Atmore celebrated
Published 1:20 pm Monday, October 25, 2010
During a ceremony alongside Atmore’s historic railroad, officials unveiled the city’s historic marker celebrating its establishment as part of the Alabama Tourism Department’s year of “Small Towns and Downtowns.”
The unveiling also kicked off the Great Atmore Homecoming, which is being celebrated in correlation with the 19th Annual Williams Station Day scheduled from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. today along historic Pensacola Avenue.
Atmore native and historian Bonnie Latino, who wrote the text for the two-sided marker, did the honors as she uncovered it for residents to see.
During the ceremony, Latino said a few words, describing best her love for her hometown.
“I love Atmore as if it’s a blood relative,” she said.
Also on hand were Atmore Mayor Howard Shell, Poarch Band of Creek Indians Tribal Chairman Buford Rolin, Atmore Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Sheryl Vickery and President Lisa Reynolds and Alabama Tourism Department Publications Manager Marilyn Stamps.
“I was excited because this is a great event to further promote the small towns in Alabama,” Stamps said. “This is a unique opportunity to celebrate the history and heritage of Atmore. I’m excited to be here and be a part of the Great Atmore Homecoming.”
Both Shell and Rolin also expressed their appreciation and gratitude to be involved in the marker’s unveiling.
Vickery added that she could not have asked for a better unveiling.
“It went wonderful,” she said. “It was a great, great event. Just to see Bonnie’s expression when she unveiled the marker, even though she had already seen it, was a great feeling. This is something for us to have for hundreds of years to mark the history of Atmore. It was a great day and a great atmosphere. To see everyone come together was all part of the history.”
Below is how the text reads on each side of the marker:
WILLIAMS STATION, ALABAMA
1866-1897
Creek Indians lived in these parts some 200 years before trains began stopping here in 1866 to leave supplies for a farmer, William Larkin Williams, who lived nearby. Workers, who came first to build the railroads, were attracted by the vast forests of longleaf pine and rich farmland. As the settlement grew around Mr. Williams’ supply stop, it became known as Williams Station. Saw mills sprang up in this timber-rich area. Abundant resources for lumber and turpentine meant there was money to be made in Williams Station well before the land was cleared for cotton. In 1876, North Carolinian William Marshall Carney moved to the area from Mobile. During the next two decades, Williams Station grew in proportion to Carney’s various business interests. His generous philanthropic gifts helped build a school and three local churches. Because of Carney-generated growth and enthusiasm, residents thought the town deserved a name more refined than that of a mere railway whistle stop. In 1897, the town was renamed Atmore in honor of Charles Pawson Atmore.
ATMORE,
ALABAMA
In 1897, town leaders wanted to change the name of Williams Station to Carney, in honor of William Marshall Carney, the man who had contributed greatly to the town’s growth. However, Mr. Carney’s brother had already started a settlement in Baldwin County and given it his family name. Having two towns with the same name so close together would create confusion. Determined to honor W.M. Carney, the leaders asked him to select the town’s new name. He honored his good friend, Charles Pawson Atmore, general passenger agent for the Louisville and Nashville Railroad in Louisville, Kentucky. According to the New York Times, C.P. Atmore died at age 66, on May 29, 1900. There is no record that he ever visited the little town named for him.
On May 23, 1907, Atmore became an incorporated municipality. The town celebrated this centennial milestone at Heritage Park in May 2007.
Erected by the Alabama Tourism Department, Atmore Area Chamber of Commerce and the City of Atmore, October 2010
Celebrate Atmore’s founding in 1866 as a supply stop along the railroad today during Williams Station Day. Enjoy fine arts, original crafts, children’s art activities and rides, model train show, a fiddlers’ tent, storytelling, an old-time cane mill, an antique car show, food and live entertainment featuring blues, gospel and country. The event will continue on through the evening with many class reunions planned as part of the Great Atmore Homecoming.