over when connected, according to Lumpkin.  Sold by his Marine One Corporation and assembled at Buck’s Island, the boats are used by emergency rescue teams worldwide.  “They’re all over the world and in every state except Alaska,” says Lumpkin.  “The Thailand navy has 105 of them, Philippines has 35.  We sell about 100 of them a year.” 

The idea got started in 1992 when two guys from the Calhoun County Rescue Squad came in to Buck’s Island looking at jon boats for their rescue operation.  “They couldn’t find anything that fit their needs,” explains Lumpkin. 

“So I listened to what they did and even went out with them on a rescue operation so I could understand what they needed.  Then I worked on designing one for them.” 

The boats are specially designed to hook together through an interlocking frame design.  Figure eight lashings give the connection added stability.  Add-ons include a retractable dive platform, a portable fire pump and a stacked boat trailer that can haul two connector boats at the same time.

“In many cases, volunteer rescue squads give their own time to give families closure,” tells Lumpkin.  “If I can make something to make their jobs a little easier, I’m happy to do it.”

River Rocks Landing Resort & Venue

Story by Elaine Hobson Miller

Photos by Mackenzie Free

Traffic rolls by the faded sign on I-759 East in Gadsden, the drivers completely unaware of the oasis that lies below. Just off Exit 4B, on the banks of the muddy Coosa, 20 acres of peace and tranquility lie accessible by boat or vehicle.

River Rocks Landing Resort is a little bit of heaven tucked away near a busy city, so close to downtown Gadsden that you can see city hall from the front porch of its office building.

“Look at this view,” says Stacey Windom of Rainbow City, waving toward the river, where a great egret has just taken off with a fish in its mouth. Windom is seated at the bar of the campground’s latest addition, Current Market & Deli, enjoying a pizza. “This campground has all the amenities: pool, water, walkways. This summer, I watched the bass tournament as boats went up and down the river. I camp here a lot with my family, and I bring folks here for dinner, because it’s so convenient.”

As if to illustrate the campground’s amenities, a woman pedals by Current on a bicycle, while a couple strolls hand in hand on one of the gravel paths. Even though it’s September, another woman drops her towel onto a lounge chair by the pool, enjoying the remaining warm days of summer. Overhead, interstate traffic whizzes by, but the woman at the pool can barely hear it. If she were at the back of the campground, she wouldn’t hear the traffic at all.

In weather like this, you might find campground manager Carson Dabbs in a rocking chair on that office porch, his laptop on his knees and a notepad open on the porch railing in front of him, next to a Bluetooth speaker connected to Spotify.

“People don’t understand how nice it is here,” says Dabbs, who lives on the property with his wife and two preschool daughters. “It’s secluded, but it’s so close to some of the best food in the state and shopping, too. We’re family-friendly and a home away from home. I greet folks when they come in because I know them.”

One reason he knows them is that so many return year after year for a weekend or a week, and a few even stay there permanently. Formerly known as River Country Landing, the campground has existed almost 30 years. The old sign is still visible from U.S. 759, and it still says River Country, although the letters are faded. River Rocks plans to redo it this fall.

“We changed hands three years ago,” says Dabbs. “The widow of the original owner ran it after her husband died but was ready to retire. The owner now is Wes Long of Guntersville. He also has a new Fairfield Inn in Albertville and a Hampton Inn in Guntersville and Jacksonville.”

River Rocks has 169 campsites, including the tiny houses and rental camper, along with a boat dock. Then there is the Banana House, a three-story building on the point that earned its nickname because it’s yellow and is surrounded by banana trees. The five-bedroom house, with its wide porches, looks like something from a travel brochure of a Caribbean resort. It sleeps 10 and has its own boat dock. The point itself can be rented for weddings and other special events.

The campground’s main dock has 28 slips, some rented by the year, others by the day, almost all of them rented by campers. The latter come in all ages. A lot of them are locals, but many come from surrounding states such as Georgia and Tennessee. “A group comes down from Canada every year,” Dabbs says. “Our name is beginning to spread among campers. Word of mouth is most of the advertising.”

