Rodie and Ethel Emmons lived in the Little Escambia community along what is now Pecan Lane. This picture dates from 1920s or 30s
Along Pecan Lane a series of old wood frame houses provide a historical context among the modern brick homes and Flomaton Speedway. Prior to the coming of Highway 113 this street was called Sardine Road and the community was known as Little Escambia.
In the years before the Flomaton Speedway appeared a road ran parallel to the current highway. Some residents of the area wanted to call the community North Flomaton but the name Little Escambia became affixed to this quite roadside community which was just north of Flomaton.
By the 1930s the community was one where children played all day in the yards of their neighbors, friends invited friends over to dinner, and saw mill workers left before morning light to reach distant worksites deep in the woods.
The Driskell family moved to the Little Escambia community around 1943. Helen (Driskell) McKinley remembers living along Sardine Road in this area.
"It costs 50 cents to get a taxi to take you to Flomaton.....many times we walked to downtown Flomaton on Saturday afternoons to catch the matinee at the Jackson Theatre." Mrs. McKinley said.
According to Mrs. McKinley the neighbors were all like family. Starting at the current day end of Pecan Lane the following residents lived on the east side of the street during the 1940s-1960s; at the old Airport House lived Allen Driskell and his family (later they moved to the old white house just south of the current day end of Pecan Lane), Rhodie Emmons, Mrs. Watkins, Grady Smith, his wife, children and uncle, the Edna Holt family, and Bertha Holt. On the west side of the road lived the Odom family.
Things were not always peaceful along this idyllic dirt road in rural Alabama. A tornado swept the area in the late 40s and had disastrous consequences.
Helen McKinley remembers the storm and its aftermath, "We watched the tornado come in, we thought about running to the concrete hanger at the airport but then we saw it collapse under the weight of the storm. We stayed in the airport house throughout the storm but the winds made the back part of the house lean. We kids used the resulting uneven dog trot in the house to learn to roller skate in the months after the tornado. It was easier to skate downhill in the uneven house than to skate on the sidewalks in town."
Few people in the Little Escambia area could afford automobiles or phones during the late 30s and early 40s due to the Depression. "Mrs. Edna Holt had the only phone at the time and we used her phone when we needed to make a call," said Mrs. McKinley.
"Grady Smith was a truck driver during an era when truckers could make good money without government taxes and regulation hitting their wallets. He would come home from a long run and take his family, my brother Jean, and myself to the movies. They were good people and we thought of them as family," said Mrs. McKinley.
At one time an air strip existed at Little Escambia. Following World War II flying lessons were taught under the GI Bill program for veterans. Pilots were given instruction and after making their solo flight their shirt tails were cut as a sort of hazing ritual.
Virginia McCall lived along the road, a little further north than where the current speed way is located. According to Helen McKinley Mrs. McCall used to boil peanuts and invite many in the neighborhood to come over to the peanut boil. Doss Henderson lived in the community as well. Alan Henderson owned property in the area.
Little Escambia Baptist Church was a cornerstone of this community and served the spiritual needs of the area.
"Preacher Brown baptized a great number of us children at the old sandbar that was under the Highway 31 Bridge along Big Escambia Creek in Flomaton," said Mrs. McKinley.
Today 18 wheelers, SUV's, and cars move along the modern streamlined highway just east of what was the community of Little Escambia with few having knowledge of the past lives that were lived just a few yards away. It is the simple day to day pleasures that add color and texture to the canvas that is our lives and such a canvas was richly created and maintained at Little Escambia. Like phantoms from a dream the memories of this community live on in the children and grandchildren that grew up in this special place.
Available now: The Butler Street Chronicles; Selected histories of the communities surrounding Butler Street and will include information on settlers at Steadham, Pond Fork, Sizemore, Sardine, Butler Street, Hollinger and other communities along this route. Pick up your copy for $15. Copies can be published from the author or at Amazon.com or Lulu.com.
Vote for and support the Canoe Landmark District referendum on the 2020 ballot. Call for more details.
Shadows and Dust Volume III: Legacies is available for purchase in the amount of $30.00+$5.00 shipping and handling to PO Box 579 Atmore, AL 36502 or visit Lulu Publishing.com; Amazon.com, Barnes and Nobles.com OR at the Monroe County Heritage Museum in Monroeville, Alabama or by calling 251 294 0293.
