City of Lineville, Alabama

On February 3, 1870, the name of the town changed from County Line to Lineville. The name change was made because the Randolph/Talladega county line running directly through the town had gone away with the establishment of Clay County. In short, the town was no longer situated on a county line. However, the citizens insisted upon keeping something familiar in the new name – thus “Lineville” was a compromise of sorts. The city of Lineville was incorporated on December 14, 1898.

For more information about the City of Lineville, please visit their website at www.cityoflineville.net.

Visit the Lineville Merchant’s Association website – click here.

Mayor Roy Adamson
City Hall
P O Box 247
Lineville, AL 36266
256-396-2581 (office)
256-396-5106 (fax)

Lineville City Council Members

District 1: Carolyn Smith
District 2: David Proctor
District 3: Mamie Turman
District 4: Matt Benefield
District 5: Johnny Appleby

Clay County Alabama Arts League Meeting

January 10, 2011
6:30 pm	to	8:30 pm
February 14, 2011
6:30 pm	to	8:30 pm
March 14, 2011
6:30 pm	to	8:30 pm
April 11, 2011
6:30 pm	to	8:30 pm
May 9, 2011
6:30 pm	to	8:30 pm
June 13, 2011
6:30 pm	to	8:30 pm
July 11, 2011
6:30 pm	to	8:30 pm
August 8, 2011
6:30 pm	to	8:30 pm
September 12, 2011
6:30 pm	to	8:30 pm
October 10, 2011
6:30 pm	to	8:30 pm
November 14, 2011
6:30 pm	to	8:30 pm
December 12, 2011
6:30 pm	to	8:30 pm
January 9, 2012
6:30 pm	to	8:30 pm
February 13, 2012
6:30 pm	to	8:30 pm
March 12, 2012
6:30 pm	to	8:30 pm
April 9, 2012
6:30 pm	to	8:30 pm
May 14, 2012
6:30 pm	to	8:30 pm
June 11, 2012
6:30 pm	to	8:30 pm
July 9, 2012
6:30 pm	to	8:30 pm
August 13, 2012
6:30 pm	to	8:30 pm
September 10, 2012
6:30 pm	to	8:30 pm
October 8, 2012
6:30 pm	to	8:30 pm
November 12, 2012
6:30 pm	to	8:30 pm
December 10, 2012
6:30 pm	to	8:30 pm

The Clay County Arts League meets the 2nd Monday of each month at 6:30 pm at the Ashland Water Department Office on Hwy 9, next to the Post Office.  The Clay County Arts League is open to ages 14 and up.  Membership fees are $25 for Adults and $15 for teens or 30 hours of community service.  Our organization coordinates many events which take place in the county.

We welcome you to join and look forward to seeing you soon.  Visit our website – click here.

Governor Bob Riley to Speak at 2010 Clay Chamber Annual Meeting

October 28, 2010
12:00 pm	to	1:00 pm

The Clay County Chamber of Commerce Annual Meeting is scheduled for Thursday, October 28 at 12:00 at the Wellborn Training Facility (The Barn) off Hwy 77 South. Mark your calendar today.  Order your tickets – download order form here: [Download not found].

Guest Speaker: Governor Bob Riley

Look for your Annual Meeting Info Packet in the mail. Our Guest Speaker is Governor Bob Riley. Mark your calendar TODAY  – you don’t want to miss it.

And be sure to submit your nomination form for the 2010 Chamber Business of the Year; Business Person of the Year; and Volunteer of the Year.  Download the Nomination Form here: [Download not found]

Order your tickets today.

Annual Meeting ticket prices:
$100 Meeting Sponsor / table seats 8
$15 / person Chamber Members
$20 / person Non-Chamber
Order Your Tickets Today – Seating is Limited

Clay County Chamber of Commerce Moves to New Office

June 30, 2010

Press Release

For Immediate Release

The Clay County Chamber of Commerce Office Moved to Downtown Lineville, Alabama

On Tuesday, June 22, 2010, the Clay County Chamber of Commerce held a conference at the Randolph Properties office across from the Historic Lineville Theater to make a special announcement.

The Chamber Board of Directors announced to officials present from the City of Ashland, City of Lineville and Clay County Commission that the Chamber is moving its office to the building owned by Randolph Properties located at 88855 Hwy 9, Lineville, AL 36266.

