Mystery surrounds name of old ‘Igo’ community in Monroe County

The old community of Igo is one of many old communities that have long faded from the memories of Monroe County residents.

Those of you who have traveled on State Highway 21 between Frisco City and Megargel have passed through “downtown” Igo, although little remains of this forgotten community today. Most old maps show that Igo was located just south of the Frisco City town limits near the intersection of Highway 21 and County Road 10.

Igo was once sizeable enough to support its own post office. Sources say that the Igo post office was established in 1880 and that it was probably located in an old store or railroad station. In fact, the earliest reference to the Igo community that I could find in back issues of The Monroe Journal involved the establishment of a post office there.

According to the July 19, 1880 edition of The Journal, it was reported that “Igo is the name of a new post office established between Monroeville and Mt. Pleasant.” As things go, this post office was short lived. Sources say it closed sometime in 1881.

One is left to wonder where the name “Igo” came from. There is no entry for this community in Virginia O. Foscue’s definitive book, “Place Names in Alabama.” However, there is a community in California named Igo, which was founded in 1849 as a mining town. Maybe someone from way out west settled south of Frisco City in the late 1800s and brought the unusual name with him?

If you go to Igo today, the most significant landmark you will see is the Apostolic Lighthouse church, which sits in the fork of Highway 21 and County Road 10. For as long as I can remember, this building has been a church, but I’ve heard people say that it was once a store known as “Cain’s Store.” When it was turned into a church, I do not know.

Another landmark that’s in Igo is the old Baas Cemetery, which is located near the railroad tracks on the dirt road known as Lee Street. This cemetery contains about a hundred graves with the oldest belonging to Joseph Waring Baas, a South Carolina native who passed away in 1872 at the age of 44.

Grady Gaston – one of Monroe County’s most remarkable men – is also buried in the Baas Cemetery. During World War II, Gaston was a crewman on a bomber that crashed in a remote part of Australia. Gaston ended up being the lone survivor of the group that parachuted from the plane, and he stayed alive for 141 days by eating raw snakes, frogs and fish, an experience so incredible that he was featured in “Ripley’s Believe It or Not!” When I was a kid, he was our mailman.

In the end, I’d like to hear from anyone in the reading audience with more information about the Igo community, Cain’s Store and vicinity. It would be especially interesting to learn more about the origin of the community’s name. This information may be lost to history, but someone in the audience may have the answers.