Butler County, Alabama - Chapter 28, 1885

This station is in the southwestern corner of the county, in the swamp of Persimmon and Sepulgah Creeks, and is the last station in the county on the L. & N. R. R. going toward Mobile.

This part of the county was settled about 1840. It is not known who first cut and built here, but it is known that as early as 1845, John Coleman, Hamp Kebler, Tom and Dan Koker. Edmund Etheridge, lived on the east side of Sepulgah Creek, and Elias Presley, John P. Mires, Andrew Dunham and James Adams settled on the west side of Persimmon Creek. John F. McPherson lived about five miles up the creek from where Garland is now. John Rogers lived in the fork of the two creeks. Garland was located and named in the spring of i860, by Colonel W. P. Garland, one of the chief engineers on the Mobile and Montgomery Railway. The railroad reached this place in the fall of the same year. Edmund Brooks owned all of the land, and took Garland in with him as a partner. Robert Powell started a dram-shop here in the fall of i860, at the same time selling a few other things. John Rhodes and H. Clay Armstrong, with his father, started stores here the same year, seUing general merchandise. The town grew very rapidly. Elias Hinson bought a lot, and soon erected a hotel, but as it was a small town, the hotel never prospered. John Julian started a steam saw-mill at this place in 1861, and furnished the people with a very good article of lumber. When the war came in 1861, every kind of business was suspended here, except the mill, which continued until 1865. H. Clay Armstrong raised a company in this part of the county, and went to join the army.

After the war, merchandising was resumed, and the town has been growing ever since, having now five stores of general merchandise, one drug store, shoe-shop, etc. There are two churches here, but the school is sorry, although there are enough children here for a flourishing school. The postoffice is kept by Mr. O. C. Darby. A majority of the people of this place belong to the church, and whisky or ardent spirits are not allowed to be sold in this vicinity. About four miles east of Garland, may be found a neighborhood of Latter- Day Saints, consisting of about forty members, having services at appointed times.

Land in this part of the county has always been comparatively cheap, except a while in 1859 and i860, when it was sold for ;^5.oo and sometimes ;^7.oo per acre. Before that time, it was worth ;^i.25 per acre; now it is put on the market at ;^3.00 per acre, and much demand for it at that price. There is but little farming interest at this place. The soil would produce very well, if properly fertilized. The land is more valuable for its timber than anything else. However, a great deal of the timber has been used. M. B. Bazer started a mill here in 1870, but was soon burned out. He was succeeded in the lumber business by the Binion Brothers, who have cut all the timber in several miles of the place. They moved their mill about four miles east of this place the early part of 1884, cind are doing a good business, still keeping a lumber-yard at Garland, and sawing a very good quality of lumber.