Historical marker describes significance of Escambia County's Pollard

'Site of Pollard' historical marker in Escambia County, Ala.

This week’s featured historical marker is the “SITE OF POLLARD” marker in Escambia County, Alabama. This marker is located on the south side of U.S. Highway 31 between Flomaton and Brewton.

This marker was erected in 1982 by the Alabama Historical Assciation. There’s text on both sides of this marker, but both sides are identical. What follows is the complete text from the marker.

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“SITE OF POLLARD: Located 1-1/2 miles south, town of Pollard established 1861 at juncture of Alabama & Florida and Mobile & Great Northern railroads. Names for Charles T. Pollard, builder of Alabama & Florida Railroad.

“One of largest military training camps of Confederacy located here during Civil War. Also site of major Confederate stores depot. Town suffered much destruction in Federal raids of December 1864 and March 1865.

“Served as first county seat of Escambia County from 1868 until 1883 when county government moved to Brewton.”

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Charles Teed Pollard was an interesting man. Born in Fredericksburg, Va. on Aug. 25, 1805, Pollard eventually moved to Georgia and then to Alabama, where he married the daughter of one of the founders of Montgomery, General John Scott. He went on to help develop Montgomery’s first railroad and was one of the foremost developers of the Mobile & Montgomery Railroad. He died on Jan. 10, 1888 and is buried in Montgomery’s Oakwood Cemetery.

While it’s not mentioned on the historical marker above, Pollard was the site of one of the greatest train robberies in American history. On Sept. 2, 1890, the infamous train robber, Rube Burrow of Lamar County, Ala., boarded the train and forced it to a stop on the trestle over Big Escambia Creek. As it turned out, this was Burrow’s final train robbery because in the ensuing manhunt, he was tracked down and died in a dramatic shootout in Linden, Ala. If you’re interested in reading more about Rube Burrow, I highly recommend that you read the book “Rube Burrow, Desperado” by Rick Miller.

It’s also said that famous Wild West gunfighter John Wesley Hardin also lived in Pollard for several years. The movie, “The Lawless Breed,” is based on Hardin’s life, and portions of the film were shot in Pollard. Rock Hudson played the role of Hardin, and the move was directed by Raoul Walsh. Hardin, who was born in Bonham, Texas in May 1853, killed between 27 and 42 men before he was shot to death in El Paso at the age of 42 on Aug. 19, 1895.

Today, Pollard is one of Alabama’s smallest municipalities. Encompassing an area of about 1.1 square miles, the town has a population of around 120 residents. If you visit the marker today, be sure to check out the town, which is south of the marker off U.S. Highway 31.

In the end, visit this site next Wednesday to learn about another historical marker. I’m also taking suggestions from the reading audience, so if you know of an interesting historical marker that you’d like me to feature, let me know in the comments section below.