The History of Pickensville

I can recall the first time I drove throughout the community of Pickensville, Alabama, thinking to myself, “Is this a town? Where's the Post Office?” It seemed at the moment that it was yet another undeveloped dot along the state highway.

Later someone told me that Pickensville was once a booming port town, complete with a two-story hotel, about fifteen stores, a female institute and a boys' school, cafes and diners, livery stables, warehouses, a couple of drugstores, five or six doctors, and several lawyers. It was a popular "getting-on-and-off-the-boat" spot for hundreds of people who would spend a portion of their weekend in Columbus, MS. Cost of this round-trip ticket was $1.50. Others who were already on board had begun their river trek in Mobile.

With a bit of research I learned other fascinating facts about Pickensville that gave me a newfound respect. For instance, I discovered that Pickensville was not always called Pickensville. First it was Booneville, then Pikesville, then Pickensville. These name changes occurred sometime between 1842 and 1900. Even before that, back in 1817 before Alabama became a state, Josiah Tilley settled on "Tilley's Bluff", about one-half mile north of the present town.

The old hotel, built in 1822, was called the Stage Coach Inn, constructed with termite-proof cedar wood, managed first by Bill Rogers, later by Bub Funderburk. Rooms rented for 50 cents per night; meals were 25 cents extra. Most of the Inn's 16 rooms were occupied on a regular basis. With stage coaches traversing the city "streets", often bogging down in knee-deep mud, and an occasional brawl developing, Pickensville must have looked like what many of us envision as a true-grit town of the Old West.

Some of the earliest recorded land purchases occurred in 1822 from the government. Purchasing and settling in and around Pickensville included Henry Williams, Adio Griffin, Thomas Johnson, Thomas Holmes, James Smith, Isaac Sanders, Samuel Weir, Richard Harrison, Thomas Brookshire, William Spruill, and Obediah Hooper.

The steamboat "Cotton Planter" was possibly the first river boat to navigate the Tombigbee River in Pickens County. It was reported to have made runs to Mobile and back within six days! These prosperous times gave way to a turn of events when in 1912 trucks and the railroads took over most of the delivery business in surrounding areas.

Fortunately after several years Pickensville experienced a second boom period around the year 1929 when railroad and gas lines were laid. It was said that the times were so good that the town hardly felt the Depression until its later stages. 

  The town was not without its unique educational signature, boasting two specialized institutes -- one, a girls' school called the Female Institute; another, for boys, the Boys' Academy. The Institute was built in 1842, a three-story brick structure complete with its own music teacher from Germany. More than 100 young ladies attended the Institute, boarding at the school or in home of the Pickensville citizens.

Another interesting component of the town's history is its two cemeteries, the "upper" and the "lower", one for the whites, another for the blacks. The cemeteries are said to be the oldest in Pickens County. There was a courthouse and a park where Josiah Tilley established the first Pickens County settlement on the banks of the Tombigbee and perhaps some other important features that have been unintentionally omitted here.

Yes, it is true that present-day Pickensville is not a big city with traffic jams and parking problems, but there is a spirit there in the hearts of its citizens that has not forgotten its past. And only God knows what the future will be for one of the most interesting communities in the state of Alabama.