Story by Carol Pappas Photos courtesy of Downtown Gadsden Inc.
Sometimes, the best laid business plans are the ones you never intended.
Just ask Kay Moore, executive director of Downtown Gadsden Inc. Fourteen years after First Friday kicked off, thousands of people from all over the Southeast now make downtown Gadsden their destination point on the first Friday of each month from April to October from 6 to 9 p.m.
Downtown blocks close on those Friday afternoons to make way for food trucks, musical entertainment, performers, cars, cars and more cars. And where those attractions set up shop – up and down Broad Street and beyond – crowds have followed. “It’s not exactly what we planned when we started it,” Moore said. “It may not be what it started out to be, but it probably is what it is supposed to be.”
It would be hard to argue with that conclusion. Six to eight thousand people from all over the Southeast head to downtown Gadsden for the car show alone. Add to that more throngs from the city and surrounding region, and what it has become is one huge success story by any measure.
The motive was to get downtown Gadsden discovered or rediscovered. Like countless other places, downtown was once the thriving heart of any city. But malls and big box stores lured shoppers and diners elsewhere, and downtowns paid the price.
Determined to bring their downtown back from the brink, a handful of visionaries in Gadsden saw the potential for a rebound and set out to make it happen.
The forerunner was Sylvia Smith, who was looking for ways to attract customers to her Stone Market on Court Street. She started having entertainment and other attractions spaced up to the 400 block, and it started spreading from there to Broad Street.
Two years later, the doll shop owner, who had friends in the car show circuit, helped introduce the car show to First Fridays, the engine that drives the successes that followed. “It has exploded since then,” Moore said. “It’s what put Gadsden on the map.”
Cars of all makes and models – old, new, vintage – line the streets. Passersby stroll through, pausing to get a better look at one that catches their eye. Food vendors handle the overflow of hungry attendees from local restaurants, cafes, bars and pizza joints. The local eateries alone can’t handle the growing crowds, so food vendors are the only non-local vendors allowed in.
There’s plenty more than cars and food. Like music? Take your pick. There’s gospel, rock, easy listening, jazz and country performers strategically placed throughout downtown. “You walk down the street, and you hear what you want to hear,” Moore said, referencing the variety.
But the centerpiece of it all is still the motive – downtown shopping and dining. “It has a huge economic impact on merchants,” she noted. “They may not ring the cash register that night, but they come back.” It is not unusual to hear merchants recount how their business increased in the days that follow. “The next Saturday, they may come from Birmingham, Huntsville or Centre. They come back because of something they saw at First Friday.”
It’s seen as a return to a time of building relationships with the people you do business with, coming back to the city’s heart and discovering its soul. It’s a return to a nostalgic, main street experience.
While it may be tempting to order online, that’s the “easy way out,” Moore explained. “We want people to remember that we’re here – check out our gift shops and restaurants.”
With a nod to Downtown Gadsden’s tag line, it’s “small town, small shops, big treasures and great tastes” all rolled into one stroll down main street. “You’ll find something you didn’t know you needed,” Moore said. “I promise you that.”
Editor’s Note:First Friday returns April 1 at 6 p.m. For more information, go to: downtowngadsden.com
Story by Elaine Hobson Miller Photos by Graham Hadley Submitted photos
What’s in a name? When it’s attached to a place, it often gives a hint of its history. Take Coal City, for example. You might think it is or was a coal-mining town. And you’d be right. Later, a guy tried to change its name to Wattsville, and there’s a story behind that. In the beginning, however, it was called Broken Arrow, after the creek by the same name. And that name recalls its Native American origins, and even connects you with Broken Arrow, Okla.
According to legend, a Native American brave shot a deer in the area and in the animal’s death throes, it broke the brave’s arrow. When he saw the broken arrow, he yelled, “Theitka,” (or Thle Teka, depending upon which source you’re reading). That meant “Broken Arrow” in his language. Thus, that area became known as Broken Arrow.
History connects Coal City, once a bustling mining town, to Broken Arrow
Actually, the area’s Native American heritage goes back a few thousand years, according to Rusty Jessup, amateur historian and mayor of nearby Riverside. “Most archeologists believe there was a very large Native American settlement in the area of Broken Arrow Creek, where it goes into the Coosa River,” Jessup says. “We think it was 1,000 to 1,200 B.C. I’ve talked to some people who say it was one of the largest settlements at that time, with as many as 10,0000 to 15,000 people who lived at that intersection over a span of 200 to 300 years.”
As far as Jessup knows, no Native American burial grounds have been discovered in the area, but there could have been some that went underwater when the Coosa River was dammed to form Logan Martin Lake in 1965. “There’s good fishing there. It always was one of the cleaner tributaries into the Coosa, but also one of the shallow ones,” he says. “You can’t navigate a long way on Broken Arrow Creek.”
Fast forward to the founding of Broken Arrow, Okla. That Tulsa suburb was established in 1902 by a Creek tribe that was moved to Oklahoma from Broken Arrow in St. Clair County, Ala.
The brave, whose cry became the name of the creek, may have been part of a mixed band of settlers and friendly Native Americans hunting on the land of the area’s first white settler. John Bolton arrived in the 1820s. According to a Feb. 21, 1974, St. Clair Observer newspaper story by Mattie Lou Teague Crow, Bolton followed an Native American trail which ran from the Creek village of Cataula (Ashville) to Cropwell.
He established a homestead at the intersection of another Native American trail running from the Coosa River to today’s Friendship community. Bolton’s log cabin was approximately where Old Coal City Road crosses Alabama Highway 144 today. The area became known as Bolton’s Crossroads. Again, the history is in the name.
In 1839, Broken Arrow Post Office was established in the home of its first postmaster, Francis Barnes Walker. Before that, area residents walked or rode over Backbone Mountain to Ashville to get their mail. Walker held his post until the Civil War began.
Long before the Civil War, though, an Englishman named William Gould discovered coal in the area. “The small amount he mined was hauled by wagon six miles to the Coosa River, and from there it was floated to Selma or Wetumpka by flatboat,” wrote Mrs. Crow in her book, History of St. Clair County. He formed Ragland Mines Company in 1854 and owned other coal lands in Shelby County.
Eventually, four major mines were formed in the area: Dirty Dozen, Coal City, Broken Arrow and Marion. Mrs. Crow reports that some 600 to 700 miners worked at Coal City, often on overtime. At some point, other seams were dug at Rutille, Klondike, Cross-Eyed Seven, Glen Mines and Boozer.
