Extension Agent Helps Lockhart Unlock Its “Treasure Trove”

Auburn, June 5, 2003 --- Charles Simon has always believed there is more to community economic development than the size of a town’s industrial park. 

Also important is a town’s understanding of where it has been, where it is going and, perhaps most important of all, what makes it unique.

Located just a rock’s throw from the Florida line, tiny Lockhart is a town that abounds in uniqueness.

More than a century ago, Jackson Lumber Company, a northern-based lumber operation, built the town from scratch in a niche carved out of a dense pine forest in Covington County. Everything imaginable was provided -- a mill, a park, a well-stocked mercantile store, gleaming white houses and even tree-lined streets. 

“Communities like this were very uncommon in the South,” said Simon, an agent and coordinator of the Alabama Cooperative Extension System in Covington County.  “It was a northern industrial town laid out according to plan. Yes, there were some coal mining towns around Birmingham, but to come down here in the middle of timberland and lay out something like this--it was truly unique.”

Still, like all lumber towns, Lockhart was a “cut-out-and-get-out” operation from the very start. 

“They figured they had about 40 years of timber, virgin timber, to be cut,” recalls Belinda Carnley, a community activist and lifelong Lockhart resident.  “And they were right on the money.”

Almost 40 years later to the day, the company harvested the last tree, sold the town lock, stock and barrel to its former employees and moved away.

Today, almost a century later, the mill and general store are distant memories, though much of the town’s splendor remains.  The oak trees harvested from nearby forests and planted shortly after the town’s founding have weathered one tropical storm after another but still stand guard over aging company cottages that are still occupied, in some cases, by descendants of the workers who first settled the town.

For Simon, towns such as Lockhart are “treasure troves of historic homes waiting for a younger generation to come and fix them up.”

His vision for breathing life into Lockhart and surrounding communities is based on a simple premise: “If you preserve it, they will come.” 

To help local residents take stock of their treasures, Simon has enlisted the help of the Alabama Historical Commission and the Alabama Cooperative Extension System’s urban forestry program.

“It sometimes takes an outsider to help people within a community understand what is so significant about their town,” said Camille Bowman, an expert in architectural preservation with the Alabama Historical Commission.  “Our job is to help them identify what they have and how to build on it.”

Bowman says gaining this knowledge becomes a real turning point for the community.

“A few will always say, ‘But we’re not Charleston!’  And our response is always, ‘Yes, but you ARE Lockhart!” she added with a chuckle.

Bowman has offered advice about how to restore the old workers’ cottages while preserving their historical value. 

Also lending a hand is Neil Letson, state coordinator of the Alabama Cooperative Extension System’s urban forestry program. Letson is helping Lockhart develop a long-term tree management plan on a tight budget--one that ensures its trees are not only maintained over time but replaced when they succumb to disease and old age.

 “The oaks really are magnificent,” said Letson.  “It reminds me of Mobile, where the trees are so lush they almost touch each other.  As long as they’re managed properly, these oaks are likely to survive for a very long time.”

Local volunteers are also doing their part. 

With funding secured by state Senator Jimmy Holley and Rep. Seth Hammett, Carnley worked with other townspeople to build a park honoring the longleaf pine in what was once the community commons. 

As an added attraction, the park includes a walking tour featuring old photographs and a short history of the town’s founding and growth. 

“Our advice to other communities is to take these resources that are seldom ever thought about and turn them into assets,” Simon said.  “And don’t think for a minute that these aren’t assets. There are people all over America who are tired of the rat race and who want to provide their kids with the same type of wholesome, small-town environment they took for granted growing up,” Simon contended. 

Lockhart isn’t the only small town with such desirable features, Simon said.

“Alabama is full of these treasure troves.”

(Source: Charles Simon, Agent and Coordinator, Covington County Extension Office, 334-222-1125.)

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