Patton, Alabama Explained

Official Name:Patton, Alabama
Pushpin Map:Alabama#USA
Pushpin Label:Patton
Pushpin Label Position:left
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name:United States
Subdivision Type1:State
Subdivision Name1:Alabama
Subdivision Type2:County
Subdivision Name2:Walker
Timezone:Central (CST)
Utc Offset:-6
Timezone Dst:CDT
Utc Offset Dst:-5
Elevation M:99
Elevation Ft:325
Coordinates:33.7006°N -87.4547°W
Area Code:205, 659
Blank Name:GNIS feature ID
Blank Info:152855

Patton was an unincorporated community in Walker County, in the U.S. state of Alabama. "Patton" and "Patton Junction" are often treated as different names for a single community.

Patton was originally a coal camp serving the mines of the Deer Creek Coal Company, while nearby Patton Junction served the mines of the Virginia and Alabama Coal Company. The two towns were 1.1miles apart on a spur line of the Southern Railway.[1] The Corona Coal Company also later operated a mine at Patton.

In 1887, 1300 workers at Patton went on strike against Virginia and Alabama Coal after the company refused to raise pay from 65 to 75 cents per ton. The Alabama Knights of Labor intervened and revoked the local union's charter for refusing to submit to arbitration, and the strike ended inconclusively after more than five months.

From 1897 to 1904,[2] Patton Junction was home to The Patton Pointer, an African American weekly newspaper edited by J.T. Nall.[3] It was Walker County's only African American newspaper at the time, and one of only three newspapers in Walker County overall.[4] In the 1920 Alabama coal strike, a deadly confrontation occurred at Patton between striking miners and Corona Coal Company bosses, leaving three coal company personnel dead.[5] The state government retaliated by sending 500 troops against the miners.[6]

Works cited

Notes and References

  1. Book: Poor's Manual of Railroads, Volume 48 . Henry Varnum Poor . 1915 . 1580 .
  2. Book: Jones , Allen Woodrow . 1983 . Alabama . Suggs . Henry Lewis . The Black Press in the South, 1865–1979 . 9780313222443 . 59 . https://archive.org/details/blackpressinsout0000unse/page/59 .
  3. Book: Danky . James Philip . Hady . Maureen E. . 1998 . African-American newspapers and periodicals : a national bibliography . Harvard University Press . 9780674007888 . 4746 .
  4. Book: N. W. Ayer & Son's American Newspaper Annual . 2020-02-16 . 1903.
  5. News: Coal Review . Leon M. Adler, Alabama Operator, Killed By Thugs . 8 . 1920-09-22.
  6. Book: McAvoy , Iris Singleton . Walker County Coal Mines . Arcadia Publishing . 9781467114967 . 2016 .