After the Civil War, a gentleman named George Washington Daugdrill (one source spells it “Daughdrille”) moved his family from Demopolis. Although he had lost most of his fortune during the war, he scraped together enough cash and credit to buy land and invest in the mining business at Broken Arrow.
When the Daugdrills moved into their log cabin, they brought the rosewood and mahogany furniture they had purchased when they lived in France. Julia August Daugdrill also brought her piano and harp, entertaining settlers with Bach and Beethoven when they visited the cabin.
Pate with his prized collection of Native American artifacts
During the years that it was a rip-roaring mining town, the community had a big warehouse, barber shops, a commissary, a livery stable, a number of stores, a pool hall, a city hall and jail, and at least one hotel. An unattributed, typed paragraph with the date, March 12, 1884, appears in the Coal City vertical file at the Pell City Public Library. It states that the “Broken Arrow Hotel, (of) which Mr. John Laney is Proprietor, is second to no hotel in the county. This place (Coal City) has nine stores, two saloons, three physicians, two saw and grist mills with the best black-smith in the state.”
Apparently, the area had its bloody side, too. A Letter to the Editor of the Southern Aegis, printed July 15, 1885, bemoans the lawlessness of the area. It mentions a man killing the cook at the Broken Arrow Hotel, and says the proprietor of the place, “while drunk,” shot at another man a couple of weeks later. “It is a violation of law to sell liquor here,” the anonymous letter writer says. “Yet one John Lany openly sells it and in all above shooting scrapes, liquor was the foundation.” The writer mentions other shootings, along with gambling, and wondered why laws go unenforced in the area.
In 1883, the Daugdrill family sold its mining interest to John Postell, who built the East and West Railroad to haul the coal out. The E&W was a narrow-gauge affair that ran from Cartersville and Cedartown, Ga., to Broken Arrow. Seaboard Air Line Railroad eventually bought Postell’s rail lines as part of its new system that ran from Birmingham to Atlanta and points beyond and converted it to broad gauge tracks.
Another anonymous writer of a Southern Aegis article dated July 27, 1887, saysthat the timber around Broken Arrow was plentiful and equal to any. “Sawmills are eating their way into the forests, and St. Clair timber is transformed into handsome residences, factories, etc.,” the article states.
The Aeigis writer brags on the number of acres of timbered pine lands in the area and says there were about a dozen mills along the line of the Georgia Pacific Railroad and the E&W Railroad, within seven miles of Broken Arrow. “Their aggregate output exceeds in value of $1,000 per day, probably $1,500 per day,” he writes.
Some of the area’s timber probably went into its churches, homes and businesses, such as Harkey’s Chapel, a Methodist church that began as a log building in 1830. It was named after its first pastor, the Rev. David Harkey. Another early church was Broken Arrow Baptist, established in 1890, and Refuge Baptist, 1860.Each of those churches are still meeting today, albeit in more modern structures. The Daugdrills donated land for the Broken Arrow Cemetery, which is now across the road from the church. The first burial was their infant grandson, “Little Jim” Daugdrill.
Another major player in the coal mining industry was Watt T. Brown, who had extensive land holdings in St. Clair County. He reorganized the Ragland Coal Company in 1896.But it wasn’t until early 1929 that Brown began a series of name changes, a feat that sticks in the craws of many old-timers who live in Coal City today. He managed to get the Coal City Post Office changed to the Wattsville Post Office. Soon afterward, the Seaboard Railroad changed the name of its station, and a state geologist re-designated the coalfield as Wattsville Coal Basin.
From old newspaper clipping: Broken Arrow Mines, Coal City, Ala. The capacity of these mines is 425 tons daily. About 150 men were employed.
Nevertheless, most older residents of the area, and some younger ones, too, still cringe at the name “Wattsville.” They say the town doesn’t exist, except in the names of a post office, a volunteer fire department and a church or two. “Technically, there is no Wattsville,” says Amber Michael, office manager of the Wattsville Water Authority. “There are post office boxes, but that’s the only place you can get mail labeled Wattsville.” An internet search turns up evidence of Wattsville being a separate community from Coal City, but if they’re separate, they run together and maybe overlap at some point.
Two iron-ore mines opened in Coal City in the early 1900s, bringing more people into the area. Coke ovens were built somewhere near the Edward Layton homesite and Shiloh Baptist Church, according to Mattie Lou Teague Crow. They belched “evil-smelling, lung-choking black smoke,” she says.
Some sources say John Postell changed the town’s name from Broken Arrow to Coal City in the late 1800s, while others say it was unofficially called that as far back as the 1850s. Either way, it wasn’t until 1910 that the town, comprising a mile radius from the old Broken Arrow Bridge (St. Clair 234), was officially incorporated. Wattsville was never incorporated, and Coal City later became an unincorporated hamlet again.
The Wattsville/Coal City communities had a succession of eight schools, according to Jerry Smith in the October 2012 issue of LakeLife’s sister magazine, Discover the Essence of St. Clair. The first few met in various buildings and went by several names. The first Coal City School, built on a hilltop in 1919, taught all 12 grades. Its last graduation was held in 1929.
After that, Smith says, Coal City School, also known as Rabbit Hop, served only elementary grades until it burned in 1951. The last Coal City School building is on U.S. 231 near Shirley’s Mainline Barbecue, where it houses the St. Clair County Head Start program.
Coal City schools produced some major sportsmen, including Eddie Martin of the New York Yankees, Darrell Pratt of the Detroit Tigers, and Clyde Warren, a 1925 All-American for Auburn University.
Electricity came to Coal City/Wattsville in the 1930s, when the only fully paved roads in the entire county were U.S. 78 through Pell City and U.S. 411 through Ashville. According to one source, the mines started drying up around 1915, with the last one shutting down in 1919. But another source says that Watt T. Brown operated a coal mine on Pope’s Chapel Road in 1919 or 1920.
“All of Coal City was tar and gravel (roads) until five years ago,” says Walter Callahan, manager of the Pleasant Valley Quick Stop. “Originally they were just dirt roads. Now they’re paved with asphalt.”