The Chamber’s previous office was located at the Clay County Farmer’s Market since 1991. Chamber Executive Director Mary Patchunka-Smith said “I’ve been with the Chamber for 3 plus years and one of the biggest projects we’ve been working on is to get our office out of the Farmer’s Market. We needed more room and better exposure The Farmer’s Market is not easy to find and some believe not very inviting for folks that are visiting our county or wanting to do business here. We have been seeking a new location for years and it did not matter to the Chamber Board which city we would locate a new office. Matt Hooton, owner of Randolph Properties, came through for us. He has agreed to lease the office for the next 3 years. The Chamber will only have to pay the utilities.”

Mary assured everyone that even though the Chamber Office will now be located in Lineville, Chamber business will still be conducted in the same manner it has always been. “We are here to help everyone in Ashland, Lineville and Clay County.” She continued, “The entire Chamber Board is so excited about having this beautiful office for the Clay County Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber would like to thank Matt Hooton for his generosity.”

The Chamber is now in the process of finding a location to open a satellite office in Ashland.

At the conference, Chamber President Kathy Pinkston spoke about the Chamber and the many projects it has been working on for Clay County. Pinkston announced that the Chamber membership has grown to 154 members, with members located from Gadsden, AL to St. Cloud, FL. She also reported the Chamber Website has continued to grow its visitor count and page views, month after month, and is currently receiving over 35,000 page views per month. Pinkston also announced The Alabama Birding Trails coming to Clay County with five different sites within the county: At each city park in Ashland and Lineville, the Watershed, Clay County Lake and Lake Chinabee.

One Chamber project in particular, The Clay County Life magazine which launched in April 2010 has been a huge success for Clay County and Chamber members. The 2010 Edition was the first Quality of Life magazine for Clay County.

Another project in the works is helping to bring Broadband Internet service to Clay County, which hopefully will be made possible through the joint efforts of the Chamber and the Clay County Commission.

For your convenience, the Clay County Chamber of Commerce has a brochure rack in the Clay County Court House in Ashland with brochures, maps, telephone books, the Clay County Life Magazine and more.

Lineville, Ashland and the Clay County Chamber are all on Facebook with Fan Pages. In addition, the Alabama Dept. of Tourism has assigned Mary as the Administrator of the City of Ashland and Lineville Facebook pages to continue to promote these beautiful and wonderful cities of Clay County to the millions who visit and use Facebook.

Reminder …. The Chamber Annual Meeting is scheduled for October 28th at 12:00 at Wellborn Cabinet, Inc. Training Facility located on Hwy 77 South of Ashland. Governor Bob Riley is the Guest Speaker.

Present at the meeting was: Clay County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Mary Patchunka-Smith, Clay County Chamber Board of Directors President Kathy Pinkston, 1st Vice President Brad Strother, Secretary / Treasurer Jeanette Carroll, Billy Robertson, Mike Coleman and Baron Sandlin, City of Ashland Mayor Larry Fetner, City Council Member Becky Boddie, City of Lineville Mayor Roy Adamson City Council Members Carolyn Smith, David Proctor, Mamie Truman, Johnny Appleby and the Clay County Commissioner Chairmen Ricky Burney and Kevin Kiser.

Clay County Life Magazine

The Clay County Chamber of Commerce launched the inaugural edition of Clay County Life Magazine in April 2010. The magazine is a dynamic marketing tool for the Chamber and its members.  Produced annually as a Chamber of Commerce publication, it will be helpful in recruiting new businesses to the area or providing information for people considering relocating. It will also be distributed locally for maximum advertising impact for Chamber members to Clay County citizens.

The Chamber is already working on the 2011 edition and if your business is interested in being a part of this great life style publication, contact the Chamber’s Executive Director, Mary Patchunka-Smith at 256-396-2828 or by email to claychamber@centurytel.net.  If you would like a copy of Clay County Life Magazine, request one by contacting Mary.

Clay County Alabama Arts League History

Clay County Alabama Arts League History

This brief history of programs of the Clay County Alabama Arts League has been provided by Linda Rochester, our Membership Vice President, in hopes that you will consider becoming a member this year.

