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"Ghost" Town of Pikeville
Comes To Life As A Resort Area
Meet a ghost town that comes back to life; Pikeville,
Alabama, halfway between Hamilton and Guin. Colonel J.D. Terrell, Sr., an Indian agent, settled Pikeville on orders from hostile
Indians who told him he was not welcome in Monroe, Mississippi, where he originally intended
to settle.
General Andrew Jackson, enroute home in 1815 from the Battle of New Orleans, is said to have
stopped at Pikeville for a visit with Colonel Terrell. The General's men were busy cutting a military
road and were allowed to camp on the Colonel's lawn.
The town was the scene of festive parties and dances back then, the legend goes, but in time the town
withered away, with lichen-covered tombstones the only reminders of the
long forgotten past.
But Pikeville has been resurrected - not as the county seat of Marion County, as it was in
1820 - but as a resort area. First to be constructed was Marion County Lake...Now the Pikeville Country Club with clubhouse,
golf course, swimming pool, and tennis courts. Happy couples again swing to the musician's treble, much as they did in Old Hickory's days over 190
years ago.
The first step to the creation of a country club for this area was taken
at a party, given by Mr. and Mrs. Fred Payne at their home in Hamilton on Labor Day, September 7, 1959,
at which the golfers of Hamilton and their ladies were guests. At that meeting, there were more
than thirty people interested in having a country club.
At an informal meeting the following were elected: Mr. Harley Smith, President; Ross Wright, Secretary;
and Willard Clark, Treasurer.
Word of their activity reached Guin, Winfield and Sulligent. As a result, a meeting of representatives from those
towns was held at Marion Country Lake. Chairmen from these towns were: James Maddox, Sulligent; Dan Mobley, Guin;
Willie B. McDonald, Winfield. They, along with Mr. Harley Smith, acted as a coordinating committee to further the
club. One hundred-eleven point one acres was acquired on the south side of Marion County Lake. Later, another
eighty acres was added to increase the course to eighteen holes.
There were one hundred eighty-six active members. Ground breaking ceremonies were held May 26, 1960, and a nine hole
golf course was ready for play by September, 1960. A swimming pool was opened July 4, 1961, and tennis courts added
later. The clubhouse was completed in September 1963, with a new pro shop added in 1970.
Mr. Harley A. Smith served as president until his death in September, 1966. Mr. James Roy Cashion then served as
president from 1966-1971.
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