Fulton, Alabama

Fulton, Alabama. . , Fulton, first known as Wade's Station, developed in the 1880s along the Mobile to Birmingham Railroad. With the railroad came an influx of lumbermen from the North. Marcus Behrman was the first of the lumbermen who came to establish a lumber mill in what is now Fulton. Deeded property along the railroad in 1888, Behrman formed Virgin Pine Lumber Co. which produced shingles and provided lumber, and the town became known as “Behrman.” In 1889, the company was sold to Alexander McTaggert who established Scotch Lumber Company. The company was sold again, and on September 23, 1896, the name of the Behrman Post Office was changed to Fulton, supposedly after Fulton, N.Y. William Dwight Harrigan and his associate, Fred Herrick of Rhinelander, Wisconsin purchased the Scotch Lumber Company at Fulton by 1902, and Mr. Harrigan became postmaster, serving until May 29, 1914., The first church in Fulton was built around 1900. It was a union church, used in rotation by Baptists, Methodists, and Presbyterians. This custom continued until about 1950, when the church became Fulton Baptist Church. School in Fulton was first held in two rooms of the church. Later, a schoolhouse was erected on the hill in the northern part of town. Around 1916, land was purchased from Rev. J. H. Fendley for the site of a larger school where elementary through high school students were taught until the late 1940s.