Way Back Wednesday in Calhoun County---September 26

This will be the last Way Back Wednesday in Calhoun County Blog post. Since the blog is ending, it seems appropriate to share the story of two structures that will no longer exist after 2019: City Hall and old Health Department Buildings. World War II brought a construction boom to Anniston and both these buildings were built in the 1940s to serve specific purposes.

Gurnee Avenue between Eleventh and Thirteenth Streets had traditionally been the area of government for the city and the county since the early 1900s. The 1100 block of Gurnee Avenue was vacant in the 1940s and a prime location for construction. The west side of Gurnee saw the construction start in 1942 on a new building.

With the advent of World War II, Fort McClellan became a training center where over 500,000 troops trained between 1942 and 1946. The United Service Organization (USO) was founded in 1941 to provide hospitality to the troops both at home and abroad. The USO had smaller canteens throughout the city but in 1942, it was decided to build a large USO in the center of downtown Anniston. The building housed a gymnasium, a snack bar, and library. These USO buildings were a “home away from home” for service members.

After World War II, the USO building was used to assist returning soldiers. By 1951, the building was turned over to the city of Anniston for use as an auditorium and city hall offices. The original City Hall building was located in the 1200 block of Gurnee Avenue. When the city offices relocate to make way for the new federal courthouse in 2019, it will end almost 70 years the city has occupied the facility.

The building next door to City Hall was constructed in 1945 to service as the county Health Department. The county had a health department starting in 1913 but the staff had been relegated to an office in the County Courthouse Annex. When the building was constructed, it allowed the Health Department to serve the county through immunization, sanitation, inspection, and extermination. In 1966, the Health Department moved to East Eighth Street and the building was used by various city and county offices.

Both of these buildings will be demolished to make room for the new courthouse. Anniston is losing a piece of World War II history. If the walls could talk, there would be many stories about banquets, sodas, and letters home to the family or about the baby’s first inoculations.

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.