VISUAL ARTS
Do you know some of these names:  Nina Faye Bonner, Alma Browning, Barbara Bryan, Carrie Lou Campbell, Mrs. L. D. Clark, Alice Cowan, Phil Cornelison, Robert Duke, Judith Hornsby Jordan, Mrs. Homer Hyche, Eleanor Mattox, Barbara Pace, Mrs. Avery Phillips, Mrs. Walton Phillips, and Bill Wilson.  These are some of the ground-breakers who brought the arts into Clay County in 1971 with an art gallery on the square of Ashland and plays in the county schools.  The foundation was laid to encourage and support our county’s artists.  Judith Jordan was the director of many of these early events.

“Through the Artist’s Eyes” has been showcasing local artists, for the past five years, as they exhibit their work at the Clay County Health and Wellness Center. Clay County has talent – painting, pottery, photography, wood working, glass sculpting!!  Exhibitors are: Dannielle Aldredge, Jennifer Alam, Frank Andrus, Dyla Carson Corinne Cox, Shirley Dawkins, Geneva Finley, Frank Foster, Jim Gasser, Toni Grossman, Jack Hadder, Danny Heard, Patsy Ingram, Pat Jenkins, Judith Jordan, Gordon Kendrick, Lori McCain, Tommy Moorehead, Jean Morgan, Ron Newsome, Dee Perkins, Nanette Perry, Kay Robertson, Sydney Saxon, Sarah Sparks, Carol Spivey, Launa Stan, the Robert Steele family, Bonnie Wheeles, and the 4-H school children from Ashland and Lineville. Dee Perkins is chairperson for this program.

DRAMA
Do you remember all of those plays and events put on over the past twenty years?  Here are a few:  A Christmas Carol, Purlie, The Wizard of Oz, The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe, Peter Pan, You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown, South Pacific, Grease, The Music Man, Wolf  Tales, Smoke on the Mountain, Covering Dish, Friends Forever, A Mid-Summer Night’s Dream, That’s Entertainment, Aladdin and His Wonderful Magic Lamp,  Off-Broadway, a Gala Celebration for the Arts, The Rosa Parks Story, Through the Years Follies, The Great Southern Satire, Caroling on the Square, Made in the U. S. A., and Rumpelstiltskin.  Ken Yates, Diane Giddens, Linda Rochester, Vicki Birdsall, Sheryl Bonner, Chris Carr, Kathy Murphy, and Lori Steele are some of the directors of these stage productions.

The Seasoned Performers, a senior adult theater group from Birmingham that has performed for the past two years at The Historic Ashland Theatre, will return in the spring. Elizabeth Moore has been the chairperson of this event.

MUSIC
Summer Sizzle has been entertaining Clay County with free outdoor concerts on Thursdays in July since 2004. The music ranges from gospel and big band swing to local mariachi and country! Even fireworks are provided after the program closest to the 4th of July. April Ice and Barbara Pollard have been chairpersons of this event.

The Arts League joined with the Clay County Chorus in 2008 in order to bring mixed choral music to the forefront of Clay County life.  Ken Yates directed the Clay County Chorus in a winter performance of Christmas music and a spring performance of Broadway tunes. In December of 2009, the Clay County Women’s Chorus, under the direction of Linda Rochester, presented a program of Christmas music. Plans are underway to combine the men and women again in the near future.

ARTS PROGRAMS FOR CHILDREN / TEENS
We have been educating our children in the arts through Arts Camp since 1995.  We specialize in training young minds to love, cherish, and participate in the arts.  Some of the classes that have been offered are in singing, drama, music, pottery, drawing, painting, and even cooking! Murals completed by local artists and the children have been created and left behind as gifts to local schools. Many children attend Arts Camp every year on scholarship. The number of scholarships available depends on grants and donations received from the community. Kim Crist is the current chairperson for the camp. Tommy Moorehead, April Ice, Jennifer Alam, and Linda Rochester have also been chairpersons of our Arts Camps.

The Arts League has partnered with the school system on several occasions to bring theatre and visual artists into the county’s schools.

Scholarships have given by the Arts League to high school graduates who exhibit artistic ability and are entering further education in visual or performing arts.

If you have been a participant in one or more of our events or if you have been a part of our audience, you already know that we are in a continuous attempt to reinvent ourselves.

We have four meetings a year; the first is in October. All meetings are open, and we welcome your involvement.  The location of all Board meetings is in the Arts League Office in the Ashland Water Department Building. As a member, you may bring suggestions and business before the Board by contacting President Barbara Pollard.  Please consider attending our events and supporting the Clay County Arts League with your membership.  Dues for this year are $15 for individuals and $25 for families and businesses.  Your membership is important, because every dollar we raise locally is a dollar that can be matched for grant funding purposes.

