| History of Dolomite (PART IV) as told by Mildred Brown Crain to her daugher, Martha Jean Crain Part of Dolomite is now annexed in Hueytown. This was done about a year or more ago. Besides being an early settler in "Possum Valley", it has also been haded down in the family that William Brown named Rock Creek and Lost Creek. These two creeks were several miles from his home. Years ago there was a miners cemetery located on the east side of the Woodward Railroad between the railroad and the Tin Mill Road. It is near the Browntown area. It is located where Jackson and Washington Streets join together. My grandfather on my mother's side, James Stewart, was buried there, but the family had him moved to the Brighton Cemetery when his wife died in 1913. The Stewarts lived in Brighton. Today the miners cemetery is completely destroyed. There are three or four markers piled up on top of each other. This is the only trace of the cemetery and one has to hunt through brush to even find these. This was the situation the last time I was over there. That was six or seven years ago. A Doctor Thomas was another Woodward doctor. I have not named him. He lived in the house where Gladys Reaves Miller lived on the corner of Edwards and Commissary Streets. Another Doctor was a Dr. Meeks. He lived in the house where Dr. McEniry lived. My father sold dynamite in his store. The "Powder House" was located 3/4 to a mile from the store in the woods. A favorite swimming place when I was young was East Lake Park in East Lake and West Lake in Bessemer. Leon Mock says at one time hhis father had a barber shop located by his home. His father was A. W. Mock. I believe the "tar plant" was built around the 1920's. We always called it the "tar plant" but it is Koppers Company. I don't know a lot of the industrial history to write about. Koppers is located near the Woodward Railroad and not too far from the Dolomite Baptist Church. In back of the Church and near the railroad. The Dolomite Masonic Lodge 452 formed August 7, 1886 and the Dolomite Chapter 170 OES formed March 19, 1915. This information is from Clyde Crane. Dode Eastes was a constable. Dode might be a nickname. He lived where Audrey Suit Harris now lives. The original house burned and was built back. It burned while Suit's lived there and they built it back. Garywood got their mailed addressed Dolmite until they got it changed it changed in the late 1940's or early 1950's. After that, they got their mail delivered to their homes addressed Garywood, Bessemer, Alabama. I remember during World War II we use to have "Blackouts". Everyone in the community had to turn all their lights off to practice what we would do in case of a real attack. We had blackout shades. They were jet black and no light could come through them. During this time, the draft was registering men up to 45 years of age. At one time, a group of Hueytown High School students registered men for the draft at the Dolomite Commissary. Mr. daughter, Fay, registered her father. Also during the war, the government collected grease. I think they used it for gun powder, etc. The Dolomite Commissary would collect it for the government. When I saved a jar of grease, I would take it to the commissary. Dolomite had a baseball team in 1915. Champion Bessemer District League. Some of the players were Wilson Brown, Joe Reed, Raymond Miles, and Will Reed. Leon Mock and a cousin of mine, Alva Carpenter, said the commissary was first located further up the track toward Pleasant Grove. Somewhere between the new commissary and No. 1 mines. Possible somewhere behind the old black school. My cousin Alva is now deceased. As stated before, the Dolomite Eastern Star was organized March 19, 1915. I joined when I was about 18 years old, but did not keep up my membership after I married. When I was small, only the doctors and mine officials had phones and electricity. My family had delco lights. Some games children played when I was a child were: school, marbles, hop scotch, drop the handkerchief, Pop the whip, hid and seek. Girls played with dolls until they were much older than they are today. Dolomite or Garywood had a Civitan Club at one time. Maybe in the 1950's. At one time, Dolomite had a community house. It was located
across the street from the school on Edwards Street. It was on the
corner. It was a home at first and then made into a Community Center
by Woodward Iron Company. After they closed the community center, it
was converted back into a homeand Charlie Stamps family lived there at one
time. Mrs. Webber was a social worker employed by Woodward. |