Readers share more information about the old Igo community in Monroe County, Alabama

A couple of weeks ago in this space, I wrote about Igo, an old community near Frisco City that has long faded from the memories of most Monroe County residents. Once that week’s paper hit the streets, I began to receive a wealth of information about Igo from readers and local history buffs.

According to local historian Steve Stacey of Frisco City, the Igo post office was established near where the dirt road known as Lee Street crosses the railroad tracks at Baas Cemetery. He also noted that old Mississippi Territory maps of that area show a road from the ferry at Claiborne to Pensacola, Fla. Portions of that road followed what is now County Road 10, crossed State Highway 21 and continued east through Goodway and basically followed Butler Street to the Escambia Creek crossing at Sardine.

Igo was once sizeable enough to support its own post office, although it was short lived. According to Stacey, U.S. Postal Records reflect that the Igo post office was established on June 8, 1880 with Mary M. Baas as postmaster. The post office closed on Jan. 17, 1881.

Fredia Tatum of Frisco City is the great-great-granddaughter of Igo postmaster, Mary Baas. Mary and her husband Joseph Waring Baas moved to Monroe County from Mobile in 1868 because of his health. Her family had been a part of the Vine and Olive Colony at Demopolis, and they moved to Mobile when it failed.

In my column two weeks ago, I also mentioned that the Apostolic Lighthouse Church is one of the most significant landmarks that you’ll see today in the vicinity of old Igo. I’ve heard many people say over the years that this church building was once a store known as “Caine’s Store,” but apparently this isn’t true.

Tatum said that the old Caine’s Store building was located to one side of the present-day church, and that at some point the store was torn down. The store’s owner, Hiram Caine, lived across Highway 21 from the store. His wife, Lucille Caine, taught in the Monroe County school system for many years, Tatum said.

In my previous column, I also mentioned that the oldest grave that I could find in the Baas Cemetery was that of Joseph Waring Baas, the husband of Igo’s first (and probably only) postmaster. Tatum said that she was told that Joseph Baas loved the area where the cemetery is now located because of nearby cedar trees and a small creek in the vicinity. He asked to be buried there and when he passed away in 1872, that’s how the cemetery got its start. The trees were pushed down and a fence was erected around the cemetery in 1952, Tatum said.

In the end, I’d like to hear from anyone else in the reading audience with more information about the Igo community, Caine’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.