Merrellton, also known as East and West Junction, Junction, and Merrelton, is an unincorporated community in Calhoun County, Alabama, United States.[1]
Merrellton, Alabama | |
|---|---|
  Merrellton, Alabama  Merrellton, Alabama | |
| Coordinates: 33°51′48″N 85°44′31″W / 33.86333°N 85.74194°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Alabama |
| County | Calhoun |
| Elevation | 673 ft (205 m) |
| Time zone | UTC-6 (Central (CST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-5 (CDT) |
| GNIS feature ID | 160086[1] |
Merrellton is located on Alabama State Route 21, 16.6 mi (26.7 km) north of Anniston.
History
editA post office was established in 1884 and was named Merrill, after the daughter of the postmistress, Adelia E. Frank. A school was established in the early 1900s.[2] The post office closed in 1923, and the school closed in 1927.[1][3]
In 1929, a tornado struck an African-American church which was used as a school, demolishing the building and killing five pupils.[4]
Merrellton was a historic junction for two now-abandoned railway lines, the East & West Railroad and the Southern Railway.[5] In 1996, the city of Jacksonville acquired from the Norfolk Southern Railway the track bed of the former Southern Railway which passed through Merrellton. The track bed was used to complete a portion of the Chief Ladiga Trail, Alabama's first rail trail.[6]
Notable people
edit- Herman Clarence Nixon, political scientist and member of the Southern Agrarians.[7]
References
edit- ^ a b c "Merrellton". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
- ^ O'Dell, Kimberly (1998). Calhoun County. Arcadia. p. 66. ISBN 9780738589985.
- ^ "Merrellton School (historical)". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
- ^ "Freakish Storms Leave Six Dead" (PDF). The Daily Iowan. March 23, 1929.
- ^ "Calhoun County" (PDF). University of Alabama. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
- ^ "Chief Ladiga National Recreation Trail, Jacksonville and Piedmont, Alabama". National Recreation Trails. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
- ^ I'll Take My Stand: The South and the Agrarian Tradition. LSU Press. 1977. p. 388. ISBN 9780807103579.