The history of Dr. John R. Drish House, or simply Drish House, dates back to 1837 when it was built at the center of a 450-acre plantation in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Drish was a physician from Virginia and had settled down in Tuscaloosa in 1822, becoming one of the town’s earliest settler. Apart from his job as a physician, Drish was a prominent homebuilder Tuscaloosa, hiring many slave artisans for the plasterwork projects in town. In 1835, Drish married a wealthy widow, Sarah Owen Mckinney.
Since July 2014, a new Bryce Hospital operates on the former site of the Partlow Developmental Center located near the intersection of Hellen Keller and University Boulevard. The new 260,000-square-foot hospital features 268 beds and an array of amenities including dental clinics, a fitness center, library, chapel and post office.
The face is said to be the remnants of emancipated slave Henry Wells, who according to legend, was arrested in January 1878 for robbing of a store and burning of the Pickens County Courthouse on November 16, 1876. This is the county’s second courthouse as the first one was destroyed during the American Civil War (1861 – 1865). The arrest of Wells comes after the Reconstruction era (1865-1877), a period where the Reconstruction Amendments (Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth amendments) guaranteed freedom and civil rights to the freed slaves.
The annual Maple Hill Cemetery Stroll is not exactly a ghost walk. However, it is where history comes to life as over 75 notable characters from Huntsville walk along the paths of the cemetery, retelling the past of Huntsville’s glitz and glamour. The event offers a glimpse into the history of Huntsville while giving visitors a look at some of the latest restoration project in the cemetery. The event is free for all ages, although donations are highly encouraged as they will be used to restore damaged sections of Maple Hill Cemetery.
The Sloss Furnace halted its operation and closed in 1971 as new regulations such as the 1970 U.S. Clean Air Act had forced many of the older and less-efficient smelting factories to shut down. This was compounded by the stiff competition from foreign companies such as Japanese plants which exported steel and iron to America at a substantially lower cost than those locally produced.
