[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 6]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 8547]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




HONORING THE TOWN OF SUMMERDALE, ALABAMA, ON THE OCCASION OF ITS 100TH 
                              ANNIVERSARY

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. JO BONNER

                               of alabama

                    in the house of representatives

                          Tuesday, May 3, 2005

  Mr. BONNER. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to honor the community of 
Summerdale, Alabama, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of its 
founding.
  The Town of Summerdale was founded by Eli Summer on October 4, 1904, 
was incorporated in 1929, and was initially intended to serve as a 
major tobacco production center. During the first years of its 
existence, Summerdale saw the creation of numerous businesses including 
the Cloverdon Store, a turpentine business, a canning factory, and a 
sawmill. Additionally, community leaders also oversaw the building of a 
movie theater and the opening of the town's first newspaper, The 
Summerdale Record. The earliest school in Summerdale held classes in 
the old Masonic Hall and consisted of just five students and one 
teacher. A second school building was constructed in 1915, and the most 
recent of three buildings used for the school continues to be used to 
this day.
  The town's first post office was established in 1905, one year after 
the formation of the town. Within one year, employees of the post 
office were delivering mail to residents living along two rural routes 
in and around the Summerdale area. Tobacco continued to be a major 
product of the Summerdale area, with one of the leading tobacco 
manufacturing businesses, the Summerdale Tobacco Warehouse, having been 
constructed between 1909 and 1910. The Summerdale Tobacco Company 
continued to operate until the late 1920s when a variety of factors, 
including the effects of the Great Depression, increasing land prices, 
and marketing and labor difficulties, effectively brought an end to the 
production of tobacco products in that area.
  Despite the difficulties experienced in the early part of the 
Twentieth Century, Summerdale today remains one of the most attractive 
communities anywhere in Baldwin County. The home of Baldwin Electric 
Management Cooperative (EMC), Summerdale is nestled in the midst of the 
rapidly growing southern half of the county, just minutes from several 
of the First District's largest population centers.
  Mr. Speaker, the 754 residents of Summerdale, Alabama, are firmly 
rooted in their proud past, and at the same time are keeping a careful 
and optimistic eye on the road ahead. The vision displayed by their 
community leaders during the past 100 years has led to the creation of 
a stable community and one of the anchors for all of Baldwin County, 
and I have no doubt that the continued inspired leadership and vision 
of today's residents and leaders will lead to even greater successes in 
the years ahead.
  It is my hope the Town of Summerdale continues its story of success 
for another one hundred years.

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