[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 23 (Friday, February 4, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E113-E114]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       IN RECOGNITION OF THE 150TH ANNIVERSARY OF ALEXANDER CITY

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. MIKE ROGERS

                               of alabama

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, February 4, 2022

  Mr. ROGERS of Alabama. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 
150th Anniversary of Alexander City, Alabama.
  A part of Alabama's Third Congressional District, Alexander City, is 
located in Tallapoosa County. In 1698, Captain Thomas Welch marked out 
the Okfuskee Trail through what became Tallapoosa County. Trading 
stations near Flint Hill, Young's Ferry, and Kowaliga were established 
by the English settlers.

[[Page E114]]

  Andrew Jackson's victory at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend secured 
control of East Central Alabama. Resulting from the 1832 Treaty of 
Cusseta, on December 18, 1832, the Alabama Legislature created 
Tallapoosa County.
  In 1837, James Young acquired 320 acres, a large portion of present-
day Alexander City. Griffin Young opened a post office in his store and 
eight men and women dubbed ``The Baptist brethren settlers of 
Youngsville'' organized Fellowship Primitive Baptist Church. For 35 
years, Youngsville consisted of scattered farms, a store-post office 
and a church. One of Griffin Young's goals was to have a railroad 
constructed on his property, but the Civil War delayed that.
  In anticipation of a railroad, Youngsville was incorporated in 1872. 
In 1873, the town was renamed Alexander City in honor of Edward Porter 
Alexander. Alexander, originally from Washington, Georgia, finished 
third in his class at West Point, served in the U.S. Army and later 
became an accomplished Confederate General. After the war, Alexander 
became President of the Savannah and Memphis Railroad. His support for 
locating the railroad in Alexander City literally transformed a small, 
scattered farm town into an area primed for future growth.
  After the railroad was established, a school was built in 1879. Five 
years later, B.F.C. Russell moved to Alexander City. His youngest son 
was Ben Russell. In 1889, the Town Mayor B.L. Dean, led a movement to 
build a courthouse and the following year, J.C. Maxwell and Reuben 
Herzfeld persuaded ``builders of a cotton mill'' to locate in Alexander 
City. In 1902, Ben Russell began what became Russell Corporation as an 
underwear manufacturer. That year, a fire devastated the bulk of 
downtown Alexander City.
  In 1919, the B.B. Comer family purchased Alexander City Cotton Mills. 
Known as the Avondale Bevelle Plant, the company employed thousands of 
local textile workers over several decades. In 1926, Lake Martin, the 
world's largest man-made lake, was completed. The lake has benefited 
the local area for years. Other area improvements include Benjamin 
Russell High School and Central Alabama Community College.
  At Russell Corporation's peak, there were over 7,000 employees. NAFTA 
and other agreements contributed to the demise of textiles, including 
Russell, which was purchased by Fruit of the Loom. Although the 
community has struggled to recapture its footing, concerted efforts by 
the community to reinvent Alexander City have begun to pay dividends 
with more diverse employment opportunities, partnership with the lake, 
a bustling Highway 280, and the revitalization of downtown.
  Madam Speaker, please join me in wishing Alexander City a happy 150th 
anniversary.

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