Long has added to and improved the campground’s amenities. There are now three swimming pools, including an infinity pool (its edge appears to blend with the river); a 4-foot-deep heated pool and a kiddie pool that’s connected to a splash pad. He also added the restaurant, seven tiny houses and a camper for rent.

“We’ve also just opened up our tree house, which sleeps six, and includes a mother-in-law bedroom downstairs,” Dabbs points out.

The tiny houses, built by Clayton Homes of Addison are brought in on wheels and stay on wheels. Some have lofts just tall enough for kids to sleep in. Each tiny house has a name, such as the Sunset House. A small chapel on the riverbank seats 20. A local church started a Sunday service there but had to move it to a room in the office building to accommodate the number of worshippers.

A new basketball court is behind the children’s playground. Several community firepits are scattered about the grounds, along with picnic tables and wooden swings under tall shade trees. The swing facing the water near the restaurant is Dabbs’ favorite spot.

CurrentMarket & Deli opened in March and features pizzas, a catfish po’ boy and Dabbs’ personal favorite, loaded fries. It’s open seven days a week  serves breakfast on weekends, and is accessible to non-campers who park outside the gate via a gravel path. In addition, boats can tie up at the small dock next to the market and enter from the river.

“Jessica and Jason Wilson, Chris and Christi Robinson are partners in the restaurant,” Dabbs says. “Chris owns Blackstone Pub & Eatery, and Jason started Back Forty Beer Company, both in downtown Gadsden. Jason also owns Coldwater Mountain Pub in Anniston.” Jessica is Current’s manager.

Dining space for about 50 people is available inside or on the deck, where a fan keeps the breezes blowing on warm days. Each morning, a family of ducks, including both parents and five ducklings, preens under a weeping willow tree next to the river, across the path from Current. They’re waiting on the lunch crowd to toss them their scraps and are known to follow diners down the path toward their cars.

“We have to make use of all our space, so we built a patio over the storm shelters next to Current,” says Dabbs, explaining more of the campground’s amenities. “In spring and fall, we have live music on the patio, weather permitting, usually Friday or Saturday night, sometimes both during holidays. We feature local groups.” The music most requested by campers and diners is traditional country and Southern rock from the 70s and 80s.

Those who attended Riverfest the first day of October were treated to some of those styles of music. Drake White, a traditional country singer who grew up in Hokes Bluff, entertained the crowd. So did Anderson East from Athens, a blues and Americana musician who was nominated for a Grammy Award in the American Roots category in 2019. Sponsored for many years by the city of Gadsden, the festival had a small version as a test run last year at River Rocks.

“It rained all weekend last year, but we took it on the chin and decided to really go after it this year. It went really well. We had about 1,500 people to turn out for the music, food trucks, arts & crafts and entertainment. Buffalo Rock and River Rocks were the primary sponsors, but we had 10-12 smaller ones, too.”

Another entertainment venue for River Rocks is its annual Drive-Through Christmas Lights display. Beginning Thanksgiving night, the grounds will be open after dark for cars to drive through and view the colorful lights, Nativity scene, blow-ups and animated characters. The cost is $3 for children and $5 for adults.

Dabbs’ daughters, two-year-old Raelynn, and Baeleigh, who will be five at the end of October, consider River Rocks Landing their personal playground and all the guests they meet their friends. “We’ll be driving through, and Baeleigh will say, ‘Daddy, there’s people in my pool,’” he says, grinning like a proud daddy. “Here, everyone is her friend. Both my daughters love it when we turn on the Christmas lights.”

Story by Loyd McIntosh
Photos by Meghan Frondorf

“Paddleboards are like a surfboard. Nose at the front, tail at the back. The most stable part is the middle of the board where the handle is at, so that’s where you’ll stand up.”

