Monroe County Heritage Museums

Reflections from the Past

     In Monroeville, a great deal of history occurred.  As we visit with two of the ladies down at the Monroe County Library, we learn a great deal.  As you may know, the schools were once segregated.  At the schools, the girls wore plaid skirts that ended just above the knee, along with sweaters; the boys were blue jeans and layers of shirts that matched their socks.  

     After school some common places to go were to the picture show, Hardees, the Vanity Fair Pond which they surrounded with sand to look like a beach, and the old diner.  The most popular television shows for kids were Popeye, the Mickey Mouse Club, and Howdy Doody.  Vanity Fair was one of the major corporations; it was also known as the "Silk Mill."  The play and novel "To Kill a Mockingbird" was a town classic written by Harper Lee and also became a bestseller.  

     Mr. Chip Hare said his father was the judge in the story known as "To Kill a Mockingbird."  He told us many things about Monroeville's past.  He also shared about his own life.  The Hare's home was built in 1903-1904.  When the old courthouse burned Mr. Hare's mother and a young boy got some of the bricks and made a French Garden in their back yard.  

     The road in front of the house and square was unpaved.  The swing on the front porch was a big part of Mr. Hare's life.  He, and many others, would sit and swing on Sunday afternoons and watch the cars go by.  He did this so often he could tell what kind of car was passing just by the sound of its exhaust.  His family was one of the lucky ones to own a car.  He said even the richest family in town did not own a car.  He also created many inventions.  One of them was a machine to help the cotton picker.  

     He told us that Frisco City was to be called "Jones Mill."  It became Frisco City because the town was so excited that the Frisco Railroad ran through the town.  

Mr. Williams     

     While attending high school Mr. Williams worked as a soda jerk for the Monroe Pharmacy.  He lived in Finchburgh, AL.  The store he currently owns opened in 1961. 

      Many of the students went to the store where he worked after school and got ice cream and cokes.  He quit selling ice cream because he always came home with ice cream all over himself.  
     

     He has collected many old things since 1961.  Many of the things he collects are in his store today.  He loves to hunt and fish.  Many of his trophies are hung on the walls in the store.  He wrote a book about his life called "The Day the Barn Almost Burned."