Please don‘t let this opportunity pass. Join today! Mail your donation to P.O. Box 696, Ashland, AL 36251. This is one organization that has worked hard to earn your support.

Clay County Arts League

Clay County Arts League

The Clay County Arts League needs you! Over the years the Arts League has played a vital part in the cultural enhancement of our community. We hope you will join us as a member.

We have four meetings a year. All of our meetings are open, and we welcome your involvement.  As a member, you may bring suggestions and business before the board by contacting Barbara Pollard at 256-396-6143.

Please support us with your membership. Dues for this year are $15 for individuals and $25 for families and businesses. Your membership is important, because every dollar we raise locally is a dollar that can be used for matching grants and funding purposes. We will continue to work hard to earn your support. We also welcome donations in any amount.

Visit our website – Click Here.

Barbara Pollard, President
Clay County Arts League

A Sketch of Clay County: The Land and It’s People

“A SKETCH OF CLAY COUNTY  -  THE LAND AND ITS PEOPLE “

© 2010 By Don C. East – creekstreefarms2@yahoo.com

A SENSE OF ISOLATION

I began this brief sketch of Clay County in an attempt to explain how our landscape and people came to be as they are. This proved to be no easy task, because even to us natives, Clay County seems to have an evasive identity – a split personality of sorts.  The county is at once an island that is isolated by both nature and man, while at the same time it is encircled and influenced by an array of nearby modern cities.  From its earliest days, Clay County has been isolated on the west by the rugged expanse of the Talladega Mountains, with their dense forests and paucity of natural gaps.  To the east, the region has been blocked by the deep defiles and swift currents of the Tallapoosa River.  Even after white civilization belatedly came to the area following the expulsion of the Creek Indians in 1836-37; either through design, necessity, or pure circumstance, major communications arteries have shunned the area.  Today, there is only one railroad line, no interstate highways, only one small airport and no navigable waterways.  These factors tend to keep Clay County off the beaten path.  Clay County’s 66,800 remote acres within the Talladega National Forest further adds to its sense of isolation. And finally, although the county is ringed by the cities of Atlanta (80 direct miles to the east), Birmingham (55 direct miles to the west), and Montgomery (65 direct miles to the south); all of these lie outside reasonable commuting distance. These natural and man made barriers have somewhat isolated Clay County, allowing it to maintain a distinctly Appalachian society.  Although it is located at the extreme end of the mountain chain, it is Alabama’s best and most intact example of the geographic features and culture known as “Appalachia.”  Those practices, methods and ways of life found in the FOXFIRE series books very nicely describe this county of yesterday, with many signs of it still evident today.

While this sense of isolation may seem to make Clay County have one foot in the past, it definitely has its other foot in the modern hi-tech South.  While it is not unusual to see a farmer using a mule-drawn plow or syrup mill in Clay County, his grandchildren are learning to “surf the web” in one of the county’s public schools.  Even though Clay Countians can seek solace and refuge from many of the pressures and stresses of modern times here in our “fortress;” within a short drive they can take advantage of the many amenities of the large, modern cities.  Although the large cities ringing the county are outside normal daily commuting range, those urban dwellers have nevertheless “discovered” our county.  The county’s scenic mountains and hill country; blessed with an abundance of forests, streams and wildlife, have drawn outsiders.  Some of these become part-time residents, while many become a full-time part of our communities.  This tourism and retiree influx has added a new and important dimension to the county’s economy as well as impacting its culture.

NOT NEO-CLASSICAL MANSIONS, BUT ROUGH LOG CABINS

Clay County is not from the publicized antebellum South of William Faulkner or Margaret Mitchell.  The traditional antebellum mansions, with large land and slave holdings, were found in most any direction from Clay County, but were never a part of the landscape here.  With the mountain land being unsuited for the economic production of cotton, and since it was held by the Creek Indians until the mid 1830s, this county was settled primarily by the less fortunate late comers.  These frontiersmen owned very few slaves, lived in rough log cabins and had relatively small land holdings.  When the log cabins finally gave way to homes built of sewn lumber, they remained small, simple and rough, such as the old Lamberth house and barn lying along the Chapman Road in southern Clay County.

Thus, the economic golden era of the ante-bellum South largely bypassed Clay County.  Although there were brief flashes of prosperity from mining and timber, it did not produce a broad based economy.  Clay County was primarily a land of “one horse” farms during those better times that existed in other parts of the state.