Carrie Machen, co-owner of GadRock, a rock climbing and paddleboarding facility located on the banks of the Coosa River in Gadsden, is explaining the basics of paddleboarding to this newbie. The sun is finally peeking out from behind the clouds on a day that began with a storm producing sheets of rain of Old Testament proportions.

Convinced that the weather is safe for a little paddleboarding, Machen continues her instructions. “Now the paddle. You want that blade to angle away from your body, you want one hand at the top of the handle, one halfway down the shaft,” she says.

“The most dangerous part of the handles is the ‘T’ part, so be sure that you’ve got a hand on that paddle at all times,” Machen explains, making a special point to emphasize that the upward thrust of the paddle as it moves through the water could force it to pop up and smack the rider in the chops if he/she isn’t careful. Unlikely to happen? Sure. Unpleasant when it does happen? Absolutely.

“The stroke is bending at the waist and thinking about pulling your body to your paddle. You want your paddle to be pretty straight,” Machen continues. “The paddle goes in as far as you can get with that stretch, bend at the waist, and it comes out at your feet. As you come back past your feet, you’re pushing the nose of the board into the water.”

Following a few more minutes of demonstration on dry land, it’s time to toss the paddleboards over and jump into the water. For the next hour, we paddle along the Coosa River, parallel to I-759, the laid-back gurgling of the water drowning out the traffic on the busy interstate.

Before there was a paddleboard, there was a vision

Gadsden native Carrie Machen and a friend, Kate Wilson, initially conceived GadRock as an indoor climbing gym to support the growing rock-climbing community in Northeast Alabama and to promote the sport to a new generation. Machen also gained an interest in paddling sports while attending Auburn University and envisioned GadRock as a place to introduce the region to the joys of paddle sports.

“I took a kayaking class at Auburn and kind of fell in love with paddling on the water. I’m not hardcore like a lot of people, but I do enjoy being out on the water,” Machen says.

“At first, I thought about kayaks but then I tried stand-up paddling for myself, and I loved it,” she adds. “There’s freedom in it. You can stand up or sit down on your boards and they’re lighter in weight than kayaks.” Machen went on to explain the many options in stand-up paddleboards, from entry-level recreational boards, competition boards, boards designed for fishing, and even inflatable boards which can be inflated and deflated quickly and are a cinch to travel with. “The inflatable paddleboards are very easy to transport. I’ve flown with mine before,” says Machen.

Machen has been a certified paddleboard instructor for the past five years and enjoys introducing the sport to newcomers of all ages. While it may seem like a complicated activity to master, Machen says it’s quite simple once you get the hang of it. The most difficult aspects are learning to stand up on the board, which is optional by the way, and learning to climb back on the board when – not if – you fall into the water.

“Some people are a little intimidated by it,” Machen says. “They think they’re going to fall in. You do fall in, but that’s no big deal. “Maybe a little bit intimidating, but it shouldn’t be because it’s not a hard sport to learn.” 

Although based in Etowah County, Machen is familiar with the waterways of the surrounding areas, including Henry Neely and Logan Martin lakes, and says both are well-suited for paddleboarding.

Part of the Alabama Scenic River Trail, a 650-mile-long trail through many of Alabama’s major rivers, including the Coosa River, Neely Henry and Logan Martin are points along the trail and offer paddleboarders unique opportunities for exploring the diverse and fascinating wildlife throughout the area.

“There are points along the trail in our area on Neely Henry and Logan Martin where there are islands in the water and you can camp,” Machen explained. “There’s a lot of boat traffic in some places, but if you stay close to the shore it’s not a big deal.

“The Creeks are a lot of fun to explore,” she added. “Sometimes instead of going out to Neely Henry, which is fun to do, I like to go in the creeks that feed into Neely Henry and explore those. They are full of wildlife – herons, egrets, cormorants, turtles, bald eagles – and you’re able to get into some of the areas that you can’t get into with a kayak or a canoe.”

