An Elmore County Life
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In 1839, the town of Wetumpka, Alabama, seemed poised for greatness; at the head of river navigation, it became the center of commerce for much of Alabama and parts of Tennessee and Georgia, and even almost became Alabama's capitol. But the changing times brought decline: Railroads replaced river transportation. Devastating fires in 1844 and 1852 demolished whole blocks of the business section east of the river. Floods in 1833 and 1844 heavily damaged both residential and business sections of the city. The war in the 1860s and subsequent economic problems also took their toll. A picturesque covered bridge built in 1844 was swept away in a flood in 1886. Wetumpka’s population dropped from 5,000 to around 500. This fond and engaging account tells how things used to be in the old days in and around Wetumpka, Alabama. A personal chronicle, a family history, and a history of a time and place, An Elmore County Life reveals the honesty and glory of an earlier time that is now remembered only by a few.
Daniel H. Thomas
In 1989, the late DR. DANIEL H. THOMAS (1906-2000), scholar, historian, and distinguished Elmore county native, wrote this memoir, which was subsequently published in the Eclectic Observer. Thomas knew Elmore County well because he went to school there, listened to tales of the old timers, and walked along the river banks where Indian and French artifacts could still be found. Thomas was also the author of Fort Toulous: The French Outpost at the Alabamas on the Coosa. At the time of his death, he was professor emeritus of history at the University of Rhode Island.
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