Memories of Conecuh County, Alabama's old Karen community have faded into the forgotten past

Railroad track in "downtown" Karen.

The more that I look at old maps, the more I realize that the countryside is dotted with old, forgotten communities that have disappeared into the fog of passing time. One such community is the old Karen community, which first appeared on maps as long ago as 1912.

For those of you unfamiliar with the Karen community, it was located on Conecuh County Road 107, just north of the Shreve community in eastern Conecuh County, not far from the Butler and Covington County lines.

Before last week, I couldn’t honestly say that I’d ever been to the Karen community, so last Thursday I hopped in my truck and took a quick field trip to Karen to see it for myself. On the way there, I wondered if there was anything left that might indicate that this was a much larger community at one time, perhaps an old store building, post office, school or train depot.

The Karen community is almost exactly 24 miles from Evergreen’s Four Points intersection and to get there, I took U.S. Highway 84 out past Herbert and over the Sepulga River at Staples Bridge to County Road 47. From there, I cut north on County Road 47 and headed up to the Beat 8 community, where I turned onto County Road 51. I then turned onto County Road 54, which took me over the railroad tracks at Shreve.

At that point, I cut north on County Road 107, which took me past Sweet Home Church and Wingard Pond to State Highway 55. Looking carefully both ways, I crossed the four-lane there and entered “downtown” Karen. According to the old maps I’d studied, the northern boundary of this community appears to have been Arnold Road, a dirt road that runs along the border between Conecuh and Butler County.

I turned around at this point, pulled over for a few minutes and realized that I was a short distance from the town of McKenzie. In fact, when you cross the Butler County line, Conecuh County Road 107 becomes Main Street in McKenzie. While standing there, I remembered that my late grandmother grew up in this area and went to school at McKenzie High School, where she’d been a cheerleader years and years ago.

My uncle, Tony Weaver, and Kenny Walden both told me that their grandparents had lived in this community. Kenny said that he’s hunted in this area many times and noted that he couldn’t remember ever hearing anyone call this community Karen. He did mention that there was an old beer joint not far from there back in the early 60s that exploded mysteriously one night due to a gas leak.

County Commissioner David Campbell also lives in this area and told me that he doesn’t remember ever hearing anyone call it Karen. His father, who recently turned 80, actually lives in a house that sits on the Conecuh-Butler county line. Campbell said his father and 92-year-old Carl Wingard might possibly remember the days when the community was called Karen.

From the Butler County line, I drove a short distance down to the railroad crossing where Wilson Farm Road crosses the railroad tracks, parked and got out for a closer look. While I’m no expert, the tracks looked to be in relatively decent shape and a lack of rust on the rails indicated to me that they may still be used from time to time. Later, someone told me that he remembered there being a platform in this area near the tracks where loggers would pile timber to be loaded on trains. Lavon Lee also told me that the railroad through the community dates back to 1900.

Looking around, I suspect that at one time this community, like so many other small communities, probably had a small store and post office. I’d also be willing to wager that the community got its name from the post office as it was common practice to name post offices after the wives and daughters of the postmaster. Examples of this type of thing are Beatrice over in Monroe County and Estelle in Wilcox County.

Before getting back into my truck, I took one last good look around and wondered if there were any ghost stories or local legends from this corner of Conecuh County. Before settlers came to this part of the world, had Indians lived in great numbers here beside its creeks and streams? Had they left behind any mounds or old village sites?

I eventually headed back to Evergreen and on the way into town, I couldn’t help but wonder what the Karen community looked like way back in the early 1900s. Perhaps some of that area’s older residents will remember what it was like and recall the true story behind how the community got its name. In the end, if anyone in the reading audience knows more about the history of the old Karen community, please let me know, so that we can keep the memory of such places alive for future generations.