Meanwhile, back at the paddleboard lesson

After a spectacularly clumsy and downright hilarious fall into the water during an attempt to stand up, this rookie paddleboarder decided to experience the rest of the adventure on his knees. It doesn’t take long before some basics of paddling, turning and stopping are mastered.

We paddle toward a small island, thick with green vegetation and pine trees, where a flock of white gulls mills about in the marsh. Clearly used to Machen and other paddleboarders, only a handful of these large, graceful, white birds fly off as we paddle closer.

After a few minutes of birdwatching and enjoying the relative silence in the middle of the inlet, we turn our boards around and paddle to the dock – back to the hectic, busyness of dry land.

What’s SUP?

SUP is the acronym for Stand Up Paddleboard, and GadRock features special SUP tour packages designed for beginners, nature lovers, even yoga and fitness versions.

The SUP Eco Tour teams paddlers with knowledgeable guides to learn more about Lake Gadsden’s wildlife, tributaries and historic lore. “Sunset tours are especially fun!,” according to its website.

Beginners are welcome for the SUP Intro Tour. Make sure your techniques are correct and learn the basics en route to more advanced tours available.

Yoga on a paddleboard? That’s right.  This tour combines the basics of paddling and an hour of practicing “balance, control and mindfulness.”

What a way to stay in shape with the SUP Fitness Tour. It’s quite a workout focusing on paddling and control, speed, stretching, strength and balance.

Want something a little more laid back? Try the SUP & SIP Tour – a sunset exploration of tributary creeks and wildlife. A relaxing atmosphere, music and a complimentary beverage holder contribute to the ambience of the evening on the water. And if you want to imbibe, BYOB.

Story by Katie Bohannon
Photos by Mackenzie Free

Summer 2022 proved sweeter for the City of Southside as the village on the Coosa debuted its highly anticipated waterfront park. Lovingly coined Southside Landing, the park beckoned residents and visitors to its pristine property on May 1 – and it has been smooth sailing ever since.

Residents frequented Southside Landing this summer, as the community embraced the waterfront park with an enthusiastic celebration of the city’s latest attraction. From boaters and fishermen enjoying the river to children laughing on the playground, people treasure the new jewel on the Coosa each day.

Southside Landing offers a little reprieve for everyone, including a boat launch, pier, playground, picnic tables and restrooms. Blackstone Bait Shack – a tangent of local beloved restaurant Blackstone Pub & Eatery – is in the process of opening soon.

The concept for Southside Landing arose when the previous mayoral administration took the initiative to purchase property for a boat launch, pier, bait shack and boat slips. When current mayor, Dana Snyder, entered her new position, she began discussing the plans formerly in place as one of her top priorities – determining to finish the park and open the space to the public.

“Southside Landing is the gateway to our city,” said Snyder. “It is a place to gather, play, read, relax, exercise and eat – any day of the week. It offers residents and visitors alike a place to enjoy our beautiful river and soon, a place to hang out, with food and drinks! We will continue to improve it yearly.”

Snyder elaborated on these potential improvements, describing the growth she envisions for the space and Southside overall. She foresees future developments on the horizon, including further retail establishments and restaurants, alongside additions to the playground or walking trail.

She hopes to incorporate outdoor exercise equipment in different spots along the path for all ages to enjoy as a motivating factor for children and adults alike to practice healthy habits and exercise outdoors. Purchasing shades to cover the existing playground and the patio at Blackstone Bait Shack emerge as another endeavor. And Snyder is discussing plans for a possible kayak launch on the Landing’s back side, to provide easy access to present kayakers, while sparking an interest in the activity in others.

As locals soak in the sunshine during summer months and indulge in the recreation at their fingertips at Southside Landing, Snyder shared that the waterfront park transcends seasonal appeal. With city- and county-organized events scheduled from month to month, Southside Landing holds the potential to become a beloved tourist destination in Etowah County year-round.

Small tournaments have already launched from the Landing, with the city’s first sponsored tournament debuting on Sept. 17. Plans for Southside’s collaborative Christmas Boat Parade, hosted alongside Rainbow City, is tentatively scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 10.

