Our road trip to Enterprise, Alabama to see our nephew took us on a serious scenic route. We went through several small towns so I thought I'd look them up and give you the low down. Here we go!
As soon as we crossed into Alabama from Mississippi, we got off the interstate and onto a little road called AL-28.
We came upon Miller's Ferry which is an unincorporated town along the route we were on. There's not much about this place aside from the fact that it's in Wilcox County.
We did see this amazingly beautiful bridge as we crossed the Alabama River just outside Miller's Ferry.
This is St. Elizabeth's Catholic Church, which was built around 1900. That's interesting as you don't see a lot of Catholic churches in the south. It's a pretty church but I couldn't find much about the history.
This is the Butler County courthouse. It was built around 1903 and is the fourth courthouse to grace this site. It's cool because the street we were on dead-ended into the courthouse allowing for a great photo!
Greenville is the "big city" in these parts. There's a Walmart Superstore, a Taco Bell and a Cracker Barrel. Before the Civil War, Butler County was a cotton farming area due to the Mobile and Ohio Railroad. As a result, it was also a prominent slave trading town. Now the 8,000 people that live in this town are employed in the manufacturing industry. The major employers in the area include Hwashin American Corporation, Hysco American Corporation and CorStone Industry to name a few. 
Luverne, Alabama: Friendliest City in the South was the next town that we went through. It was developed as a railroad town when in 1880, the Montgomery and Southern Railway was laid linking Montgomery to the Florida Coast. The railroad reached Luverne in 1888. Luverne was also a timbering town as the land wasn't fertile enough to grow cotton. We saw tons of trucks carrying felled trees. It was a little unnerving driving behind them!
Luverne is the county seat of Crenshaw County. This is their county courthouse. It was built in 1955 and is the third courthouse in the county. The first was in the original county seat of Rutledge, Alabama. In 1893, Luverne became the county seat. The courthouse built here burned down in 1897. The next courthouse was completed in 1898 and then was razed in 1955 to be replaced by this one.
I've never seen a Pepsi mural...ever. In this town I saw several. I liked this one quite a bit but I was a little flummoxed as to why Pepsi and not Coca-Cola. Then as we drove through town some more, we figured it out. 
Another Pepsi mural in Luverne. I bet they don't even sell Coke here. There are about 2,800 people that live here. Back in 1940, an African American man named Jesse Thornton was lynched here for failing to address a white man as "Mister". That must have been before it was called the "Friendliest City in the South". They have a Dollar General here and a couple of other local grocery stores as well as a McDonald's and a Subway. The closest Starbucks is in Troy, Alabama about 22 miles away.
Enterprise, Alabama: City of Progress. Finally! Our destination city. Here's mom in front of the Welcome sign. Enterprise is party in Coffee County and partly in Dale County. It was founded in 1881.
The boll weevil really how the townspeople scratching their heads as to how to survive. But they did. They thought outside the box and found life after cotton by growing peanuts. Within a couple of years, Enterprise was the top of producer of peanuts in the US. The boll weevil mural in downtown Enterprise.
Coffee County has two county seats. The original county seat was in a town called Wellborn. When the courthouse burned in 1851, the county seat was moved to Elba. In 1907, the county was split with Enterprise becoming the second seat. This is the fourth courthouse in Enterprise. The ones built in 1907, 1916 and 1925 all burned. This current courthouse was built in 1998.
This is the Coffeeville Bridge that crosses the Tombigbee River. Coffeeville was established in 1817 and named for General John Coffee. Bad things happened here in the late 1890s; Rural farmers vs Coffeeville merchants led to violence. Then an almost-lynching in 1939. When we drove through, it was foggy and peaceful.
Barges on the Tombigbee River.
Jefferson, Alabama was the first little town that I caught. When you try to Google this place, you only get Jefferson County Alabama, which is a completely different area. The only way I could actually look it up was to click on the name of the town from Google maps. The town was founded in 1810 by veterans of the Civil War.
Named for Thomas Jefferson, this little town had 200 people in 1860. Currently, it's an unincorporated town in Marengo County. There's no population in Wikipedia but I found an article that suggested 300 or so people lived in this area. This is the Jefferson Methodist Church. It was built in 1856 and apparently still has services on the 2nd and 4th Sundays of the month at 9 am.
This is the Jefferson Country Store and Post Office. It's a place where you could get the local gossip and a great cheeseburger. It opened in 1957 and had been family run over the years. According to Facebook, the store closed in April of 2025. It's a shame because it looks pretty cool.
The current courthouse was built in 1903. It is closer to town. Again, I had to pull the photo from the internet as mine was blurry. About 2,500 people live in Linden. They have a Dollar General, which I figure all towns have and a Papa's Grocery. There's a Subway there but the closest McDonald's is in Demopolis about 20 miles away and if you want a Starbucks? Forget about it!
The next town we went through was Thomaston, Alabama. It was settled in 1890 and named for Dr. Charles Brooks Thomas. He became the postmaster in 1892. This used to be the Elk Food Center, which I assume was a grocery store. It looks like nature is taking it back.
