Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1889-01-04
FLORENCE, ALABAMA.
WHEN THE TOWN STARTED-WHO CHRISTENED
IT-LocATIoN, HEALTH, CLIMATE, PROS
PECTs-MovING SPIRITS AND HOW THEY
RECEIVE AUGUSTA EMIGRANTS.

0flhIlS AND HUN
RECEIVE AUGUSTA EM1GRANTs.
SO. AC., &C.
Correspondence Of Staunton VIND1cAToR. ]
FLORENCE, ALA, Dec. %, 18S8-As SO
many people of Staunton and Augusta
county, as well as other points in the VAL
ley of Virginia, have made their homes in
this city of the Sunny South, and others
are looking In this direction, conclude
that more particlar account of the place
and its surroundings than you have yet
had will interest the readers of the V1ND1-
GATOR.
The site of Florence was selected and
laid off in lots by the Cypress Land Com
pany, so named from the beautiful clear
cypress creek which skirts the town. That
was in 1919 and there were distinguished
sponsors at that christening of the infant
Florence, no less personages than three ex-
Presidents of the United States-James
Madison, Andrew jackson and James
Monroe, who attended at the first sale of
lots. The proprietors of the town exercised
good judgment and forethought, rare in
those early days, when they located the
young city on table land $50 feet abov e
the Tennessee river and laid off the streets
and avenues 100 feet wide. Now the grow
ing town with a big future is high and
healthy, perfectly drained, and has 20 miles
of the prettiest drives you will find, over
road-bed almost as solid and smooth as &C.
ment. Nature has furnished peculiar
gravelly material for the streets of Florence,
which will be worth millions to it, It lies
but foot or two beneath the surface, and
all that is necessary for the making of
new street is to dig little, uncover this
limestone and iron gravel and throw it up
on the road bed. The action of the weather
and use, cements the mass and finishes the
job. The rains only wash off the ways and
leave them clean and harder than ever.
Florence has been, ever since it's found
ing, the home of wealth and refinement,
and there are many pretty old residences,
but it is only within the last two years that
it has grown rapidly and the designs of its
founders seemed on the eve of realization.
The large and varied enterprises of which I
wrote you last week have all been located
here recently; number of others invo!v-
ing capital of more than a million dol
lars are negotiating; three or four hundred
houses have been built. many of them very
handsome residences and large, imposing
business houses, and the work is still going
on IN every direction you move.
One enterprise, the Building Company,
with which Maj. John Ell. Dinneen, Mr..
Sam. j. Graham of Lexington, and young
James Craig Of Mt Meridian are connec-
ted, has capital of 800. 900 and is now
at work. They will have so new houses
for dwellings erected by summer and 100
within the year-~ All of these houses will
be built on Sweetwater Hill, where the
gentlemen from Stanton and Augusta,
who came here two weeks ago invested in
town lots, and must enhance the value of
their property very considerably. One OF
the most substantial buildings in that part
of the city is a large brick structure called
the drug factory. This is the future
location of firm from Staunton. It
stands near new brick shoe factory
just gone into operation, and large
stove factory now IN full blast, while big
new furnace is going up near by. Driving
out there the other day, I saw Mr.. W. T.
Mari of Staunton, at work On the top of
the engine house experimenting squad
of hands on a job of moulding. He was
not long in being appreciated here. sold
Bill Mari" as the boys call him, is just as
solid Democrat abroad as he is at home.
| heard gentleman say that he stepped
into the Louisville depot three weeks ago
where some passengers were waiting for
the South bound train. There were two or
three Yankee Republicans discussing poll
tics with tall, grizzly old Democrat, who
was just giving it to them hot and heavy
and making them feel bad too This gen
tleman seeing the Democrat was fighting
single handed, walked up to him and said:
ttCxiua ND eir
sentiments exactly; what is your name?
er gave him hard grip and said eyes,
I am from old Virginia and my name
is William I. Mari. am going to stand
up for the old State too, no matter who is
against her nor where I find him"
But to return to my subject. Although
Florence has every natural resource that
goes to make up successful iron town,
being situated right between vast deposits
of coal and iron and right amongst
the richest limestone, she does not depend
on iron alone to make her future. This is
a great cotton centre and now being the
height of the market, every hour in the day
and almost every minute of the hours,
wagons are coming in from every direction
and from distant counties loaded down
with the wealth of King Cotton. This is
the closest market not only for this section
of Alabama, but for large portion of
Tennessee. There is a cotton factory here,
cotton compress and some large cotton
buyers, and it has been a new sight to
many of our Virginia party, the weighing,
sampllng and pressing of the great
plethoric, pouting bales, and balls and
punches of it are blowing and rolling
everywhere in the nelghborhood of the
market.
1t is the design of the managers of the
Florence r. r. and Improvement Com
pany to induce the location of one or more
large cotton factories, hosiery factory and
other similar enterprises and O site on
cypress creek a famous location for the
purpose has been reserved for them.
This place abounds in pretty sites for
residences and parks, tract of IA acres
on high ground between the old and new
town where Joe Johnston had some forti-
fcations, when Sherman came marching
through to the sea, is reserved for one
park. magnificent view is had there,
the furnaces and factories ON one hand,
the residences on the other, the noble
Tennessee more than half a mile wide
rolling swiftly and deeply at your feet and
winding for miles in sight among the hills,
the splendid railroad and passenger bridge
in one, binding together the two shores
and the smoke stacks of Sheffield's five
furnaces, four miles away, all make up
picture such as is rarely seen in nature or
depicted on canvas.
AS to- the climate, it is very grateful to us
from higher latitude. see roses in full
bloom now around the yards and was just
noticing with some friends the other day
two old gentlemen of the place, ex-Gover-
nor O'Neil and Judge Wood who, without
their overcoats sat in their chairs on the
street IN front of the land office opposite,
all the morning summing themselves.
The health of the place, too, is said to
be remarkable and for the last three years
the mortality rate here has not reached
to the 1000 of population. The tempera-
ture last summer did not go higher than
$40. Think we had it warmer than that
in Staunton.
There has been great activity in property
here, during this month especially. The
Recorder of Deeds reports that during the
week ending the 18th, real estate to the
amount of 1886, 800 had changed hands,
and the business still goes briskly on.
The moving spirit here in this rapid ad-