Nevertheless, most of our Clay County ancestors were staunch supporters of the Confederate cause when the American Civil War came.  With a predominance of Scotch-Irish ancestry, the perpetual champions of individual and states rights, Clay County probably sent more men to the war per populace than many of those slave holding plantation areas nearby.  Even a cursory look at the tombstones in the county’s cemeteries dramatically attests to this fact.

THE LANDSCAPE AS AFFECTED BY ECONOMIC TRANSITIONS

While the culture of Clay County has remained relatively intact over time, its landscape has undergone major change as its economic base went through transitions.  When the American frontiersman began to arrive here in the mid-1830’s, they found a heavily forested region, crisscrossed by mountains, streams and narrow Indian trade trails.  By the start of the Civil War, a large portion of the dense forest had given way to the axe and the plow as subsistence farming had replaced the hunting/trading economy of the Creek Indians.  With the harsh administration of the post-Civil War Reconstruction Era, many local farmers perceived that they had a choice to either transition to an ill-fated corn and cotton cash crop system or to migrate elsewhere in search of more productive land.

Minerals and timber had brief, but intermittent prosperous runs for the Clay County economy from the late 1830s until the end of World War I.  Gold was discovered in Clay and other east central Alabama counties in 1830.  That boom lasted only until most of the miners abandoned their claims and headed to California in 1849.

Then, the logging industry, led by the giant Kaul Lumber Company of Hollins, brought in more jobs and income until the prime long leaf pine trees were largely exhausted by the early 1900.  Then the Kaul Lumber Company moved to the Tuscaloosa area to set up shop. Following this timber era, minerals again returned to center stage as graphite, pyrite, etc. pumped a spurt of cash into the county’s economy until the end of World War I.

These short periods brought temporary prosperity to the county, but it soon returned to the subsistence and emerging cash crop farming to eek out the normal lower standard of living for most of the county’s population.  However, as a partial stopgap, during the period starting with the steam engines in the late 1900s, several Clay County men took advantage of the lumber needs and began operating small “peckerwood” sawmills.  The author’s grandfather, John Aubrey Cleveland, was one of these.  He, along with other Clay County men, moved their small portable mills from timber tract to timber tract to cut the remaining larger trees.  These operations provided an income for many Clay Countians until the scraps of larger timber were exhausted in the late 1950s.

Nevertheless, settlers continued to arrive, and by the 1920’s, Clay County reached an apex in population (over 22,000) and in numbers of farms (over 3,500).  By now, almost all the forestland had given way to cultivation.  However, with the ultimate depletion of the topsoil and the onset of the great American depression, the cotton and corn fields began to go fallow as most of the farmers either went to the towns and cities in search of jobs, or again migrated in search of better land.

Through natural regeneration, the efforts of the Civilian Conservation Corps, and the beginnings of commercial reforestation operations by large timber and paper pulp companies, the forest began to reclaim the abandoned farmland.  With the advent of government and state cost share assistance programs for reforestation, the farmers themselves contributed to bringing forestry and forestland back to its original position of dominance. With this profitable reforestation movement, the price of Clay County forestland began a dramatic rise in the early 1970s.  These timberland prices rose from the cheapest forestland in the state to some of the most expensive.

During the late 1990 and early 2000s, these elevated land prices motivated the numerous industrial forest landowners such as Union Pacific, Inland Rome, Kimberly Clark and others to divest themselves of thousands of acres.  This land was quickly gobbled up by private individuals, LLC (Limited Liability Corporations) and REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts).  Presently, over 95 percent of the county’s extensive forestland is owned by private, non-industrial owners.

When row crop farming bottomed out in the 1950s, after 100 years of struggle, Clay County farmers finally hit upon a form of agriculture suited to these rocky hills -  cattle, chickens, and pine trees. By the 1980s, Clay County was a matrix of dense forest with interspersed pasture land, and dotted with the long houses of the chicken industry.

Supplementing the timber and agricultural economy of Clay County today is a new trend of small and medium industry.  These family-owned and corporate satellite businesses employ a sizable portion of the county’s available labor force.

Another positive economic factor for the county was the completion of Lake R.L. Harris (aka Lake Wedowee) in 1984.  Although only a very small sliver of this hydroelectric impoundment is in Clay County, it nevertheless brought significant economic benefit in the form of housing construction and service jobs.

