Mysteries abound near Conecuh County's old Volina community

I got the itch to get out and do some riding around the other day, and a short time later I eventually found myself in downtown Castleberry. With no particular destination in mind, I struck off east out of Castleberry down County Road 6, and a few minutes later I pulled over at the L Pond Church of Christ. Those of you who have been there before will know that this neat little brick church sits at the intersection of County Road 6 and County Road 27.

I climbed out of my truck and made my way into the cemetery behind the church. Just eyeballing it, I’d say this cemetery contains less than 25 graves. The oldest marked grave that I saw within the chainlink confines of this cemetery belonged to Minnie Mae Lucas, who passed away at the age of 50 on Feb. 13, 1955.

Back in my truck, I turned down County Road 27 and drove south towards the Escambia County line. Even though I couldn’t see it, I knew that Shipps Pond sat out in the woods on the east side of the road. A thick stand of dark woods prevents passersby from being able to see this sizeable, 43-acre pond from County Road 27, but it can clearly be seen on maps of this area.

I could not help but think about all the old stories that surround this well-known body of water. It’s often been said that during the Civil War, plantation owner Henchie Warren supposedly sank a chest of gold and other valuables to the bottom of Shipps Pond to hide it from marauding Union soldiers. It’s said that many treasure hunters over the years have unsuccessfully tried to find this hidden chest, and a number of people believe that Warren’s chest of gold remains there today, waiting to be discovered beneath layers of thick, black mud.

A little farther down the road, just past Shipps Pond, I came to a curve in the road and was reminded that I was passing through the old Volina community. Today, you’ll find a few homes in this area, but at one time many more people lived at Volina. In fact, Volina even had its own post office from 1886 to 1911. The Volina community is largely forgotten today, but it’s location can clearly be seen on many historical maps of this area.

I continued down County Road 27, which took me past L Pond and Weaver Pond. As I drove by these bodies of water, I again could not help but remember the stories I’d heard about them over the years. Some readers will remember that game cameras in October 2011 captured an unexplained “ghost image” of a man walking through the woods in this area. Individuals living near L Pond said the person in the photo looked like Pott Weaver, who once lived in the area but passed away in 1984 - 27 years before the picture was taken. This ghostly image was so mysterious that The Mobile Press-Register published a full-length feature story about the unusual photo in its Oct. 31, 2011 edition.

I eventually returned to County Road 6 and headed back towards Evergreen. As the miles unfolded beneath my wheels, I thought about all that I’d seen in my brief field trip to the old Volina community. Many questions came to mind.

Are there any other old ghost stories, tall tales or local legends associated with this part of the county? Are there any old Indian village sites or burial mounds in this area? How did the Volina community get its name?

In the end, please let me hear from you if you know anything more about the history of this part of Conecuh County and especially the old Volina community. It would be a shame to let this information fall through the cracks like so much of our local history. Let’s make a special effort to document it now while we still have a good chance to do so.