Wilcox County, Alabama's Furman community was known as Old Snow Hill prior to 1884 name change

I always enjoy traveling to the Furman-Snow Hill area of Wilcox County because it is one of the most history-rich areas of the entire county. A few days ago, I had the pleasure of traveling to Furman with my 13-year-old son, who’d been invited to a youth deer hunt near Furman. The afternoon was cool and clear, and he ended up bagging a nice buck.

As we sat silently in the shooting house, waiting on the quarry to present itself, my thoughts, as they often do, turned to the history of the area. My son had asked me earlier in the day about which place was older, Furman or Snow Hill. I had to admit that I didn’t know, but said that I’d try to find out.

As it turns out, depending on how you look at it, the community at present-day Furman is older than present-day Snow Hill, but the Snow Hill name is older than Furman. According to the book “Place Names in Alabama” by Virginia O. Foscue, Furman was originally known as Old Snow Hill. It was called this because it grew up on the first site of the town Snow Hill that later moved two miles westward to be on the Louisville & Nashville Railroad.

Old Snow Hill changed its name to Furman in 1884 when a post office was established there. According to Foscue, the post office took its name for Furman, South Carolina. Furman, S.C. is a town of about 240 residents, located near the southern tip of the Palmetto State.

Foscue noted that Snow Hill moved to its current site after the War Between the States. The town was originally named after William Snow, the first settler of the original town. Where William Snow came from and what became of him, I do not know.

The earliest reference to Snow Hill that I could find in old Wilcox County newspapers was in the first edition of The Camden Phenix, which was published on Dec. 10, 1850. In that inaugural paper, the editor thanked everyone “for the good wishes” that had been extended to him by the community. The editor went on to note that he felt “thankful to our friends in the eastern part of the county. From one post office, Snow Hill, we have already received 31 subscribers.”

The oldest reference to Furman that I could find was in the May 11, 1887 edition of The Wilcox Progressive Era. That issue of the paper contained an article about “Macadamized Roads,” which was a hotly-debated topic at that time. The writer urged that a road be constructed from Furman and other large communities (like Pine Apple and Allenton) to Camden to give citizens better access to the courthouse and railroads.

In the end, let me hear from you if you know any more about the origins of the Old Snow Hill and Furman communities. I’m especially interested in any old ghost stories, local legends and Indian lore from this part of the county. While there’s still time, let’s make a special effort to document this information before it gets lost like so much already to the hidden fogs of passing time.