Here's an old place name; the community of Haw Ridge, where a lot of my ancestors lived: The following is from the book, "Coffee Grounds, A History of Coffee County, Alabama, 1841-1970" by Fred S. Watson, p. 62: HAW RIDGE, ALABAMA Haw Ridge is one of the old settlements that was very active during the Civil War. It is located in the extreme eastern part of the county, and there has been some controversy as to whether it is located in Coffee or Dale Counties. Some of the older maps show the settlement in Dale County while some later maps show it in Coffee. Nevertheless in 1940 it was shown as Precinct 13 in Coffee County and had a population of 41. The early settlers named the community Haw Ridge because there were many haw trees growing there. The trees produced a fruit similar to miniature apples. They were excellent for making jams and jellies. When the first settlers came to Haw Ridge about 1853, they found a dense forest. Some of the first families included: Brown, Fuller, Carmichael, Bruner, Price, Heath, and Hildreth. In 1855, James Brown came to Haw Ridge to make his home. He opened a large mercantile store to supply the needs of other settlers drifting into that neighborhood. Brown did a thriving business at Haw Ridge for several years. Haw Ridge was widely known during the War between the States, and produced several Confederate soldiers who fought through those perilous days against the Yankees. During the war, settlers would come from miles around to Haw Ridge, to spend the day around the eight stores. They talked often of the war and the price the South was paying for a lesson being taught by the Yankees. The war had serious effects on those early settlements. It is hard to realize the price those early settlements paid in the loss of property, other wealth, and in the flower of their manhood. Dave Creamer came to Haw Ridge and opened a leather tannery just before the Civil War. Just how many were employed in his pioneer industry is not known, but his business was one of the first manufacturing plants in the area. In his tannery and shoe factory Creamer made many pairs of shoes for the Confederate soldiers. The government paid 50 cents a pair for the shoes. When the war was over the Confederate government owed him quite a large amount for shoes. When Confederate money was declared worthless the bill was never paid. Haw Ridge was among the first in this section to organize a church. In the 1870's many camp meetings were held at this pioneer church. Records show that in 1863, W. P. Miller was the preacher at the Methodist Church. Henry Metcalf acted as supply preacher. As early as 1841, and continuing for three years, a camp meeting was organized at Zion Church, three miles southeast of Haw Ridge. Some persons, "without the fear of God or the law of the land before their eyes," disturbed the people who had met for worship. They were arrested and brought before Rev. Levi Dowling, a local preacher and justice of the Peace at Ozark. He bound them over to the county court, of which Gappa G. Yelverton was judge. He convicted them and fined each $25. When the railroad came through the country, Haw Ridge, as many of the other early settlements, lost most of its good citizens. They left their homes with hopes of going into business in one of the new communities which sprang up along the railroad. All the stores, except those belonging to James Brown and Robert Fuller, went out of business and these two continued in their business for several years but finally closed their doors, marking the end of Haw Ridge settlement. When Camp Rucker was built during World War 11, this community was within the government reservation, and the few old buildings still standing were torn down. Nothing remains at Haw Ridge today. -----Original Message----- From: Phyllis Jeannae Kwanja Owens <kwanja@alaweb.com> To: ALCOFFEE-L@rootsweb.com <ALCOFFEE-L@rootsweb.com> Date: Tuesday, August 14, 2001 4:05 PM Subject: Fw: [ALCOFFEE] Old place names >----- Original Message ----- >From: "Phyllis Jeannae Kwanja Owens" <kwanja@alaweb.com> >To: <Marvfrmfl@aol.com> >Sent: Tuesday, August 14, 2001 3:04 PM >Subject: Re: [ALCOFFEE] Old place names > > >> Hello All, >> >> I, also, am interested in what is known about these towns, if they no >longer >> exist as towns. I would like to include any info concerning them on the >> FORGOTTEN PLACES of COFFEE COUNTY. At the moment, only Honeytown is >listed >> on this link. Please advise me of any info that you may have. >> >> Also, while I am writing, if anyone has any suggestions of something new >> that they might like to include on the Coffee County ALGenWeb Project >site, >> please let me hear from you at kwanja@alaweb.com Please include Coffee >> County in your subject line to get my attention....sometimes I have so >many >> emails, that I do not go through them individually, but, instead, I go to >> the ones that have Coffee County or other pertinent subject line of >whatever >> I am working on. You see, I moderate seven mailing lists and am creator >of >> about ten websites.....so I need the subject line to be specific....like >> Coffee County for emails concerning Coffee County. I am most interested >in >> making the CCAP site as informative and useful as possible. Any >suggestions >> are more than welcome. >> >> Thank you for your time, all. Have a great week. >> >> Love, >> Phyllis >> ----- Original Message ----- >> From: <Marvfrmfl@aol.com> >> To: <ALCOFFEE-L@rootsweb.com> >> Sent: Monday, August 13, 2001 8:59 PM >> Subject: [ALCOFFEE] Old place names >> >> >> > I found on an 1895 map of Coffee Co. two place names that to my >> knowledge no longer exist. They are Rodney and Elizabeth in the NE corner >of >> the county near where the Jack and Wilkinstown communities are today. >> > The question is, does anyone know any history of these two defunct >> towns, or are they defunct? >> > >> > >______________________________