Wednesday, August 6, 2003
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Wednesday, August 6, 2003 |
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On the virtual road to Alabama and Texas By MICHAEL BOYLAN After a week of purging my mind of the thoughts I accumulated in Europe, I am back and ready to kick off the virtual tour of Fayette Counties of the United States. First stop: Fayette County, Alabama. To get there, drive like you are going to Six Flags over Georgia, taking I-285 west and I-20 west toward Birmingham. According to MapQuest, from here we will take I-459 south to Exit 136 to Montgomery/Tuscaloosa and then I-59 south/I-20 west toward Tuscaloosa ending with Ala. Highway 69 north to Tuscaloosa. Welcome to Fayette County, Alabama, which is made up of the communities of Fayette, Belk, Berry and Glen Allen. Fayette County is home to Bevill State Community College and Richard Arthur Field Airport. According to the 2000 census, Fayette County has 18,320 people spread out over 628 square miles. There are close to 3,000 people over the age of 65 and 4,424 people under the age of 18 living in the area. There are 8,472 housing units and the median value of the houses is $64,100. Fayette County was established in 1821. There was a village known as Lafayette, which was located where the Old Town/Five Points area is currently located. Fayette, Ala., is known as "The South's Best Kept Secret." It is located at the foot of the Appalachian Range and is an hour's drive from the University of Alabama. Interestingly enough, the main high school in the area is Fayette County High School and their mascot is also the Tiger. The Fayette County Tigers football team won the Class 4A championship in 1996. Fayette also has a 350-seat auditorium with an art museum also located inside the building. Another key attraction to Fayette is the Rose House Inn, a Queen Anne Victorian Home built in 1898 and located two blocks from the art museum. The county has assorted events throughout the year, like any community. Perhaps their largest festival of the year is their Arts Festival which takes place each August. So, there is Fayette County, Alabama. It is not a part of any metro area, but it is a nice, quiet place where one can hike, fish, browse around little shops or appreciate modern art or folk art. Let's go to Texas! Now, the drive from Alabama to Texas is going to be long - almost 12 hours - so I would make a stop in New Orleans on the way, even though there is no Fayette County in Louisiana. Maybe you could look up a LaFayette in the phone book and ask if his refrigerator is running. Anyhoo, take I-59 south toward Meridian for a long time, close to 255 miles, then take I-12 west to Hammond for approximately 85 miles. From there, we will take I-10 west for 365 miles and then we will be there - Fayette County, Texas. Fayette County, Texas was organized by an act of Congress of the Republic of Texas in 1837 and three years later started to function. In the 1840s and 1850s many German and Czech citizens immigrated to the area and their influence can still be seen in Fayette County today. The current population is 22,150 and over half of that number is female. The area is made up of 950 square miles, is not in the metro area of a major city and has 11,113 housing units with a median value of $71,600. There were once many more towns and villages making up Fayette County, Texas, but many have faded away over the years. One such town, Biegel, now lies at the bottom of Fayette Power Plant Lake, which is not the greatest lake name ever. The county seat of Fayette County is LaGrange, which was named after Lafayette's country home in France. LaGrange has a lot to offer those looking for entertainment including golf, fishing, country music, and, according to LaGrange's web site, Gorilla Watching. Visitors to Fayette County can also take a Painted Church Tour, which takes people through the county to churches with amazing decorations, stained glass and paintings through a number of towns, some of which no longer exist. Visitors from Fayette County, Georgia, should definitely stop in Fayetteville, which is known as "The Little Old Town in Texas." Fayetteville was once known as Lick Skillet, which came from what latecomers to the town picnic were told, "Lick the skillet." I swear I'm not making that up. Fayetteville has an air show each year and a week-long festival known as Lick Skillet Days in September. Another interesting thing about Fayetteville is that they have a precinct courthouse located on the public square with a town clock. Sound familiar? Other areas to visit in the Fayette County area are the Kreische Brewery and Monument Hill State Park, the town of Dubina, which means Oak Grove, and the town of Round Top, which presents a Fourth of July parade each year which is the oldest Fourth of July parade West of the Mississippi, and also houses the Festival Hill Institute, which is a school of classical music. Fayette County, Texas, sounds like it would be an interesting place to poke around for a few days. Next week, we're going to Iowa!
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