150 THE ALABAMA OPPORTUNITY. 



It is deeply significant that the big plantations', with the negro 

 tenant system, are unknown in the "new" sections of Alabama, 

 the sections of Alabama which have so developed and which 

 have become so prosperous, such as the wiregrass county and 

 the counties' to the south of the P>lack Belt. 



But here is Centerville, with the men of the hills and the 

 mines on one side and the old, but ever rich and fertile planta- 

 tions on the other. And in the best of trade that is in the two 

 comes to Centerville. 



Centerville, if it wasn't in Alabama, might be an Alpine 

 village. It is that hilly. There is no -way to get to Centerville 

 except to go up and down hills. The site of the town itself 

 coukl lave been the citad.el of an ancient fortress. If it were 

 a time of marauders', trouble breeders and fighters the hill on 

 which Centerville stands could be fortified for any sort of de- 

 fense. 



The way to it is steep, and it is just round with other pine 

 covered eminences. 



COAL AND IRON. 



There is a world of coal in Alabama, because the Appa- 

 lachian chain of mountains come to an end within the State. 

 They break off rather suddenly in the Birmingham and Gads- 

 den districts, and according to their geological ways' the coal 

 and iron deposits break rather suddenly out of the earth con- 

 vf nient to the hand of man. 



But the foot hills continue further south — a connecting cir- 

 cuit between the mountains and the plains. In a gathering of 

 thes'e hills along the Cahaba, Centerville was planned and 

 founded years and years before the war. The most command- 

 ing hill was' selected for the town. Here the town was founded 

 according to the old style with a public square and the court- 

 nouse in the center. 



The hill is just large enough and none too large for the 

 square. The square, with its courthouse and encircling busi- 

 ness stores, fits snugly upon the top of the hill. Over the other 

 hilisv the residence portion has been built in a rather desultory 

 way. After the square is left behind, the streets become county 

 roads curved and winding, and bordered for a space with the 

 homes of Centerville. 