These latest economic trends have brought with them a new phenomenon that could have an impact upon our demographics of the new millennium, and ultimately the culture of the county.  As these industries expanded and increased in numbers by the early 1990s, they found the size of the local labor pool to be insufficient.  Like many areas, notably in the southwest, west coast and Florida, Clay County began to receive an influx of Hispanics to fill the labor void. Today, these workers continue to arrive from Mexico, Cuba, Central and South America.

THE PEOPLE AND THEIR ORIGINS

Along with the land, it is the people that make up the character of a county.  The forefathers of today’s Clay Countians probably mirrored the ethnic makeup of Southeastern settlers in general, but there are also some specifics we can point to.  The migration of settlers into what is now Clay County came via two primary routes.  First, there was the major one, commonly known as the Coastal Plain/Piedmont route.  This migration route usually began in Virginia, then passed through the Carolinas to Georgia, and finally to Alabama.  Most families using this route would stretch its traverse into six or seven generations.  They normally spent 2-3 generations in the Carolinas and another 2-3 in Georgia, before moving on to Alabama.  The ethnic makeup of these migration routes is far too complex to discuss herein, but in general, the Coastal Plain/Piedmont route largely consisted of English, Scott, Irish, Scotch-Irish, plus a few Germans and French.  A second and less significant migration route leading to Clay County settlement is commonly known as the Inter-Mountain route.  This route also usually began in Virginia and then went southwest into Tennessee, and finally southward into Alabama.  This settlement stream was primarily English, Irish and Scotch-Irish.

Along both these migration routes, some of our Clay County forefathers found Native American brides.  These full and part-blood Indian women were from the Carolinas, Georgia, Tennessee, or in the case of the earliest Clay County settlers, the women were from Alabama.  Some historians and ethnologists believe that around 25% of Alabama’s population can count some American Indian blood.  Those doing so in Clay County would primarily claim either Cherokee or Creek.

Those African Americans that have deep roots here in Clay County can probably count their lineage from either of two possible sources. It was either from slaves severed from their Indian owners after the 1813-14 or 1836 Creek Indian wars, or from slaves freed from White owners after the Civil War.  There is another significant demographic trend applicable to the African American population of Clay County.  In the 1940s and 1950s, there was a major migration of young adult African Americans to the large steel and automobile industry cities of the North.  As these individuals reached retirement age beginning in the 1980s, many have moved back to Clay County to reclaim their roots.

CLAY’S NOTABLE PEOPLE

The often explosive history, rough landscape and hardscrabble economic existence of Clay County natives have produced a breed of citizens with a great deal of individualism, grit and determination.  Coming from mostly humble backgrounds, many Clay County natives have gone on to make their mark far beyond the county’s borders.

Some examples of these individuals are: Hugo Black, member of the Supreme Court of the United States; LaFayette Hoyt DeFrese, private counselor to England’s Queen Victoria; Bob Riley, current Governor of the state of Alabama; Oliver Cromwell Carmichael, President of Alabama College at Montevallo, President of the University of Alabama, and Chancellor of Vanderbilt University; Robert Daniel Carmichael, dean of graduate school of the University of Illinois; Patrick Henry Carmichael, dean of the Presbyterian School of Christian Education in Richmond, Virginia; Claude Denson Pepper, a long-serving Senator from the state of Florida, U.S. presidential candidate in 1984 and Medal of freedom winner; Irene Vansandt Teel, a noted fortune teller; the husband and wife doctor team of Wayne and Sarah Finley, who did important medical work in genetics research, and finally, at least 50 medical doctors were born in this rural county.

In addition, there have been sports and military figures from Clay County such as NASA astronaut Joe Edwards, Jr.; Howard Ballard and Johnathan Carter, who played professional football; Alabama’s first Olympic Games gold medal winner Edward Yancey Argo; Jack Treadwell, a Congressional Medal of Honor winner; more military personnel per populace than any county in America and probably more 2A and 3A high school football state championships than any county in Alabama.  All these individuals proudly proclaim Clay County as their birthplace and native soil.

CHARACTER TRAITS OF CLAY COUNTIANS

Whatever their ethnic makeup, Clay Countians have some rather distinct character traits that tend to set them apart as a people.  These traits have evolved through several generations, molded by the county’s historical experience, and influenced by the nature of the rugged landscape itself. By way of example, and for the sake of brevity, some of the more prevalent of these traits will be used below in an attempt to define the character of Clay Countians.  Each of the predominant traits listed below are supplemented with an appropriate local “saying.”

