Way Back Wednesday in Calhoun County--February 15-21

In this week’s Way Back Wednesday in Calhoun County Blog for February 15 to 21, we are going to revisit Downtown Anniston through the years. Some of the downtown buildings are no longer standing while some of the buildings still stand but the businesses which inhabited them no longer exist. Throughout the history of Anniston, businesses in downtown have changed, moved, and disappeared. We also see the role the military played in the city of Anniston and the remainder of Calhoun County.

February 15, 1898: McIntosh County, GA. Dr. Charles Todd Quintard, Second Episcopal Bishop of Tennessee passed away. Dr. Quintard was born in Connecticut and started out as a physician then decided to enter the clergy. He served as regimental surgeon and chaplain to a Confederate unit, the 1st Tennessee Infantry Regiment, during the Civil War even though he held pro-Union views. In the post-Civil War era, Bishop Quintard served as counselor to the founders of Anniston, Samuel Noble and Daniel Tyler. The main street through Anniston, that is now part of Alabama Highway 21, was named in the bishop’s honor.

February 16, 1941: Anniston, AL. It was announced on this date that Dunn Construction Company of Birmingham and John S. Hodgson Company of Montgomery had been awarded the contract for the construction on Anniston Ammunition Depot in Bynum, ten miles west of Anniston. In addition, it was announced that the J. B. Converse Company of Mobile and A. C. Polk of Birmingham would serve as architects and engineers for the depot construction. Converse and Polk had made the original preliminary survey of the 10,000 acres that would become Anniston Army Depot.

February 17, 1965: Anniston, AL. It was announced that Leon Jones Electric Company was going to establish a branch in Anniston. The business was located at 123 East 13th Street (currently behind Young, Wollstein, Jackson, and Whittington LLC) and served as the local GE dealer as well as selling other electrical appliance and home furnishings. The business lasted until the early 1970s.

February 18, 1952: Anniston, AL. The funeral for Mrs. Margaret Carter Collins, wife of Walker “Doc” Collins, was held with interment in Highland Cemetery. Mrs. Collins was a graduate of the Noble Institute and well known throughout the county for her singing voice. The Collins family had established Collins Drug Store at 1220 Noble Street around 1917. The drug store moved to 123 East 13th Street in 1953 where it remained until it was sold to Awbrey Burns in 1963.

February 19, 1927: Anniston, AL. F.W. Woolworth’s held a Grand Re-opening at their new location next to Anniston Hardware in the 1100 Block of Noble Street. Woolworth’s had been in the city since 1917 in the 1000 Block of Noble Street. The company chose to move to this new location in 1927 where store remained until 1939 when the business moved to the Levi Building in the 1000 Block of Noble Street.

February 20, 1936: Anniston, AL. The Calhoun County Grand Jury heard testimony concerning the violation of the prohibition laws including witness Circuit Judge R. B. Comer who claimed he saw one r two women receive whiskey in front of a local sandwich shop. The Courthouse had recently been rebuilt after suffering a fire on February 10, 1931.

February 21, 1919: Anniston, AL. Dave H. Brown, a government typewriter repair specialist at Camp McClellan, filed a suit in circuit court against the Alabama Hotel for $5000 on the charge of false imprisonment. Brown had served at the military camp for approximately 10 months and, according to the filed documents, had paid over $1000 in room and board. However, the hotel had the military police called and held Brown because he had not paid his bill. Brown stated that it was normal for him to not pay his bill for weeks at a time when he traveled back to his home in Birmingham.

February 22, 1900: Anniston, AL. The children of Anniston celebrated Washington’s Birthday at the Anniston College for Young Women, previously known as the Anniston Inn. This was the first time Arbor Day was also celebrated. Arbor Day was a holiday established in 1872 and was celebrated by individual states and communities on a day of their choosing. This was a day for the community to plant a tree to celebrate.