Summerdale. The Summerdale area was settled in the early 1850's by several families of Scotch and Irish descent. By 1900, the town had a church, a saw mill, a turpentine business, and a hotel. Many families of different nationalities moved here, building homes, and clearing timberland for farming. The first train came to town on May 11, 1905 and crops could then be shipped great distances by rail. The town began to grow and construction of another hotel, a canning factory, a general merchandise store, and a post office soon followed. The town's agriculture flourished with crops of cotton, potatoes, peanuts, and tobacco. Many of the original farms are still in production. A three-story Tobacco Barn, standing today, was built around 1909 to store the high quality leaves for making cigars. By 1928, Summerdale became known as the Sunshine Town of Baldwin County and through the years it has kept this image. ,
Summerdale's Turpentine Still. In 1860, Robert Baker and Stephen Potts purchased 12,000 acres of land in Baldwin County that would become Magnolia Springs, Silverhill, Robertsdale, Surmmerdale, and Marlow. They began a turpentine manufacturing business. Because of the value of turpentine for heat, medicinal uses, and for sealing the hulls of ships, it was important to this area. During the midst of the War Between the States, workers dug deep trenches to save the rosin from the turpentine still in case the approaching Yankees set fire to the surrounding woods. The stored rosin was not discovered and several years after the war, it was dug up and sent to other local turpentine manufacturers. The location of these trenches and the turpentine still was in the vicinity of the Old Dixie Road, now County Road 32, which was built by Confederate soldiers.
Summerdale
The Summerdale area was settled in the early 1850's by several families of Scotch and Irish descent. By 1900, the town had a church, a saw mill, a turpentine business, and a hotel. Many families of different nationalities moved here, building homes, and clearing timberland for farming. The first train came to town on May 11, 1905 and crops could then be shipped great distances by rail. The town began to grow and construction of another hotel, a canning factory, a general merchandise store, and a post office soon followed. The town's agriculture flourished with crops of cotton, potatoes, peanuts, and tobacco. Many of the original farms are still in production. A three-story Tobacco Barn, standing today, was built around 1909 to store the high quality leaves for making cigars. By 1928, Summerdale became known as the Sunshine Town of Baldwin County and through the years it has kept this image.
Summerdale's Turpentine Still
In 1860, Robert Baker and Stephen Potts purchased 12,000 acres of land in Baldwin County that would become Magnolia Springs, Silverhill, Robertsdale, Surmmerdale, and Marlow. They began a turpentine manufacturing business. Because of the value of turpentine for heat, medicinal uses, and for sealing the hulls of ships, it was important
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to this area. During the midst of the War Between the States, workers dug deep trenches to save the rosin from the turpentine still in case the approaching Yankees set fire to the surrounding woods. The stored rosin was not discovered and several years after the war, it was dug up and sent to other local turpentine manufacturers. The location of these trenches and the turpentine still was in the vicinity of the Old Dixie Road, now County Road 32, which was built by Confederate soldiers.
Erected 2018 by City of Summerdale, C.S. Stewart UDC, and Baldwin County Historic Development Commission AL200 2017.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Industry & Commerce • Settlements & Settlers. A significant historical date for this entry is May 11, 1905.
Location. 30° 28.367′ N, 87° 42.188′ W. Marker is in Summerdale, Alabama, in Baldwin County. It is at the intersection of County Road 32 and State Route 59, on the right when traveling west on County Road 32. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 910 AL-59, Summerdale AL 36580, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Alabama’s Gulf Coast and in Mobile Bay. It is also in the American South, specifically in the Deep South, and on the Gulf Coast. Globally, it is in North America, a Gulf of Mexico state, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain, the Viceroyalty of New France, the territory of the Mississippian Culture, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
3. View of marker at intersection of AL-59 and CR-32.
Photographed by Mark Hilton, March 6, 2019
4. Looking north on Alabama Highway 59.
Credits. This page was last revised on December 24, 2021. It was originally submitted on March 8, 2019, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama. This page has been viewed 2,136 times since then and 106 times this year. Last updated on December 23, 2021, by Carl Gordon Moore Jr. of North East, Maryland. Photos:1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on March 8, 2019, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama.
