Courthouse Square
Pell City, Alabama

By: Jerry Smith
Publisher: StClairCountyAl.com
Date: 12/21/09

It's not always necessary to travel long distances to see interesting sights; we often drive right past them every day without notice. Take the county courthouse square in Pell City, AL for instance.

Within shouting distance of each other are a fine government building, an impressive veteran's memorial, a giant factory steam engine, a section of sidewalk paved with engraved bricks, an art gallery, an authentic old drug store soda fountain, and a small museum.

Pell City is almost 120 years old, founded in 1891 by various investors, including George Hamilton Pell. The town almost went belly-up in the Panic of 1893, but was resurrected by Sumter and wife Lydia DeGaris Cogswell, who brought in Pell City Manufacturing Co., which later became Avondale Mills. On the northwest corner of Cogswell Avenue and Nineteenth Street is a large steam factory engine which powered that company until it eventually went electric.

The old Rexall Drug Store on the northeast corner now hosts an authentic soda fountain & restaurant. In older days it was also a pharmacy, Greyhound Bus station, and general community center. There's still a big Greyhound sign hanging inside. Many of the elderly gents who meet there for breakfast every morning remember when Pell City's only hospital was upstairs over this drug store.

The St Clair County courthouse (one of two in our county, the other being in Ashville) is a truly impressive structure after its recent renovation. There's a small museum to your left just inside the main entrance that houses many memorabilia of Pell City's younger days.

Directly in front of the courthouse is a fine marble memorial to local servicemen & women who died in various world wars. Next to the old steam engine, there's also a small grouping of engraved bricks dedicated to various townsfolk, both living and dead.

As you walk eastward along Cogswell, you will notice marble plaques set into the sidewalks in front of most stores. These show us which businesses occupied those locations in earlier days.

Getting to the courthouse square is easy; it's on US78, a few blocks west of US231.

For more photos, see: Slideshow

Photos taken by Jerry Smith
Top Right: County Courthouse, Pell City
Bottom Right: Old Steam Engine