Bemiston

INTRODUCTION

In the early 1920s, a group of business men from St. Louis, Missouri, came to the area to purchase property for the purpose of building a cotton mill and village in south Talladega County, Alabama. However, the city fathers of Talladega were not very receptive to bringing another cotton mill to the area.

At that time, there was already a textile mill in the city, and the fear was that a new mill would draw employees away from Talladega. After they were told the purposed site was not in the city limits of Talladega, city officials agreed on the sale of the property to Bemis Brothers, and finally, the plant and village became Bemiston, Alabama.

The location was a beautiful valley consisting of approximately 3,000 acres bordered on the east by clear-running Talladega Creek and on the west by Alabama Highway 21 and the big imposing mountain range known as the Sleeping Giant. A railroad ran parallel to Highway 21, making the delivery of supplies and other necessities to the plant convenient. In the years to come, visitors to Bemiston would ride the train, and during World War II, servicemen coming home on leave could walk from the train to their homes, a distance which was never more than three blocks.

Since there were no electric tools nor cranes, mules with scoops were used to move the vast amounts of dirt to build the foundation of the 700,000-square-foot plant. At a time when there were few passable roads in most parts of the state and almost no paved roads, Bemis built a paved, divided four-lane parkway in front of the plant as an entrance. It still remains a beautiful entrance to the village.

The plant began operating in 1929, the year the Great Depression came. When industries all over America were closing, Bemiston continued to operate at one shift all through the Depression. During World War II, the plant made bags for sandbags for the war effort, operating three shifts with seven-day workweeks.

The community of Bemiston was independent. Its residents built their own school, churches, recreation center, general store, garage and filling station, barbershop, beauty parlor, fire department, and even a nurses’ office with a registered nurse on duty at all times. Bemiston also owned and maintained a local power plant that supplied power to the cotton mill and to the residents. The company also built and maintained a water and sewer plant.

Although this was a time when automobiles were almost nonexistent in the area, each house had a garage—doubles (duplexes) had a double garage. Every house had a complete bathroom with running hot and cold water. However, it must be mentioned that in the summer, the only hot water available was when a fire was built in the cook stove next to the water heater.

The Raymond L. Young Memorial School Foundation was the first building to be erected during the time the plant was also being built. This continued to be the Raymond L. Young Memorial School Foundation until 1980, when the school was turned over to the City of Talladega. At that time, it became R. L. Young Elementary School.

The school served students from kindergarten through sixth grade. After sixth grade, students were transported to Talladega High School by bus. Two additions have since been built in order to accept students from other parts of the city of Talladega.

The Community Building was built in 1938 for recreational purposes. A full-time recreational director was brought in to work with the children and to develop the baseball and basketball teams. The basement of the building was divided to allow the boys’ teams half and the girls’ teams half for shower and dressing space. It was also furnished with lockers for every player. When basketball season was over, the gymnasium was used as a skating rink. Skates were available for a small fee of 15¢ for all afternoon. Of course, the floor would have to be refinished when basketball season began.

On the main floor, adjacent to the gymnasium, was a lobby with rooms for playing pool and Ping-Pong and a room especially used for table games such as checkers, cards, and dominos. There were also rooms used for a barbershop, a beauty parlor, and a completely stocked library.

On the second floor, there was an auditorium used for banquets, dances, and other social events. It was complete with a fully stocked kitchen. A ladies lounge was