Southside on the move

Southside Landing marks the beginning of a “New Southside,” according to Snyder, who discussed how the park intwines with the city’s innovative progress. As Southside Landing attracts tourism and creates a safe, pleasant space for residents, Snyder and her team strive to implement updates citywide.

With the incentive of providing better and more efficient services to citizens and businesses, Southside recently upgraded its city’s software and procedures, including a pay scale that offers more incentive for employees.

A paving project – affecting over 30 city roads – is almost complete, coinciding with the city’s plans for initiating its own garbage service.

A new fire station, which will accommodate the growing need of health and safety services and establish a place for the city’s first responders to serve residents and businesses is in the works.

Next is the expansion of Southside’s police department. Snyder announced that Southside almost has completed its strategic plan, which will provide the city and its officials with essential information in designing blueprints for future development and boosting economic success.

By improving its infrastructure and services, Snyder said, Southside will be ready for the future growth that is expected throughout its city in the near future.

“Southside Landing is here for residents’ use, because of the hard work of the past and present administrations,” said Snyder, noting that the efforts of dedicated individuals who understood the park’s significance and brought such success to fruition.

“The past administration took an opportunity presented to them and purchased the land with a vision for development of a boat launch and facility to provide public access to the Coosa River – our biggest asset for tourism and citizens. We want everyone to enjoy the park and have fun, while taking pride in Southside Landing and treating it with respect.”

Snyder welcomed the community to experience Southside Landing for themselves, celebrating the improvements taking place throughout the city and looking forward to those yet to come.

She invited residents and interested individuals to share their thoughts with her on the project, noting that her open-door policy remains intact, as does her passion for the lovely city she calls home.

Dave Evans Jr.
leaves behind a
storied legac

Story by Elaine Hobson Miller
Submitted photos

He loved Louis L’Amour novels, John Wayne movies and his family. He was an honest man who never borrowed money, who helped his neighbors and was strict with his kids. A witty man with a dry sense of humor. A hard worker who believed in giving an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay.

This is how family and friends remember David Shepherd Evans Jr., owner of Greensport Marina, who died March 12 at the age of 91.

He was one of the last two ferrymen to shuttle people and their vehicles back and forth across the Coosa River. The other was his father, Dave Sr., who continued to operate the Greensport Ferry without his son’s help until the late 1950s.

“Dave Sr. took over operation of the ferry in the mid-1940s, and Dad helped him until 1957, when he went to work for Republic Steel in Gadsden,” says daughter Beth Evans Smith. “It gave him time to spend with his father.”

Dave Jr., known as Pop within the family, had told one of his ferry customers that he was going to look for another job because he had a baby on the way. Little did he know that the customer was the personnel manager at Republic. “He told Dad to be at the mill at a certain time, and when Dad got there, the man hired him,” Beth says.

The original Green’s Ferry was located on the banks of the Coosa River across from the home of former Revolutionary War soldier Jacob Green, built in 1832. That’s the same year the ferry was chartered to deliver mail. Pulled first by slaves and later by mules, by Dave Sr.’s day it was propelled with a small skiff powered by a six-horsepower outboard motor. The ferry took folks from Green’s Port (later Greensport) across the Coosa River to a point a few miles from Ohatchee.

The land attached to Greensport Marina was designated a Bicentennial Farm by the U.S. Department of Agriculture two years ago because it has been in the same family for eight generations. Dave Jr. was a direct descendent of Jacob Green, and his grandchildren make up the eighth generation.

The farm

The farm spans three counties and a couple of centuries. It is in St. Clair, Etowah and Calhoun counties. “It was also recognized as a Century and Heritage Farm by the Alabama Department of Agriculture,” Beth says. “Being a Bicentennial Farm is icing on the cake.”

