Singleton tells of old plank road near Limestone Creek between Old Salem Church and Fountain community

1925 Ford Model T 'flivver'

(For decades, local historian and paranormal investigator George “Buster” Singleton published a weekly newspaper column called “Somewhere in Time.” The column below, which was titled “Old Plank Road: Reflection from yesterday” was originally published in the July 27, 1972 edition of The Monroe Journal in Monroeville, Ala.)

When the first automobile appeared on the scene in this country, many changes began to take shape. More attention was given to the local roads and bridges, as the road building activity began to gain momentum. The way was widened for the coming of the horseless carriage.

The high ridges, where the ground was dry, didn’t create much of a problem, as the construction of the improved roads spread over the country. As long as the weather behaved itself, things went fairly well except for the deep sand beds found here and there.

But when the rains came, the low swampy areas that are to be found in some parts of Monroe County gave the automobile owners quite a few headaches. The small narrow tires that the cars came equipped with were no match for the deep mud and sink holes found along the creek bottoms.

To combat this situation, the road building crews oftentimes would cut small poles and place them about four inches apart across the troublesome mud hole. These were supposed to keep the wheels of the autos from bogging down in the mud, forming a type of bridge. If the mud hole was bad enough, the poles were replaced with a more permanent flooring of wide planks. These were nailed together and fitted into place.

This method worked fine until the plank flooring got wet and covered with mud. Then it took all the skill a Model T driver could muster to keep his machine on the planks. Situations have been related to this writer by some of our senior citizens, when a flivver would slide off the plank flooring when the car was sitting perfectly still.

Another problem that confronted the motorist was the passing of autos on these plank roads. Many times, when two motorists met, there was no other alternative but for one of the vehicles to back up. Sometimes this would mean backing up for a distance of 200 yards or more, over slippery narrow planks. To add to this hazard, the loose nails that always worked their way out of the planks after a few weeks use, usually meant a puncture, or slipping off over the side.

There have been occasions when fist fights and foul language were the aftermath of two cars meeting on one of these places. It was very easy for a man with a good moral character to lose his religion on a dark wet night, trying to maneuver his Model T across the planks.

Most of these roads are past history, but as one travels from Old Salem Church to Fountain, over the old dirt road, there is evidence in the bottoms near Limestone Creek that the old plank road is still holding its own in the annals of Monroe County history.

(Singleton, the author of the 1991 book “Of Foxfire and Phantom Soldiers,” passed away at the age of 79 on July 19, 2007. A longtime resident of Monroeville, he was born to Vincent William Singleton and Frances Cornelia Faile Singleton, during a late-night thunderstorm, on Dec. 14, 1927 in Marengo County, graduated from Sweet Water High School in 1946, served as a U.S. Marine paratrooper in the Korean War, worked as a riverboat deckhand, lived for a time among Apache Indians, moved to Monroe County on June 28, 1964 and served as the administrator of the Monroeville National Guard unit from June 28, 1964 to Dec. 14, 1987. He was promoted from the enlisted ranks to warrant officer in May 1972. For years, Singleton’s columns, titled “Monroe County history – Did you know?” and “Somewhere in Time” appeared in The Monroe Journal, and he wrote a lengthy series of articles about Monroe County that appeared in Alabama Life magazine. It’s believed that his first column appeared in the March 25, 1971 edition of The Monroe Journal. He is buried in Pineville Cemetery in Monroeville. The column above and all of Singleton’s other columns are available to the public through the microfilm records at the Monroe County Public Library in Monroeville. Singleton’s columns are presented here each week for research and scholarship purposes and as part of an effort to keep his work and memory alive.)