Hartselle Preview

The second largest city in Morgan County, Hartselle was founded in 1870 along what was then known as the South and North Alabama Railroad. Named for one of the area’s early settlers, George Hartselle, the city was incorporated on March 1, 1875.

Prior to 1916, when the second of two fire outbreaks claimed all but one of buildings that comprised the original Hartselle business district, a restaurant and inn stood at the southeast corner of Main and Sycamore where the Something Blue Shoppe is currently located. Farmers who brought their cotton in a horse- or mule-drawn wagon to the gin often faced long wait times for ginning, forcing them to tie their mules to a hitching post for the evening and rent a room for the night.

S.E. Stewart’s General Store was built in the early 1890s at the southwest corner of Main Street and Bowery (now Sparkman) Street. Stewart sold a variety of farming supplies along with wagons and plows. Like many of Hartselle’s early commercial buildings, S.E. Stewart’s had rooms upstairs which were variously rented to out of town visitors or occupied by owners of the downstairs business. Farmers who patronized the store would often buy on credit during the year and pay their bill in the fall when their cotton was harvested.

The two-story building on the northwest corner of Main and Sparkman, now occupied by MarMac Real Estate, was originally the location of D. W. McNeill’s Ladies and Gents Furnishings. McNeill, a bachelor, moved out-of-date clothing and other items that did not sell to the second floor. When students from Hartselle High School were preparing to put on a play, they were invited upstairs to select costumes from among the unwanted merchandise.

The building on the southeast corner of Main and Sparkman was constructed in 1923 by the First National Bank of Hartselle. The bank was established in 1906 and had two prior locations before moving to this building. First National and Hartselle’s other two banks closed in 1931 due to the Great Depression.

Ragtime Antiques on Main Street is housed in the oldest brick building still standing in Hartselle. The original two-unit building was constructed in 1905, and the Citizens Bank of Athens moved into the eastern section of the building on January 1, 1906. Soon after, Pat W. Williams opened his dry good store in the western section, and City Hall occupied the second story of the Williams Store. Over the years, the Williams building has been home to various businesses, including a furniture store, hardware store and a plumbing supply store.

Hartselle’s first passenger depot opened in 1873, two years prior to the city’s incorporation, in a converted boxcar. This makeshift structure was soon replaced by a frame building that served as both a freight and passenger depot. Located at Hartselle’s geographic center, the depot and its adjoining park (complete with a two-story bandstand) also served as the center of social activity. Countless picnics, reunions, parties and concerts were held in the park during the late 19th century. Visiting with train passengers was also an important way for residents to obtain news from the outside world in the age before radio and television.

George Hartsell (with no 'e') moved to Morgan County in the early 1830s, traveling by wagon from North Carolina with his family. One of his sons, William Chunn Hartselle, married and settled on an 80-acre farm north of present-day Hartselle in 1866, where Roberts Catfish (later David’s Catfish) was subsequently located. In 1903, William co-founded the Bank of Hartselle, site of perhaps the most infamous incident in the town’s history.

On the east side of the railroad tracks, two important areas were centers of business activity during Hartselle’s early years. The block bounded by Main Street to the south, Railroad to the west, Chestnut to the north and Hammitt to the east began to see development as early as 1874. By 1875, Hugh D. Moore and his wife Mary Ann had purchased most of the block. Moore’s Grocery Store was located at the intersection of Main and Railroad, which was known for years to townspeople as Moore’s Corner.

The circa 1900 photo of a Masonic Convention below was taken in front of the Hartselle Hotel, which stood at the site where Mack’s Paint & Body is located today. Charlie Cooper was the proprietor of the hotel during this time and it was known among townspeople as the Cooper Hotel. Advertisementss for the Hartselle Hotel boasted that it was a ideal lodging place for “drummers,” or traveling salesman hoping to “drum” up new business. Rooms, including meals, could be rented for two dollars a night.