The Century Farm designation is awarded to farms that have been in the same family continuously for at least 100 years and are currently being used for farming activities. A Heritage Farm must have been used as a family farm for at least 100 years and possess historical significance, including at least one structure standing for 40 years or more. Each type of farm must be at least 40 acres, and the owner must live in Alabama. The Green-Evans farm is about 1,200 acres.

Dave Jr. and his father raised cattle and corn, although they downsized their herd after losing more than 400 acres of prime pasture to the damming of the Coosa in 1966. They also had a store at Greensport and at one time warehouses and a post office.

Dam doesn’t stand in his way

“My grandfather built the marina, but my dad and I went with him to the meetings with Alabama Power Company,” Beth says. “My dad had to do much of the physical work on the farm because my grandfather was not in good health. He was a diabetic and so was my dad.”

A visionary back in the 1960s, he could see the marina in that cow pasture, and built it before the waters were dammed and covered the land. “That was just as much Dad as grand,” says Dave III. “They built the marina for my granddad to have something to do in retirement, but it was Dad’s foresight that made it work. He was on a dozer the day they put the plug in (the dam). He went out there to knock a pile of dirt down, but before he could leave, the water was up to the top of the tracks on the dozer.”

Dave Evans Sr. was elected sheriff of St. Clair County in 1958, and the ferry was no longer operational by then. “Dad was a deputy sheriffwhen my grandfather was sheriff,” says Beth. “Hence his nickname at Republic, which followed him when Republic became LTV and then Gulf State Steel, was Sheriff. He was brave and would take on Goliath if necessary. His experience with the sheriff’s office helped us many times dealing with the public at the marina.”

Always on the go

When her father retired from Gulf State Steel in 1993, Beth thought he would be lost, but he never looked back. “He started going to the stockyards with my brother, Dave III, who is a veterinarian, and helping him with the cattle,” she says.

A man who didn’t believe in borrowing money, he had no credit or debit cards. “He believed in paying cash as you go,” she says. “If you didn’t have the money you shouldn’t buy. If he wanted or needed something he could ‘find’ the money because he stuck it away.”

Her brother, Dave III, says their father was the tightest human being he’s ever known. “I’d give him money to keep for me, and I’d get the very same bills back,” he says. “Dad was pretty thrifty with his money. Also, he kept his word. If he said he was going to do something, he’d do it.”

Beth says her father was strong-willed, too. After he retired, he developed a blood clot in his brain. He had surgery and recovered. “He was tough as nails,” Beth says. “He also survived a collision with a loaded log truck on the way home from Moulton Stockyard. He and my brother came out of that without a scratch, but the veterinary truck was totaled, including every bottle of medicine.”

A hard worker all of his life,at the age of 12, he was in the coal mines in Bibb County. His father’s family were miners in West Blockton, Margaret and Acmar.

“My Dad told stories about driving trucks, falling into the coal shoot, blind-folding the mules when taking them from the mines, and that you didn’t kill the rats and mice because they were your best friends,” Beth says. “When the varmints started running out of the mine you had better be right behind them (because) something was going to happen.” Her mother, Margaret, was a hard worker, too. He was devastated when she died of cancer in 2012. “They were very close,” Beth says.

One of his former co-workers at the steel mill, Bill Lankford, says that in the 37 years Dave Jr. worked at Republic/LTV/Gulf State, he never laid out except when he was in the hospital. “When he was on the morning shift, he would always arrive 30 minutes early and make the coffee. He was very dedicated to his family, his co-workers and his job.” The pair were two of the three men who worked in Republic’s pulpit, their name for the glass-walled computer control room.

“He believed in us working at the marina, too,” Beth says. “We never took family vacations unless we visited our relatives in Foley or Tuscumbia.” Dave Jr. furnished CB radios for the family and workers to communicate with each other around the marina, and later low-band business radios in the trucks. Their 199-foot, low-band tower finally fell this year.

