The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-02-28


 the diDaculty town has in living down . public square. In any square town" of Alabama they will tell you of the way . square handicaps . town after the business of that town has grown 70 large that 1t overflows the square.
 Andalusia. however. refused to let her future be darkened by public square. for 1t necessarily had . public square. Being town founded In Ala bama over fifty years ago and having been selected at that time as the coun- ty seat, as a matter of course pub iic square was made the nucleus of the town. To have done anything else in those days would have been radi- calism. closely bordering on anarchy. But with the new lease of life Andalusia got from the railroads she lived down the square. Her business expanded beyond the pent up limits of the old square, so that today, not only is the square lined with busnness houses but in the street which leads to the de- pots of the Central of Georgia and the Louisville and Nashville there are three fine business blocks and a rear block of stores lines the north side of the square. In this fact Is a finer commendation of the growth and sta- bility of Andalusia than it's citizens appear to realize.
 The people of Andalusia have feel ing of resentment against the census bureau, not that the beureau has done anything wrong, but 1t has placed the town in an embarrassing condition. Five years ago when the census was taken Andalusia had only five hun dred people. It was so recorded and even now. when, the name of Anda- lusia Is set down in any sort of col umn of statistics, drawn from the census reports 1t is coupled with the additional information that the town has a population of a few more than five hundred. The most casual visitor will know that these census figures are far short of the towns population and he will believe the statement of the conservative citizens of the place that the population is now in the neighborhood of 2,500.
 A Modern Little City.
 Several years back Henry opp, pleas antly remembered by the members of the late Constitutional Convention as one of the leading members of that body. and as its most humorous and agreeable speaker, has been Mayor of Andalusia. He ts a Montgomery product originally but he came to Covington County and Andalusia as far back as 1888. A lawyer by trade he is reputed to have one of the most satisfactory practices in South Alabama. He has given the town good live modern administration and as a result an electric light and a water works system have been established, a volunteer fire department has been in- augurated and a telephone system put in.
 In talking of the town MT. Opp said T am inclined to think that some of the original settlers of the county were Spaniards and Mexicans or in fiuenced in some way by the history Of those countries. Here is our own town named Andalusia and the old court house town from which Anda- lusia took the county seat of govern ment was called Montezuma. A post office in another portion of the county is called Vera Cruz. have nevab heard 1t explained how these names came to be a part of the nomenclature of a piney woods county over fifty years ago on any other supposition. However, with the exception of these names there are no other traces of any Spanish or Mexican settlers.
 'Montezuma, the old court house town of the County of Covington, was located on the Conecuh River three miles from Andalusia. In the famous
  ed with the water of the Conecuh River. The county authorities imme- diately moved the court house to where it now stands on the highest ridge of Covington County. As 1t now stands the water from one side of the court house flows down one side of the ridge and goes into the Conecuh River while the water from the other side flows off into the Yellow River.
 The flood and the removal of the court house killed Montezuma With the exception of some cedar trees so arranged as to indicate that man once occupied the spot there Is no trace of the old town.
 When l came to Covington County in 1888 there was not a single brick house in the entire county. And no brick stores were put up in the county for years and years. Andalusia was a collection of little wooden buildings grouped around the court house.
 Out in the country a farm house was the exception rather than the rule. The county was sparsely settled in every direction. There were no big, prosperous looking farms. Cattle rais- ing and sheep raising were the most important occupations in the southern portion of the county. When a man farmed he very likely had only a small patch under cultivation.
 Changes in the County.
 The change that has been wrought in the county has been nothing short of marvellous. A reflection of it may be seen in prosperous Andalusia, the town that can quadruple it's population in five years. The thing that most en- courages us is that, the growth of An. dalusia and Covington County con- n ytvff fha