Monday, April 20, 2020

History of Eclectic, Alabama


This week I decided to go somewhere a little more familiar for me. A little town about forty-five minutes outside of Montgomery, Alabama called Eclectic, Alabama. It definitely is not the biggest of towns, but it does have a lot of charm!
The area of now Eclectic once was located within the Creek territory. And through the Treaty of Cusseta in 1832, the first owner of the land was tribe member Ho-Pic-You-Che. In 1835 he sold the land to the Alex J. Robinson Land Company. The company then sold it to a man by the name of William Gray. William Gray then divided the land into 213 plots and sold them for settlement. The area then got the name Pleasant Grove.

In 1877, practitioner and resident Dr. M.L. Fielder bought 122 acres at the western border of Pleasant Grove and offered one acre lots of land each for free to settlers around. To acquire the land and seal the deal, the settlers would have to either build a house or a business. To ensure the plots were actually going to be put to use in the area. In 1879, Dr. Fielder brought the first post office to the area in his home. As more people started moving in the whole are began to be referred to as Eclectic. So the name Pleasant Grove eventually disappeared.
The little town of Eclectic was founded in 1907 by the practitioner Dr. M. L. Fielder. Dr. Fielder practiced a form of medicine known as eclectic medicine, which was an American medicine that used botanical remedies and other substances physical therapy practices. And this is how the town became named Eclectic. For the name, the town has ended up on the list of ‘Unusual Place Names’ multiple times.

In 1911, the county that Eclectic is in, Elmore County, got its first high school. And it was built in Eclectic, Alabama. It was given the name Elmore County High School. I have a good bit of family on my mom’s side from Eclectic so many of them graduated from this high school or attended it at some point. When my grandma attended, they had the elementary through high school grades on one campus. Now there are three separate buildings for elementary school, middle school, and high school.
In 1913, the Birmingham and Southeastern Railroad came through the town. This helped the area have a boom in land sales and people moving in. When the Great Depression came through, the railroad system in Eclectic fell through. It was closed in 1936 due to this. The town has remained a smaller size ever since. In the last census that was taken in 2010, the town had around 1,000 people living in it.

This is a town that I have pretty much been living in for most of my life. It is a second hometown. It is definitely not the biggest of places but there are still things to do. They have quite a few restaurants that have delicious food, boutiques, a coffee shop (my personal favorite spot in Eclectic), a public library (I have volunteered there quite a few times), a playground park called Panther Palace. Eclectic is also not very far from Lake Martin so that is a definite plus. 
Eclectic has a slogan that says they are the "Star of Elmore County." So if you come to Eclectic you will notice star statues in the area. There is one at Panther Palace, and you find a couple welcoming you to Eclectic and telling you to be careful when you leave town. 

Every October, Eclectic also hosts a festival called the Cotton Festival. It usually has a Cotton Pageant, a 5k run, antique car show, games for both kids and adults, plenty of food, live music, and more attractions as well. I have been a couple of times and have enjoyed it when I went!
The town is a pretty small place, but it is definitely worth stopping by and checking out!



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