Humble Beginnings

Humble Beginnings. Exploring the History of Block No. 148 - The Site of Anniston's Federal Courthouse. Block 148, the block on which you are standing, was first developed in 1880 when three identical brick houses were constructed at the southeast corner of the block as rental properties for workers at the nearby factories. This 1888 Bird's Eye View map of Anniston shows Block 148 highlighted in green and is the first image that shows us what these houses looked like. A search of Anniston's City Directories revealed that the majority of tenants worked at the nearby Anniston Manufacturing Company, a cotton mill that operated from 1880 to 1977. In 1940, all three heads of household were employed as mechanics at the mill. The image below is a panoramic map, also known as a bird's eye map, because it was drawn from the perspective of a bird flying by the town. These highly detailed maps were drawn to promote commercial growth and civic pride and were popular from the 1860s until the introduction of aerial photography in the 1920s., [Captions (top to bottom)] , . This image was taken looking west from the grounds of the County Courthouse, during a curb market event, in 1929. The houses shown were located at 103, 107, and 113 West 11th Street. , . On March 2, 1935, a crowd gathered to watch a wood chopping contest on the south side of West 11th Street. 103, 107, and 113 West 11th Street can be seen in the background. , . Many residents of the three brick houses at the southeast corner of the block worked at the Anniston Manufacturing Company. This is a view of the mill from the tracks near 11th and Moore streets. , . The Anniston Street Railway housed their cars in an "L" shaped shed in the northwest corner of 12th and Moore streets. Here, a street car is shown on the tracks on Moore Street in front of the Anniston Inn, circa 1890. , Images above courtesy of the Public Library of Anniston-Calhoun County Archives and the Russell Brothers Collection.