Coffeeville historical marker tells of state's first rural electric co-op

'Clarke-Washington EMC' Historical Marker in Coffeeville.

This week’s featured historical marker is the “CLARKE-WASHINGTON ELECTRIC MEMBERSHIP CORPORATION” marker in Clarke County, Alabama. This marker is located on the northwest corner of the intersection of U.S. Highway 84 and State Highway 69 in downtown Coffeeville, right in front of the Exxon gas station.

This marker was erected by the Alabama Rural Electric Association in cooperation with the Clarke-Washington Electric Membership Corporation. 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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“CLARKE-WASHINGTON ELECTRIC MEMBERSHIP CORPORATION: The Clarke-Washington Electric Membership Corporation was organized near this site on March 2, 1936 by some 83 members from Clarke and Washington counties. This was the first rural electric cooperative organized in Alabama under an executive order signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on May 11, 1935. The co-op’s original board of directors included Joe C. McCorquodale Sr., Ben Glover, C.R. Myrick, R.S. McNeil and H.E. Langlois. The co-op’s first attorney was C.B. Gilmore of Grove Hill, and its first general manager was Garrard Harrell of Jackson.

“The co-op was first located in Coffeeville, but later moved to Commerce Street in Jackson. The cooperative serves members in Clarke, Washington, Baldwin, Monroe and Wilcox counties.”

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The Clarke-Washington Electric Membership Corporation is still in existence today and is a member of the Touchstone Energy Cooperative. Its headquarters remains in Jackson, which is about 25 miles from Coffeeville. Currently, the Clarke-Washington EMC serves around 22,000 electric meters along nearly 4,000 miles of lines in all of the counties mentioned above except for Baldwin County. They also provide power to municipalities like Coffeeville, Chatom, Millry and McIntosh. For more information about the corporation, visit its Web site at www.cwemc.com.

If you ever take the time to see this historical marker for yourself, be sure to take a look around Coffeeville. Incorporated on Nov. 26, 1819, Coffeeville covers just 4-1/2 square miles, and the town has a population of less than 400 residents. The town once had a high school, but it closed in 2011, and now students from the town go to Clarke County High School in Grove Hill or to Jackson High School.

Also, be sure to check out the Jim Folsom Bridge, which is west of the historical marker, on U.S. Highway 84. This steel through arch style bridge crosses the Tombigbee River and connects Clarke and Washington counties. Construction of the bridge was completed in 1958 and was named after a former Alabama governor.

The Town of Coffeeville was named after Gen. John Coffee, who served with distinction during the Creek War of 1813-1814. Born in Prince Edward County, Va. on June 2, 1772, Coffee moved to Tennessee in 1798 and became good friends with Andrew Jackson, who would go on to become President of the United States. Coffee died at the age of 61 on July 7, 1833, and Jackson wrote the epitaph for his tombstone.

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.