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.)