The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-02-28
WHAT RAILROADS HAVE DINE
 FOR TOWN OF BROWNSVILLE

| @Ntaudtua tOWnS,A Wnlcn nave dthiostt III ta year come, into a strong and vigor-
 ous being. there, iz none buster. none thriftier than this new town in the 1 northern portion of Clarke County. It's
 livery thrift and vitality. so new is all | within it's limits, sets it aside to point moral or adorn a tale. gs First to grasp in one way the sort
 of business thatis being done in Thom- asviile, one has only to consider that in. the two national banks of the place there is a combined deposit of s22l,- 0Ss. 5T When the Comptroller of the Currency called for a report from these
 two Thomasville banks each one of
 mem reported deposit of more than $lO0, GOO t@h In a recent, issue fof The Thomasville Echo. Editor Tucker, with pardonable pride, asserts that 1t is doubtful if any town of the same size and with the same population can make anything Itke the, same sort of a bank showing. Fnere are not many towns of 1.500 peo- pleathe banks of which can reflect such satisfactory business condition -ks Stable Commercial Baxts.
 With its2farming country behind it,
 with its considerable lumber interests
 and with 8 generous trade from a mum
 per of smaller surrounding towns,
 ThomasviIle has a firm and stable com
 merciai basis. The history of the town
 shows the strength of it's foundation.
 For It has been built twice over
 Its early settlement dates as far back
 as 1888. although its most noted devel-
 opment has come with the years of the new century. But in 1899 it was a
 growing and thriving town. The mer-
 chants were all making money and ev-
 cry prospect pleased. But on Novem-
 Der of that year. careful newspaper
 readers will remember the occasion, fire
 ate up the business section of the city.
 The business district was wiped off the
 face of the earth.
 But out of all diversity there comes some good. Thomasville rose Phoenix like from the ashes, stronger and iustier than ever before and instructed by the, misfortune the town govern ment of Thomasville provided by law that all buildings within the business section. should be built of brick The law has been obeyed and now valley and hill side, are filled with brick buildings.i
 The, Importance. of ThomasviIle. in the estimation of the Southern Rail- road may be estimated from the fact that the road Is now building a huge depot, for town of its size. The new prick structure now about half done 1 will cost the, road, when 1t Is compIet- l ed, no Jess. than ,S15,oOO. But the bus mess of the road at that point justi- | Hes it Throughout all last year the | road took in. more than $500 a month | at this place. "a place which some railroad men. would, on appearance, consider a. mill. station.
 When the old Birmingham and Mo bile Railroad, now a part of the Souther",. was being. planned, the orig inal purpose was. to run the road | about three. miles from Thomasville But W L, Henderson and two or three others owning property around Thom- asville made a strong pull and a pull all together. The route was changed and Thomasville came into being.
 A Diversified Soil.
 Extraordinarily the town has the important backing of a diversified soil. It is on the edge of the pine belt with the middle Alabama prairies just above It is a good farming country. Still, only few short years ago land could be bought, as cheap as $2.0O an acre. But times have changed for the bet ter. The same land is today worth from $12. to $15 an acre.
 The mill town of Fulton where Is located the immense plant of the Scotch Lumber Company is only few miles away. This mill which works a day and a night; shift turns out every twenty four hours the enormous output of 7130,000 feet, The big force of | hands at the Fulton Mill trade at Thonasville and so the saw mill town is an Important commercial feeder to Thomasviile. -
 Thomasvilie is near what was origi- nally perhaps at that time the largest tract of timber lands in Alabama, the tract owned by the Sage Lumber Com pany of which Henry M. Sage is Pres ident. -...'.-.rs ,.- r
 r. '-., -
 The company had at one time per haps 125,006- acres of yellow pine lands. For the high lumber prices of the past two or three years, much of this has been sold off. although the holdings of the company are still extensive. So high have lumber values gone that this land Is said to have brought from $20 to $25 all acre
 As the yellow pine interests in South begins to diminish, the hard wood lumber interests begin to assume new importance. The despised poplar of other years Is already making a few fortunes for the enterprising. There Is for instance, young man in Thomas vile, John Gum, who has found the business of cutting and shipping poplar logs altogether profitable. His plan is to buy the poplar timber rights from landowners, cut down the trees. haul the logs by, OK, teams to the railroads and ship them south, Along the line 1f the Southern there are other men engaged in the same sort of business, md, like MT, Gum. they have found it luite. profitable.
 This town of 1,600 gets annually 10,- )00 bales of cotton, which is by no means bad showing for any Alabama own of the same size. Thomasville boasts, too of a chartered college, with l50 students, Prof B. NJ. Garrett is at .he head of the institution.
 A new building era is on Tn addi- ion to several new residences now. un- fer way, in addition to the $15,00O de- pot, other structures are going up or Ire planned. Those under way include ! new $1.500 building. being erected by Editor Tucker to house the modern oiant with which he prints The Echo. r,