Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1958-04-27
SPACE CAPITAL OF THE u sA'
The Rebirth Of a Southern Town

eight new industries. linked 10
the arsenal's missile and rocket
work, manufacturing electronics,
alloy metals. chemical products.
fuels, instruments: a truly pro-
fessional daily newspaper with a
handsome modern plant; an air.
field host 10 two daily jet-prop
commercial flights from WASH
ington.
From an area Of 4 square miles
the city has flowed out In all
directions 70 cover 81. Bright
new ranch-style homes line miles
OF new streets. Even the green
bulk Of Monte Sano, a rounded
and misty elevation presiding over
the valley, is dotted with new
homes, most OF them modern In
style. That section Is particularly
favored by the German rocket
men and their families-it reminds
them Of home, they say.
Nostoleie Touch
But there Is a touch OF the past
even on some Of the new residen-
tial streets. Many homes use old
brick, siave-made q century ago
and originally used in buildings
since torn down.
Socially. the new Huntsville is
unusual. Most Of the new resi-
dents are well above the average
in education and income. and the
great majority are Yankees. Since
there was at first almost no COM
mercial entertainment available
at Huntsville or anywhere near It,
these people have built up a lei
surely and gay social life CEN
tered In their homes.
Downtown, the single modern
hotel. the l2-story Russell Erskine.
enjoys almost 100 per cent occu-
pancy every day. A steady stream
Of visitors also keeps the growing
number Of motor courts full to
capacity; the influx of elbow
bending guests have even brought
a tiny. always crowded cocktail
lounge" to the hotel and an as
tonishing volume of guest cards"
for the busy local Elks Club.
Gen. Mitchell would have to re-
port the capture of elaborate shop
ping centers, complete with Kosher
delicatessens and supermarkets.
But he would also find an I'M
reconstructed Rebel, for q Con-
federate battle flag flies daily
from the staff Of a major factory.
although 1t snaps impudently well
below the Stars and Stripes.
Reminders of the Post
And at the courthouse on Sat-
urday, he would see the old famil-
lar Southern Huntsville, the lean.
loose-limbed, red-necked men IN
faded Jeans and dusty felt hats.
On the courthouse steps he would
find three of four preachers de-
claiming on the road to salvation.
He would find no saloon as such.
but he might be interested In a
State-operated liquor store doing
a brisk business. He would be
reminded that he was still in
Dixie, even in the Space Age. by
a slender steel chain stretched
across the bottle-goods emporium.
from wall to counter, to separate
Negroes from whites.
II he listened closely, even at
the courthouse he might hear the
thunderous. sustained roar of a
Jupiter missile or q Redstone
blasting in a static test at the
arsenal outside town. Late in the
night when the valley was quiet
ne would hear the engines Of the
night Viscount from Washington,
loaded with brass and brains.
Fifteen locomotives in 1862?
Perhaps so IRBMs in 1858; a
space platform or two; maybe
even a moonship-and the deter
mined men whose brains and pa
thence launched the first Ameri-
can satellite into space.
Huntsville today would be a
prize indeed.