Dave III says when Pop retired, he started helping him in his mobile veterinary business. “For the last 20 plus years, he’d go to the stockyards and different places with me where I would do Coggins tests,” Dave III says. “I have fond memories of him just riding with me everywhere and helping me do the paperwork at the sales.” Dr. Dave Evans III has the South’s only traveling federal veterinary lab, and the pair would go to horse sales that needed immediate results on blood tests.

There was no mistaking his love of country. Beth says her dad never missed an opportunity to vote. He told her and her brother that voting was an obligation. “Don’t complain about anything if you don’t vote,” she remembers him saying. “He said many people gave up a portion of their lives for us to vote and many gave their lives. I don’t miss an election! He served in the Air Force during the Korean War but was released early because his father was ill and as an only child, Dad was needed to run the farm.”

An honest man who “told you like it was,” what you saw in him was what you got. “There was nothing fake about my Dad,” Beth says.

A fan of Westerns

“Dave really enjoyed Westerns, and in the 1950s, he would come to our house to watch them on TV with my father while his wife, Margaret, visited with my mom,” says Margaret Green, one of Dave’s cousins. “The mountains around his home prevented him from having TV reception, but on the hill at Lock 1 where I lived, the reception was good. I hardly ever saw Dave without a Western novel somewhere close. His favorite author seemed to have been Louis L’Amour.”

Beth says he read every book written by L’Amour and had more than one copy of some of them. He also read Ralph Compton, the Western author from Odenville, and others, and enjoyed the newspaper and the Shotgun News. His favorite actors were John Wayne and Clint Eastwood.

A strong will

Another attribute that set him apart was his ability to accept the cards he was dealt. One example was the way he quit smoking: cold turkey. “It was like he was a chain smoker one day and the next day he threw the cigarettes away,” Beth says. “Also, from the moment he was diagnosed with diabetes, he knew what had to be done. Momma changed the way she cooked, and daddy stayed on a strict diet. He didn’t have the issues other diabetics have, such as loss of eyesight, amputation of limbs, sores not healing and constant fluctuations in his blood sugar levels. He was diagnosed in 1972-73 and lived with the disease 50 years.”

The blood clot developed in 1993, and Dave Sr. went on a honeymoon period of 10 years without insulin. Then he began to lose weight and had to start on insulin again. “In his last years he had aFib,” Beth says. “He fell out at the barn and lay there several hours before being found. When he went to rehab the second time, he got pneumonia and from then on, his health started spiraling downward. As a result, he had to have care 24/7.”

Dave III probably handled 70-80 percent of the night shifts with Pop the last few years of his life, but his son made sure Pop’s daytime caregivers drove him around various places each day. “I wouldn’t want to be sitting staring at four walls all the time,” Dave says. “Pop’s mental state the last year wasn’t the best, but he still enjoyed conversing with folks.”

Stephanie Evans, wife of Dave III, describes her father-in-law as “one of the most business-minded, innovative people that have been on the property.

“Throughout the building of this RV park, which opened in 2019, my father-in-law was my biggest encourager,” she says, tears welling up at the memories. “He was wheelchair-bound toward the end, but his caregiver would bring him by the office every day. Four days before he died, he said, ‘Stephanie, I can’t see out of this eye, and this side of my face is paralyzed,’ and I said, ‘Pop, do you see the good side or the bad side of me?’ And he said, ‘I always see the good side.’”

Pop would sit in a rocker on the front porch of the office, and Stephanie, who works in the park office, would leave the door open so they could converse. Often, he would have his caregiver drive him through park to see the changes. “He loved to talk to people at the store and boat ramp, especially about the history of the place,” Stephanie says. “He was a pleasant man to be around.”

Stephanie says her relationship with her father-in-law was one of best friends rather than in-laws. “I took him to lots of doctors’ appointments,” she says. “My husband and I had this joke. I used to say to my husband, ‘Your daddy made my day. Sorry it wasn’t you.’ When Pop died, my husband said, ‘Well, gotta step up my game.’”

“My goal is to continue his legacy in how he’d want the property to move forward.”