The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-04-28
OPELIKA, LEE COUNTIES STRONG
 AND THRIVING CAPITAL CITY
Progressive Municipality Possesses Historical Interest and is Typical of the South's
 Growth in Recent Years,
BY wILL n. sHEEHAN.

OpeIika, the strong ana thriving he
 tie city which is the capital or Lee. typifies what Is best in the southern town of years and of settled conditions. It illustrates. too, in the various stagcS of its growth, the various eras through which the South has passed in its way upward through the years.
 The little city with the mellow In dian name is primarily a type of the dignified towns of the South, whose youth was free from the frenzy of a
 boom. whose food and sustenance ls agriculture. and whose growth has been now fast. now slow. but never fast enough to unsettle conditions which
 make for attractive homes ana the cultured things of life.
 When Opelika came into pelng tne Indians had but recently departed for
 their exile homes In the West, while their old country had been given over at the irresistible demand of the white The town grew slowly then. for in. those old days the life of the South was the life of the country home and not village when the war broke out, place which was even then famed for educa-
 tion and for culture. but which was
 nevertheless village. .., In the days which immediately fol- lowed the war, Opelika was nearer a boom town than ever before or since in the towns life. Whatever may havts isted in those evil days which followed the war they furnished good conditions for the growth of towns. The old plan tation system, the old country nons the old order Hooked to the towns Cot ton was selling for almost fabulous figures, but the Southern land owner found under the new conditions that 1t was much more desirable to live with his family in the towns and have his plan tation worked by the new and unfa- of years after the war opelikn grew and thrived vigorously. In time there came the era of depression that the South experienced for more than ne. cade and the capital of Lee County, like all other Southern towns moved slowly very slowly-aIong with the years. Recent Industrial Revival. In the past few years there have | the South, innumerable evidences that I she is again coming into her own. The most convincing of these proofs IS the
 marked growth and prosperity of the l older towns of this section of America. No town presents this truth more con- vincingly than does Opelika. The town | has received and is receiving an un-
 mistakably impetus in It's commercial and industrial affairs.
 There Is perhaps more construction l work. more building of fne homes, ln | progress, recently completed or plan | ned for the future, than at any prev 1 ious period in the city's history. Ope- 1ika need fear no comparison, In tnls
 respect. with any city of its class In
 The effects of opelika's accelerated growth are already manifest. Its portant branches of commercial en- deavor, in any of the older towns of the State. has larger field than 1t has
 before known. The expansion Of the towns wholesale business has been hardly short of remarkable.
 This fact has no doubt had It's own | important bearing upon the citXs popu- lation increase. for 1t has now between 5000 and 5000 people. Moreover, it Is both true and interesNng that the in- crease nas been exclusively with the
 white population; The Ssa negroa pHpuiSS tSs past few years. But his decrease has been more than offset by the e'apid in-
 iux of valuaabIs Ia S wnlte % cls1Tens W5Ssn, of Tho Opelika News that the total population of opelika had increased at least go per cent in the past hfteen years ana in the same period the negro popula- tion had decreased at least 30 per cent.
 This has been no doubt due to the ne- groes leaving the farms and planta- State and for work in the lumber camps or on the new railroad. The change. this ethnological change, 1t repeated and emphasized in all the
 older towns of the State and It there-
 fore demands some thought and con-
 sideration.
 In the minds of most people there exists no doubt but that the change is all the better for the section CT com munity in which 1t makes itself felt. The superiority of the white laborer over the negro iaborer. the superiority of the white farmer over the negro
 farmer is too patent to be doubted and
 the value of each to his section or
 community offers no room for com
 parison. ,
 ment, however, works Its own hard
 ship upon the white farmer or Elanter
 who has been forced to depend upon
 negro labor and whose farm policy has
 been shaped with that dependence in
 view
 The physical aspects of opelika are
 altogether favorable towards the mak-
 ing of a good impression upon the wis
 fling stranger. Its streets are broad,
 well kept and shaded by arched water
 oaks It is city of homes. of beauti-
 fui homes Citizens of Opelika seem
 to have vied with each other in the
 building of tasteful and attractive res
 idences. There are many Of these
 plainly of recent date, a thing which in
 its own way indicated the recent im-
 petus to the city's business and com-
 inercial lines. And like the best of
 towns for homes. like Montgomery for
 instance these residences, the old as
 well as the new, are confined to no one
 quarter of the town. Homes of beauty
 and taste are found in every section
 of the city.