Callahan, 70, remembers swimming in the Mining Hole, a seemingly bottomless pit that filled with water over the years after the mines closed. It was located off Highway 144, one block north of Broken Arrow Creek. “As kids we’d jump into the Hole with a big rock to see how far down we could sink,” he says. “But we never got past 17 feet before dropping the rocks. It was ice cold at that depth, even in the heat of summer.”
The Mining Hole has been on private property for several years, according to Callahan. He says when the hole was being drained so it could be filled in, several old cars were found at the bottom. Folks figured they had been stolen, stripped and dumped into the hole.
On a recent tour of the area, Callahan, whose family settled there in 1827, pointed out various places of interest. “My grandad, Alma Reid Alverson, farmed 20 acres just across the street from the Quick Stop, and my Uncle Tom Barber had 50 acres on the hill just before you get to Broken Arrow Church. Much of it was planted in watermelons that he gave away. Folks would stop and ask whether they could pick a few melons, and he’d say, ‘Sure, just don’t crush any.’”
Callahan motions toward the former home of Roy and Helen Pope, still in the Pope family, on Depot Street. “They had cows and everybody got their milk from them in the 1940s, 1950s and into the 1960s,” he says. He stops at a little hole in the ground called Arnold Springs. He says it’s one of two springs in the area that have never run dry. “People brought their water jugs and filled them here,” he says. “Lots of watercress grew around it.”
Pleasant Grove Baptist Church (formerly Possum Trot Baptist, which is what many old-timers still call it), also on Depot Street, is bordered on one side by Police Camp Road. “It used to end at a police shooting range,” Callahan explains. “It’s on private property now.” He remembers traveling down nearby Sugar Farms Road about a mile, then having to cross through a swamp. “There was no bridge, you literally drove through a swamp,” he says.
The concrete bridge crossing Broken Arrow Creek on Refuge Road (St. Clair 234), just off Center Star Road (St. Clair 45), is still known as Broken Arrow Bridge. Before it was paved, it was made of railroad cross ties. “There was a big hole on one side, and you had to drive right through the center to keep your tires out of it,” Callahan says. “When I was six or seven, my mom took me fishing right beside that bridge. I remember she caught a nice mud catfish that she cooked for dinner.”
On Old Coal City Road, about half a mile before it reachesI-20, are the remains of the original Coal City Water Works. All that’s left are a small, red building that looks like a backyard shed, a small pond and some pipes. Across the road is Florida Street, named after Stovall Florida, who had a sawmill there in the 1940s. “His was the only business in the area during the Depression,” Callahan says.
There was an area bootlegger in Callahan’s younger days, when St. Clair was still a dry county. He lived on what is now Stone Road, which turns off U.S. 231 South across from the present Wattsville Free Will Baptist Church and meanders behind C & R Feed & Supply. “As long as you could drive a car to his place, you could get a six-pack of beer for $3.50,” Callahan says. “He’d meet you at your car, then walk back and hand it to you. He also had moonshine.”
And what of Broken Arrow Creek? Although no one seems to know where this five-mile-long stream begins, it ends at the Coosa River, next door to and just below where Broken Arrow Creek Road dead ends. Russell and Shane Locklear are building their parents a house on that promontory and can point out the creek’s mouth from their yard.
“There used to be a restaurant down there by the mouth of the creek, but it has been turned into a lake home,” Russell says. His friend, John Barry, says the restaurant was known as The Cafe, and operated in the 1950s and 1960s. “It was at the end of River Ranch Road,” Barry says.
Locklear says the fishing is good on Broken Arrow Creek. “It has been listed among the top ten crappie-fishing places for last 10 years,” he says.
Bass fishing is good there, too, says Zeke Gossett, a rookie pro B.A.S.S tour member and a fishing guide. “Broken Arrow Creek, located just above historic Lock 4, is filled with stump flats and shoreline grass during summer pool,” he says. “It provides both deep and shallow water for fish to live in. It generally holds fish year ‘round but my best experiences in Broken Arrow have come in late summer/early fall.” He says the back portion of the creek water usually stays a little cooler in the late summer months, which attracts baitfish along with the bass as well.
Arrowhead searching used to be profitable along the Coosa near the mouth of Broken Arrow Creek, according to collector Roger Pateof Pell City.
“I moved here in 1970 and started hunting the creek, walking the riverbank and creek bank and crappie fishing,” says Pate. “Native Americans in summertime used to come off the hills and places and would live on the river because it was a good food source. They ate the mussels, and you could sometimes find piles of the shells. Sometimes you could find some artifacts, too.”
Pate says he doesn’t see the mussel shells or arrowheads much anymore, though. “You have to wait until wintertime when they let the water down,” he says. “When it rains and gets real cold, ice forms and rain washes the ice and dirt away. But you’re now walking in other people’s footprints, so hunting isn’t as good as it used to be.”
The coal mines may be gone, the train depot demolished, the arrowhead hunting just a memory. But Broken Arrow Creek is still fishable, and Coal City isn’t going away. It’s worth the time to drive some back roads and try to picture how things used to be.
That means that when Logan Martin Lake begins its seasonal rise in April from winter level to summer pool of 465 feet, it won’t return to its traditional winter level of 460 feet come December. Instead, the lake will remain at 462 feet during the winter from now on, giving residents and lake enthusiasts two extra feet and in a number of cases, year-round access to the lake.
Lisa Martindale, Reservoir Management manager at Alabama the decision means that residents who spend time on those lakes will enjoy higher water levels beginning in winter 2022-2023.
That’s welcome news to residents like John Junkins of Pell City, whose boatlift is a few inches shy of enabling him to launch his boat from December to early April. “I can’t wait,” he said. “You know how the weather is in Alabama. We could wear shorts on Christmas Day, and it would have been awesome to be able to take a pontoon cruise. We are ecstatic about this decision.”
So is Eric Mackey of Mackey Docks. “I will love a higher level of water as it will make the lake more usable for more people with shallow water. I wished they kept it full pool nine months and drained it to winter level three months, but that is my opinion.”
For his pier-building business, it means “we will be able to access more sites with a barge now with higher water levels.”
And then, there’s the aesthetics of it all. “The lake will even look better than when it’s low and you can only see dry lake beds,” Mackey said.
It’s welcome news for residents up and down the lake who had been lobbying for it for years. During the Coosa relicensing process, there were overwhelming requests by stakeholders to increase the winter pool levels at Weiss, Neely Henry, and Logan Martin for recreational purposes. Alabama Power worked with the FERC and the US Army Corp of Engineers to incorporate these requests, a spokesman for the company said.
