Way Back Wednesday in Calhoun County---February 7-13

To borrow from Mr. Shakespeare….What’s in a name? Well in Calhoun County there have been many name changes. Benton County became Calhoun County in the 1850s. Oxford, Anniston, Jacksonville, and Piedmont did not start out with those names. So, let’s look at some of the name changes over the years in county.

Have you traveled to Lick Skillet or Skace Grease, chances are you have if you have spent time in the southern part of Calhoun County? When the Snow and Simmons families arrived in the area during the early 1830s, they established a village named Lick Skillet, which many attributed the name to the economic circumstances of the villagers. The village had a ditch that separated Lick Skillet on the north side from Skace Grease on the south side. Eventually the area grew and was incorporated as Oxford in the early 1850s. Some claim the name Oxford was a corruption of the area where the ox forded Snow Creek, hence Ox-Ford.

Moving north of Oxford we find the area of Pine Ankle and later, Cobb Town. The area around the of the Oxford Iron furnace was known as Pine Ankle due to the dense pine forests that surrounded the area. After the Civil War, Samuel Noble and his family moved their iron works business from Rome, Ga to old burned out Oxford Iron Furnace, a reminder of Union General John Croxton’s raid during the Civil War. Noble along with co-founder General Daniel Tyler named their new venture Annie’s Town after Tyler’s daughter-in-law Annie. The town’s name was corrupted to become Anniston. To the west of Anniston was Cobb Town. This area was named for R. H. Cobb, organizer of the Anniston Lime and Coal Co. West End-Cobb Town was near many of the foundries that supported Anniston’s economy after it was opened to public settlement in the 1880s.

The village at the site of the first county courthouse was originally called Madison after the U.S. President of the same name. Much of the area was inhabited by Chief Ladiga and his tribe in the early 1800s. Once the Chief sold his land and moved to the Cherokee Nation near Piedmont, the area was renamed Drayton in the 1830s. During the War of 1812, Andrew Jackson and his soldiers camped near the Big Springs just west of the modern-day Jacksonville Square. When some of these soldiers came back to settle the area in the 1830s and 1840s, the name of the village was once again changed but his time to honor Jackson. The city of Jacksonville remained the county seat until a contentious election in 1900 awarded the city of Anniston the title of county seat.

In the far north of the county, there was another small village inhabited by just three families. The area near Terrapin Creak known as Griffin’s Creek throughout the 1840s was located at the edge of two plains where the stagecoach routes crossed. In the early 1850s, Griffin’s Creek became Cross Plains. After the Civil War, the Selma, Rome, Dalton Railroad moved into the area and established their headquarters and general office at Cross Plains. As a result of a racial incident in the 1870s that was connected to the railroad, Cross Plains suffered an economic downturn. To help heal the town, the name was changed to Piedmont in the 1880s.

The cities of Calhoun County changed names as time marched forward. The areas surrounding the cities have also changed names over the year. These places have a story to tell, but that will wait…… until next time in The Way Back Wednesday in Calhoun County Blog.

To learn more about the history of Calhoun County pick up a copy of Images of America: Calhoun County (ISBN 978-0738589985), Anniston (ISBN 978-0738506012), or Anniston Revisited (ISBN 978-1467114752) by Kimberly O’Dell.