The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1913-06-08

The census of 1900 gave the fine old
county of Covington. in Alabama, 4
population Of 1886 people.
In 1910 the census report showed
an increase to 82124 population, and
she is certainly and most assurcdlv
still a-growing!"
The cotton crops of Covington for
the year 1912 exceeded tho cotton
crop of 1911, the banner year for Ala
bama, and CovinEton was the oniv
county in the state that was able 10
show this record.
The Covington cotton crop Of 1911
amounted TO 24,421 bales, and in 1912
II increased to "A, 647 bales
There are 900 square miles I'm tho
county fine tillable acres, rich timber
lands and naval stores interests. dotted
here and there with live, prosperous.
ana say Tor the past ten years, pro-
sressive towns.
1t Is the same story almost wherever
you go in CovinEtoD; the actual de-
Velopment of the county did not receive
an Impetus until the l.. & n. and The
Central Of Georgia railroads began
their memorable race in 1899 and 1900
to connect the great possibilities NC
Covington with the rest of the world
The Central Of Georgia came into
Andalusia, the county scat or Co,lun-
ton, on October LIST 1899. ANA thr A..
& n. followed in January 1900
1t was then and there that Flgrala,
Andalusia OPP, and the smaller towns
began to grow, and they have srown
eV,r since.
There has never been any particu-
lar boom" so TO speak, i'm Cuvington
county; very little literature has been
written of her possibilities. and there
has not been great deal OF adyCrtis-
ing done in any one direction.
The biggest advertising ever re-
ceived by the splendid section, with the
most widespread and lasting effect.
and which was more significant to tho
far-sighted man than anything olso
than could possibly have occurred, was.
Of course when the two largest rail-
roads in the country began rushing To
see which one would get there first.
That WIS all the proof that was
necessary to the lOng-headed ones
along in 1900 and one and two, and
fortunes have been made, towns I'M
corporated, the saw mill and real es-
tate and turpentinc businesses de-
veloped, and later the great advan-
IA ges Of the cut over lands recognized
as the finest Of farming possibilities.
Right now the principal towns ara
Andalusia, F'lorala, OPP, Lockhart,
FaIco, BED Level Cant and Sanford,
but there are plenty of ripe OppOr-
tunities for several more just as soon,
for instance, as railroad connections
are made between Andalusia and Pen
sacola, via the r. and A. r. r., which
is on its way from Bagdad, as far aG
Munsen and only IS miles distant. uJ
the present time.
Even as far back as 1912, the Gov
ington county folks will tell you, Cen
eraI Jackson evidently saw that Anda-
iusia and Pensacola ought to be con-
pected, and "blazed the way" so to
speak, with his famous "three-notch'
system, when, of course, the future An
dalusia was only a wide place in the
road"
Anyway, that was the first time that
the two sections were connected I'm
anyway at all, but the main idea seems
to have prevailed.
Andalusia, the Covington county
seat, for instance, as the crow f1ies, is
70 miles from Pensacola, 80 miles from
Montgomery and 1873 miles from Co
lumb bus, Ga, the three largest cities
to depend upon for markets.
Pensacola is south, Montgomery ~
north, and Columbus is northeast OF
Andalusia.
Troy. another good Alabama town.
is "a miles northeast, but Anda!usia, as
will be seen, really belongs in the
Pensacola territory.
Covington is Prosperous.
Prosperity is taken absolutely for
granted in Covington county.
There are men in their early thirtiea
who have already made fortunes and
could easily retire If they wanted TO,
but there is an atmosphere Of hustle
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