Through engineering studies, Alabama Power made the determination that with operational changes, the lakes could be operated at the higher winter pool elevations, and the US Army Corp of Engineers agreed.
Neely Henry is a bit different. It has had a higher level for years. Neely Henry once had a three-foot fluctuation from summer to winter pool, but studies showed that with operational changes, the lake could be operated at the higher winter pool elevation and the US Army Corp of Engineers agreed.
Neely Henry operated under a variance with the USACE for many years allowing for a 1-foot fluctuation between summer and winter and during the USACE Water Control Manual Updates in 2015, the rule curve with the 1-foot fluctuation between summer and winter pool for Neely Henry was incorporated.
The months of March and April can be the most fun months of the year on Logan Martin. Fish are on the move, staging and getting ready to spawn or they are already spawning.
Fishing staging areas for bass on Logan Martin this time of year are the keys to success. These areas include points leading into spawning flats, shallow brush and docks. These are all great places to start your search.
I keep my approach simple when targeting these areas. My main three baits are a jig, a jerk bait and bladed jig. If the water is still on the cooler (50 to 60 degrees) side, I will target points with a jerk bait and a bladed jig. These two baits allow me to cover water until I find some active fish.
Once I feel like I’m around some active fish, I will usually reach for the jig in order to pick up a couple more bites I might have missed with the other two baits.
If the water is on the warmer side (60 to 70 degrees), I will start fishing into pockets with shallow docks and brush with the jig.
Most of the time these fish are getting ready to go on the bed and are feeding up. Fishing the conditions are important for these two months.
If you are not getting bites, keep moving!
Neely Henry
My approach to Neely Henry will differ a little from Logan Martin this time of year. My main three baits will stay the same, but I will add a swim jig to the mix during March and April.
I will still target points leading into pockets and fishing docks. I fish these docks with the bladed jig and jig. When targeting points, I will fish these with a jerk bait.
Where I bring the swim into play is in the grass that lines the banks of Neely Henry. The grass usually starts growing again around the end of March.
If the water is on a warming trend (60 to 70 degrees), I will fish the grass, targeting those fish getting ready to spawn with a swim jig.
Again, fish the conditions, and you will have success on Neely Henry during these two months.
Editor’s Note: Zeke Gossett of Zeke Gossett Fishing grew up on the Coosa River and Logan Martin Lake. He is a former collegiate champion and is now a professional angler on the B.A.S.S. tour circuit and is a fishing guide.Learn more about Zeke at: zekegossettfising.com
Story Elaine Hobson Miller Photos by Wallace Bromberg Jr.
This past summer Paul Davis realized many boat owners don’t want to haul their watercraft to a dealer and wait weeks for repairs. A noted mechanic, he decided to make house calls. He started a mobile marine repair service that takes him to the boats instead. He’s now making 20 service calls a week, and he’s training a helper so he can expand. If the secret to success is finding a need and filling it, then it’s no wonder Paul’s Mobile Marine Service has proven so successful.
“I saw a need for people who didn’t want their boats sitting outside at a dealership two to five weeks at a time, waiting for repairs,” he says. “Some people don’t even have trailers to take their boats to a dealer. I’m offering them a convenience.”
Checking inside the prop
Because he has no permanent shop, he has no overhead, so he doesn’t have a trip charge and doesn’t even build that charge into his fees. He charges the same as if he had a shop at a marina or in a building somewhere. Many of his services, like lube and oil changes, are priced at a flat rate, while others are billed by the hour.
“They do this a lot on the coast,” he says of his new business.
His shop is located inside his Dodge Ram high-roof van that allows him to stand up inside, and he is 6 feet 2 inches tall.
He designed the shop area and had it built to his specifications. It contains shelves and bins, hoses and drills, a work bench, portable generator, bins and boxes and a vice grip.
He also has a pontoon boat that he converted into his work barge with wooden floors, a truck toolbox, a workbench and a motor, of course. He pulls it with a pickup truck for those jobs that he does when his clients’ boats are docked in the water. He has a bag of tools he can move from truck to pontoon at a moment’s notice. “I use 10% of my tools on 90% of the jobs anyway,” he says.
He tries to stay within a 50 to 60-mile radius of his home base in Pell City and has customers in Oxford, Birmingham and Trussville. “I sponsor Hewitt-Trussville and Chelsea high school fishing teams,” says the man who also competes in fishing tournaments himself. “I also do a lot of work on Lay Lake, around Sylacauga and Childersburg.” Most of what he does is of a mechanical nature, working on motors, lights and pumps. He keeps many standard parts in his van, but if he has to order something, he can get it within 24 hours.
“Ninety-nine percent of the time a customer has me look at his boat, he’ll have me fix it,” he says. He services all major brands of motor boats, pontoons, ski boats, bass boats and the wake boats that people use for wake surfing. He is available from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m.
Mondays through Fridays, although he sometimes quits a little earlier because it gets dark earlier due to Daylight Savings Time.
Unlike a lot of businesses, Paul’s has flourished during the COVID-19 pandemic, and not just despite COVID but perhaps because of it, too. “I think COVID made lot of people who were just sitting at home or working from home go out and buy a boat,” he says. “This has made me a lot busier. In fact, I have more business than I can handle, and I’m having to turn some stuff down. I’m looking to hire a helper, and I’m training a potential one now. I might even expand to service Lake Martin, Smith Lake, even Orange Beach.” Before starting his mobile marine service, Paul and a partner ran Lakeside Marine beside Lakeside Landing in Pell City. They worked on boats there, too, but were bought out before he went out on his own. “People really like the convenience of my service,” he says.
Lakeside Marine is where Bill and Nila McBrier first met Paul. They have been doing business with him ever since. “We had trouble in the summer, and our boat was in the water,” Nila McBrier says. “He fixed it right down on the dock. He winterizes and summerizes our boat in our own yard, which is extremely convenient. We live at East Winds on the Talladega side of Logan Martin Lake. His prices are as reasonable as anybody else. We think he’s amazing and dependable. He’s the best.”
Jud Alverson has been using Davis for boat repairs for at least eight years, again, going back to Paul’s days at Lakeside Marine. “I’ve always used him,” Alverson says. “He’s timely, responsive, fair and knowledgeable.”
