Growth of the W^iregfrass is an 

 Alabama W^onder. 



^Y HE man of less than middle age can recall, if he remem- 

 \lf bers easil}^ when the counties comprising the rich Wire- 

 grass were almost contemptuously called the "cow counties." 

 He hears in this year 1905, these same counties, this same Wire- 

 grass, termed by its admirers the "richest agricultural section 

 of Alabama." 



In a bare quarter of a century these counties have risen in the 

 public mind from the low place of the "cow counties" to the 

 high elevation of one of the rich agricultural sections of the 

 State. It was' not a sharp, sudden growth. There is no rush of 

 settlers, no hurrying in of farmers, no Oklahoma booming, 

 nothing of that sort about the transformation. 



Nor did the railroads make the Wiregrass. Its develop- 

 ment was pronounced, its future was assured when the rail- 

 roads came in. The fulfillment of the Wiregrass's promis'e 

 was already in sight, when the railroads pushed in, to share 

 the prosperity. It was a long neglected spot, that section of 

 Alabama lying in the southeast corner of the State between 

 the irregular triangle formed by the junction of the Florida and 

 Georgia lines. It was innocent of railroads until twenty years 

 ago, when the Central threw its Eufaula and Clayton branch 

 down to Ozark and when the Alabama Midland was built 

 out from Montgomery to the Georgia line. Then in late years 

 the Louisville and Nashville pierced the Wiregrass through 

 and through with its Georgiana and Graceville. 



RAILROADS PUSH IN. 



The Central fully appreciating the richness of the field, con- 

 tinued to move forward again with its lines out of Ozark and 

 out of Troy. So that now the Wiregrass is sufficiently inter- 

 cepted and intersected with transportation facilities to assure 

 maintenance of its prosperity assured for the future. 