This is on Main Street through the middle of Thomaston. Not much going on here. The town was incorporated in 1901 when the railroad came through. According to a historical marker, the town got telephone service in 1914 and electricity in 1929. By 1949, there were 1,000 people living here. I'd like to have seen what kind of bustling town this was at that time. Today there are only about 400 people that live here.
Linden, Alabama: Screamersville! The next town we rolled through was Linden. It's the county seat of Marengo County and you know I love a good county seat. It was settled in 1818 and was known as screamersville because of all the wild animals making noise at night. Creepy! Linden became the county seat in 1819.
The first thing we passed was this old building. I pulled this photo from the interwebs as mine came out a little blurry. This is the Old Marengo County Courthouse. I would have loved to stop and check this out in more detail. It was built in 1850! It served as the third county courthouse until 1902. After that it became a school, a Baptist Church and then a VWF American Legion Hall. It's famous because in 1890, a nationally infamous train robber and outlaw was killed right in front of it. Rube Burrow started out as a farmer in Texas but after a string of bad luck, he turned to robbing trains. It's been largely unused since the 1960s.
Greenville, Alabama: Camellia City so called because a journalist came through and noticed all the camellias in town. The townspeople also petitioned the state to make the camellia the state flower of Alabama, which happened in 1959.
This is a cool looking old house along Commerce Street. Greenville was settled in 1819 and was originally called Buttsville. That's terrible. In 1822, it became the county seat of Butler County and was renamed Greenville after the South Carolina town that a lot of the settlers were from. I'd love to know about this house.
Luverne has a Pepsi bottling plant that has been family owned since it was founded in 1915. The current facility was built in 1960. Did you know that Pepsi-cola was created in 1893 by Caleb Bradham and had originally been named "Brad's drink"? He sold it in his drugstore in New Bern, North Carolina. It was renamed Pepsi-Cola in 1898 and then shortened to Pepsi in 1961.
Brantley, Alabama: Front Porch Capital of the South was the next town we went through. It's also in Crenshaw County and was incorporate in 1891. It's only 10 miles from Luverne so I would assume they too are on the Pepsi bandwagon. I like this mural a lot. The whole of Brantley only covers about 3 square miles with a population of less than 1,000 people.
In 1906, the Alabama Midland Railway came to Enterprise. This is the depot, which is now a museum that closes at NOON! The railway opened up a lot of economic possibilities for the town. Their major crop was cotton until 1915. That's when they had a boll weevil infestation that devasted the crops.
In the center of Main Street, downtown Enterprise is the Boll Weevil monument. It's a woman holding up a boll weevil, their "herald of prosperity". The monument was dedicated in 1919.
There are about 21,000 people that live in Enterprise. They have all your standard grocery stores and fast food places as well as all your standard chain restaurants. A lot of people are employed by nearby Fort Rucker.
This is the Barbara Locklin Baptist Church which was founded in 1888. It's a historic Black Baptist Church in Perdue Hill. It was renamed for Barbara Locklin in 1897 as a result of a large gift from Capt. Charles Wheeler Locklin. This is an active church with services every Sunday.
Also right off the highway is this small 2-room cottage that was the home of William B. Travis when he lived in Claiborne. It was built in 1820. In 1831, Travis moved to Texas where he practiced law. He became involved (that's an understatement!) in the Texas Revolution and was killed defending the Alamo in 1836. The house was moved here in 1985 from Claiborne.
This cool looking building is the Perdue Hill Union Church. It was constructed some time before 1880 using donated lumber. The pulpit was built using lumber from an old saloon in Claiborne. According to Rural SW Alabama, this church was used by all denominations.
And finally, this building is the W.S Moore Store. It was built around 1875 as a doctor's office. The last doctor known to have used this (again, according to Rural SW Alabama), is Dr. J.L. Sowell. It was later enlarged around 1927 and used by William Moore as a store. What I would have given to go into these places was...well, admission fee if that was an option.
Daleville, Alabama: The Gateway to Fort Rucker. Speaking of Fort Rucker, this is the Daleville gate. It's known as the gateway to Fort Rucker, I would assume, because this is one of the main gates to get on post. Fort Rucker was originally named for Confederate Colonel Edmund Rucker. When all the Confederate named bases were renamed, it became Fort Novosel, named for Michael Novosel who was a warrant officer. It was renamed back to Fort Rucker when Trump became president. This time, it was named for Edward W Rucker, a WWI aviator, which makes sense since Fort Rucker is an Army post where the US Army Aviation Center is located. All Army and Air Force aviation training is done here.
When we left Enterprise and headed back to Dallas, we took a different route going through Perdue Hill, Alabama. It is an unincorporated part of Monroe County. Back in 1890, there were 300 people here. Now? Nobody knows. What we do know is that right there off the highway are these amazing old buildings. This is the oldest building in Monroe County. It was originally built in 1824 in Claiborne, Al. The upper floor was used by the Mason's until 1919. The lower floor was used as a court room, a town hall, a school and a church. William B Travis of Alamo fame was a lawyer in Claiborne and practiced law in this building! It was moved here in 1984.
The drive through this part of Alabama was awesome. I feel like all these little towns, including ones that I didn't even touch on, require further exploration. If we have reason to come through again, I hope to have more time to stop and check things out. I just love taking the scenic route!
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