Alverson lives in Pine Harbor but stores his boat at another location, and Davis handles the twice-a-year maintenance for him. “The type of boat I have is called an inboard/outboard, where the engine is inside the boat, but the foot and propeller are in the water,” he says. “The motor takes in water to cool it, and everything has to be drained and winterized. In the summer he changes the oil and goes over the entire boat. This coming spring, he’ll have to fix the speedometer for me.”
Like the McBriers, Alverson enjoys the convenience that Paul’s service affords him. “He just goes where it is stored, uncovers it, works on it, covers it back up. Then he emails me an invoice, and with a few clicks, I pay the bill online. At the end of the day, most people don’t know the ins and outs of a boat, but Paul certainly does.”
Meander around the one-lane road that winds through Red Hill Farms, passing the cows, the hogs and the goats in this pastoral setting, and you can’t help but notice the water as the ideal backdrop to make the scene complete.
“We didn’t come to the river,” said Vaughan Bryant, who owns the farm with wife Christa. “The river came to us.”
But there it is, a panoramic reflection of glistening sunrises and sunsets bordering a 150-acre farm that has been in the family for three generations now.
When his grandfather bought the land in 1941, it was because the Army had decided to expand Pelham Range near Anniston, which needed the land where his Ohatchee farm stood. He found suitable land in Cropwell and while there was a stream that flowed nearby called Fountain Run, it would not be until 1965 when Logan Martin Lake was created that water would surround it.
For the Bryants, it has become the best of both worlds – lake living and farm life all rolled into one perfect package.
Most Saturday mornings, lake residents and others from around these parts have a new tradition – getting a glimpse of farm life and an unrivaled taste of it they can take home with them. That’s when they open the door of their garage to market what they’ve raised – USDA grass-fed beef and free-range pork – packaged in freezers that line the interior walls.
Vaughan Bryant shows off Red Hill’s wares.
Pull up in the driveway of their lakeside home, and you’re immediately met by the farm’s official greeters, dogs Koda and Piper. The wag of their tails is a pretty good indicator they’re glad you came. They’ll even escort you all the way into the garage for a browsing session.
Beef and pork roasts, ribs, kabobs, steaks of all descriptions – filets, strips, T-bones, flank and bone-in ribeye – await. So do liver, cubed steak and ground beef. When the pork is in, usually in the spring, look for sausage, bacon and cubed ham – ideal for any table.
The concept isn’t much different than his grandfather, James Michael Bryant, who raised cotton, honey, pork, poultry, cows and vegetables and peddled what he could on the square in Anniston. The modern-day Bryants concentrate on beef and pork. But instead of selling at market, they sell directly to the customer – they take orders online (but don’t ship), they sell by appointment and through their Saturday morning markets.
And they ensure satisfied customers by providing healthier, better tasting eating choices.
In the “About Our Farm” section of their website, redhillfarms.com, they say: “We believe that contented animals produce a superior product, so we strive for a low-stress environment emphasizing the humane treatment of our livestock.
“When you choose to eat meat from animals raised on pasture, you are improving the welfare of the animals, helping put an end to environmental degradation, helping small-scale farmers, sustaining rural communities and giving your family the healthiest food possible.”
It’s not a big money-maker, they said, but direct-to-consumer helps them capture a little bit of the market while creating a win-win situation. “It’s good for the public,” said Christa. There are no antibiotics or hormones used. “The meat is much healthier than grain-fed beef,” added Vaughan.
Noting that Red Hill’s livestock are raised in a natural, healthy and humane way, Christa pointed out that with all the preservatives used in traditional markets, “we don’t know what we’re putting in our bodies.” Customers have responded. Some even get the rest of their groceries in a regular store but opt for Red Hill Farms for their meat.
They choose their breeds wisely to produce the best possible meat. They have gone from Hereford to Black Angus to South Poll, which is a composite breed developed by Teddy Gentry, bass player of the country music group, Alabama.
Gentry’s aim – as is the Bryants – was to raise a more heat-tolerant animal with a gentle disposition to produce tender beef by feeding on grass. Their newest breed, South Poll, finishes on grass and is a cross between Red Angus, Hereford, Senepol and Barzona.
“The South Poll breed is easy to raise, has a docile temperament, slick-haired, fertile, and mama cows stay in production longer than straight-bred English cattle,” Vaughan said. “Finishing on grass, their meat can be as tender or more tender than commodity beef.”
It’s a more natural way to raise cattle. They call it, “Keeping the Creator’s design in mind.”
At home on the farm
Raising a farmer
Livestock isn’t the only thing raised on the farm. Vaughan and Christa talked of raising generations who know the value in the land and the joys of raising them to appreciate those values.
He vividly remembers one of his first chores on the family farm in Cropwell. He would dutifully gather eggs each day and make sure the chickens were watered and fed when he got home from school.
One of six children, he was second to youngest. His older brothers “saw to the cows. As time went on, I moved up to cow feeding, too,” he said. But his fledgling aspirations were a little loftier, he recalled. One day his brothers were loading hay, and he would hear them “shouting and carrying on” in what he perceived as more of a fun time than he was having rolling the bales of hay into a single line. “They wanted it in one line so they wouldn’t have to walk as far.”
He thought that would be a much easier route than rolling all those bales. An older, wiser Bryant surmised: “When you get there, you understand why they were shouting and carrying on. It’s hard work, rolling, tossing and baling hay.”
But hard work never deterred him. “I always felt like I wanted to be on the farm,” he said. “I was the only one who stayed. I always wanted to do something on the farm.” Initially, he stayed on the farm to help his father, David Bryant. The elder Bryant left a good portion of the farm to him, the younger Bryant and his wife, Christa, added to the acreage and now farm about 150 acres.
“I would like to think he’s happiest with me, but the truth is he’s happiest on the tractor outside,” Christa said with a smile. “I didn’t see it as work,” her husband added.
Christa’s no stranger to farm work herself. An educator by trade – who served as coordinator of Federal Programs and personnel director the Pell City School System before her retirement – grew up on a 10-acre farm in Coal City, she said. “But this was definitely a different life for me.”
Her father worked at Bynum, was home every day at 4, and they ate dinner together as a family. When she married Vaughan, she quickly learned that farming meant “staying until everything gets done,” so it may be well after dark before he was able to make it to the dinner table.
