The county of Walker was established in
1824. It is attracting remarkable attention at this time by reason of
its immense resources of coal. From present indications, Walker is the
richest of all the counties of the State in its mineral deposits. It
seems to be almost an unbroken coalfield from limit to limit. The coal
is of a hard, bituminous character with but small percentage of ash.
Various geological reports point to the existence of five or six
valuable seams, which lie in successive layers one above another. There
are various outcroppings, indicating from the surface, seams of superior
coal which vary in thickness from two to eight feet. These coals are
valuable for domestic, cooking, and steam purposes. Remoteness of
transportation has forbidden the establishment of mines in the past, but
the construction of the Georgia Pacific is awakening new life, and the
early completion of the Sheffield and Birmingham, and the Memphis and
Birmingham railroads, running from Kansas City to the Atlantic, will
greatly enhance the value of Walker county lands.
The surface of the country is broken, the
hills in some places being steep and high.
Aside from its mineral possessions, the
county has other advantages, as the following data will at once
show.
Walker county embraces an area of 880
square miles.
Population in 1870, 6,543; population in
1880, 9,479. White, 8,978; colored, 501.
Tilled Land: 46,725 acres.—Area planted in
cotton, 8,743 acres; in corn, 21,838 acres; in oats, 2,579 acres; in
wheat, 5,420 acres; in rye, 81 acres; in tobacco, 69 acres; in
sugar-cane, 11 acres; in sweet potatoes, 325 acres.
Cotton Production: 2,754 bales.
Like the adjoining county of Winston, the
soils of Walker are not remarkable for their fertility, it being in
nowise an agricultural county, but adapted almost solely to
manufactures. Still, it is not without fertile lands. Snug farms are
found in many portions of it, and many of its inhabitants have subsisted
upon the productions of their farms since, and even before, the
formation of the county.
About one-third of the area of Walker is
covered with a sandy soil. This land is admirably suited to the
production of fruit, which grows here in great abundance, especially
such as the hardy fruits—pears, apples, peaches, plums, etc. Fruit trees
have been standing in many orchards for a great number of years, and
have rarely failed of an annual yield. In other sections of Walker,
especially in those lying adjacent to the main streams, there are many
thrifty farms, upon which grow, with great readiness, corn, cotton, and
wheat.
This is also true of what are locally
termed "the bench lands"— the plateau regions of the county. Here are
many first-class farms, which are easily tilled, and whose cultivation
is most remunerative. Stock-raising is receiving some attention in the
county, and the experiments have resulted most gratifyingly.
The county is highly favored with streams,
whose rapid and perpetual flow mark them for future usefulness in the
manufactures. Chief among these are Mulberry Fork, which flows through
the southeast, and joins Locust Fork in the south; the Black Water,
Sipsey Fork, and Lost creeks. These are supplied by numerous
tributaries, which drain the county from every quarter. As fine timber
forests skirt these streams as are found in the northern portion of the
State. These embrace the different varieties of oak, post, red, and
Spanish, together with beech, poplar, holly, the gums, and short-leaf
pine. In the neighborhood of South Lowell, about six miles from Jasper,
the county-seat, there is a section of long-leaf pine forest, covering
an area of about ten miles broad and twenty-five miles long.
This superb tract of timber is penetrated
by the Black Water river, the banks of which are lined by thriving
manufactories, such as corn, wheat, and lumber mills, and cotton gins.
Chief among these thriving enterprises is the mill of Messrs. Shields,
Craig & Carter, which combines all the facilities for the
manufacture of lumber, doors, blinds, sash, and shingles. This is the
only factory in the county, and furnishes, to the local trade alone,
half a million feet of lumber annually.
The passage of the Georgia Pacific through
the county has awakened much interest, and when that shall have been
intersected by the Mobile and Birmingham railroad, which will run the
entire length of the State from Mobile to Florence, the advantages of
the county will be immense. Through these great channels of trade her
rich minerals of coal and iron will seek outlets to the world beyond.
These minerals are considered practically inexhaustible. In the interior
of the basin in Walker county is the Jagger's coalbed, which is said to
be one of exceeding thickness.
Throughout the county the educational
advantages are moderate, and church facilities abound. Both these
improve as one approaches the principal villages. Jasper, the
county-seat, with a population of three or four hundred, has good
schools and two comfortable church edifices. Holly Grove and South
Lowell are also points of interest and growing importance.
Like other counties, the resources of
which are being rapidly developed, the people of Walker are anxious to
have their lands purchased and populated.
Great inducements are just now being
offered to purchasers of lands, and sagacious investors are not losing
the opportunity of turning the occasion to one of profit. In some
instances corporations have invested in large districts of these
valuable lands at amazingly low prices. Taken in connection with the
abundance of fuel and good water, and the absence of any ca ses which
breed disease, Walker offers a home of rare combinations. And, from a
commercialpoint of view, no
county offers greater inducements than does Walker. But lands which are
now held at reasonable rates will increase in valuation'as the growing
population will crystallize into centers of interest and
influence.
There are embraced within the limits of
Walker county 128,840 acres of government land.
