The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-03-02
Three Stages in the
 Evolution of Florala

rt I x. E slssa,s zsr ,ax.-s ,sspssas coach station oy the cool. shasowy . ~ss ters of Lakc Jackson in the pioneer days of Alabama, sleepy country vil- pines in the years thu that % followed the war. bustlirg modern town with a score or more of brick stores and three railroads--such are the three stages .n the evolution of Fforala. the town of
 Flonla proper Is distinctly pos. session of Alabama An of the legal boundaries of the town are within Ala however. touch the state line of Flor ida three quarters of a mile of to the south. The orthography of the name shows that 1t is a combination of the abbreviat ton of the two States of Flor ida and Alabama.
 But Eiorala.s interests are closely across. ] the the . Florida ' line m are nef the two two fine saw mill towns built by the Pax ton Lumber Company and the Britton Lumber Company. Even as the big 1 Company. the largest plant of its kind the north on Alabama soil This clus- ter of towns Florala claims and is no ands purposes. the Florala man stoutly asserts, these towns are part and par eel of his own town. Many of the en1- ployes actually live in Florala's limits. work demands. a,.e Appendages of FloraIa.
 Moreover. it Is argued the commerce
 the {. dons S oraa iae rhpa %sss of the many mill employees are largely spent here, even as much of the goods that are sold in Floraia find their way to the homes that are aoout the big Paxton the Britton people. ,.. .4.
 They lay ciaim, the Florala people. to l.oV0 people within the towns limlts, a total wnicn wouid be raised to up- ward of S.UOU if the adjacent mill com munIties were counted in. And the maJor portion of all this IS a product of the past three years; towns growth a settlement for i'm memorial years along the lake, but ex- pansion set Tn in earnest only three or four years back. when the railroads had become assured. N The Junction of. the three railroads. the brick stores and the augmented population is due to that ar.i beautliui Lake. one of the handsomest as well as l one of the finest bodies of water in all | the Southern State. since white men
 first came into the country. there have | living nehr the rim of the big lake | There Is in the cool. placid waters of Jackson's Lake that which appeals to man.
 It is g huge cup of water set in a a | gently from the clear waters and
 sWeinns in undulat,ng i beauty .as,sss as one These same hills are clothed in coal l dark pines. which. seen from afar. have
 almost the color of the lake, The cy.
 trunks rise from the very waters. Be- | hind them and between them and the
 hillside pines are the dogwoods in
 their somber winter clothing. ana
 mate all but ready to burst into lace. like whiteness with the suddenness of
 a bird breaking into song.
 Beauty of JacksOn's Lake.
 The lake Is fresh and shadowy. The
 nipples that ever and ever chase each
 other across the wide expanse stir
 and shske into unsteady ,sh shadSws. n,ws,ns 5ns
 hills. One fancied on a sunny day.
 half of spring and half of winter, that
 he could even then catch the odor of
 oae tRe Reno D.rfnme m na of % the honeysuckie non n
 the woods whose winter sleep was still
 undisturbed.
 In the sunshine or in rain the lake
 mill pond lake. no artificial lake, but a natural body of water mile and a
 are spots in 1t which have never been fathomed. There are only two or
 three places. however. where the lead spots are the great springs which tsed the lake with clear, cool water ne
 lake has not inlet except rom tnese
 one immense spring. There come times in the summer when the outlet at the southern end runs only a trick
 ling stream, for so broad and so wiae mer days as much water evaporates as is fed by the spring. | But no day in summer. no speil or
 torrid weather IS eve5 th. hSI eks ints uno pleasant warmth. These waters re-
 main cool, fresh and invisorating
 throughout the hottes. August E .ha.,dnst and Lae they, coming as they do from cool ana sparkling springs and caught in a basin hollowed out in a high ridge!
 | Its High Location. &
 hundred yards away is the frack K of the Central of Georgia Railroad, yet | the track of the Central, raised as it
 is on an e%bankment nf.S of ts tss ss fake aowel
 road runs through the pines n m a ,Sst eat
 circle under the pine trees and over
 the pine needles requires driVe oi
 The things here recorded. the admir- ation the visitor feels on first seeing | the lake are set down Wltn tne ouuyiO purpose of first giving tribute to the lake for the influence 1t had In found. . ing the town of Floraia and second or informing Alabamians that one Of the | most beautiful lakes not only Tn the South, but in the whole country IS sit- | uated in the most southern portion or their State so far south that one end l of 1t projects into the State ofsFlorida. | It is known as Jackson's Lake oe- cause Andrew Jackson at the head or the volunteers who had conquered the
 warlike Creeks and who were to con quer the English veterans of WaterlQo at New Orleans once camped In the
 woods at the rim of the lake Jack | son and his volunteers rested here TOT l a spell as they passed out of Alaoama l to take charge of Pensacola and punish the Spanish and English for arming ln- dians and melting them to war against the American whites.
 old Stage Coach Town. | At the southern end of the lake well within the domain of the State Of Flor- | ida there is a break in the woods. The | tangible. but indescribable evidences of mans occupation of the spot ts too plain to be denied. There are graves under the pines, too. mounds that have Inc ornamentation but withered grass and pine needles. And not one or the lonely graves bears a mark or sign. The secret these graves hold will be unrevealed until the day of final tudg- ment, for so long have these graves been under the pines that those who saw the dead entrusted to that earth uuh ahaNad the vrn0nnd ahOYA have