She was a quick learner, Vaughan noted, recalling the time she “took a trailer loaded with cattle and headed over the mountain with Daddy.”
A solid work ethic, perseverance and dedication to the job at hand are but a few of the legacies handed down to Christa and Vauhan’s generation from life on the farm. And they, in turn, passed them on to their children – Martin and Meredith. “It taught both children good skills,” Christa said. “It built their character. It wasn’t always easy.”
Sharing the good life
Vaughan and Christa recognize their good fortune in farm life and lake life, and they share both with travelers from nearby towns and places around the world. Vaughan’s father had sold a small parcel of land to a man who wanted to build a cabin on the lake.
The cabin has a perfect setting for guests
So, he built a 400-square-foot, one-bedroom, one-bath cabin. When it came time to sell, it was too small a parcel for the cabin so the land could sell, and the Bryants bought it back. “I jacked it up (the cabin) and dragged it across the pasture and set it right here,” he said, pointing to the quaint little wooden cabin nestled under a grove of trees on a bank of Rabbit Branch.It’s an ideal setting.Farmland stretches out in front, cattle grazing nearby, and the lake is its backyard.
They have been sharing it as a rental since 1992, and it has been the setting for peaceful getaways, weddings and other gatherings.
A longtime resident there was Joey Nania, who wanted to learn to fish Logan Martin and dreamed of being the youngest Bassmaster champion. He was from Washington state, and the lake had hosted a couple of Bassmaster Classics. Nania’s father called Vaughan and asked if he could rent the cabin while learning to fish the lake.
Nania met his wife-to-be in Pell City and stayed. They held their wedding at the cabin, and Nania earned some championships along the way to becoming a noted fishing guide on Logan Martin and other Coosa River lakes.
“Through farming and the cabin,” Christa said, “we have met some really neat people and established friendships along the way. It has really been cool.”
A squarebill is a great way to trigger those lethargic fish.
January and February can produce some of coldest water anglers see all year long, but that doesn’t mean the fish stop eating.
This time of year, I use a couple of different approaches when fishing Logan Martin. The first approach consists of fishing shallow around main lake rock and wood. I usually attack this with two baits. My first go-to bait is a squarebill crankbait. The squarebill is like the four-wheel drive of crankbaits, and I throw it as tight to the cover as I can without getting hung. A squarebill is a great way to trigger those lethargic fish holding tight to cover.
The second option is a finesse jig. The Strike King Bitsy flip jig is an awesome option for this style of fishing. This jig comes in and out of cover well and has a big enough hook to flip with bigger line. I usually flip this in laydown trees and around docks near deep water.
Another approach is to fish for suspended fish out in the middle of creek channels or humps close to deep water. Looking at and catching fish located on your electronic units is a fun way to fish and something that may take some time to learn.
Look for birds diving in the middle of the lake. They will show where the bait fish are, and active fish are usually feeding on these bait fish most of the time. My boat will sometimes sit in water as deep as 50 feet but most of the time you will find fish in the 10 to 20-foot zone.
The two baits I use for this is a Strike King Baby Z-Too soft jerkbait on a 3/16 oz. ball jig head. The other bait I use is a deep-diving jerkbait. The jerkbait is perfect for mimicking those dying bait fish the fish are feeding on.
On Neely Henry
Neely Henry is a great wintertime fishery.
Throwing a squarebill crankbait or flat-sided crankbait is an excellent option when looking for bass on Neely Henry this time of year.
I usually look for bluff walls and any type of rip rap around bridges. I usually use red colors when the water is dingy and more natural colors like brown and baitfish colors when the water has less stain.
I always have the Strike King Bitsy Flip jig on hand, as well, in case there is a laydown log or dock I pass by. I mainly focus on the crankbait since it triggers those fish to bite when it’s especially cold, and it also allows me to cover a lot of water.
Look for baitfish when running this pattern and chase the wind if there is any. Keeping your approach simple will give you success on Neely Henry during these months.
Three years ago, the City of Gadsden introduced a premier, multi-purpose rental facility with the heart of its community’s interests in mind. Today, The Venue at Coosa Landing resides at the forefront of Gadsden’s entertainment scene, housing spectacular events each week on the banks of the Coosa River.
The Venue’s inception symbolizes the third phase in the further development of Gadsden’s riverfront, coinciding with the Coosa Landing Boat Launch and The Riverwalk at Coosa Landing. The Riverwalk debuted five years ago in late 2016 as a two-year project including pedestrian boardwalks along the river, a pedestrian bridge, a pier, docks and three pavilions. While The Riverwalk neared completion in October of the following year, the Gadsden City Council approved a $12.5-million bid for The Venue’s construction, announcing its creation in early 2017.
“The mayor (Sherman Guyton) wanted to purchase the property when it was available, and we had all talked about developing the riverfront,” said Director of Governmental Affairs and Economic Development for the City of Gadsden, who was instrumental in The Venue’s establishment. “We had just opened the boardwalk there, and we were working on The Venue at the same time. We were also working to recruit some retail businesses and some developments from the hotel industry. After talking with several people, we thought we needed an entertainment-type venue, so we started with that.”
Though Gadsden provides ample rental properties in spaces such as the Pitman Theatre, the Downtown Civic Center and 210 at the Tracks, The Venue served as a replacement for its antiquated predecessor, Convention Hall.
Birmingham architectural firm Cohen Carnaggio Reynolds, Inc. was responsible for The Venue’s design, converting the pre-existing vacant building at 201 George Wallace Drive – once a Kmart – into a 21st-Century masterpiece.
When The Venue opened its doors to the public in September of 2018, it emerged as 55,000 square feet of possibility. As a multi-purpose facility designed to accommodate a plethora of events, The Venue houses three meeting rooms capable of separating into individual spaces for more privacy or smaller sizes or combining to form one grand hall.
The meeting rooms seat up to 200 people, with the facility’s 15,000-square-foot Main Hall housing 1,200 visitors. Like all areas of The Venue, the Main Hall adapts to each event’s precise needs, dividing into two expansive ballrooms at the snap of a finger. A stage equipped with a premier audio-visual system (that extends to all areas throughout the facility) proves perfect for concerts, plays and other performances.