• A sense of endurance  -  “You can’t keep a (insert family name) down for long!”
• A strong work ethic  -  “Hard work never hurt anyone.”
• Resourceful -  “I guess I’ll just have to make do with what I’ve got.”
• A sense of community  -  “We know we can always count on our neighbors if we need anything.”
• Calvinistic resignation  -  “I guess God meant for it to be this way.”
• Optimistic -  “When you stir up good and bad in a pot, the good always rises to the top.”
• A strong religious faith  -  “We have more churches in Clay County than we have people.”
• An awareness of ancestry  -  “My grandpappy once told me that our ancestors  ……”
• Tenaciousness  -  “I’ll get this done if it kills me!”
• Stubborn  -  “By comparison, he/she makes a mule seem obliging.”
• Patriotic  -  “We had more Clay Countians involved in the Persian Gulf War per populace than any county in America.”
• Generosity  -  “We always raise enough in our garden for us, the deer, and our neighbors.”
• Grit  -  “I will not let this get the best of me!”
• Hospitable  -  “Y’all come back to see us real soon.”
• A love of the land  -  “My great grandfather and my grandfather lived on this land and hell will freeze over before I let it go!”

AND FINALLY

Over the years, very little about Clay County or its citizens has found its way into print.  The most notable exceptions up to this point in time have been Garrett Mitchell’s “Horse and Buggy Days on Hatchet Creek,” Eddie B. Roselle’s “Recollections – My Folks and Fields,” G. C. Saylors “Shinbone,” Pamela Grundy’s “You Always Think of Home – A Portrait of Clay County, Alabama,”  and more recently, Don C. East’s (creekstreefarms2@yahoo.com) “A Historical Analysis of the Creek Indian Hillabee Towns.” Finally, the Clay County Heritage Book Committee produced a book of county family histories and selected historical topics. This same source more recently produced a book of Clay County History.  See more at this page: Books or Pamphlets Written About Clay County, Alabama.

Perhaps some of the once obscure and personal reflections found in these books will help define the county as a place and as a people.  If nothing else, perhaps they will ignite an even greater effort to detail our rich history, so that future generations of Clay Countians will not forget who they are, and will continue to take pride in their strong historical and cultural heritage.

NOTE: The Clay County Chamber thanks Don East for allowing us to provide this information on our website. Contact Don East at creekstreefarms2@yahoo.com.

Clay County Life Magazine Launch

Neighborhood Publishing, creator and publisher of Lake Wedowee Life magazine, is pleased to help the Clay County Chamber of Commerce publish a quality of life magazine for Clay County.

The CLAY COUNTY LIFE magazine is a dynamic marketing tool for the Chamber and its members.  Produced annually as a Chamber of Commerce publication, it will be helpful in recruiting new businesses to the area or providing information for people considering relocating.  It will also be distributed locally for maximum advertising impact for Chamber members to Clay County citizens.

We will be utilizing all the resources we use in publishing Lake Wedowee Life including writing, photography, advertising design and publishing. We will also embrace the local talents and artists that call Clay County home. As a Lake Wedowee neighbor, many stories in Lake Wedowee Life magazine have come from the Clay County area.  We have learned there is much more to Clay County than meets the eye and  “we know how to tell your story.”

Advertising sales for this publication has already begun and will continue through January 15, 2010.  We invite and encourage you to be a part of this special magazine. We expect to have the completed product ready by March of 2010, just in time for spring.  Call Leisel Caldwell at 334-863-0932 or Kelly Caldwell at 256-276-7959 to reserve your space today.  Email to kellyandleisel@ilovelakewedowee.com.

DOWNLOAD THE ADVERTISERS MEDIA KIT (PDF 1.2 mb) – click the link [Download not found]

Link to Chamber

Link Your Website to the Chamber Website

We encourage all members and supporters of the Clay County Chamber of Commerce to proudly display the image below on their website and include a link back to the Chamber website.

It’s easy!  Save the image to your desktop or somewhere on your hard drive where you can find it.  For Microsoft operating systems, right click the image and SAVE. Then, place in an appropriate and prominent place on your website with a link back to http://claycochamber.com. That’s it.

Thanks and we sincerely appreciate your support.

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