Elba began circa 1840. A ferry had been started across Pea River, thus beginning the town’s first name, Bridgeville. In 1850, the town’s name was changed to Bentonville in honor of a Missourian who had distinguished himself in service to Alabama in . . . — — Map (db m54201) HM
Front
150 yards south of this site, John B. Simmons
built the first Masonic Hall in Coffee County. On
December 17, 1851, the Grand Lodge of Alabama
issued a dispensation to nine Coffee County men to
form a lodge in the town of . . . — — Map (db m167711) HM
The first burials took place in the 1840's, while
this land was still owned by the federal government.
In 1853. Moses W. Helms and his wife deeded 11 acres
of land to New Hope Primitive Baptist Church for
a place of worship and a graveyard. The . . . — — Map (db m284064) HM
A congregation of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South existed in Elba even before Rev. Robert Shaw Rabb was assigned as the first minister to the Elba Circuit on December 15, 1853. This site was purchased in 1909 and the Church officially opened . . . — — Map (db m83274) HM
James Elisha (Big Jim) Folsom, a resident of Elba,
Coffee County, served as the 45th and 47th
Governor of Alabama. Folsom lived in this home
from 1908 to 1910 when it was located near the
Folsom Mill Creek and Tabernacle communities.
The Folsom . . . — — Map (db m94160) HM
Estate of
Joshua Marion Folsom
and wife
Eulala Dunnavant Folsom
Birth Place
James Elisha Folsom
October 9, 1908
46th Governor of Alabama
January 1947 — 1951
48th Governor of Alabama . . . — — Map (db m94161) HM
The death of Mrs. Alberta Martin, affectionately known a "Mz. Alberta", symbolizes the passing of an age and the closing of a chapter in the history of the South. As the last known living widow of a Confederate veteran, she was the "Last Link to . . . — — Map (db m284938) HM
The first Coffee County Courthouse was at Wellborn and burned in 1851. This site given by John B. Simmons when Elba was selected the county seat polling 58 more votes than Indigo Head (Clintonville) in a county election on October 5, 1852. The first . . . — — Map (db m54804) HM
In 1927, the Mulberry Baptist Association deeded five acres of land to the state of Alabama for a Rosenwald School for African-American schoolchildren. The five-teacher type school stood here until the 1960s. The state built the current buildings . . . — — Map (db m284061) HM
The first burial here was James Shorter Grimes who died May 20, 1903, at the age of 48. His wife, Malissia Tillis, and 9 of their 14 children are also buried here. Their son, John Temple Grimes, along with M.G. Caylor and A.D. Donaldson purchased a . . . — — Map (db m231394) HM
Curtis School was organized in the early 1900’s and was originally located ½ mile south, where New Ebenezer Baptist Church now stands. A new school was built on this site in 1929 when Curtis, Mt. Zion, and Rhodes Schools were consolidated. . . . — — Map (db m54741) HM
The first seat of justice for Coffee County was located approximately 500 yards southeast of this site. The community was named for Gen. William Wellborn, an Alabama commander during the Creek Indian War of 1836-37.
Under the Act of December . . . — — Map (db m95355) HM