The Venue’s stainless steel commercial kitchen caters approximately 2,000 people, alongside a concession stand in the main lobby. Two mirrored dressing rooms with bathrooms and nearby backstage access join a multi-functional green room and a fully furnished patio, directly intertwining with the riverfront parks and marina, so guests can freely filter indoors and out. A special opening allows for vehicle access inside the facility, making event preparation, assembly and organization simple and efficient.
“Mayor Guyton, the administration and the City Council all bought in on the project,” said Davis. “The Venue has helped with local events, but it has also expanded what kinds of events we can host and bring to Gadsden. I don’t know of another facility like it in Northeast Alabama.”
Holiday parties, exhibits, fundraisers, conventions, trade shows, banquets and conferences are among the ceaseless types of events The Venue houses on a regular basis. From enticing food vendors aligning the walls at A Taste of Northeast Alabama to childhood literacy supporters gathering at elaborately decorated tablescapes at The Girlfriend Gala, from private birthday parties and weddings to Mixed Martial Arts fighting and Gadsden’s first-ever Latin Festival, The Venue encompasses all spectrums of entertainment.
The Venue Administrative Supervisor Scott Elkins oversees the facility’s successful operation, working closely in conjunction with his fellow staff members and Marketing Director Deb Hawkins.
Prior to supervising The Venue, Elkins held a position at Gadsden’s Parks and Recreation Department, managing the Downtown Civic Center, 210 at the Tracks, the Pitman Theatre and Convention Hall. While Elkins’ previous experience with rental venues enlightened him to the importance of premium customer service, he shared that one unique aspect of working at The Venue is the freedom to recruit events to the space himself. He and Hawkins brainstorm events beneficial for the community for citizens to enjoy, giving them the opportunity for new experiences in the comfort of their hometown.
“The Venue reaches the whole community,” said Elkins, describing how its multi-purpose design accommodates all preferences and interests.
Elkins said pleasing his customers remains synonymous with The Venue’s success. He hopes for further growth in The Venue’s future, with the location serving as a hub where the community can convene time and time again.
“What I’ve learned is even though we might have 160-plus events in a year in the Main Hall, to that one person (hosting the event), that’s their only event that year,” said Elkins. “You have to treat that as the only event you have the whole year. You have to make sure that it’s special, regardless if it’s a birthday party for 25 people or an event for 1,500. I enjoy the people the most, of course … seeing them happy. I enjoy the people the most, of course … seeing them happy. Making people happy – that’s what it’s about.”
In August, the City of Gadsden announced the opening of Park Boulevard, yet another addition to the riverfront. As a $1.3-million project financed through Tax Increment Financing funds designated specifically for the area, the road connects The Venue to the Coosa Landing Boat Launch.
Convenience and safety are two positive impacts Park Boulevard poses for the city, with the location home to several fishing tournaments and events throughout the year. Park Boulevard allows for overflow parking at The Venue, improving traffic flow and providing anglers and boaters with a direct route to the boat docks.
“Most cities would love to have a river running through downtown,” said Mayor Sherman Guyton. “This road is an important step in continuing to develop the riverfront and make the area more accessible.”
If you ask Terri and Don Uptain to pick their favorite spot at their Neely Henry Lake home, they’d be hard pressed to choose between the kitchen and the gazebo just outside its door.
Story Scottie Vickery Photos by Kelsey Bain
If you ask Terri and Don Uptain to pick their favorite spot at their Neely Henry Lake home, they’d be hard pressed to choose between the kitchen and the gazebo just outside its door.
Like in many homes, the kitchen is the gathering place for family and friends, and every detail in theirs was planned to accommodate their lifestyle, needs and even their kitchen gadgets. The eight-arch brick gazebo, just off the breezeway that runs the length of the house, boasts cool breezes and is the perfect spot to read a book, enjoy a peaceful meal or spend some quiet time in nature.
Don and Terri Uptain
“This lot was just a hidden gem that sat here for years,” Don said. The Uptains, who built their home near Shoal Creek 11 years ago, were thrilled to make it their own. Each living area – the family room, kitchen and all five bedrooms – has a spectacular view overlooking Rock Island.
One of a series of islands that made up the area of the Coosa River known as Ten Island, Rock Island is the only one that remains visible after the construction of Neely Henry Dam. “All the others were flooded,” Don said. “Before COVID, someone used to do a fireworks show on the Fourth of July on Rock Island. We had a great seat.”
Holidays on the lake were the perfect opportunities to fire up the grill, something Terri said Don do often. “Actually, he’s a better cook than I am,” she said. “I’m definitely a recipe follower. Some people taste to see if the seasonings are right, but I smell. I have to get him to do the tasting.”
Although they share many of the kitchen duties, Don acknowledges that Terri has come a long way. “I’ll say she’s much better than she was when we got married,” he said with a laugh. They both remember the time she served pork chops with undercooked, crunchy rice.
In fairness, the Uptains, who recently celebrated their 49th wedding anniversary, were only 18 when they got married after graduating from Erwin High School in Center Point. Don joined the Navy a few years later and they count San Diego and Guam among the places they lived.
“When we were stationed on Guam, one of the wives was from the Philippines, and she could really cook,” Terri said. “She taught us to make lumpia, and it’s still one of our favorite things.”
The dish, which is similar to an egg roll, includes ground beef, carrots, bean sprouts, black olives and corn wrapped in a thin wrapper and fried. “For me, it’s an all-day process, but we love it,” said Terri, adding that she found the lumpia wrappers at Rainbow City International Market in Gadsden.
In recent years, Terri and Don have picked up some more recipes during their travels. One of their favorite dishes is Grilled Mediterranean Lamb Chops that they pair with Mediterranean rice. “We went on a cruise to the Greek Isles, and I figured that they would know how to do lamb,” Don said. He’d been disappointed when he’d ordered lamb in a Birmingham restaurant, but one bite of the dish on the trip convinced him of its merits.
“The way you season it is important,” he said, adding that he and Terri got some tips from the chef and experimented in their own kitchen until they found the perfect blend of ingredients. “If you overcook it, it’s nothing but shoe leather,” he said.
Property features a boardwalk
the length of the waterfront
Building a home
There’s plenty of room for creating in the Uptains’ kitchen, which features a large island with lots of storage, a Wolf gas range, a Sub-Zero refrigerator and a deep, single-basin sink. A huge pantry just off the kitchen offers plenty of room for groceries, serving dishes and small appliances.
Terri, who designed the home before turning it over to an architect to make it official, oversaw every detail. She focused on the flow of the kitchen and even measured her bread machine before determining how wide the cabinet she planned to store it in should be.
