Wildwood Park Area Correspondence to Mary Alyson Prude, 8.7.1993

Authors

• William L. McDonald

Source Collection

University of North Alabama Archives and Special Collections, William Lindsey McDonald Collection, Box 1: Biographical, Folder 1.4: City Historian - Correspondence, Collier Library.

Description

Correspondence from William L. McDonald to Mary Alyson Prude concerning the history of Wildwood Park and the surround vicinity in Florence, Alabama.

The pdf is faded and difficult to read, so it has been transcribed below.

August 7, 1993

Miss Mary Alyson Prude

426 Robinhood Drive

Florence, Alabama 35630

Dear Mary Alyson:

Please forgive an old man who finds it more and more difficult to hear. And I feel terrible for not recognizing you until after we had talked over the telephone. It then hit me: You are Joel and Jayne's beautiful young daughter. I am so sorry. Your entire family are dear friends. I met your grandmother and grandfather some fifty years ago.

You are interest in the Wildwood Park area. The road that runs through the park from North Florence to Cypress Creek is indeed as old as Florence. Ferdinand Sannoner, who had served as a military engineer under Napoleon, laid out the city of Florence in 1818. He cautiously provided for a military defense road around the city - called the Circular Road. Royal Avenue that runs from East Florence was a part of that original system. Wildwood Park Road was the extension that connected it to yet an earlier highway to Waterloo and Savannah.

At the outbreak of the Civil War, Brig. Gen. Sterling Alexander Martin Wood, a Florence native, was placed in charge of the defense of the city. He erected large earth works around the key entrances to the city. Wildwood Park Road was one of these key posts. I remember in my boyhood days going to those fortifications. Most of these have disappeared over the last thirty years. Wood stationed troops in the rear of these defense works. In earlier days military artifacts could be found in and around where these soldiers had camped.

These same breastworks were later used by other commanders, including units of the Union Army. Sherman and Buelll had outposts there. When General John Bell Hood passed through Florence in October and November 1814 on his way to the Battle of Franklin, his men were posted in these same breastworks.

In the fall of 1878, the terrible Yellow Fever hit the Muscle Shoals area. In the years following this epidemic, cities around the South provided isolation houses in attempts to control the spreading of diseases. The one at Florence was known as the "Pest House." It was perched on top of the hill near the intersection of Wildwood Park and Waterloo Roads. The only remains of this early facility is the old graveyard, although most of the graves are not marked.

The city limits began to expand north during the latter part of the last century. By early 1900 there were a number of subdivisions in that part of town. It soon became known as "Seven Points," "Needmore," and, of course, "North Florence."

On July 7, 1898, the city authorized the purchase of 208 acres of land that we call Wildwood Park for $10 an acre, or a total of $2,080. The land was purchased from a firm in Philadelphia owned by two men, a Mr. Nelson and a Mr. Ware. The committee appointed by the city to arrange for the purchase was chaired by the future Governor of Alabama, Emmett O'Neal. Two other citizens, Patrick and Smith, served with O'Neal on the Committee.

One of the plans for the park was to use it as a city cemetery. However, the people voiced their opposition. Instead, additional lands were acquired to expand the old Florence Cemetery rather than to have two city cemeteries.

A large spring in the center of Wildwood Park road was later made the centerpiece for the park. The city fathers erected a roof over the spring with wide concrete steps that led down to the surface of the water. Benches were placed for visitors around this spring house. It became a popular meeting place during the hot summer days, especially on Sunday afternoons. Perhaps, it was best known as a place where young couples did their courting during the roaring twenties.

The west end of the park joined the property of the old Cypress Cotton Mill Dam. This became a popular place to swim and was called "the blue hole." During the 1930s the Florence Kiwanis Club improved this area as a public park and named it Kiwanis Park. However, the public always called it "Bar Bar."

The City of Florence still owns Wildwood Park. It is one of the most scenic places in our city.

Alyson, I hope this is the kind of information you need. Please call me again if you have other questions.

Sincerely,

William L. McDonald

Date Created

10-14-2026

Date

August 7, 1993

Document Type

Letter to the Editor

Recommended Citation

McDonald, William L., "Wildwood Park Area Correspondence to Mary Alyson Prude, 8.7.1993" (2026). Correspondence. 13.
https://roar.una.edu/mcdonald_letters/13

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