Fourmile, Alabama Explained

Official Name:Fourmile, Alabama
Pushpin Map:Alabama#USA
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name:United States
Subdivision Type1:State
Subdivision Name1:Alabama
Subdivision Type2:County
Subdivision Name2:Shelby
Timezone:Central (CST)
Utc Offset:-6
Timezone Dst:CDT
Utc Offset Dst:-5
Elevation M:141
Coordinates:33.2486°N -86.5531°W
Area Code:205, 659
Blank Name:GNIS feature ID
Blank Info:156374

Fourmile, also known as Redlawn, is an unincorporated community in Shelby County, Alabama, United States. Fourmile is located 4miles northeast of Columbiana and 3miles west of Wilsonville. Some of the early settlers of Fourmile came from Lexington County and Newberry County, South Carolina.[1]

Fourmile Baptist Church was founded on August 25, 1824, (under the name of Bethesda Baptist Church) and is the oldest continuously functioning church in the Shelby Baptist Association. The Shelby Baptist Association was founded at Bethesda Baptist Church in 1852.[2] It is also one of the oldest existing churches of the Alabama Baptist Convention.[3] One of the prominent early members of the church was John W. Teague, who was an early settler of Columbiana and the father of Eldred B. Teague.[4] E. B. Teague lived on a farm in Fourmile, which he named Red Lawn.[5] Fourmile was also the location of Blue Springs Methodist Church, which was founded in 1890. The church closed in 2004.

A post office was established under the name Redlawn in 1898, at the residence of Pickens Miner, who served as the first postmaster.[6] The post office was in operation until 1904.[7]

One site in Fourmile, Jackson's Fourmile Farm, is listed on the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage.[8]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Sketches of the History of Shelby County . Shelby County Historical Society . November 2, 2014.
  2. Web site: Baptists celebrate 150th anniversary . Shelby County Reporter . October 29, 2002 . May 31, 2014.
  3. Web site: Fourmile Baptist Church celebrates 188th homecoming . Shelby County Reporter . May 31, 2014.
  4. Web site: Early History of Columbiana . Rootsweb.ancestry.com . November 24, 1902 . May 31, 2014.
  5. Book: The Baptist Encyclopaedia: A Dictionary of the Doctrines, Ordinances ... of ... - William Cathcart - Google Books . October 22, 2014. Cathcart . William . 1883 .
  6. Web site: Tidbits of the Past in Shelby County . Shelby County Historical Society . Shelby County Historical Society . October 22, 2014.
  7. Web site: Shelby County . Jim Forte Postal History . October 22, 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20141022181749/http://www.postalhistory.com/postoffices.asp?task=display&state=AL&county=Shelby . October 22, 2014 .
  8. Web site: Properties on the Alabama Register of Landmarks & Heritage . Alabama Historical Commission . www.preserveala.org . June 5, 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120904152458/http://preserveala.org/alabamaregister.aspx?sm=f_b . September 4, 2012 .