“She designed this house and the one we lived in before in Beaver Ridge” in Ashville, Don said. “She’d take her drawing to the architects and tell them that this is what she wanted, but she didn’t know if it would work. They never changed a thing.”
The Uptains weren’t planning on building when they bought the lot with nearly 600 feet of shoreline. They had looked for years for a lot at Logan Martin and kept a boat there when a friend from church told them they ought to take a look at the lot on Neely Henry.
Paul Kell, who was the owner of Kell Realty before he passed away in 2011, had owned the lot and built the boathouse and the boardwalk in the 1990s, Don said. The lot is about eight miles from Ragland’s Main Street, and “once we got here, I said, ‘There’s no way I’ll drive this far out every day,’” Don said.
He couldn’t get the beautiful scenery off his mind, though, so they took another look a few weeks later. “That time it didn’t seem as far,” he said with a grin. They used it as a weekend place for nearly a year before deciding to build and moving to the lake full time in May 2010. “We decided we liked it out here,” he said. “You just can’t beat the views.”
Room for a family
Although they didn’t know it during the building process, their daughter Amber and her two boys ended up moving in with them, and they were there for 10 of the 11 years they’ve been in the home. “When we were building, there was space for a bonus room upstairs over the garage, and the builder said they could add flooring and wiring,” Terri said.
“We weren’t planning on doing anything with it, but we ended up finishing out the room,” she said. “Then we found out Amber and the boys were coming. It was the perfect place for them, and it had to be God’s work.”
Dining room view to patio
The lake was a wonderful spot for the boys, who were 3 and 10 months old at the time, to grow up. The Uptains’ other daughter, Dana, and her family were frequent visitors, as well. “Her husband is an avid fisherman,” Don said. “He took our neighbors’ grandson out one time, and they caught about 20 bass in just a few hours.”
Don and Terri said they have especially enjoyed all the wildlife on the lake. In addition to fish and turtles, they’ve seen everything from red foxes, gray foxes, turkeys and deer to osprey, bald eagles, egrets and herons. “We were sitting in the gazebo one day and looked up and there was a deer swimming across the lake,” Terri said. “I’d never seen that before.”
Don’s favorite spot is the gazebo, and Terri knows that if she can’t find him, it’s the first place she should look. “I’d be out here 80 percent of the time if I could,” Don said. “My favorite thing to do is just sit our here and watch the boats, the people and the wildlife. There’s always something to see here; it’s the most relaxing place on earth.”
Although life on Neely Henry has been a wonderful chapter in their lives, the Uptains have listed their house and are making plans to build a new one in the Friendship community of St. Clair County. “I was an Army brat growing up, so I would move every few years or so,” Don said.
Terri said that 10 or 11 years in one place seems to be their norm. “That’s how long we seem to stay before we move,” she said. “I think our interests change or something happens in our lives. Now that the boys are gone, we just don’t get the Sea-Doo or the boat out much.”
Although they’ll miss the water and the laid-back lifestyle the lake affords, they know it’s time for a mountain view and for someone else to love life on Neely Henry. “I hope someone with a family can enjoy it as much as we have,” Terri said.
Grilled Mediterranean Lamb Chops
8 Lamb Chops, about 1¼” thick ¼ cup Olive Oil 1¼ teaspoons Granulated Onion 1½ teaspoons Salt 1¼ teaspoons Granulated Garlic Olive Oil Salt 2 Tablespoons Fresh Rosemary, finely chopped 2 Tablespoons Fresh Oregano, finely chopped
Wash and pat dry the lamb chops. Drizzle olive oil on the top side of chops and spread with your hands. Sprinkle each chop with salt, onion, garlic, rosemary, and oregano. Use your hands to work the seasonings into the olive oil. Carefully, turn chops over and repeat this process on the other side. Place chops on preheated grill (500 degrees). Cook to medium/rare or medium doneness. Be sure to not overcook. Remove from grill, cover with foil and allow to rest for 5 minutes. Enjoy!
Mediterranean Rice
3 cups Jasmine Rice, cooked 1 teaspoon Cavender’s Greek Seasoning ½ teaspoon Salt 4 Tablespoons Greek Dressing ¼ cup Black Olives, chopped ¼ cup Onions, chopped ¼ cup Canned Muchrooms, chopped 3/8 cup Canned Artichokes, chopped 1/8 cup Capers
Combine all ingredients thoroughly. Adjust ingredient amounts to suit your taste. Enjoy!
The months of November and December can be one of the most fun times to fish Logan Martin Lake. Throughout the month of November, the bait fish tend to start their move to the back of creeks, and the bass will follow.
The lake should be at its winter drawdown level at this point in time. I usually target water that is no deeper than five feet. Look for shallow cover – like stumps, docks, and rocks.
I keep my bait selection simple this time of year. My main three baits are usually a squarebill crankbait, bladed jig and some type of topwater walking bait. I can fish with these three baits the whole month of November and find success.
As December rolls around, and the water gets colder, I tend to make a transition out to the main lake. I fish really deep bluff style banks with either a medium diving crankbait or finesse jig. If the current is pushing strong, I might mix in the bladed jig as well.
Look for banks that get the most sunlight first and will warm up quicker. I usually target rocks and clay banks that will hold heat this time of year.
Bites might be a little harder to get, but the ones you do catch will be big!
On Neely Henry
Neely Henry can be fished very similar to Logan Martin this time of year.
Watch for bait fish moving to the backs of the creeks and pockets right off the main body of water.
My three main baits for the month of November are a squarebill, buzzbait and bladed jig. I can put those three rods on the deck of my boat and cover water to find success.
When December arrives, I take a little different approach. I tend to still find fish super shallow on Neely Henry this time of year. It’s hard to beat a flat sided crankbait and finesse jig this time of year.
I will switch my focus to the main body of water and look for stumps and laydown trees. Rocky points and clay are also awesome places to check out as well.
Wintertime fishing can be tricky, but the reward will be big if you can figure out what the fish are doing. Some of the biggest fish bite this time of year.
Good luck!
Editor’s Note: Zeke Gossett of Zeke Gossett Fishing grew up on the Coosa River and Logan Martin Lake. He is a former collegiate champion and is now a professional angler on the B.A.S.S. tour circuit and is a fishing guide.
