Covington County historical marker describes past of Sanford, Alabama

Town of Sanford, Ala. Historical Marker

This week’s featured historical marker is the “Town of Sanford” marker in Covington County, Ala. The marker is located on the north side of U.S. Highway 84 in front of the Sanford Town Hall & Volunteer Fire Station, east of Andalusia.

This historical marker was erected by the Alabama Tourism Department and the Town of Sanford in 2010. There’s text on both sides of this marker, and both sides are unique. What follows is the complete text from the marker.

----- 0 -----

“TOWN OF SANFORD: Sanford first came into being as a community post office which was established on May 19, 1879. Around the turn of the century, Sanford had a period of progress that lasted for several years. The L&N Railroad had come through in 1901 on its way to Graceville, Fla., and in 1902, the Henderson-Waits Lumber Company began operations with a huge lumber mill. At that time, the town had several other business establishments including Woodham and Langston, S.D. Wiggins and Son, Jenkins Company, W.D. Day and a large commissary run by the lumber company. It was in this year, 1902,  that the town was incorporated. (Continued on other side.)”

“TOWN OF SANFORD: (Continued from other side.) The original Sanford School building was a two-story wood frame structure that stood a short distance from this site. This old building burned in 1929. The next year a new five-room building was constructed on this location. Lon Cobb and Bob Wiggins secured the notes for the materials and local peopled donated the labor. John J. Wilson Sr. was principal at the time. In 1932, an auditorium was added. In 1947, a cafeteria was added. This addition was made possible through the efforts of the Sanford P.T.A. The school building was torn down in 1984 at which time construction began on the Sanford Town Hall/Sanford Volunteer Fire Department building.”

----- 0 -----

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.