Luverne

This week had been a difficult one to find some down time to make a trip. But I was finally able to take a trip to a little town not too far from Troy called Luverne, Alabama. I have been to this town before, but had never gotten the chance to really look around.

In Alabama, there have been a number of towns that began mainly because of the railway system. Luverne being one of them. The town was founded in 1889 because of this and actual became a stop along the railroad track. The track was the Florida and Montgomery railroad track. And with the building of the railroad, came more people. And so the town grew.

In 1893, the people of Crenshaw County, where Luverne is, changed the county seat to Luverne. Since it had grown in size.

The town of Luverne has been given the nickname of “Friendliest City in the South.” It’s a name you will see on every welcome sign for the city. But the happenings of the town have not always been the “friendliest.”

The only recorded lynching in Crenshaw County happened in Luverne. On June 22, 1940, an African American man named Jesse Thornton was lynched for not calling a white man “mister.” The body of Jesse was found in a nearby river called the Patsaliga River. The white man was later found to have been a police officer. The reason I say recorded was because most lynchings were kept on the down low. There is a good chance there were many more than just this one.

On a lighter note, in the town of Luverne there is a Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company. Around almost every corner in the downtown Luverne area you will see Pepsi painted on a wall. I may have seen Pepsi painted out at least seven or eight times. There are about two or three different Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company buildings around town. It is definitely a major trademark of the town. The company mainly makes Coke products, but they also make coffee products such as Starbucks.

The town is a very beautiful town. It appears to have been kept up very nicely for years. Usually with old towns they, unfortunately, start to wither away. But the citizens have done a good job with Luverne. The downtown area is very neat and my favorite spot I saw of the town. I will definitely be going back! And i recommend the ice cream shop in downtown. The ice cream is delicious!