Football field at Wilcox County High School was named in honor of Cap'n Frank M. Barnett in May 1948

Camden School of Arts and Technology

Several weeks ago in this space, readers saw an article about the 1951 “Blue & White” spring football game at Wilcox County High School in Camden. That story mentioned that the game was played at Barnett Field, and not long after that column hit the streets, a number of readers raised questions about the name of that athletic field.

The earliest reference to Barnett Field that I could find in back issues of The Wilcox Progressive Era was in the May 13, 1948 edition of the paper. On the front page that week, WCHS football coach Connie McKelvey suggested that the field be named for Captain Frank Barnett.

“Now after passing on my views and news to you, I’d like to make one suggestion, before I have to get out of town,” McKelvey wrote. “Most towns have athletic fields. Most athletic fields have names. We have a field without a name, so I want to suggest that our field be named after the gentleman who has helped so much and worked so hard to hand us one of the best fields in the state – Cap’n Frank Barnett. I’d like for us to name ours Barnett Field. What do you think?”

In the following week’s paper, Eugene Watts wrote in to the paper in support of McKelvey’s proposal.

“I think Coach McKelvey made a fine suggestion for the name of the football field, and I would like to second the motion. I feel sure the powers with the authority will please the entire town by naming it Barnett Field.”

Several helpful readers helped fill in some of the blanks about Barnett and the football field. According to them, the football field was located behind the present-day Camden School of Arts and Technology on Broad Street. Barnett is said to have been the vocational agriculture teacher at WCHS and that his home was on Clifton Street, adjacent to the football field. Another reader said that they believed Barnett donated the land for the football field.

As best that I could tell, the first varsity football game to be played at Barnett Field was the Oct. 21, 1948 game between WCHS and Parrish High School of Selma’s B-team. WCHS won that game, 20-0, and based on published accounts of that game, Matt Barnett scored the first touchdown in Barnett Field history.

“Early in the second quarter, with the ball on the nine-yard line, Matt Barnett faked the Selma boys out of position and made the touchdown on an end run without a single Selma man touching him,” the newspaper reported. “He could have easily got the length of the field if it had been necessary.”

In the end, I was unable to learn much more about Frank Barnett. Apparently after his teaching days, he served for a number of years as the county’s agricultural agent. However, I was unable to find his obituary or determine where he is buried. If anyone in the reading audience has any additional information about this unique figure from the county’s past, please let me know.